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Dear Jacksonville Observer Readers: As an observer of the political scene I’ve come to appreciate the many unique personalities that inhabit Washington , D.C. Some are known for their eccentric behavior, some for the causes they champion, some for the...

Shortly before his death more than two decades ago, John D. McDonald, the mystery writer who was also an ardent opponent of the wall-to-wall development that threatened to envelop the west coast of Florida near his Sarasota home, published a list of the...

As Mark Twain famously observed, everybody complains about the weather but nobody ever does anything about it. You could say the same thing about public education. In poll after poll, voters continue to express dissatisfaction with the nation’s pubic...

Wherever the revolution in public education begins, it ends in the classroom.  The following is a six point plan for turning around our public schools.  SEE ALSO: Robin Lumb’s previous article on this subject “Righting the Ship: How We...

Spurred on by the debate over the teacher merit pay plan – Senate Bill 6 – I started writing a series of columns on education reform about three and half weeks ago. When Charlie Crist vetoed the legislation, I put those columns aside and began to...

Although “Deem and Pass” never actually came to pass in last Sunday’s 219-212 vote to undue American prosperity, the concept of deeming to pass a bill without actually passing it did capture the nation’s attention long enough to remind us once...

Last week Warren Buffett, the man acclaimed the Oracle of Omaha and the savant who endorsed Barrack Obama in the 2008, weighed in on the Democrat health care “reform” plan and confirmed once again that he’s incapable of subordinating his progressive...

There’s been a lot of talk lately about Downtown Jacksonville and what we should be doing to fix it. Here are my thoughts: 1. Rather than a “Grand Plan” intended to transform Downtown Jacksonville in one fell swoop, an incremental approach would...

I see America, not in the setting sun of a black night of despair… I see America in the crimson light of a rising sun fresh from the burning, creative hand of God. I see great days ahead, great days possible to men and women of will and vision. Carl...

Last week I discussed the strategy of Sen. Bob Menendez, head of the Democrat Senatorial Campaign Committee, who advised his candidates to frame their opponents in a negative light by asking a series of damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t “wedge”...