"Crist appears to have gone AWOL"

The Miami Herald editors: "Senate President-designate Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, and House Speaker-designate Dean Cannon, R- Winter Park, have called for a job summit for Jan. 14-15 in Orlando. The goal, they say, is to remove barriers to job creation, develop financial and tax incentives to lure jobs to Florida and help struggling employers create new jobs and retain existing ones."

Sounds like a plan -- unless this is just one more ruse to continue to lower corporate taxes, as Gov. Charlie Crist now proposes, without any real diversification in Florida's economy.

The tough truth is that Florida can't continue to count on new subdivisions and condo flippers to bail it out. More people are moving out of the state than are moving here, and economists are predicting that even when growth returns it will be slow going.

Tax incentives and fewer regulations for developers aren't the solution. Neither is oil drilling as close as five miles from Florida's coasts as Mr. Cannon has proposed. Those are desperate measures that will hurt Florida residents' quality of life and not help the unemployed in the long term.

The editors continue, writing that "if the summit defines jobs solely based on indiscriminate tax cuts it will only create an ever bigger crater in meeting the public needs of education, health and safety."

It's unfortunate, too, that Gov. Crist appears to have gone AWOL.

Campaigning for the U.S. Senate, the governor hasn't devoted the time he should to finding more ways to rev up Florida's economy. He should have been calling a job summit a year ago.

His proposal this month to cut corporate taxes is more campaign ploy than reality check. Corporate taxes in Florida may need some tweaking in certain sectors, but they are not anywhere near as high as in most other states.

Without an income tax and having resisted any common sense approach to applying sales taxes to some services like lawncare and legal fees, Florida's tax structure -- not its tax rate -- remains the real culprit.

The editors warn that "if the summit defines jobs solely based on indiscriminate tax cuts it will only create an ever bigger crater in meeting the public needs of education, health and safety."

It's unfortunate, too, that Gov. Crist appears to have gone AWOL.

Campaigning for the U.S. Senate, the governor hasn't devoted the time he should to finding more ways to rev up Florida's economy. He should have been calling a job summit a year ago.

His proposal this month to cut corporate taxes is more campaign ploy than reality check. Corporate taxes in Florida may need some tweaking in certain sectors, but they are not anywhere near as high as in most other states.

Without an income tax and having resisted any common sense approach to applying sales taxes to some services like lawncare and legal fees, Florida's tax structure -- not its tax rate -- remains the real culprit.

"Indiscriminate tax cuts not the answer".




Crist is off his game

Michael Putney: "Charlie Crist is off his game."

Charlie Crist is off his game. Way off his game, which was spectacular when it was good. He had the easy rhythm of public life down perfectly. Deferential to the Legislature (even when it didn't deserve it), easily accessible to the media (on a first-name basis with most) and wildly popular with most Floridians, Democrats as well as Republicans. Nowadays, Democrats have pretty much abandoned him, and hard-core GOP conservatives are flocking to Marco Rubio. Charlie's not only lost his mo, he's lost his mojo.

"Crist off his game".




Low tax state begs for more fed cash

"The region's publicly funded job-service agency has exhausted the money set aside early this year for training scholarships. The scholarships were partly funded by $4 million in federal stimulus money that became available in April." "Orlando-area job-training money runs out".

How long will the rest of the nation subsidize Florida's irresponsibility?




Full-body scans

"Full-body airport scans? Reps. Hastings, Rooney, Wexler opposed them in June vote".




McCollum Laff riot

"Florida's attorney general said Tuesday that he is looking at possibly suing the federal government over concerns about proposed health care legislation moving through Congress."

"Upon initial review, this appears to be contrary to the freedoms we, as Americans, have enjoyed for the past 233 years," McCollum said in a statement released by his office before a telephone conference with reporters. "I'm not opposed to health care reform as such although I'm not happy about this particular bill."

He rejected several questions about his motivation being political. ...

Several Republican lawmakers last week asked McCollum to review the legislation being pushed by President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress.

