Not Representing MeBad choices. That's State Sen. Steven Geller's assessment of the Legislature's ability to set priorities. He's right, but didn't go far enough. Try embarrassingly bad choices. According to recently-released U.S. Census data, Florida ranks 50th in per capita spending for education. Dead freakin' last. To put that in perspective, the people in Mississippi, Arkansas, West Virginia and those other states we've joked at for years, can now justifiably begin laughing about ignorant Floridians. And that was the Legislature's choice before citizens approved the Amendment 1 tax cut. Wonder what kind of choices our "representatives" in state government are making as a result of Amendment 1? Well, here's Geller's quick list of the areas where funding has been cut. - Education, of course. Kindergarten through community college. (Who's gonna be joking about us after the next Census report? Somalia?) - Child abuse investigation. (They're not important until they're 18, when they can register to vote.) - Drug rehabilitation. (Cause junkies don't vote.) - Medicaid, nursing home care and Hospice. (Poor, sick, old people don't make voting a priority, so why should the Legislature care about them?) You know what didn't get cut? Prisons. And as Geller pointed out, that's good because if we cut spending on education, child abuse investigation and drug rehab, we're gonna be needing a lot more prison space. The Legislature was so busy making those bad badget choices, it didn't have time to do things like close loopholes that allow out-of-state corporations to avoid paying their state taxes. Didn't have time to fix the loophole that lets people skip out on paying their document taxes on real estate sales. Didn't have time to make good choices. I don't know who those elected representatives were representing, but it sure wasn't me. Clay County's government is also gonna to be forced to make a lot of choices in the face of declining revenue. Let's hope we elect some people this year who have their priorities straight. People who are capable of making a good choice, and have the integrity and strength to make them. Michael S. Mann Related: OneMann's blog | login or register to post comments | printer friendly version | Tags: 2008 elections | BCC | state government
Submitted by Marsha on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 9:21am.
There is another Amendent to the Constitution on the ballot in Nov for further tax cuts. I have provided a link below where you can read about it. You can also find all the Amendments to the state Constitution we'll be voting on in Nov on the County SOE site. Now that the budget cuts from the State have been handed down the Governor yesterday announced intentions of spending over a million dollars for some land in the Everglades. I am all for restoring the Everglades but considering the cuts that were made to the budget for education and human services I have to wonder where this money is coming from. One day they poor mouth and the next they're throwing a bunch of money at something new. The legislature is making alot of bad choices, and I believe those loopholes are there because they were intended to be there. The legislature may be appearing to be cutting taxes, but they're only going to turn around and create a new one, or increase the gas tax, sales tax. Anyone who believes all this is for our benefit ought to look again because they're just orchestrating something else further down the line. Submitted by Sunflower on Wed, 06/25/2008 - 11:07am.
Marsha - it's 1.75 BILLION. Here's a link to another aspect of the deal. But...note the words "water management district" in the last paragraph. Yikes!! http://floridatrend.com/article.asp?aID=49284 I am embarrassed by this State's lack of foresight and most of all the priorities of our elected officials on EVERY level. The State of Florida has SO much going for it and so many resources available. For instance, I've never been able to understand why this entire state isn't using solar energy rather than fossil fuels. After all, we are the Sunshine State. Florida Power & Light is the leader in solar & wind energy facilities. Are any of them in Florida? That would be a big fat NO! Education should be our number 1 priority, not the first thing to go when taxes are cut. I could go on and on but will spare you any of my other thoughts as I need to get back to my current painting project. Lucky readers. Judy B. People are talking about ...Here are the recent blog postings with the most comments. |
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Mike,
Great time to bring up some salient points, some of which have been ignored for years. I just posted an entry on vouchers/faith based initiatives & the on going problems with the science education in this state concerning evolution have seen the light of the blogs as well as the general media.
I would primarily say that at least some of these problems have been the fault of a so called Southern mindset against education, acedemic excellense, realism, among other things. Some might say say, & have been backed up by facts, that another portion of blame can be attributed to the conservative political/conservative religious atmosphere. Take your choice. All of the above, none of the above, or other. It all adds up to what I can only describe as a fairly dismal outlook & you highlighted somoe of the best/worst.
On a local level, it seems that a tide of change might be on the horizon with some independent voters who are beholding to no one except the people who get them in office & common sense. I wish that I could vote for more than those in my district. (I am from CHICAGO, after all)
Whether local or state wide, this state needs a change beyond the catch phrase aspect of a campaign slogan. I hope that the change, if it does come, will bring some common sense & advanced thinking to the populace & the legislature. It would definitely be refreshing.
I hope your back is feeling better. I had some problems with mine some years back & know what a pain that can be. Take care & keep those ideas, cards & letters coming in. JATFUR.
RichK