Bombshell request to Democrat U.S. Reps at forum: Can you stop dad from being deported at 4 a.m.?

@MarcACaputo

Carlos Rivas was told to keep it short when he asked the four members of Congress a question. They were hungry and the immigration forum in North Miami was running late.

“My dad, he was two months ago arrested by ICE. I have my family right here: My mom and my three brothers and sisters. We don’t know what to do, pretty much,” Rivas, 18 said.

“He’s about to be deported tomorrow at 4 a.m.” he said. “And I wanted to know what you could do for us because right now, I don’t know, I can’t even go to school because I can’t pay for it. I don’t know. What can you do? Is there any help you can try to give us?”

Rep. Frederica Wilson, the Miami Democrat who hosted the forum, was floored.

“Oh my God,” she said. “You know what time?”

Rivas: “4 a.m. in the morning.”

Wilson: “4 am in the morning? Why are you just telling us? We could have helped you perhaps. It’s too late.”

Someone from the audience of 200 or so citizens chimed in: “It’s never too late.”

President Obama's Miami Beach-bound June 12 for DNC fundraiser

@MarcACaputo **Update

President Obama plans to attend a June 12 Democratic National Committee fundraiser at the Miami Beach home of Joseph W. Blount, who gave at least $251,376 to various candidates and committees last year.

General reception: $1,000.

Host Clutch & Reception: $20,000.

Maximum contribution: $32,400

Not quite 'The Hug,' but President Obama praises 'positive force' Marco Rubio on immigration

@MarcACaputo

First dinner with the president? Now some love?

Alas, the handful of Florida tea partiers who rallied against Sen. Marco Rubio for his role in drafting an immigration reform compromise, now have more reason to get all protesty.

Check out what President Obama said about the Republican's handling of immigration as part of the Senate's so-called Gang of Eight.

“I think that he has been a very positive force,” Obama told NBC's Savannah Guthrie, adding he feels this way about "all the senators who’ve been involved."

"We’re a nation of laws and a nation of citizens, that helps our economic growth, that helps us attract incredible talent to our shores. But I also hope that it kinda restarts muscle memory in Congress for getting bipartisan legislation done.”

Obama said he was "reasonably confident" immigration reform would pass.

The bill was released about 2 a.m. The text is here: Download Immigrationbill

Obama has politically been much more helpful to Rubio than many realize. The president's literal embrace of Florida Gov. Charlie Crist in 2009 -- now simply known as "The Hug" -- over the stimulus bill helped seal Crist's fate as a Republican. Rubio used Crist's position on Obama's policy and his contact with the president to chase Crist out of the GOP and then beat him in the general election in 2010 to win his U.S. Senate seat.

Rick Scott talks Moody's-Medicaid bond report, House's Obamacare intransigence

@MarcACaputo

In a just-issued report issued, Moody’s Investor Service warns that public hospitals and those providing loads of charity care could have revenue – and therefore bond problems – in states where legislatures don’t opt to increase Medicaid enrollment under Obamacare.

Moody’s reasoning is simple: less money means more risk for lenders. More risk potentially can mean worse bond ratings. And worse bond ratings can theoretically mean higher payments on debt.

That’s not the primary reason Gov. Rick Scott wants to expand Medicaid, which could give the state a $6.7 billion shot in the arm over three years. But it helps reinforce his argument and the argument of other conservatives, including former Florida House Speaker Tom Feeney, who now heads the Associated Industries of Florida.

Feeney called on the Legislature to look at the report. They probably will, and then go back to refusing to accept the Medicaid money, particularly in the conservative House, where “Obama” is a four-letter word.

Earlier today, we asked Scott about the report and Medicaid. Here’s what he said.

What Beyonce and Rep. Castor have in common: neither cares much about Cuba human rights, says Rep. Diaz-Balart

What do Jay-Z, Beyonce and Tampa U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor have in common?

All went to Cuba last week.

And all have shown relatively little concern for human-rights violations on the island controlled by the Castro dictatorship, said Miami U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who serves with Castor in Congress.

Castor’s office disputed the criticism, pointing to press statements where the Democrat has met with Cuban dissident Yoani Sanchez and called for independent investigations into the deaths of others.

But it’s not enough for Diaz-Balart, a Republican leader in Miami’s exile community who raised questions last week about the legality of Jay-Z and Beyonce’s trip to Cuba. That visit overshadowed one made by Castor, who travelled on an unrelated mission to increase business opportunities between Tampa and Cuba.

“She [Castor] has been consistent in trying to help business groups and big-business interests do business with the dictatorship,” said Diaz-Balart. “Unfortunately, she has not been very concerned about human-rights violations, about demanding freedom of the press... about free elections."

Diaz-Balart noted that Beyonce performed for the family of Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2009 at a private concert attended by Jay-Z and others in the Caribbean.