"McCollum wants to review federal health care bill". See also "Florida Attorney General says federal health care reform might violate constitution", "Fla. AG may challenge health-care bill" and "Insurance mandate questioned".




Entrepreneurs in action

"Yellow Pages moving jobs from St. Pete to India".




Weatherford whines about unions

Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, whines about the teachers' unions this morning: "Union's position on grant hurts teachers". This from a teacher, Andy Ford, who also happens to be president of the 140,000 Florida Education Association: "Proposal for federal school funds is flawed".




Yaaawwwnnn ...

"Top 10 Central Florida power players".




Tampa Bay nation's worst

"Tampa Bay nation's worst in October home price index". See also "The Tampa Bay area had the worst performance during October as measured by an index of housing prices in 20 national markets." "Tampa Bay area home prices show worst decline".




Wingnuts mobilized

"The congressional debate on overhauling the nation's health care system may have taken a break for the holidays, but U.S. Rep. Ron Klein faced some pointed questions about the plan on Tuesday." "Klein faces tough crowd on health care overhaul".




2009

"The year began with a special session in the first days of January to deal with state budgets swimming in red ink and ended with a December special session to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on rail projects." "2009: The year in Florida news".




Crist and McCollum shudder in fear of unions

The Sun-Sentinel editorial board: "With more than $100 billion in investments, Florida has the nation's fourth-largest pension fund. For the nearly 1 million public employees and retirees counting on the fund — and the taxpayers who would cover any shortfalls — Florida can't afford anything less than strong supervision."

CFO Sink has been calling for better oversight of the agency since a crisis two years ago exposed serious management problems. Her proposals include adding a trustee with investment expertise and one enrolled in the pension plan as an employee or retiree. But her reform push seems to have hit a political roadblock. ...

Critics of Sink's proposals warn that adding a public employee or retiree to the trustees would give unions undue influence over state investments. But it's hard to imagine that a single trustee could carry out a union takeover.

The argument from Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum that everything's OK now makes sense only until the next crisis. Both could show that better protecting Florida's assets is more important to them than petty politics by getting behind the push for more reform.

"Pension fund reforms stall over politics.".




Time to cut taxes!

"State reports 201 child abuse deaths in 2008".




Daily Rothstein

"A complaint filed in the bankruptcy case involving Scott Rothstein's former law firm tries to reclaim nearly $4 million from attorney Steven Lippman, who had worked at the firm." "Complaint seeks $4M from lawyer in Scott Rothstein firm".




Pressure mounts on Greer

"Republican Party donors call for resignation of state chairman". And they are: Richard Beard, Tampa; William Becker, Vero Beach; Seth Bernstein, Orlando; Ambassador Charles E. Cobb, Miami, J.C. Demetree, Jacksonville; Earl Durden, Panama City; Ed Easton, Miami; Mark Guzetta, Boca Raton; Charles Hilton, Panama City; Ambassador Al Hoffman, Ft. Myers; Ambassador Mel Sembler, St. Petersburg; Ambassador Ned Siegel, Boca Raton. See also "Major GOP donors call for Jim Greer to step down".




The best we can do?

"Finances bleak for Miami-Dade's public hospital system".




"Stop rationalizing business as usual in Tallahassee"

The St Pete Times editors: "A year ago, Florida House Speaker Ray Sansom was stubbornly defending his new high-paid position at Northwest Florida State College, his reward for quietly steering millions in public money to the school. Now, his college job and the speakership are long gone, and the disgraced Destin Republican remains under state indictment and federal investigation."

The criminal charges and legislative sanctions against Sansom should be fully pursued in 2010 and he should be held responsible for his misconduct. But there is a broader opportunity here. It is time to stop rationalizing business as usual in Tallahassee. The governor, the Legislature and the courts need to take a stand, strengthen corruption and campaign fundraising laws, and hold the state's elected leaders accountable. As their New Year's resolution, Floridians should demand it.

"Tackling corruption".




Water and oil don't mix

"The Legislature may decide whether the South Florida Water Management District can impose a year-round watering limit." "Watering limits could face challenge in Legislature".