Biden visits Tampa to talk health care as 2024 race looms
TAMPA — President Joe Biden took Air Force One to Tampa on Thursday to tout the accomplishments of his administration so far, and to try to convince Floridians that he is the leader who will help reduce health care costs in the state with the highest percentage of seniors in the country.
In a likely preview of messaging for his yet-to-be-announced reelection campaign, Biden made his case for why he wants to “finish the job” on several of his priorities. The policy-heavy speech in a small, packed room at the University of Tampa’s Plant Hall borrowed much of its material from his State of the Union.
The focus of his visit, which was an official White House event rather than a political one, was primarily to discuss his plans on health care and to protect Social Security and Medicare programs against what he said are threats from Republicans.
He mentioned Gov. Ron DeSantis once, when he criticized the state’s refusal to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act so that more people would be eligible for its benefits. DeSantis was also in Tampa on Thursday afternoon, delivering a speech at a luncheon at the Florida State Fair roughly 10 miles away, where he did not mention Biden.
—Tampa Bay Times
Trump might lose millions in backing from conservative donors
WASHINGTON — Key Republicans are trying to choke off any momentum that former President Donald Trump can build for a third White House campaign to make room for a fresh GOP standard-bearer.
In recent days, two of the most prominent conservative donor groups, the network founded by the billionaire Charles Koch and his late brother David, as well as the anti-tax Club for Growth, indicated their desire for a nominee other than Trump in 2024. Collectively, that amounts to millions of campaign dollars essentially being up for grabs.
The goal of these groups and operatives is to stop Trump before the Republican field gets too crowded, allowing him to galvanize the roughly 30% of GOP voters who he has said would support him even if he shot someone in the middle of Fifth Avenue.
He eked out his 2016 primary victory by relying on that base of support while viciously attacking opponents with nicknames and jabs on Twitter — and Republicans worry he could replicate that for 2024.
—Bloomberg News
Eggs are so expensive, Californians are trying to bring them across the border from Mexico
LOS ANGELES — With egg prices spiking in California, Border Patrol agents have noticed a rise in the number of people trying to bring eggs across the border from Mexico, which is illegal.
Inflation and bird flu have also pushed up egg prices in Mexico, but the cost of a dozen eggs south of the border is still much lower — up to half as much — as in the U.S., tempting some border crossers to look for new ways to fill their fridges with cheaper eggs.
"They are significantly less expensive in Mexico than the U.S.," said Gerrelaine Alcordo, spokesperson for Customs and Border Protection in San Diego. "This is also occurring with added frequency at other Southwest border locations as well."
Despite the potential savings for border crossers, customs officials are warning: Don't try it. Customs and Border Protection's San Diego office tweeted out a reminder last month that uncooked eggs are not allowed into the U.S. from Mexico because of the risk of spreading bird flu and Newcastle disease.
—Los Angeles Times
Former Mexican mayor who directed massive meth shipment to Miami sentenced to 10 years
A former Mexican mayor was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday after pleading guilty to a conspiracy charge accusing him of directing the largest shipment of methamphetamine to Miami-Dade in the county’s history.
Adalberto Comparan-Rodriguez, aka “Fruto,” who authorities say headed the United Cartels in Michoacan while serving as the mayor of Aguililla, Mexico, was extradited in June of last year from Guatemala. He is the last of six defendants to be sent to prison by U.S. District Judge Darrin Gayles in the massive meth case in Miami federal court.
His defense attorney, Rene Sotorrio, filed a batch of letters from family members and other supporters who know Comparan-Rodriguez, seeking lenience from the judge. But under his plea deal, Comparan-Rodriguez, 58, faced a mandatory minimum of 10 years up to life in prison for his conviction on a charge of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute crystal meth in the United States.
The meth-export scheme was hatched in January of 2021 when Comparan-Rodriguez and his partner Alfonso Rustrian met in Cali, Colombia, with a U.S. undercover operative whom they believed to be a money launderer and drug trafficker affiliated with the Islamist militant group Hezbollah, according to an indictment and other court records.
—Miami Herald
