Making the Grade: New Smyrna Beach Balloon and SkyFest soars to new heights

Grade: A

New Smyrna Beach's fourth annual Balloon and SkyFest was a monumental success and has become the signature event for the coastal city with lots of family fun and certainly a crowd pleaser with the array of aerial displays. There was something for everyone at the New Smyrna Beach Municipal Airport, from balloon rides, to air shows and carnival rides.

There were a lot of educational displays as well. This was a tremendous draw for balloon and air show enthusiasts near and far.

Finally, Santorum chooses to suspend his campaign

Grade: B

Rick Santorum waited too long to pack it in in the Republican primaries with frontrunner Mitt Romney the apparent nominee from the onset. Santorum waited too long to get out. Rather than spending vast amounts of donated money bashing his fellow Republicans, Santorum should have conceded he didn’t have a chance a couple of months ago. Perhaps it’s hard to give up such a lofty dream and we should be thankful people are willing to step up.  

Implementing “the Buffett Rule”

Grade: D

Okay, so Warren Buffett thinks millionaires should pay a more “fair share” of taxes; i.e. a tax on “the rich.” Working hard and getting rich used to be the goal of nearly everyone in America. Now we have nearly 50% of our citizens receiving some sort of government entitlement. Class warfare hasn’t worked in other societies and it won’t work here. Dump 60% of government regulations and watch the economy soar. 

Florida Supreme Court hears another term limits argument

Grade: C

The state's high court just doesn’t listen to the will of the people. Florida voters have again and again have expressed the desire to limit terms for our elected officials. This particular case deals with Florida’s 20 “charter counties” which some argue comes under the county’s jurisdiction.

But "county home rule charters do not trump the constitution," an attorney told the justices. Stay tuned; sooner or later this will get straightened out.