Central Florida - The US and Cuba have been talking and many Florida businesses think its a good thing. If trade and travel open between the US and Cuba, Florida ports, airports and businesses would prosper. According to TravelCubaNow.com, Ending the Cuban Embargo Benefits Florida’s Economy:

The state of Florida may have the most to gain from ending the Cuban embargo. The southern most point of the U.S., Key West, Florida is within a hundred miles of Cuba. Florida’s ports would benefit from the large amounts of cargo that would be shipped to Cuba. The ports would also benefit as many early travelers to Cuba would opt to cruise there since hotel facilities do not yet exist to accommodate tourists bound for this new destination.

Central Florida - The election of Barrack Obama could help ease travel and trade restrictions against the island nation of Cuba and Florida could be the chief be beneficiary. According to business groups:

“We support the complete removal of all trade and travel restrictions on Cuba. We recognize that change may not come all at once, but it must start somewhere, and it must begin soon,”

The groups included American Farm Bureau Federation, Business Roundtable, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Retail Federation and Grocery Manufacturers Association, whose collective membership comprises a broad cross-section of American industry and agriculture according to this article from Reuters.

Trade and Travel with Cuba could be a boon to Florida’s ports, airports and construction industries according to information from TravelCubaNow.com.

Orlando, FL - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced that beginning Jan. 12, 2009, eligible citizens or nationals from all Visa Waiver Program (VWP) countries must obtain approval through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) prior to traveling to the United States under the VWP.  The citizens or nationals of the following countries are currently eligible to travel to the United States under the VWP: Andorra, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. DHS also formally announces the addition of seven allies to the list of countries authorized to participate in the VWP.  The seven countries are the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, the Republic of Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, and Slovakia.

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Juno Beach, FL - A climate change bill approved by a Senate subcommittee Thursday would reward the country’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide and fails to provide a reliable mechanism to prevent possible massive economic damage, the head of one of the country’s largest electric power companies said today.

“I acknowledge and applaud the willingness of key senators to try and address the important issue of global climate change. Unfortunately, the bill they have proposed, if left unchanged, would reward the country’s biggest emitters of carbon dioxide with billions of dollars of free allowances that they don’t need. Moreover, the bill contains no clear ‘safety valve,’ to ensure that we don’t inadvertently damage the economy,” said Lewis Hay, III, Chairman and CEO of FPL Group Inc. (NYSE:FPL), which operates the country’s largest wind and solar power generating facilities. His comments came after a subcommittee of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee voted 4-3 to move the America’s Climate Security Act (S. 2191) to the full committee for hearings and a markup.

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Florida – Florida Health Insurance Web, in its continuing series, examines the 2008 presidential race and its impact on the State of Florida and how the election may effect Florida Health Insurance benefits and available rates. Morgan Moran in a phone interview said the “sadly the Republican candidates offer little to help Florida’s uninsured.” Insurance consultant Moran said, If you’re one of the tens of million Americans without coverage, or if you don’t like the coverage you have, “next November you will have a chance to pick the person who will deliver the best health care plan.” So far, “the Democrats seem to be winning the health insurance debate.

The State of Florida is home to millions of uninsured residents. According to health insurance experts, most Floridians cannot afford the health care plans currently offered in the state, or they simply hope for the best, and live without health insurance at all. “If you are one of those millions in Florida without medical coverage; you might want to take a close look at each the 2008 Candidates for President, and see where they stand on health care,” said Morgan Moran, a Florida health insurance consultant.

Tancredo favors association health plans which band small businesses together to access lower cost insurance.  

Last night Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton spoke about her health care plan which, according to Moran, “gives the choice of health insurance plans to pick from and, Clinton said her insurance coverage plans will be affordable.” Clinton also said, if you like the health insurance plan you currently have, you can keep it, or switch to a less expensive plan.

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