http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/index.html http://media.miamiherald.com/images/logos/rss_sitelogo.gif http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/index.html 140 25 News, sports and entertainment from MiamiHerald.com en-us Copyright 2010 MiamiHerald.com Political Currents 60 Tue, 09 Feb 2010 23:32:11 EST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's PubSys miamifeedback@miamiherald.com http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1469989.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1469989.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:00 EST U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek is adding some horsepower to his campaign.<p/> Fans in the stands and watching ESPN2 cable coverage of Saturday's NASCAR race in Daytona Beach will see Mike Wallace's No. 01 race car emblazoned with the ``Kendrick Meek for U.S. Senate'' logo. http://www.miamiherald.com/1348/story/740547.html http://www.miamiherald.com/1348/story/740547.html Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:36 EDT Obama hosts town hall meeting in Ft. Myers, FL http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1463960.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1463960.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Miami-Dade Commissioner Katy Sorenson will not seek reelection this fall, ending a 16-year run on the county board distinguished by her advocacy for the environment and social equality. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1463663.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1463663.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:00 EST A lucrative secret contract awarded to the top deputy for Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer has Republican leaders livid as they try to repair the financially ailing party during this key election year. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1463946.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1463946.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:00 EST U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio backtracked Thursday from his statement that the U.S. Census should count only ``legal American citizens,'' temporarily shifting his surging campaign into damage control. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1461731.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1461731.html Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Florida Juvenile Justice Secretary Frank Peterman and three high-ranking deputies have surrendered their free take-home cars after a state investigation said the vehicles might violate federal tax rules on unreported income. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1461729.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1461729.html Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:00 EST After a long night of uncertainty, Republican Edward Lynch emerged Wednesday as the victor in the special congressional primary, eking out a narrow win over Joe Budd. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1459852.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1459852.html Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Costs are down. Patients appear to be satisfied. Doctors are practicing more preventive care.<p/> Despite these encouraging signs, former Gov. Jeb Bush's ``Medicaid Reform'' experiment looks like it won't expand statewide beyond Broward County and four Jacksonville-area counties as he had hoped. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1458014.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1458014.html Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Florida juvenile justice chief Frank Peterman has repaid the state about $25,000 for questionable travels from Tallahassee to St. Petersburg, where his family lives and where he still preaches at a Baptist church. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1453996.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1453996.html Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:00 EST In a session that was intended to foster bipartisanship with Republicans in the House of Representatives, President Barack Obama instead blasted them Friday for distorting his healthcare plan to the point that ``you'd think that this thing was some Bolshevik plot.'' http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1452083.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1452083.html Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:00 EST Amid declining poll numbers and political fortunes, President Barack Obama on Thursday tried to reconnect with the fickle state that helped put him in the White House and urged voters to keep the faith despite Florida's withering recession. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1452061.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1452061.html Fri, 29 Jan 2010 01:00 EST Put yourself in Charlie's shoes. <p/> You're standing there on the big MacDill Air Force Base tarmac, first in line next to Vice President Joe Biden as the door to Air Force One slowly opens. The sun's beating down. The plane's engines are roaring. The crowd is all eyes. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1451791.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1451791.html Thu, 28 Jan 2010 20:02 EST Amid declining poll numbers and political fortunes, President Barack Obama on Thursday tried to reconnect with the fickle state that helped put him in the White House and urged voters to keep the faith despite Florida's withering recession. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1450053.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1450053.html Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:00 EST President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised Americans who are helping Haiti recover from the catastrophic earthquake, taking a moment out of a State of the Union address focused on the frayed economy. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1301989.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1301989.html Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:48 EDT President Barack Obama dashed from a Navy hangar in Jacksonville to a swanky Miami Beach hotel Monday to buff his image in a recession-weary state and bag $1.5 million to defend the Democratic majority in Congress. The ground Obama plans to cover on his two-day stint in Florida reflects the changing landscape since the freshly inaugurated president came to Fort Myers in February to pitch his economic stimulus plan. His poll numbers are down, unemployment is up and health care reform hangs in the balance. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1164553.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1164553.html Thu, 30 Jul 2009 17:50 EDT Congressional negotiators are divided over how to raise taxes to pay for overhauling the nation's health care system, as key players disagree over whether to increase income taxes on wealthy people or find alternatives such as taxing insurers that sell high-end policies. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1094378.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1094378.html Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:02 EDT Congressional negotiators have agreed to drop an amendment to a defense approrpiations bill that would have prevented the Obama administration from releasing any freed Guantánamo detainees into the United States or transferring them to U.S. prisons for trial. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1088111.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1088111.html Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:54 EDT Lebanon's pro-Western political parties turned their focus Monday toward crafting a stable coalition government hours after voters soundly rebuffed efforts by Iran-backed Hezbollah politicians to secure more political power in Beirut. Analysts said Obama's call last week in Cairo for a "new beginning" for U.S.-Middle East relations helped tilt the balance toward America's allies. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1088112.