* That was a thoughtful op-ed piece that attorney Christian Waugh penned earlier this week for the Tampa Bay Times. Waugh, a member of the Fifth Judicial Circuit Nominating Commission and a former president of the University of Florida’s Economics Society, noted how Florida’s considerable role in international trade could be enhanced even more. All it would take is Congress re-upping Trade Promotion Authority legislation.
The TPA, which actually expired in 2007, improves chances of the U.S. striking new international trade agreements. Given that Florida is one of the top five exporting states in the country, it could only help.
Interesting but hardly surprising is that a piece devoted to looking for ways to better Florida’s economy via exports doesn’t even mention the role of the Cuban embargo. But it does mention in the bio note that Waugh’s law firm has offices in the Villages and Miami.
* Granted, President Barack Obama’s poll numbers have been tanking. The sloppy roll-out of the Affordable Care Act, of course, is a major reason. Thus, it’s no surprise that the president would look for a way to take back some of the initiative and try to make the healthcare.gov case to a key constituency: younger voters, sardonically labeled “invincibles” for their mortality-defying healthcare mentalities. We get such a strategic attempt before the signup period ends March 31.
What’s not as getable is the forum chosen: the irreverent, Zach Galifianakos-hosted online show, Between Two Ferns. Obama obviously saw it as the pragmatic price to be paid to possibly reach a key demographic. Others assuredly saw it as the further demeaning of the office of the presidency: maybe Hangover III.
Time was when you would see a Bill Clinton playing safe sax on the Arsenio Hall late-night show. John F. Kennedy even went on the old Tonight Show with Jack Paar back in the day. But both were presidential CANDIDATES.
Now it’s almost routine to see this sitting president–who is, admittedly, quick and funny in such contexts–joining Leno and Fallon, let alone Stewart and Colbert. There’s demographic, cultural and technological reach–and there’s Funnyordie.com ridicule. That shouldn’t be a viable trade-off for whoever occupies the office of the president of the United States, let alone one struggling to be taken seriously by a divisive, cheap-shotting electorate.
* CNN’s Candy Crawley played gotcha with Charlie Crist recently when she asked him whether he thought “the economy is better than it was when (Gov. Scott) took office.” She said she wanted a “yes” or “no” answer. She got her “yes” with context: Crist said the turnaround began at the end of his term when he accepted the federal stimulus money.
Here’s hoping Crawley saves some gotcha material for Rick Scott. To wit: “Had you been governor then instead of Crist, would you have accepted the stimulus money that arguably saved thousands of teacher, law enforcement and firefighter jobs?” And: “We see the improved economic numbers in Florida over the last few years. Did Florida have the option of participating in the national recovery? A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will suffice.”