Jerry Waxman

It's been almost a month since I've submitted any articles and my editor is getting antsy. "What do I pay you for?" he asks, to which I reply "You don't. I do this for love." "I love you" he says, and for the time being that's enough. I have to...

Dance programs on radio were nothing new in 1957. They had been around in one form or another since the dance marathons of the Depression years. Swing bands used to do remote national hookups into living rooms across the country and the kids used to dance at their house parties...

It was a hastily cobbled together series of rallies on May 10, throughout the state of Florida in opposition to Governor Rick Scott's and the veto-proof Legislature's Machiavellian budget cuts that will adversely affect education, health care, the environment and much needed social programs. Awake the State reported that there...

The great trumpeter and American icon, Louis Armstrong, was once asked by an interviewer "What is Jazz?" Armstrong responded, "Man, if I have to explain it to you, you'll never know," or words to that effect. That statement currently applies to today's right wing assault on all forms of governing...

There's something different happening in the State of Florida -- something unique. After almost thirteen years of Republican rule (certainly not governance), ordinary Floridians -- you know, the people that our governors and legislator refer to as "The taxpayers" that they claim to represent -- are beginning to awaken from...

The heavily Republican-controlled Florida Legislature has been hard at work for the last few weeks drafting draconian legislation that would strip teachers of tenure, negate their advanced degrees and length of service for salary consideration and install a merit pay system that would reward results based on test scores rather...

When the news of the earthquake in Haiti hit the first thing I did was take out my expired passport and look up the last time I had been there. It was July 31, 1987. My first trip had been in April of 1978. My brother and I had just...

It was a weather-perfect Friday afternoon when Rep. Suzanne Kosmas's entire office staff decided to take the afternoon off. They knew what was coming: a 4:30 protest of her position on the Health Care bill. The rally, organized by Tony Scelzo of AFSCME and Jennifer Kenny of FLARA, focused on...

About the only thing that George Will and I do agree on is our undying, unyielding, unrequited love of baseball. We're also both at an age where the names in Dave Frishberg's hauntingly beautiful ode to the game, "Van Lingle Mungo," were instantly recognizable and, in some cases, still playing...

This report is part of Bearing Witness 2.0.

The press conference started at 12:00 on Tuesday, September 29th outside of Humana's headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida. This wasn't the usual group of activists rallying for health care reform; this was a 21st century version of the Over...

Jerry Waxman reported from Orlando, FL, as part of HuffPost's Eyes & Ears Town Hall Watch.

Orlando, Florida -- "Shame on us!" admonished Monica Russo to the assembled 1100 participants at the Floridians Rally for Health Care Reform: "Shame on us!" She used the phrase...

On August 14, Orange County Democratic Executive Committee (DEC) members received word that Congressman Alan Grayson (D-FL) was to be a special guest at our monthly meeting and would update us on the current state of the health care legislation in Congress. On August 16, Grayson announced that he...

I've been deluged over the last six months by all kinds of letter-writing and petition requests from every progressive committee and cause that has my email address. There are also one or several conservative groups that continue to send me stuff. I read their stuff just for laughs, but honestly...

"I'm always a flop at a top-notch affair, but I've still got my health, so what do I care? My best ring, alas, is a glass solitaire, but I still got my health, so what do I care?"

From the Cole Porter musical Panama Hattie, 1940

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Organizers for ACORN held a press conference on the steps of the Osceola County Courthouse in Kissimmee, Florida on Tuesday, April 28 at 1:00 PM to introduce a mediation program designed to help homeowners under threat of foreclosure stay in their homes. ACORN members Anne Busby and Robert Benech, members...

When we think of a Sheriff, most of us tend to think of the Wild West and for good reasons. Early 1950s movies made icons of lawmen like Bat Masterson, Wild Bill Hickok, Pat Garrett and Wyatt Earp, who made their reputations with their guns.

John Wayne made a...

I've been blessed over the years to have worked with some incredible talent on stage, whose ability to communicate holds me in awe. J. D. Sutton is a gifted actor who, for two and a half hours, so completely commands your attention, you don't realize the time has elapsed. Ten...

Jerry Waxman is an OffTheBus grassroots correspondent. Each week he contributes a campaign journal documenting his life out on the trail.

Sat. Oct 11. Today is the next phase of Get Out The Vote. We have scheduled a meeting at 9:30 AM of all volunteers to kick off the campaign....

I have made a personal commitment to give at least twenty hours a week to the Obama campaign serving in whatever capacity they need. At the moment, I've been made a team leader for my district in East Orlando. In order to effectively lead the team I've been on the...

I have made a personal commitment to give at least twenty hours a week to the Obama campaign serving in whatever capacity they need. At the moment, I've been made a team leader for my district in East Orlando. In order to effectively lead the team I've been on the...