By Chris Ingram

The Tampa Tribune

Published Tuesday, February 16, 2013

Last week I took my girls to the public library to check out some books, and they asked whether they could get their own library card. The librarian said they could but that their cards would be tied to my card for fines. She also said we would need to produce a birth certificate, Social Security card, report card or some similar type of “official item” with their names on it to prove their identity.

I asked her why something official is needed, and she explained that people were getting cards for kids who did not exist, and not returning items. She said this was occurring before the library started tying youth accounts to an adult’s. So why, with the accounts tied together, do I still need to provide a document with the kids’ name on it? She said she agrees it is unnecessary now but that she does not make the rules.

As countless motorists know, if you are renewing a driver’s license, you need tons of documentation to prove your identity. Stories persist of Read the rest of this entry »

By Chris Ingram

The Tampa Tribune

Published Tuesday, February 12, 2013

The fact that Jim Greer pleaded guilty Monday to grand theft and money laundering (a fraud charge was dropped), has the Republican Party of Florida and many current and former elected Republicans, as well as former Gov. Charlie Crist (who is now a Democrat) breathing a sigh of relief.

Whether those officials had anything to worry about or not, we may never know. But they are doubtlessly happy that Greer’s trial — which was bound to have a circus-like atmosphere — will not take place. Had the trial occurred, Greer — the former party chairman whose oversized frame competed with his oversized ego — had promised lots of dirt on a who’s who of Florida politics, including Crist, former Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, former U.S. Sen. George LeMieux, former Republican Party of Florida Chairman John Thrasher, former Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon, former Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos and House Speaker Will Weatherford.

Photo: Jim Greer cuts up his RPOF Amex. card.

The subject matter during the trial was certain to include Greer’s claims that party leaders were aware of Read the rest of this entry »

By Chris Ingram

The Tampa Tribune

Published Tuesday, February 5, 2013

If Charles Manson showed up at your door and offered you a free box of Girl Scout cookies, would it make you forget about his evil ways?

If you were a public school teacher who hasn’t had a pay raise in years, and Gov. Rick Scott offered you a $2,500 pay raise (merit pay be damned), would it make you forget that he cut  more than a billion dollars in the state’s education budget his first year in office and indirectly cut your take-home pay by 3 percent?

If you were a member of the Florida Legislature who sees himself as a team-playing, collaborative kind of guy who likes to plan spending and budgets, and things like pay raises for teachers, would it bother you that you learned of the governor’s $2,500 pay-raise-for-teachers plan by reading about it in the paper?

If you were a police officer or firefighter and learned that if you were to become permanently disabled on the job, you wouldn’t receive a dime in pension disability payments under proposed changes to the GOP’s pension reform plan, would you respond to a burglary  or fire at Scott’s mansion in Naples?

If you were a dog and Scott adopted you, would you Read the rest of this entry »

By Chris Ingram

The Tampa Tribune

Published Wednesday, January 31, 2013

“Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it whether it exists or not, diagnosing it incorrectly, and applying the wrong remedy.” — Ernest Benn, British author

Apparently having given up completely on the idea of individual freedom, free markets and fewer government regulations, the Republican-dominated Florida Legislature is considering a bill (SB 100) sponsored by Rep. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, that would prohibit employers from considering a prospective employee’s credit report as a part of the hiring process.

This ill-conceived attempt to help curve Florida’s dismal employment numbers wrongly assumes several things and ignores other more important considerations. In essence, this bill is a politician’s attempt to heal a heart attack victim by placing a Band-Aid on another patient’s broken toe. One can only assume this is being done because said politician has no idea how to heal the heart attack victim.

In this case, the heart attack represents Read the rest of this entry »

Chris Ingram interviewed by Dan Maduri on AM 820 Tampa

Topics: Jim Greer trial, Rick Scott’s reelection, Charlie Crist and what’s wrong with the GOP

Click here to listen.

Photo: Dan Maduri

By Chris Ingram

My wife Amy and I lost our Gasparilla virginity yesterday. Neither of us being fans of big drunken crowds had since avoided the festivities on Bayshore like the plague. Last year we were invited to attend Mayor Buckhorn’s tent but couldn’t go. Invited again this year, we left the kids with friends and made our way down to Bayshore to attend the annual event. We had a good time people watching. Some photos of the festivities are shown below. Gasparilla wasn’t on our “bucket list” but at least we can now say we’ve done it.

Click any photo to enlarge.

Read the rest of this entry »