Castor to Obama: Lift Bush Cuba restrictions

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, wants the incoming Obama adminsitration to reverse the Bush administration's tough restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba.

Under an executive order signed by President Bush, Cuban-Americans are permitted to travel to Cuba to visit close relatives only once every three years. They also may send relatives no more than $300 a year.

"The current restrictions ... bring hardship to the people of Cuba and their family members here in America, many of whom live in my home state of Florida and are my neighbors here in Tampa Bay," Castor wrote Obama in a letter dated today. "The restrictions have proven ineffective in altering the political situation and interfere with fundamental family relations and human rights."

She wrote that relatives in the United States have a hard time visiting sick or dying relatives in Cuba because of "bureaucratic red tape." While the brutal Castro regime should be punished, she wrote, "we cannot allow our policies to bring more hardship to those we intend to help."

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Comments

Bush III policies: Clinton II scandals: Change you can believe in.

I don't understand how the Bush regime can bend over backwards to defend free trade with the Communist Chinese, and yet cling so idealisticly to their boycott of Cuba. Oh, wait a minute - all those US workers out of jobs because of China are probably Democrats, but those Cuban expats are part of the Republican coalition of the ignorant. Never mind.

Problem Solved!

what the heck does 2:39 mean?

bush III? clinton II? uh?

[Chris Brudy]

Some say the Tampa Cubans are more ready for a detente than the Miami Cubans, if only because most of the Hispanic families in the Tampa Bay area came here with the cigar industry long before Castro showed up. The Cubans in Miami came later, chased out by Fidel, and so have a higher average resentment.

But time goes buy, and the hard core reactionaries are dying off. Cathy Castor is betting on the higher tolerances of the younger generations.

Hope I'm right.

the myth of the cuban influence.

[Bleat!]

3:18 Cut the McToady at 2:39 some slack; everyone in the Rove office has been unemployed since the Obama Landslide, and rock is hard to come by. He just has to put his oar in the water every now and then to reasssure himself that he can still swiftboat if called upon.

If you alter the ban, why only apply changes to family members...

Consider what a bunch of American tourists and the image of a better way of life that would be presented to the people of Cuba...

We trade freely with nations that have killed Americans in war (Japan, Viet Nam, China, Germany) but not with Cuba. Why not Cuba? Because Castro did one thing that the forementioned countries did not - he took the property of CORPORATE AMERICA. The embargo comes down to the spiteful influence of Big Business in our government.
Time to end the embargo.

5:07

He took the property of many Cuban families as well

Make the embargo and the restrictions even tighter.

6:48. I realize that, but if you want it back - go get it. Fight for it! Just sitting here in south Florida for 50 years waiting for the US government to get it back for you has done nothing.
It's well beyond time to end the embargo.

[John McAuliff]

Excellent initiative on behalf of Cuban Americans. Obama also needs to use his executive power in a non-discriminatory manner that permits non-tourist travel for the rest of us (education, humanitarian, religious, sports, culture, "support for the Cuban people").
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/obamacuba/

OBAMA HAS ENOUGH PROBLEMS W/ BLAGOGATE

[Paulette]

End the Embargo. period. Castor's "travel" plans are not the answer.

Way back in '61 when the Embargo began, the 2 ways for it to be lifted were:

1. Cuba must end all efforts to spread revolution in our hemisphere;
2. Cuba must sever its military ties with the former Soviet Union.
Done.

The US never demanded that Cuba become a democracy or adopt a market economy.

Imagine the business (aka $$$) the city of Tampa via the Port of Tampa could ensure if the Embargo was dismantled. Just imagine.

10:09

It'll be 10 years before Cuba has an economy to buy things from Tampa full scale.

And they'll be buying from Mobile and New Orleans, who both have the capacity to send the goods Cubans will want (cars, manufacturing equipment) that Tampa does not yet have the infrastructure for.

I don't disagree that the embargo should be lifted, but don't hang your hat on millions $ to be made for Tampa becasue of it.

10:20 you are out of it! Every other country is enjoying helping Cuba rebuild! They are making money and we are sitting there picking our nose because some old Cubans were in the bay of pigs! There kids and grandchildren want to visit family while they are still living over there and present them with the fruits of their success in America!

[10:20's shadow]

hmmm... Port of Tampa is a lot closer than Mobile or New Orleans. And if the Port doesn't have the infrastructure .... why the heck not?

Until you've spoken with the Cuban officials to quantify your statement, don't rain on the reports from those same officials.

Paulette says:

2. Cuba must sever its military ties with the former Soviet Union.
Done.

Maybe you need to click the link to get up to date.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/12/16/2447222.htm?section=justin

We need more workers to do the "jobs Americans will not do"

Does anyone know if the Cubans can build cars?

Lift the Embargo!!!!

