Congressional unity is a worthy pursuit.
I thought we’d start today’s column with some encouraging news out of Washington, D.C.
I know what you’re thinking: That’s like trying to retrieve a gourmet meal from a dumpster fire.
But we may actually have something here. On the heels of the failed, partisan push to repeal Obamacare, members of Congress are now talking about doing something radical — working together.
The effort to unite both sides to find a solution is called the “Problem Solvers Caucus” — a group of about 40 House members, half Republican and half Democrat. Central Florida Democrats
Stephanie Murphy and Darren Soto are among the ranks. Though no local Republicans are involved, South Florida Republican Carlos Curbelo is actually the vice chairman of the group.
The group’s starting offer tries to take a little something from both sides of the aisle, pushing for everything from lowering drug prices and repealing taxes on medical devices to giving states and consumers more insurance options.
The Washington Post’s editorial board described the opening pitch as a modest but earnest start, saying: “Inasmuch as Obamacare needs rescuing, this is what a real rescue plan looks like.”
Here’s hoping more members get involved. After all, politicians scream and tweet about problems. Leaders work to solve them.
Much less bipartisan
Down in South Florida, the political story making tongues wag is the divorce between Democratic State Attorney Dave
Aronberg and his Republican wife, former Miami Dolphins cheerleader, Lynn. Why? Well, Mrs. Aronberg’s PR firm put out a statement labeling the split as the “Trump Divorce,” explaining that she is “a staunch Republican and supporter of President
Donald Trump” who “felt increasingly isolated in the marriage.”
Mrs. Aronberg also asked for privacy … and then said she wanted a reality TV show.
I believe the math equation here is Politics + Divorce + Trump + Reality TV + Florida = of course.
Cliché comes to life
For a city that goes to great lengths to welcome visitors, Orlando didn’t have its best day Tuesday when passengers arriving at Orlando International Airport were greeted with gunfire.
An off-duty federal agent had a mishap when he struggled to get hold of his weapon and accidentally shot himself in the foot.
There are a lot of questions
about how such a thing happened with a gun that was apparently loaded and not securely holstered. But there wasn’t any question that it caused a hubbub, since the Sentinel’s transportation reporter, Kevin Spear, happened to be at the airport to hear the gunshot and witness the aftermath.
By pure chance, Spear was there to interview officials there about OIA’s future … one that hopefully involves fewer discharged rounds.
Sex + Zika = concern
Tucked inside Wednesday’s paper, at the bottom of page 2 in the Local & State section, was the following headline: “Florida confirms its first sexually transmitted Zika case for 2017.”
Many of you probably breezed right past it. But I guarantee you tourism execs were paying attention.
Why? Because anything that makes tourists second-guess visiting Florida is a problem. And you’d better believe that people start rethinking a visit to Florida if it means no rumpy pumpy.
In fact, I wrote a column last year that argued the only reason politicians got serious about fighting Zika last summer was because Public Health England issued a health warning to Brits that generated headlines like “Tourists urged to abstain from sex in Florida.”
That’s worse for business than headlines like “Tourists get eaten by sharks in Florida” — that happens all the time.
Florida leaders jumped into action after last year’s sex warning. So, with new headlines about “Zika” and “sex” being written, don’t be surprised if state leaders start getting really serious about combating the disease once again.
Because, while Florida politicians are somewhat concerned about the health of people who actually live here, they spring into action for real crises … like a potential 2-point drop in hotel-occupancy rates.