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Michael Peltier: High court takes hot issues off ballot

Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008

Political junkies looking for a handful of good spats over the next few months had hopes dashed last week as the Florida Supreme Court spoiled their fun. With a trio of unanimous opinions, the state’s highest court threw a wet blanket on many a zealot by ruling unconstitutional amendments to restructure the way state and local governments pay for public education while also deep-sixing two measures protecting the use of tax money for private schools. Full story »

Jeff Lytle: No spin, just honest opinions from district boards' candidates

Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008

No convention hoopla for them. They work under the radar. They attract no big crowds, no headlines, take out few ads and sometimes are at a loss for why some of them win and others lose. Fire board and mosquito control candidates are a different breed. Full story »

Ben Bova: The myths about college educations

Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008

There’s a sort of mythology haunting our educational system. It’s a two-fold myth: First is the assumption that just about every high-school graduate should go on to college. Second is the assumption that students who do go to college shouldn’t have to work to pay for their educations.
Full story »

Phil Lewis: Palin, Biden display angers some readers

Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin certainly stirred things up. She has become the talk of the 2008 presidential campaign with eight weeks and two days before D-Day. I’ve all but buried disturbing thoughts that voter turnout on Nov. 4 will be as dismal as it was in our Aug. 26 primary, when eight of 10 registered voters in Southwest Florida stayed home. Interest in the general election is soaring. Fight has been injected in the campaign. Full story »

Brent Batten: The difference between Democrats and Republicans is...

Saturday, Sept. 6, 2008

Brent Batten's column for Sunday, Sept. 7, 2008 Full story »

Brent Batten: Delegates more than pleased with McCain’s VP pick

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008

The stage was set for John McCain’s climactic acceptance speech to the Republican National Convention Thursday night.
Or, more precisely, the stage was reset. Full story »

The Farmer File: TxtN: readRs rxshuns

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008

The headline, for those of us who still believe our living language, English, should not change quite so fast, translates as “Texting: Readers’ Reactions. There, that’s not so hard, is it? Nor is normal English obsolete. Not just yet. At least that’s what some readers think. Full story »

Thomas Sowell: Liberal media’s smear campaign goes overboard on Palin

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008

Since Gov. Sarah Palin’s daughter is not running for election this year, it is amazing how much the media has suddenly become obsessed with her. Her pregnancy not only made the front page of The New York Times, a printed announcement of her pregnancy stayed at the bottom of the television screen on CNN for what seemed to me to be about an hour or more. Full story »

Palin fires up Florida delegation at RNC

Thursday, Sept. 4, 2008

Reaction in and around the Xcel Energy Center to Sarah Palin’s speech before the Republican National Convention Wednesday night ranged from “great,” to “fantastic.” Full story »

Brent Batten: Gov. Palin fights back against her critics

Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008

The Florida delegation to the Republican National Convention is less than 30 percent female. You wouldn’t know that, looking at the convention floor Wednesday night. State Party Chairman Jim Greer asked male delegates to give up their floor seats to women alternates and guests during the speech of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the party’s first female nominee for vice president. Full story »

Jay Ambrose: Aiming for the middle, Obama distorts the numbers

Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008

For smart guys, Barack Obama and Bill Clinton were pretty dumb in their speeches at the Democratic National Convention. Either that or they will hop on any misleading irrelevancy to build the case about middle-class misery and how Democrats are on the side of its alleviation while Republicans aren’t. Full story »

Brent Batten: Florida Republicans say more taxes can be cut

Wednesday, Sept. 3, 2008

Florida’s incoming Republican legislative leaders gave the state’s delegates to the Republican National Convention a glimpse into the future. Local governments aren’t likely to like what they saw. House Speaker Designate Ray Sansom of Destin said further tax cuts will be atop his agenda when the Legislature convenes in March.
Full story »

Brent Batten: Returning to normalcy at GOP convention

Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008

The band was one indication things are getting back to normal at the Republican National Convention Tuesday night. The full slate of speakers was another. But the surest sign that the subdued mood that gripped the Xcel Energy Center Monday was passing was the return of the rhetoric. Full story »

Republican convention slowly transitions back toward its envisioned agenda

Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2008

The party adopted a platform Monday that for the first time endorses the concept of a national catastrophic insurance program. Full story »

Brent Batten: Republican delegates put storm victims first at national convention

Monday, Sept. 1, 2008

The floor was full, even if the stands weren’t. Republican delegates to their party’s national convention filled their seats Monday as the convention was gaveled to order at 2:40 p.m. Full story »

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