Carl Hiaasen: IRS went after small fry, but let the big ones get away
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Carl Hiaasen
BC-HIAASEN-COLUMN:MI (1039 words)
"Please provide copies of all your current web pages, including your blog posts. Please provide copies of all your newsletters, bulletins, flyers or any other media or literature you have disseminated to your members or others. Please provide copies of stories and articles that have been published about you." That's the Internal Revenue Service calling. Or, more precisely, sending ...

May/20/2013 09:53 AM

Carl Hiaasen: Once again, we're the poster child for scandal
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Carl Hiaasen
BC-HIAASEN-COLUMN:MI (1145 words)
Anyone who thinks the health-care apparatus in this country doesn't need radical liposuction should read through the new federal report on hospital costs. Make that alleged costs. All over the country, hospitals are billing Medicare ludicrously different amounts for treating patients with the same disorder. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services studied the charges for 100 common ...

May/13/2013 10:01 AM

Carl Hiaasen: It's too easy to become a terrorist
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Carl Hiaasen
BC-HIAASEN-COLUMN:MI (1107 words)
Authorities say that the two brothers who allegedly bombed the Boston Marathon were probably "self-radicalized." The media have embraced this catchy term, partly because of the assurance it seems to offer: Don't worry, folks - Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev weren't recruited and deployed by al-Qaida or any other terrorist group; they hatched their own plot with no tactical help from abroad. ...

May/06/2013 09:53 AM

Carl Hiaasen: Legislature approves ethics reform -- no joke!
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Carl Hiaasen
BC-HIAASEN-COLUMN:MI (1106 words)
Promise not to laugh? An ethics bill was passed last week in Tallahassee. It's no joke. The Florida Legislature unanimously approved a law designed to clean up its own sketchy act, and that of elected officials all over the state. Gov. Rick Scott says he's "reviewing" the bill. To veto it would be an act of profound cluelessness, but remember who we're talking about. The ethics legislation is ...

Apr/29/2013 08:13 AM

Carl Hiaasen: Rubio comes up short on gun control
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Carl Hiaasen
BC-HIAASEN-COLUMN:MI (1029 words)
Marco Rubio showed his true yellow colors last week, joining 45 other cowards to defeat Senate legislation designed to stop criminals from buying firearms online and at gun shows. The vote was nauseating. So is Rubio. A few days earlier, he had admitted to Fox News that he hadn't read the complete bill that would expand federal background checks of gun buyers, but he was opposing it anyway. ...

Apr/22/2013 02:31 PM

Carl Hiaasen: Good news and bad on Miami Dolphins stadium deal
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Carl Hiaasen
BC-HIAASEN-COLUMN:MI (1175 words)
Incredible as it seems, Miami-Dade voters might actually be allowed to decide whether or not tax dollars are used to renovate the Miami Dolphins football stadium. The Miami-Dade Commission has set May 14 for a referendum, contingent on approval by the Legislature. If it comes to pass, the event would be monumental. Seldom is the public given a voice at the ballot box when fat subsidies are ...

Apr/15/2013 09:48 AM

Carl Hiaasen: NRA's task is to frighten, sell more guns
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Carl Hiaasen
BC-HIAASEN-COLUMN:MI (1165 words)
The National Rifle Association wants to give me a "heavy-duty" duffel bag. It's a nice one, too - roomy enough for an AR-15 and maybe a half-dozen 30-round clips. Stitched on the side is a bold-looking NRA patch. The bag is mine if I pay $25 and join up. Like most gun owners in this country, I'm not an NRA member. It's possible that Wayne LaPierre got my name off a mailing list from catalogs ...

Apr/08/2013 09:51 AM

BC-HIAASEN-COLUMN-ADVISORY:MI
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Carl Hiaasen
(52 words)
re HIAASEN-COLUMN:MI (Carl Hiaasen, MI) - Column will not move this week. - (c)2013 The Miami Herald Visit The Miami Herald at www.miamiherald.com Distributed by MCT Information Services

Apr/01/2013 09:44 AM

Carl Hiaasen: Big Sugar's subsidy -- how sweet it is
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Carl Hiaasen
BC-HIAASEN-COLUMN:MI (1071 words)
Cut by cut, the forced budget reductions known as the sequester are beginning to affect millions of Americans. Head Start education programs for low-income students are being slashed. So are medical services for 2 million American Indians living on reservations and in Alaska. The Army is suspending tuition assistance for soldiers hoping to enroll in classes, while scholarship funds have been ...

Mar/25/2013 10:53 AM

Carl Hiaasen: Another scandal in Tallahassee? You bet!
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Carl Hiaasen
BC-HIAASEN-COLUMN:MI (1088 words)
In Florida, not much is asked of the lieutenant governor. It's a sham job, devoid of responsibility. Your typical day is spent attending dull functions that the governor chooses to avoid. Under the best of circumstances you'll serve out your term uneventfully, and unknown to most Floridians. Under the worst of circumstances you'll end up like Jennifer Carroll, a mortifying headline. She ...

Mar/18/2013 09:36 AM