“She [Beyonce] has a history of not being too concerned about human rights,” Diaz-Balart said.

Marco Rubio: Obama administration should explain how Jay-Bey Cuba trip is legal

@MarcACaputo

A statement from Sen. Marco Rubio on the now-controversial Cuba trip taken by entertainers Jay-Z and Beyonce:

“U.S. law clearly bans tourism to Cuba by American citizens because it provides money to a cruel, repressive and murderous regime.  Since their inception, the Obama Administration’s 'people to people' cultural exchange programs have been abused by tourists who have no interest in the Cuban people’s freedom and either don’t realize or don’t care that they’re essentially funding the regime’s systematic trampling of people’s human rights.

“According to recent news reports, Jay-Z and Beyonce’s Cuba trip, which the regime seized on for propaganda purposes, was fully licensed by the Treasury Department.  If true, the Obama Administration should explain exactly how trips like these comply with U.S. law and regulations governing travel to Cuba and it should disclose how many more of these trips they have licensed.”

Obama makes quick stop under Miami's seaport

@PatriciaMazzei

President Barack Obama traveled briefly to — and under — PortMiami on Friday afternoon to push for new ways to secure private dollars for big-ticket projects to renovate highways, bridges, pipes and schools.

Obama toured the port tunnel being built under Biscayne Bay and then praised the project as an example of the local, state and federal government working together, and with private companies, to grow the economy and create construction jobs.

“We still have too many ports that aren’t equipped for today’s world commerce,” the president said. “We’ve still got too many rail lines that are too slow and clogged up. We’ve still got too many roads that are in disrepair, too many bridges that aren’t safe.”

Obama spoke to port workers, business people and politicians gathered at a cargo shipping area lined with containers. He began by noting the spring weather and addressing what he called a “sticky subject” — basketball.

“I know you guys aren’t happy with my Chicago Bulls,” he said, as the crowd booed. “But I just want you to know the Heat are going to be just fine.”

“The Hurricanes, they had a great season,” he added. “Tonight you’ve got Florida and Florida Gulf Coast going at it ... So, let’s face it, Florida is the center of basketball right now.”

Then he turned to the matter at hand: infrastructure.

To promote more private investment in public projects, Obama proposed raising the caps on certain state and local bonds to lower project financing costs and making the bonds available to more types of projects; exempting foreign pension funds from taxes when they want to invest in U.S. infrastructure, as is already done for American pension funds, and spending an additional $4 billion for two programs that have provided loans and grants to projects.

More here.

Marco Rubio op-ed: President Obama's policies don't help Miami's middle class

In a Miami Herald op-ed Friday, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, urged President Barack Obama to think of policies to help small businesses, immigrants and the middle class grow. Obama is scheduled to visit PortMiami in the afternoon to promote investment in highways and other public works projects.

From Rubio's op-ed:

As President Obama arrives in Miami Friday to discuss the economy, I welcome and encourage him to visit some of South Florida’s many small businesses. Our community’s job creators would certainly discuss with him — as they often do with me all over town — how much more difficult operating a business has become in today’s economy because of the regulations and policies coming out of Washington.

President Obama should also listen to the stories of many of my neighbors to get a true sense of the effect more tax increases and spending hikes will have on our nation’s middle class. By listening to them, he would learn that many aspects of policies like Obamacare have ended up hurting many middle-class families instead of helping them. He would find that the expanding role of our government has created uncertainty by establishing rules that many small businesses can’t afford to follow.

Miami is where I learned that America’s private sector — if allowed to operate freely — is the greatest engine for prosperity and economic mobility the world has ever known. I learned this by watching my parents work hard in middle-class jobs, which existed because someone started a business and was successful enough to hire them. It was these jobs and my parents’ efforts that allowed me to live a better life than theirs. Had there been burdensome regulations or taxes on these businesses, the owners may not have been able to keep my parents on staff, or they might have reduced their hours to part-time. Either would have been devastating to our family.

More here.

President Obama to visit PortMiami

@PatriciaMazzei

President Barack Obama will visit PortMiami when he comes into town Friday to speak about the economy.

More details of Obama's trip have yet to become available. But it's a high-profile visit for the port, which has been getting a lot of bipartisan attention recently from elected officials. Republican Gov. Rick Scott acknowledged Port Director Bill Johnson during his annual "state of the state" speech earlier this month.

The governor touted the jobs to be created by a port dredging project.

Q Poll: Hillary Clinton wallops Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio in their home state of FL

@MarcACaputo

Sorry Jeb, Marco.

Florida is Hillary country, according to Quinnipiac’s latest* 2016 presidential matchup.

The former secretary of state and New York senator would beat each Florida resident by 11 points, the poll shows. She bests Bush 51-40 and Rubio by a 52-41 percent spread.

Clinton’s likely biggest advantage: Women. They back Clinton over Bush and Rubio by 20 and 18 percentage points, respectively.