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1088112.html Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:52 EDT Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has given the new U.S. commander in Afghanistan 60 days to conduct another review of the American strategy there, the fifth since President Barack Obama took office less than five months ago. The review comes even as the Pentagon said benchmarks promised on March 27 still are being drafted. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1081476.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/1081476.html Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:14 EDT One of the Cairo cafe questions debated in the days leading up to the speech was: Would Obama say "salaam" to the Arabic-speaking world? The answer: Yes, sometimes mistakenly. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/999823.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/999823.html Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:55 EDT President Barack Obama told Americans Tuesday to brace for "more job loss, more foreclosures, and more pain" in 2009, saying the recession isn't over yet despite some early promise from the government's massive spending on bailouts and economic stimulus. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/968522.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/968522.html Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:08 EDT With both of Texas' U.S. Senate seats held by Republicans, the White House on Wednesday said it has asked the 12 Democratic members of the Texas delegation in the House of Representatives to interview potential nominees to Justice Department and judicial branch appointments. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/956771.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/956771.html Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:06 EDT The Senate on Wednesday easily confirmed former Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk as the U.S. trade representative, making him the ambassador for a new, more limited Obama administration approach to free trade. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/952645.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/952645.html Mon, 16 Mar 2009 13:19 EDT President Barack Obama's popular support is eroding, as a new poll by the independent Pew Research Center shows his approval rating dropping below the 60 percent threshold. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/920003.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/920003.html Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:08 EST Calling this a "day of reckoning" for years of mistakes, President Barack Obama worked Tuesday night to assure a recession-weary nation that he's charting a new course out of the depths and ultimately to a prosperous future. http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/901609.html http://www.miamiherald.com/obama/story/901609.html Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:25 EST President Obama won approval of the economic stimulus plan late Friday with little margin for error — it's got the bare minimum 60 votes necessary in the Senate — despite his popularity and the sense of urgency that opened the doors for quick action by a slow-moving legislative branch. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1465919.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1465919.html Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Florida Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos was cleared Friday of allegations that she skirted state public records laws in a series of unusual e-mail exchanges with a co-worker. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1463663.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1463663.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:00 EST A lucrative secret contract awarded to the top deputy for Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer has Republican leaders livid as they try to repair the financially ailing party during this key election year. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1459852.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1459852.html Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Costs are down. Patients appear to be satisfied. Doctors are practicing more preventive care.<p/> Despite these encouraging signs, former Gov. Jeb Bush's ``Medicaid Reform'' experiment looks like it won't expand statewide beyond Broward County and four Jacksonville-area counties as he had hoped. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1459838.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1459838.html Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:00 EST A Florida Senate committee unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that would tighten the ethics requirements on the Public Service Commission, but the measure was immediately criticized as too soft on the companies the commission regulates. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1459829.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1459829.html Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Charlie Crist's supporters across Florida are in varying states of panic, and for good reason: Two polls released this week show the once-inevitable Republican U.S. Senate nominee trailing challenger Marco Rubio by 12 points and 14 points among GOP voters. A third poll, released last week, showed Rubio ahead by 3 points. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1459779.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1459779.html Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:42 EST A last-ditch attempt by state Rep. Ray Sansom to dismiss or delay charges that he damaged the Legislature's integrity failed Tuesday as a panel of his colleagues voted to put the former speaker on trial later this month. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1458007.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1458007.html Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Florida lawmakers will take up legislation Tuesday that would outlaw private conversations between Public Service Commission staff members and utility companies, a response to criticism that the agency is too close to the utilities it regulates. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1458005.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1458005.html Tue, 02 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Justice Department prosecutors now say they'll likely charge more defendants in March as part of the public corruption indictment against one-time major Republican fundraiser Alan Mendelsohn. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1453081.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1453081.html Fri, 29 Jan 2010 13:12 EST Gov. Charlie Crist wants the Legislature to adopt a state budget for next year of $69.2 billion that relies heavily on a fresh injection of federal stimulus money, an expected economic rebound in Florida and an ill-fated Seminole gambling deal. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1447872.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1447872.html Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:00 EST Gov. Charlie Crist's campaign for U.S. Senate was hit with a one-two punch Tuesday as Republican rival Marco Rubio moved ahead of him in a public-opinion poll for the first time and almost matched him in fundraising for the quarter. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1447867.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1447867.html Wed, 27 Jan 2010 01:00 EST Did Florida Power & Light mislead state regulators when it announced Jan. 13 that it would be forced to suspend projects because it didn't win a 30 percent rate increase? http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1447970.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/legislature/story/1447970.html Tue, 26 Jan 2010 23:02 EST State Rep. Ray Sansom on Tuesday accused a state prosecutor of misconduct and asked that charges of misusing $6 million in taxpayer money be dismissed. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1469989.