Is ending the Cuban travel restrictions what Florida needs right now?

The surprise visit of Obama Administration members to former Cuban president Fidel Castro has suddenly made the world think that the American embargo of the island may be ending soon. Castro, who still pulls the strings in his repressive country, wants to see relations with the U.S. more normalized before he dies. Obama has signaled that lifting the 47-year-old trade embargo may be slow going. But travel restrictions for Americans may start vanishing soon, possibly as soon as this month, when the President visits the (Castro-free) Summit of the Americas. Congress is already agitating for a change through the Freedom to Travel to Cuba Act now circulating on the Hill.

A recent study found that by statistical measures, Florida is the second-most miserable state in the country, after Oregon, with 9.4% unemployment, 1 in 214 homes in foreclosure, and 37.3% of debt non-mortgage-related. Florida's industries, which are on the wane right now, need a jolt.