Entries from February 2006 ↓
February 28th, 2006 — The Campaign, campaign issues
Florida ranks third among states for the most uninsured residents topped only by California and Texas. For employer groups with less than fifty employees, the number of group health insurance companies has dropped from over 700 to less than five during the past 20 years. Most employers in Florida have less than fifty employees.
As a Candidate for House District 48, I am studying the problem so that I can be an effective legislator when I get to Tallahassee next fall. Thankfully, I have members of my Advisory Committee who have had over fifty years of combined experience in the healthcare industry both the insurer side of the business as well as on the employer side as Corporate Risk Manager. I am told that there is no easy ‘fix’. In my policy statement, I have attempted to summarize how we got to where we are in order to give voters a better understanding of why I will be supporting initiatives like the Hillsborough Indigent Healthcare Program statewide. Phyllis Busansky, Democratic Candidate for Congressional District 9 when she served as a Hillsborough County Commissioner, crafted the Indigent Healthcare Program. It has support from both sides of the isle and both ends of the political spectrum. The reason? The Indigent Healthcare Program works!
Another issue I will be addressing is the take-over by the HMOs of the care of Medicaid recipients. The problem? HMOs do not cover all areas of our State and those unable to get reasonable care locally will turn to emergency rooms for their treatment. HMOs are designed to manage cost, but, if there are no HMOs for a Medicaid patient to turn to, cost containment will not happen. It will be just the opposite with taxpayers underwriting the costs.
When I reach Tallahassee, my immediate support will go to the following healthcare issues:
§ Expand Hillsborough Indigent Health Plan statewide
§ Rescind the legislation that turned Medicaid over to the HMO industry
Please click here to read my full policy statement on Healthcare.
February 27th, 2006 — The Campaign, campaign issues
Have you ever heard someone say, “My vote doesn’t count?” That may not be an excuse after November 7th if the Committee for Fair Elections has its way. A citizens’ initiative spearheaded by Common Cause and a coalition of other distinguished citizens’ groups would take the responsibility of redistricting away from Florida’s legislature. The move would give the power back to the voters by amending the Florida Constitution to establish standards for districts drawn by a non-partisan commission in time for the 2008 elections. Over 900,000 Floridians have signed the petition, the first milestone of getting the initiative on the ballot. The Secretary of State has now certified those signatures authorizing it as Constitutional Amendment #5.
According to the Committee for Fair Elections, “not a single incumbent in Florida’s State Legislature or in Florida’s U.S. Congressional delegation was defeated in 2004. In that cycle, 72.5% of state legislative races had only one major party candidate. Of the 142 seats up for re-election, 103 were uncontested by a major party. That made Florida the second least competitive state behind Arkansas”.
The reason? After the last census, the party in power, in this instance, the Republicans, gerrymandered the state legislative and congressional districts to guarantee the re-election of Republican incumbents. When the Democrats were the majority power, they, too, practiced gerrymandering.
I support this initiative and urge voters to vote, “YES”, for Redistricting Reform (Amendment #5) on November 7th.
February 21st, 2006 — The Campaign, Volunteers
We’re happy to announce that we now have a page specifically designed for our Spanish speaking friends. This page is a general overview of the site “en español.” Much thanks go to Ivette Correa for her volunteer work translating the site.
February 18th, 2006 — Carl in the News, Media
Bright House cable subscribers may want to watch closely on Tuesday afternoon and evening on Bay News 9 as an interview with Carl is due to air.
The first airing is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, February 21st around 5:23 PM and air again every hour.
February 13th, 2006 — Media, The Campaign
Every year in January, Carl takes his students from Countryside High School to the cold, snow-covered mountains of Utah in a pilgrimage to the independent film Mecca known as the Sundance Film Festival. This
festival has been the launching pad for such renowned directors as Steven Soderbergh, Kevin Smith and Alexander Payne among others. The students then have the life-changing experience of meeting and talking with the directors and actors direct after viewing the world premiere of their cutting-edge movies and documentaries. For TV production students aspiring to have a career in film and television, this is as real life as it gets.
We’ve got a few photos from Sundance uploaded at current, and more are on the way, yet among the six that have been uploaded is a surprise story from the festival.
Carl and company attended a special discussion segment early in the festival entitled “Where is the Media?” The king of Sundance himself, Robert Redford, dropped in on the discussion and took a special seat during the show. I’ll let the pictures do the talking on this.
