Steel-Toed Integrity

This entry is part 5 of 6 in the series 2026 Elections

When something breaks in the real world, you don’t call a politician to give a speech; you call someone with a toolbox to fix it. That is the leadership Brian Nathan offers Senate District 14. A Navy veteran and IBEW electrician who chose Tampa as his home during the Great Recession, Brian brings a craftsman’s perspective to a political system that is deeply broken.

Read about Brian’s vision for “steel-toed integrity”—a philosophy born on the job site that prioritizes practical solutions for working families over political theater. He is running to fight for affordable housing, good-paying local jobs, and quality education.

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The High Price of “Nice”: What Karen Gonzalez Pittman is Actually Costing South Tampa

This entry is part 3 of 6 in the series 2026 Elections

Is your State Rep costing you money?

On paper, Representative Karen Gonzalez Pittman fits South Tampa perfectly. She’s polished, presentable, and active in the community. If you met her at a Palma Ceia mixer, you’d think, “Now, there’s a reasonable person.” But for the wealthy and aspirational residents of District 65, voting for Pittman has become an expensive illusion. You think you’re voting for stability, but you’re actually paying a premium for a representative who consistently prioritizes Tallahassee’s culture war performance art over your bank account.

The most glaring receipt is your property insurance bill. For years, the Republican supermajority, of which Pittman is a loyal member, has promised that if we protected insurance companies from lawsuits, rates would trickle down. Pittman voted for every one of those protections. Yet, while your premiums have doubled, she and her colleagues have spent the legislative session banning books and policing bathrooms rather than fixing the financial crisis that is actually threatening our property values.

There’s a high cost to the “anti-woke” agenda, and South Tampa homeowners are paying it. This is a clear example of Patrimonialism: the state is run for insiders, while regular people get worse service and pay more. It’s time to see what her “nice” image is really costing you.

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From Suppression to Sellout: The Laurel Lee Playbook

This entry is part 1 of 6 in the series 2026 Elections

A recent critique of Laurel Lee’s time as Florida Secretary of State shows her history of voter suppression, but her actions in Congress are an even bigger betrayal. She has voted against jobs and insulin price caps, and taken large corporate donations while her district faces high housing costs. Lee has shown she works for special interests, not FL-15 families.

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A Speech Built on Sand. Fact-Checking the President’s Address

Last night’s prime-time presidential address was sold as a report to the nation. What it delivered was more like a campaign rally with a White House backdrop.

We were told inflation has been “stopped,” prices are “coming down fast,” the border is “fully secure,” wars have been ended, and the economy is suddenly the hottest in the world. The problem is that many of these claims aren’t true, and others are so exaggerated that they lose all contact with reality. Public data on inflation, jobs, migration, and global conflicts tell a far more complicated story than the one presented on screen.

The speech also leaned heavily into partisan attacks, repeatedly blaming Democrats and President Biden while offering little effort to speak to the country as a whole. Even new announcements, such as a promised cash payment to service members, were floated without any explanation of their legality or funding. Symbolism replaced substance. Confidence stood in for evidence.

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Is the Tail (Tale?) About to Wag the Dog?

Over the past week, the administration has steadily ratcheted up the drumbeat against Venezuela. Two more alleged “drug boats” were destroyed in the Caribbean, again without publicly released evidence. A sudden announcement of an embargo on ships carrying Venezuelan oil. The quiet but unmistakable presence of the largest U.S. aircraft carrier and its support fleet repositioned into the Caribbean. And now, after days of escalating rhetoric, a prime-time address to the nation.
Taken individually, each move could be explained away. Together, they form a pattern that deserves attention. This is not routine counternarcotics enforcement. This is coercive signaling, and it is happening at a moment when the president faces mounting pressure at home.
When facts are thin, and spectacle is thick, motives matter. History teaches us to be cautious when presidents under domestic strain suddenly discover urgent foreign enemies. The timing alone should give us pause.

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United Healthcare and the Theater of the Absurd

nited Healthcare just sent me a letter asking about my “dialysis treatments” for a claim from July 2025. Small problem. I wasn’t on Medicare in July. I’ve never had dialysis. And the provider was BayCare Imaging. which does… imaging.

After 2 hours and 57 minutes on the phone with five reps who couldn’t grasp any of this. I’m sending them a bill for my time. Welcome to the American healthcare system. Pull up a chair.

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This Is What You Bought With Your Vote

Millions of Americans voted for Donald Trump in 2024, believing he would deliver for farmers, the working class, retirees, and the forgotten small towns. But as his administration’s policies take shape, those same groups are paying the price. Hospitals are closing across rural America. Farmers are watching debts rise as export markets disappear. Working-class families face climbing health costs. Retirees are seeing threats to the Social Security and Medicare benefits they worked their lives to earn.

This essay traces the immediate fallout of those choices, showing how the policies now harming these voters were exactly what Trump promised to do. It’s not betrayal. It’s follow-through. The question is whether Americans are ready to face the consequences of what their ballots actually bought.

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No Longer as Predators, But as Pilgrims

In the wake of a cruel and deeply unjust budget bill passed by the U.S. Congress, I feel compelled to speak out—not just as a citizen, but as a Christian, a United Methodist, and someone at retirement age who will soon depend on the very programs now under attack. This essay is a moral response to a political failure. It is a call to conscience. We are not meant to live as predators. We are meant to walk together, as pilgrims.

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Election 2024 – Hope for Better is All I’ve Got

One of the most frustrating aspects of this election has been watching Republicans continuously out-message Democrats. The GOP has mastered the art of stirring up fear and resentment, delivering simple but powerful narratives that resonate deeply. Instead of speaking to unity and progress, they speak directly to anxieties and frustrations, offering voters someone to blame for every challenge and setback.

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Marva Johnson-Spectrum Douche Bag of the Day

This entry is part 38 of 54 in the series Daily Douche-Bag

Marva Johnson. Here’s a name you may not know, but you’d better learn who she is, and what here (and apparently her employer’s) agenda is for public education. She also is chair of the Florida State Board of Education, appointed by Gov. Rick Scott in 2014. In addition, In March, the governor appointed her to the 37-member statewide Constitutional Revision Commission.

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H-1B Visas – The Joke’s On Us

Recently, I caught a story of an IT firm in Iowa that posted an advertisement for an H1-B only person. The ad by American Technology Consulting, posted to the recruiting website ZipRecruiter, sought a java developer to work in San Diego. Initially, it stated “H1B Only,” but has now been changed. This seems to bring home something I’ve seen frequently, and that is a perceived abuse of the H1-B program. I say perceived, because the law has changed so much people who passed it in 1952 wouldn’t recognize it.

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