Bipartisan virtual summit calls for overhaul of the immigration system
MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – The Immigration Partnership & Coalition Fund, a Miami-Dade-based organization that advocates for undocumented immigrants’ rights through bipartisan action, hosted a virtual summit on Thursday. “We have a bipartisan tradition of supporting immigration initiatives to give people a chance to live a life of dignity and a life of purpose,” Bush said. Diaz-Balart said that in order to reform the immigration system everyone had to be willing to accept not getting “every single thing that we want” and support a bipartisan legislative proposal. “For the sake of our food supply and our healthcare system and overall quality of life, we must bring our immigration system into the 21st century,” Lazaro said. AdSenators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio oppose Biden’s immigration bill.
This Week in South Florida: Juan-Carlos Planas and Justin Sayfie
PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Another busy week in Florida politics has provided great content for This Week in South Florida’s roundtable discussion. Juan-Carlos Planas is an attorney in Miami and a former Republican state Representative who has close ties to, and is advising some Democrats. Justin Sayfie is also a lawyear, as well as a political guru and former spokesman and policy advisor to former Florida Gov. They joined TWISF hosts Glenna Milberg and Michael Putney, and their roundtable discussion can be viewed at the top of this page.
Supervisors of elections say early voting helped to prevent complications
Both Peter Antonacci, the Broward County supervisor of elections, and Christina White, the Miami-Dade County supervisor of elections, talked to reporters during separate news conferences. Joe Scott, Broward’s newly elected supervisor of elections, said that he decided to run after what happened with Brenda Snipes, Broward’s former supervisor of elections. Dr. Brenda Snipes, Broward County Supervisor of Elections, looks on during a canvassing board meeting in Lauderhill, Florida. In Miami-Dade, White said early voting “helped tremendously” with the estimated 1,165,000 ballots from about 75% of registered voters. FILE - An election worker sorts vote-by-mail ballots at the Miami-Dade County Board of Elections in Doral, Fla., on Oct, 26, 2020.
How Trump plowed through $1 billion, losing cash advantage
This time around, though, he was betting on a massive cash advantage to negatively define Biden and to defend his own record. Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien insisted money was no issue. And it’s just not a good sign for the Trump campaign,” Ridout said. — Over $7.4 million spent at Trump-branded properties since 2017. — At least $35.9 million spent on Trump merchandise.
Iowa again a battleground, sign of Trump's Midwest obstacles
But there are signs Iowa may be competitive again. Deep concerns about the economy and dissatisfaction with Trump's handling of the coronavirus have changed dynamics of the race. However, Iowa, where Trump won by 9.4 percentage points in 2016, echoes the trend in Ohio, where Trump won by 8 but is now in a pitched battle with Biden. “I believe it is a close race in Iowa," former Iowa Gov. In 2018, Democrats showed signs of resurgence, even though Republican Kim Reynolds became the first woman to be elected Iowa governor.
This Week in South Florida: Raquel Rodriguez and Chris Smith
PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – Prior to the pandemic, the weekly roundtable discussion was a regular part of This Week in South Florida. It reviewed the week’s top stories and allowed for different voices and viewpoints on each to be heard. Raquel ‘Rocky’ Rodriguez is a managing partner at Buchanan Ingersoll and Rooney and former general counsel to Gov. Chris Smith is an attorney in Fort Lauderdale with the Tripp Scott Law Firm and former Democratic State Senator and Representative. The roundtable discussion with Rodriguez, Smith and hosts Michael Putney and Glenna Milberg can be seen at the top of this page.
Chipping in? Trump may put up his own cash on reelection
Trump also is grappling with the political fallout from the mounting number of coronavirus deaths and the pandemic's economic toll. Trump spent more than $60 million of his own money on his 2016 run for the White House. Eberhart said he was skeptical that Trump will spend $100 million of his own money and questioned whether money was significantly hampering the presidents campaign. He echoed the president in saying that the Trump campaign, which was outspent in 2016, has more resources to use between now and Election Day than it did four years ago. Still, Trump added in his comments to reporters that he was prepared to spend his own cash to help his cause.
Trump embraces immigration court fight as election boost
In this June 11, 2020 photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a roundtable discussion about "Transition to Greatness: Restoring, Rebuilding, and Renewing," at Gateway Church Dallas in Dallas. Trump has asserted without evidence that expanded mail-in voting will lead to the greatest Rigged Election in history. Trump, who often attempts to shift the nation's focus to immigration when forced to defend himself on other fronts, said Friday he would renew his legal effort. His immigration push is risky, even for someone who has built his political career on defying conventional wisdom. Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh says, Conservative judges were a huge issue in 2016 and will be again this November."
GOP candidates balance pros, cons of running with Trump
Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, facing a competitive North Carolina reelection contest, is looking forward to campaigning" with Trump, Tillis' spokesperson said. GOP Sen. Steve Daines tweeted, Montana cant wait to have you back, Mr. President! after Trump promised to help him battle a strong Democratic challenger. Republican candidates are hostages, said Trump critic Tim Miller, an aide to past GOP presidential contenders including Jeb Bush. Anyone who wants to win in November should be running with the president, said Trump campaign spokesperson Erin Perrine. In the House, Democrats hope to use allegiance to Trump that GOP candidates touted in primaries against them in general elections.
Biden aims to move left without abandoning centrist roots
But they left many of the partys strongest liberals worried that little progress would be made toward their sweeping goals. Asked whether his recent moves mean hell govern as a progressive, Biden retorted on CNBC: Im going to be Joe Biden. Biden aides say hes uniquely positioned for a wide Biden coalition because voters prioritize experience and temperament, along with policy. Republicans who dislike Trump the kind who cut deals with Sen. Biden or Vice President Biden arent likely to back President Biden's proposed public option health insurance expansion when theyve never embraced the Affordable Care Act. Winning back just that cohort back could be enough to secure Biden to the presidency alone this cycle, he said.
Oil legend T. Boone Pickens dies
(CNN) - Legendary oil man T. Boone Pickens, whose investments helped shape the American energy industry going back to the 1950s, has died at the age of 91. Pickens announced his retirement from the oil and gas industry in January 2018 due to his poor health. A longtime maverick in the US energy industry, Pickens began a campaign in 2008 to help the US lessen its dependence on oil from OPEC nations. I have always believed that maintaining the status quo inevitably leads to failure," Pickens wrote in an op-ed for Forbes in 2017. "Back then, the notion that shareholders own the companies and managements were employees was foreign to big oil companies that would rather operate like empires.
Bill Scherer Back At Hospital District
Bill Scherer likes to say he's not a downtown power broker anymore, just a downtown lawyer. Rick Scott just appointed one of Scherer's most trusted associates -- Dave Di Pietro -- to the North Broward Hospital District board on Friday. Scherer is representing Von Allmen and others who lost money to Rothstein in a civil lawsuit. Di Pietro is a former Broward State Attorney's Office prosecutor who joined Scherer's firm, Conrad Scherer, a few years ago. Scott, not surprisingly, is supportive of the move, as is Scherer (and presumably Di Pietro).