[12:10's shadow]

The Soviet Union is no more. Maybe you hadn't been born yet - or were sleeping through the 90's. the russian federation is very different than the old communist nation, known as the sovient nation.

get with the times buddy - or maybe you're afraid of a nation without a real armed forces. How many warships, soldiers or even planes does the Cuban nation consist of? Do a bit more research.

[theloneconsumer]

The Florida GOP with Armando Guttierriez has been using the Cuba Castro thing to control the Hispanic vote. Unfortunately, no one was watching from the GOP camp the tremendous amount of discussion last YEAR about the Cuban opinion (especially younger ones) with the new travel restrictions and thoughts.
Because the Florida press did their own polls and discovered most of the Hispanics were not Cubans and did not feel the same for the hard line attitudes Bush controlled their vote with in the past.

Tampa Cubans are "closer" to Cuba and prepared with the Port of Tampa for the money making shipments that can occur.

Of course, dirty secret Jeb Bush was in Cuba with his business partners at a business fair 10 years ago, and their was an embargo they were violating when his brother was president..Oops!

12:25 are you out of your mind? Russia is no threat to us? Nah, old Putin (ex-KGB leader) is a great guy.

Have you heard about the invasion of Georgia (not our neighbor to the north)?

Have you heard the saber rattling about Poland putting up a defense shield and other breakaways trying to join NATO?

Have you heard the Russian response?

Have you noted their support for Iran with weapons that kill American soldiers?

I know you are so very smart and up on history so tell us when the last time we had Russian warships 90 miles from our shores?

By the way genius, it was never known as the “soviet nation”.

Try educating yourself to avoid opening your mouth about something you obviously know nothing about.

I hope they lift the embargo so we have a cheap alternative to Mexican beaches.

I have an idea, lets set build a bunch of casinos and let the mob run it. Just think about $49 per day, all-inclusive!

And don't forget the rum and cigars!

Yeah I'm sure Obama will jump right on that; nice work Kathy!

First on his plate is to normalize relations with Al Qaeda. You know, Bush really screwed that one up!

[Your Boss - Grover Norquist]

2:31 I see you're finally back from lunch, minion. Better hop on over to the Scarborough thread; they're bashing Sansom again and he needs some of your obtuse lies and spin. I realize what he's done is indefensible, but even a criminal deserves the benefit of a PR hack to raise a few doubts in the public mind. Get busy and earn your keep!

3:26 Just a couple questions:

Who is Scarborough?
What does Sansom have to do with Obama and Al Qaeda?

Oh and please get your Thesaurus out and try using some new words. We had enough of your obtuse, minion and Norquista cr@p pre-election. Try these:

Dull-Witted, Simple-Minded, slow, thick, stupid, imperceptive

Follower, gofer, hanger-on, crony, underling, subordiante

One more thing; would you celebrate the news if Obama and Osama met and hashed out our differences?

3:26 -

Does that mean Sands is a criminal also?

Two peas in a pod, those guys...

Isn't Obama that terrorist guy?

Not a terrorist, but definitely part of the Chicago Crime Family...

Chicago Crime Family = Terrorists

What happened to:

"you can't get real change in Washington by just moving the same people to different chairs"

[Your CFO - Jack Abramoff]

Dull-witted follower: I hardly consider you my crony, no matter how slow, thick, stupid and imperceprive you may be. Why should I get out my Thesaurus when I've got underlings like you to do it for me?

Regarding Obama and Al Qaeda and that failed pre-election Rove Memo garbage; it has nothing to do with your job at hand, which is inventing lies and spin to distract attention away from our simple-minded Speaker.

So cut the cr@p and get your gofer rear over to the Scarborough thread and get busy. Here's the link you inept minion:

http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2008/12/scarborough-rip.html

What happen to:

Obama said that he would "pay for every dime" of his new programs with spending cuts

3:57 I guess I hit a nerve there smart guy. As always you hide behind the anonymity of the Internet, never daring to speak to someone in person as you do here.

Do us all a favor and dry up, get a job and pay some freaking taxes. You and your ilk are a drain on this Barney Frank & CoTM economic collapse. And please, do not use the old excuse that Bush is poisoning us with chemicals in the contrails of airplanes.

At least, your measly earnings will make up for some of the shortfall Charlie Rangle caused with his tax evasion scheme.

Dolt

[Your (appreciative) Boss - Grover Norquist]

4:10 Bravo, minion! A clever ploy indeed! Now I see why Karl hired you straight out of the Young Republicans. Every Buzz reader has been so aghast at your little Kool-Aid acid persecution trip that all anti-Sansom posts have fallen by the wayside! Those hallucinations about the Dems being somehow responsible for our Great Bush Depression of 2008; priceless! Everyone will be scratching their heads and wondering just who your supplier is. They'll be too disoriented to attack Ray for hours. Please accept my sincere apology for my previous heavy-handed treatment - you're just the kind of obtuse dolt we need on our next conservative run for the Presidency in 2040.