The promised revitalization of downtown Tampa is progressing nicely with the arrival of a new Vietnamese/Asian fusion style restaurant on Tampa Street near Twiggs.  I ducked in to Bamboozle Cafe today and was impressed with the stylish decor, fresh and delicious food and smiling faces behind the counter.

The Pho, (traditional Vietnamese noodle soup) was fragrant and rich and served with the traditional condiments of basil, lime and hot chili sauce, though the bean sprouts were AWOL. My sophisticated lunch mate, Erica  from San Francisco was impressed with the made-to-order spring rolls. I thought the prices were a tad higher than the going rate downtown, but Erica reminded me that the same menu would be twice as high in the other Bay Area.

The Times reports that beer and wine and dinner hours are coming soon.

Tickets are still available for the Florida Aquarium's premier food and wine event  "Sea Grapes" is Saturday night at 7:00. Tickets ain't cheap, but it's a crucial source of revenue for our world class aquarium and you will get your money's worth in first class restaurant fare and fermented grape juice from around the world. Big shots might want to consider the VIP tickets.  Plus,  ABC Action News anchor, Wendy Ryan will join me in hosting the silent auction.  Crab cakes, chilled Sancerre, Wendy Ryan. What more do you want?
 

By Brendan McLaughlin

The "gas tax holiday" promoted by both John McCain and Hillary Clinton is a bad idea on so many levels, it's hard to know where to start.  New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman calls it

"so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away." 

Friedman goes on to say,

 "This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country."

The economic shell game Friedman describes has been policy in the U.S. for many years, but suspending the 18.4 % federal tax on gasoline for the summer makes anyone who drives complicit in the scheme. Worse yet, the plan intended to ease the pain of high prices probably won't. Many economists say the increased demand spurred by the lower pump price will raise the price of gas. And that money will flow to oil companies- not consumers.  State officials say the loss of the tax revenue will halt highway and bridge improvements and cost thousands of jobs.  In other words, the tax holiday is far from free.

Clinton proposes to replace  the lost revenue with a windfall tax on oil companies. McCain will go after the low hanging fruit of government waste and tax money from other sources. Good luck on that. If it's so easy to get your hands on $10 billion dollars (that's how much will be lost during the summer fuel fiesta), then why were we being taxed that 18% in the first place?

Imagine a world where we spent the last eight years paying a couple extra pennies for a gallon of gas. That money funded a Manhattan Project of energy independence that created low cost, solar, hydrogen and wind power.  Today we'd be enjoying cleaner air the satisfaction of telling  OPEC to suck hi-test. Instead we're strapped to a runaway train of oil prices that will sap our personal finances and our nation's ability to educate our children and build our future.  

Maybe it's easy for me to advocate for continued gas taxes because I can live without the estimated savings of $2.70 per fill-up. But doesn't it stand to reason that we might need to sacrifice something in the face of a true crisis?   I maintain that most anyone who doesn't drive for a living could cut their gas consumption by 18.4 percent this summer just  by  thinking twice before pulling out of the garage.  Wouldn't it be more fun to pocket that savings knowing it came out of the fetid mouths of  oil companies and despotic regimes instead of your local highway fund?

One tax expert said the gas holiday is not an idea to get us through the summer. It's an idea to get the candidates through the election. 

Filmaker Manny Mendoza talks about his new documentary on the lamentable state of the daily fishwrap. Whatcha think?  Website for the film is here.

By Brendan McLaughlin

Remember during the housing boom, how every conversation started and ended with how much your house appreciated and how much your neighbor got for that crappy stucco rambler? We were obsessed.  But now that prices have fallen through the floor and sales have dried up... we're still obsessed. And that's a good sign.

A Raymond James Financial sharpie I struck up a conversation with last night at 717 Restaurant told me the time to worry is when people stop caring.  The improvement in Tampa area home sales in March was dismissed as being a function of bank short sales being too cheap to pass up. But my bar buddy believes that shows how people are ready to pounce as soon as prices reflect reality. 

The fact that there's an estimated  five year supply of condos in Florida  should bring despair to sellers, but glee to everyone else.  As long as our financial institutions don't fail, the dream of home ownership (not home investing) will become a reality for more people than ever before. 

At 38, Earth Day is approaching middle age. An age when health habits of exercise sometimes fall by the wayside. So here now are some practical, some obvious and some frankly goofy ways to observe Earth Day on Tuesday and all year round. Check 'em out.

By Brendan McLaughlin

The College of Cardinals  has it figured out. Instead of voting for the candidate who wants the job most, they elect the guy who wants it least.  Joseph Ratzinger tells the story of how he prayed to God that the conclave would choose someone else.  God ignored that prayer and now he's Benedict the XVI with an approval rating up there with Charlie Crist.

The conclaves of knuckleheads we call the Democratic and Republican parties have devised a system where unbridled, ruthless ambition counts for everything. And the closer the candidates get to the finish line, the faster they shed their veneer of independence and integrity. 

The likeable and honorable Fred Thompson went from Reagan redux to Republican reject the moment he was perceived as lacking adequate belly fire. Right when John McCain smelled victory, he started to jettison his long held positions on torture, Bush's tax cuts, ethanol subsidies, agents of intolerance and more. Barack Obama's new brand of politics looks a lot like the old brand and Hillary Clinton has made even her most dedicated supporters wonder if there's anything she won't do or say to win.

I have to believe that candidates make a secret deal with themselves when they so willingly compromise their own convictions to gain a few points in a Rasmussen poll. It goes something like this: 

 "I'm the best person for the job. Everybody on my staff tells me so. Therefore the country needs  me to be President. For the next few months, I'll tell the voters what they want to hear instead of the truth. Then, after I'm sworn in, I'll make the tough calls- I swear."

Cardinal Ratzinger won his election without a single TV ad, press conference or campaign promise. Our Presidential candidates have to work for it, but remember- when they make promises to crack down on Wall Street or maintain entitlement benefits at current levels, just like the chimney at the Sistine Chapel, they're blowing smoke.