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1469989.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:00 EST U.S. Senate candidate Kendrick Meek is adding some horsepower to his campaign.<p/> Fans in the stands and watching ESPN2 cable coverage of Saturday's NASCAR race in Daytona Beach will see Mike Wallace's No. 01 race car emblazoned with the ``Kendrick Meek for U.S. Senate'' logo. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1469937.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1469937.html Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:17 EST As a volatile election season gets underway, the Republican Party of Florida is facing its biggest crisis of confidence in decades. <p/> Donors and party activists are livid over newly revealed records that suggest outgoing chairman Jim Greer used the party as a personal slush fund for lavish travel and entertainment. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1467549.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1467549.html Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Hundreds of attendees convened for the tea party's first national convention in Nashville, Tenn., last week -- without movement leaders from South Florida. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1467546.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1467546.html Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:00 EST After spending almost $16 billion to implement Florida's voter-approved plan to reduce class sizes, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Republican Legislature are now talking about reining it in. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1465919.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1465919.html Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Florida Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos was cleared Friday of allegations that she skirted state public records laws in a series of unusual e-mail exchanges with a co-worker. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1463663.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1463663.html Fri, 05 Feb 2010 01:00 EST A lucrative secret contract awarded to the top deputy for Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer has Republican leaders livid as they try to repair the financially ailing party during this key election year. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1461731.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1461731.html Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Florida Juvenile Justice Secretary Frank Peterman and three high-ranking deputies have surrendered their free take-home cars after a state investigation said the vehicles might violate federal tax rules on unreported income. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1461729.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1461729.html Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:00 EST After a long night of uncertainty, Republican Edward Lynch emerged Wednesday as the victor in the special congressional primary, eking out a narrow win over Joe Budd. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1459829.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1459829.html Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Charlie Crist's supporters across Florida are in varying states of panic, and for good reason: Two polls released this week show the once-inevitable Republican U.S. Senate nominee trailing challenger Marco Rubio by 12 points and 14 points among GOP voters. A third poll, released last week, showed Rubio ahead by 3 points. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1459838.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1459838.html Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:00 EST A Florida Senate committee unanimously approved a bill Tuesday that would tighten the ethics requirements on the Public Service Commission, but the measure was immediately criticized as too soft on the companies the commission regulates. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1459852.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1459852.html Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Costs are down. Patients appear to be satisfied. Doctors are practicing more preventive care.<p/> Despite these encouraging signs, former Gov. Jeb Bush's ``Medicaid Reform'' experiment looks like it won't expand statewide beyond Broward County and four Jacksonville-area counties as he had hoped. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1459779.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/florida/story/1459779.html Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:42 EST A last-ditch attempt by state Rep. Ray Sansom to dismiss or delay charges that he damaged the Legislature's integrity failed Tuesday as a panel of his colleagues voted to put the former speaker on trial later this month. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471551.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471551.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:55 EST At first blush, it seems like a godsend for U.S. foreign policy: a tenacious Iranian opposition, democratic in name at least, is challenging a regime that has caused the U.S. no end of headaches over the last 30 years. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471532.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471532.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:20 EST The Senate Tuesday failed to advance President Barack Obama's nomination of a union lawyer to the National Labor Relations Board, as the debate and vote became a test of union clout in Congress. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471531.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471531.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 19:20 EST The Senate Tuesday failed to advance President Barack Obama's nomination of a union lawyer to the National Labor Relations Board, even though 52 senators vote to shut down a GOP filibuster. But that wasn't enough in a Senate where 60 votes are required to cut off debate. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471517.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471517.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:55 EST President Barack Obama urged Republicans Tuesday to work with him and Democratic lawmakers on ways to create jobs, saying that it's critical to agree on something even if neither side gets all it wants. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471508.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471508.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:51 EST Democratic former Virginia Gov. L. Douglas Wilder is urging President Barack Obama to fire Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine, another former Virginia governor. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471483.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471483.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:40 EST President Barack Obama urged Republicans Tuesday to work with him and Democratic lawmakers on ways to create jobs, saying that it's critical to agree on something even if neither side gets all it wants. Republicans countered that they've yet to see the Democrats' complete jobs proposal or its price tag. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471385.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471385.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:32 EST Attorney General Dan Sullivan has proposed new state rules establishing when it's appropriate for the state to pay for the travel of family members of the governor. Another proposal sets out when the state should pay legal bills for state officials defending against ethics complaints. Those issues came up during Gov. Sarah Palin's tenure as governor. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471203.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471203.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:06 EST As of Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010, at least 4,375 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471124.