Monday, December 22, 2014

2014 Stories of the Year … by gimleteye

Miami-Dade County:

The top story in Miami-Dade County is an exception to the rule that low voter turnout favors incumbency: Daniella Levine Cava, county commissioner for District 8.

The victory of a first-time candidate for public office is great news for a new generation of engaged citizens considering public office: yes you can!

Daniella Levine Cava won, because she was a credible candidate with significant community accomplishments and a dedicated base of well organized volunteers from within and outside her district.

Miami:

Traffic. Traffic nightmares in Miami reached a tipping point in 2014. Miami cannot be viable, by economic measures, unless there is a massive effort to fix transit.

State of Florida:

Top Republicans fight Fair Districts. The constitutional amendment, passed by more than 60 percent of Florida voters, seems inarguable: that political districts should be drawn fairly and not gerrymandered to achieve predetermined outcomes in favor of one party or another. So why have Republican leaders in Tallahassee spent millions, tens of millions, continuing to fight Fair Districts?

Nationally:

The power of corporations and money in politics has sapped the vitality of our democracy. Along those lines, when Cuban American friends say there should be no rapprochement with Havana until there are free and democratic elections in Cuba: let's fix what is wrong with our own political system -- ie. the domination of money in elections -- before telling others how to run their own.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

All look good except for number 1. Levine Cava is a nice lady, but she was helped by the Democratic Party in a non partisan race and sold herself to all the unions. To make a statement that yes you can is hallucinating at best. Most newbie candidates do not get this type of support from the "party" regardless of affiliation. Thankfully she won and not Bell. But if the party doesn't back her she loses handily. The numbers speak for themselves.

Anonymous said...

Washington Post explains your traffic issue. "Miami’s climate catch-22: Building waterfront condos to pay for protection against the rising sea"

Anonymous said...

Its about time the Democratic party got involved in local races. The repubs have been doing this for just about forever and have used local office as the bull-pen for up-and-coming politicians.

Bell ran as a republican in 2010. her campaign workers were handing out republican slate cards with her name on it. its ok if she does it but not others i guess...

VXO said...

Okay, so it wasn't just my imagination that traffic has reached the tipping point? It feels like every other day now I find myself thinking "this is the worst I've ever seen", and I cannot recall ever thinking that in years past.

The sad part is, it looks like the few added delays needed to push it over the edge are INTENTIONAL, engineered to force drivers to pay tolls that did not formerly exist (or are on roads they did not formerly have to use to get anywhere), or to promote higher red light camera revenue.

I just wrote this after sitting in traffic 2 1/2 hours this morning to blow off some steam. A holiday salute to Miami traffic in which I talk about dicks too much.

Anonymous said...

Now that U.S-Cuba diplomatic relations are on the mend, let's work to correct those Israeli-Palestinian relations. For too long the entire world has been victimized with terrorist attacks by playing referee to this cat fight. Time both of those sides roll up their sleeves, put their religious fervor aside, solve their problem and stop dragging us into their domestic dispute.