Conexion Miami / The man is an “idiot”

The best email we received was from a reader who wrote, “Can you believe this? This man is an idiot.” Not our words, but we agree. He was referring to Florida Governor Rick Scott who this week issued this statement: “Agriculture is a vital part of our economy in Florida, and lifting the embargo on Cuba could do irreparable harm to it. Importing agricultural products from Cuba could drive down demand for Florida products, open our crops up to invasive pests and species and give the Castro regime leverage to continue the suppression of their people.” 

It’s generational

Cuban-American Miami politics is of interest as far away as Los Angeles, California. Just last week the LA Timesreported on Versailles-style political talk on Calle Ocho. Results of interviews mirrored poll numbers we’ve seen over the past couple of years. On one side was republican Miguel Coppola, 75, surmising Marco Rubio’s chances. He might be “too passionate,” he told the reporter, but seemed to favor him anyway. Then there was 33-year-old Juan Carlos Cabrera, who said “he likes Clinton because he believes opening relations with Cuba will be better for those still remaining on the island, including the family he left behind and hopes to see again.”

Republican vs. Republican

Florida House and Senate Republican leaders remain deeply polarized over a major health insurance plan even while trading offers back and forth about how to start work on a new state budget. The state’s legislative session is supposed to end this week. But the two sides showed no sign of bridging the $4.2 billion difference between them in the lone bill they have to approve each year – a budget. A big dollar gap is one thing. But a big policy clash, like the one that has mushroomed over the Senate’s push to provide health coverage to 800,000 low-income Floridians, is proving much thornier. It looks like Tallahassee will be headed into overtime. The only good news coming out: Republicans are at each other’s throats.

Pols protecting cops

Florida may soon place limits on who is allowed to access video taken by body cameras worn by law enforcement officers. The Florida Legislature sent to Gov. Rick Scott a bill that would keep confidential police videos that are shot in a house, a health care facility or any place that a “reasonable person would expect to be private.” In other words, politicians want to make sure voters are not allowed to see what really occurred when a cop shoots a regular citizen.

Stars or architects?

They are being referred to as ‘starchitects.’ They are designing the giant Miami Innovation Tower that developer Michael Simkins is proposing for Miami’s Overtown neighborhood. The designers: SHoP Architects, the architecture firm out of New York that has exploded in popularity with developers as well as design-minded people. The project in question is the 633-foot-tall tower of billboards, which one activist called “the most visually ugly structure in the State of Florida.”

Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

Currently happening in and around the Miami area is the 17th annual Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, a critically acclaimed event. It is based in South Beach with additional films screened at locations throughout Miami-Dade County. For more information call at (305) 751-6305 or click here for times and schedule.

Bush still the favorite

According to the Tampa Bay Times and based on the latest polls, Marco Rubio is the new front-runner for the Republican nomination, narrowly edging out the rest of the field of prospects with support from an underwhelming 13 percentage points in a Fox News poll and 15 percentage points in a Quinnipiac University poll. But Las Vegas still likes Jeb Bush. Sports bettors have put figures to the dollars. Based on chances of winning, according toSportsBookReview.com, if you were to bet $100 on Hillary Clinton, you’d win $125; Bush $500; Rubio $900; Scott Walker $1,200; Chris Christie $2,000; Elizabeth Warren $2,800; Ted Cruz $4,000; Martin O’Malley $5,000; and Mike Huckabee $6,6000.

Not in Florida, probably

Florida politicians are more interested in Florida Power & Light’s bottom line then new solar and other more energy efficient sources of power in the Sunshine State. We mention this because Elon Musk has hinted of an energy-producing device to be unveiled this week. His electric car company, Tesla, has under wraps a large battery capable of powering a house and an even larger “utility” sized battery system: basically an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) that is large enough to keep refrigerators, routers, lights and other devices powered up when storms and other unforeseen incidents take grid power out of commission. The system has been made available to about 300 customers and seems to work fine.

Taking a step backward

The Florida House of Representatives last week passed a measure which would force a woman to wait 24 hours before seeking safe and legal abortion and make two separate trips to her health provider before she is able to receive safe, legal abortion care. “Women are more than capable of making thoughtful decisions about their health, pregnancies, and families, and the last thing they need is interference from politicians who presume they know better,” said Nancy Northup, president and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights.

The M&M babes

Give them credit for one thing, their esthetics on a certain type of woman. We won’t go into the type, but we will tell you we are referring to friends in trouble Senator Bob Menendez and Dr. Salomon Melgen, both indicted on all sorts of good reasons. As for their taste, Menendez pulled his considerable weight to get visas for what the media refers to as “Melgen girlfriends.” The ladies (some call them of the night, but we won’t go there) are shown pictured with the troubled Menendez.

Miami real estate still booming

The Miami real estate market continued to gain momentum in March, as single-family home transactions registered double-digit growth year-over-year and existing condominium sales rose despite an increase in new condo construction, according to a new report by the 35,000-member Miami Association of Realtors. Single-family home transactions increased 10 percent year-over-year in March 2015, from 1,129 to 1,242. Existing condominium sales rose 4.2 percent from 1,413 in March of last year to 1,472 last month.

Latino Family Expo

NCLR (National Council of La Raza) announced the selection of Orlando as the host of the 2016 NCLR Annual Conference and National Latino Family Expo. The conference is the nation’s largest annual gathering of leaders, advocates, elected officials, business executives and change-makers whose work impacts the Latino community. It will take place July 23–26 at the Orlando Convention Center, located at 9800 International Drive, in Orlando. For additional information, contact Julian Teixeira, NCLR Director of Communications, at jteixeira@nclr.org.

Rubio trustworthy… yeah, right

Republican commentator Chris Ingram argues that Marco Rubio will run for his Senate seat if his presidential bid falters, something Rubio says he will not do.

Calling him untrustworthy, Ingram wrote in a Tampa Tribune column: “Florida’s junior senator is not exactly the most trustworthy person – as evidenced by his indiscretions with allowing the state Republican party to pay the $10,000 hotel bill for a Rubio family reunion, and his charge of $4,000 on his RPOF American Express card for new floors in his home, or for wine, car repairs, consumer electronics and even groceries. He says he paid the money back, but only once he got caught, and Rubio has never provided a full disclosure of the charges or reimbursements he claims. And don’t forget about his double-billing the state for airline tickets.”