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471124.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:31 EST North Carolina Republican Tim D'Annunzio's "Machine Gun Social" announcement elicited plenty of attacks on the 8th District congressional candidate. So he fired back. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471031.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471031.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:51 EST In a first for U.S. diplomacy, the State Department has used Twitter to announce an upcoming overseas trip by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471006.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1471006.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:31 EST Even the White House's top spokesman is getting in on the act of mocking former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin for looking to talking points written on her palm during a speech to "tea party" activists. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1470899.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1470899.html Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:51 EST President Barack Obama is calling on lawmakers to stop blocking the confirmation of government appointees in the Senate by raising objections not related to their qualifications. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1301613.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1301613.html Mon, 26 Oct 2009 17:24 EDT With Haiti poised to enjoy the economic benefits of long-elusive stability, foreign diplomats are scrambling behind the scenes to keep it all from unraveling as several lawmakers demand the ouster of the country's prime minister. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1281788.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1281788.html Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:26 EDT Cuba's workplace cafeterias are closing, President Raúl Castro keeps saying the well-off shouldn't get the same subsidies as the poor, and now there are rumblings that one of the stalwart vestiges of the revolution -- the ration booklet -- has outlived its usefulness. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1279547.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1279547.html Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:25 EDT A Cuban blogger who has become an international sensation for offering frank criticism of her country's communist system said she was denied government permission Monday to travel to New York to receive a top journalism prize. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1279295.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1279295.html Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:25 EDT A powerful campaign to allow all Americans to travel to Cuba is rumbling through Congress, with both backers and opponents predicting eventual victory and a Cuban-American Senator holding a key vote. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1275157.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1275157.html Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:24 EDT A controversial media reform bill, set to be debated in the Argentine Senate on Friday, pits two powerful forces against each other -- President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and the country's largest media conglomerate. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1273683.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1273683.html Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:23 EDT Diplomats pushed the two sides of the Honduran political conflict into direct talks for the first time in nearly three months, but left the country Thursday with no commitment from the coup-installed government to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1270203.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1270203.html Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:22 EDT A trio of South Florida Republican lawmakers said Tuesday that the remedy to the post-coup woes in Honduras lies in U.S. support of next month's scheduled elections. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1262329.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1262329.html Thu, 01 Oct 2009 20:57 EDT A U.S. president has limited ways to ease the embargo on Cuba -- unless he or she certifies that Havana is moving toward democracy or Congress overturns U.S. laws on the sanctions, according to a report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1260565.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1260565.html Thu, 01 Oct 2009 17:45 EDT The June 28 coup that ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya ``deeply offended the core principles of the Americas,'' a top Obama administration official said Wednesday, calling for de facto authorities there to ``fully and immediately restore all civil and constitutional rights to the Honduran people.'' http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1258651.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1258651.html Wed, 30 Sep 2009 17:44 EDT Condemning the Honduran coup as a throwback to Latin America's ugly history, Costa Rican President Oscar Arias said Tuesday that the country can't have free and fair elections until its de facto government lifts a repressive decree that silenced opposition media and forbade public gatherings. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1258399.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1258399.html Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:52 EDT Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said Haiti enjoyed the backing of its Latin American neighbors more than ever on Tuesday as he spoke on the opening day of the Americas Conference. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1248828.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/world/latin-america-and-caribbean-politics/story/1248828.html Thu, 24 Sep 2009 15:21 EDT It's been 89 days since Manuel Zelaya was booted from power. He's sleeping on chairs, and he claims his throat is sore from toxic gases and "Israeli mercenaries'' are torturing him with high-frequency radiation. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1469937.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1469937.html Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:17 EST As a volatile election season gets underway, the Republican Party of Florida is facing its biggest crisis of confidence in decades. <p/> Donors and party activists are livid over newly revealed records that suggest outgoing chairman Jim Greer used the party as a personal slush fund for lavish travel and entertainment. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1467549.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1467549.html Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Hundreds of attendees convened for the tea party's first national convention in Nashville, Tenn., last week -- without movement leaders from South Florida. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1467546.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1467546.html Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:00 EST After spending almost $16 billion to implement Florida's voter-approved plan to reduce class sizes, Gov. Charlie Crist and the Republican Legislature are now talking about reining it in. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1465919.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1465919.html Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:00 EST Florida Transportation Secretary Stephanie Kopelousos was cleared Friday of allegations that she skirted state public records laws in a series of unusual e-mail exchanges with a co-worker. http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1465914.html http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/story/1465914.html Sat, 06 Feb 2010 01:00 EST From golf-course fees to charter jets to the nation's capital, Republican Party of Florida Executive Director Delmar Johnson racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel, food and expenses to his party-issued American Express card last year.