FL leaders in denial about dire economy. Dem CFO says call special session now.

[madfloridian]

Florida may have gone blue for Barack Obama, but it is still fairly bright red statewise. We made few gains this election, and only plus 1 for congress.

So even as Florida Democrats toasted Obama's historic victory, they were flogging themselves over a missed opportunity that may not come their way again — and rightfully so. They had a chance to make much-needed gains in the Legislature, and they didn't, and that has consequences for the party and the state.

Republicans control the Senate, 26-14, and the House, 76-44, with two Democratic House seats possibly headed for machine recounts.

The Senate's partisan makeup remains unchanged. The House, with its smaller districts and more strident partisanship, is where Democrats dreamed of gaining three to six seats. They got one.

St. Pete Times blog

Our only elected Democratic executive in the state, Alex Sink, is the Chief Financial Officer. She is urging Governor Crist and the legislature to call a special session over the economy right now.

They are refusing.

Florida leaders in denial about budget problem, Sink says

TALLAHASSEE — Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink suggested Friday that the state's Republican leaders are in denial about the dire economy and they should call a special legislative session now to deal with the impact on the state budget.
Sink, speaking to the Council of 100 in Palm Beach, said a possible $1-billion gap in state funding demands attention now, not later.

"I do not see any way we can afford to wait until March to deal with a potential $1-billion-plus shortfall in this budget year," Sink, the state's only elected Democratic executive, said in an interview later. "That's just an impossible situation."

Either the governor or the two leaders of the Legislature call special sessions, and so far Gov. Charlie Crist and new leaders of the House and Senate, all Republicans, are taking a wait-and-see approach. And Sink's criticism comes as Crist is reaching the midpoint of his term.

Sink speculated that the unwillingness to call a special session is because it would reinforce a negative image of the economy and budget.

"It's going to be ugly. It's not fun," she said. "We did the easy cuts last year."

Florida has been in heavy tax cutting mode ever since Jeb Bush took office in 1998. As a result of the extreme tax cuts they are cutting social services, medical care to the needy, and even closing down state parks to save money. Infrastructure is either going to hell or being turned over to private companies...some even foreign owned.

Of course ordinary people like hubby and me don't see any of the tax cuts, but the corporations certainly do. I found this article in April this year.

Florida pays dearly for corporate socialism

Alongside the burgeoning ranks of government employees, the state’s business sector muscled its way to the public trough. While John Q. Homeowner dutifully pays his taxes, corporate lobbyists have tweaked the tax code to benefit corporate interests. Last year:

• Manufacturers received $71 million in sales tax exemptions on electricity.

• A handful of companies got a $64 million tax break on chartered fishing boats.

• Industries avoided $55 million in taxes on boiler fuels.

• Farmers dodged $61 million in taxes on everything from equipment to ostrich feed.

• Professional sports teams (owned by billionaires) netted $20 million in subsidies and exemptions.

This adds up to real money that could soften the blow on taxpayers, but, so far, none of these tax breaks are in jeopardy at the Legislature. Indeed, lawmakers are looking to pile on more corporate goodies, including an additional $3 million tax break for racetrack owners.

Here are some words from a FL Democrat about the situation:

As state Rep. Curtis Richardson, D-Tallahassee, complained last week: "Over the past eight years we have given $18 billion in tax relief to the richest 2 percent of our population and corporate special interests. Now that the economic times have turned, we choose to place the burden on balancing the budget on those who are least able to afford it."

The writer continues with a rant about how the corporations are shaking down cities and states.

The only sure winners in such public-private accommodations are the corporate owners and executives who use public dollars to offset their internal costs and artificially pad their bottom lines. Aren’t they clever?

Pitting cities and states against each other, corporations strong-arm governments everywhere. Fifty years ago, corporations paid 45 percent of local property taxes in this country. By 1987, that figure had dropped to 16 percent. It’s almost certainly lower today, says David Korten, author of “When Corporations Rule the World.”

He ends saying that our elected leaders "have the power to shut the self-serving loopholes, end the exemptions and stop the handouts. We peons are still waiting for the chopping to begin in earnest."

Alex Sink is right to call for a special session. As one of Florida's lonely Democrats, I doubt she will get it.

[DJ13]

1. Florida sounds like a GOP wet dream come true

Slash taxes to the point public services will either have to be cut to the bone, sold to private interests (like city services, road repair, etc) or make most state services into a 'pay as you go' scheme where only the well off can access their government.

Sounds remarkably similar to some of Arnold's hair brained ideas here in California.

[madfloridian]

2. Florida is the test state...if they succeed here, look out.

They are cutting so much stuff that it is unbelievable.

[mentalslavery]

14. Cure for economy coming soon, I need DU's help!!

I am writing a book on the political economy that I will need to distribute to social justice organizations as well as other liberals. It will be written in a way that the general public will understand. We have to get on the same page here and contact our representatives. It will provide answers, strategies, and techniques. Spread the word, 3 months away. Attempting to get it done by Jan 20th.

[madfloridian]

3. Crist say economy is fine. Denial...Sink is right.

http://www.nbc6.net/news/17935926/detail.html

"With the economy slowing, businesses are being forced to cut back and cut jobs.

However, Florida Gov. Charlie Crist remains optimistic about Florida's economic outlook.

Crist toured City Furniture's massive warehouse Friday, using it as an example of a business managing to thrive in a depressed economy. The company employs 950 people and opened a new showroom Friday in Fort Meyers, NBC 6 reported. But even the showcase business had to lay off about 90 people last month, adding to Broward's 6.1 percent unemployment rate.

Crist said he's still looking at the sunny side of things.

"Florida comes back, usually, sooner than other states," Crist said. "You compare us to states like Michigan and Ohio, and we're truly blessed. It could be a lot worse."

However, people looking for work at south Florida career centers provide a different picture".

[nickgutierrez]

4. Who needs to look that far?

Just look at the first three pages of the classified ads in the newspaper - filled solid with foreclosure notices, here in Collier. That's one symptom.

Meanwhile, the job pages? Noticeably thin.

[madfloridian]

5. You are right.

I am glad to see Alex Sink pushing them, but they won't budge.

[madfloridian]

6. Crist might borrow 1.25 billion from "trust funds".

Stupid question, but would that include such things as the state pension funds he would be borrowing from?

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/nov/09/crist-might-ok-borrowing-125b-ease-floridas-cash-c/

"TALLAHASSEE — Florida's cash crunch is so severe that budget officials are asking Gov. Charlie Crist for permission to borrow up to $1.25 billion from trust funds to pay for basic services.

A $300 million transfer was approved in August so the state could keep paying its bills. Now the state needs to bump up its total borrowing to keep checks flowing to employees and vendors.

"We project a need to borrow an additional $700 million in November due to continued declines in receipts," Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink's financial services director, Kimberly McMurray, wrote to Crist's office. "We also project additional borrowing needs beyond November."

That has state policymakers scrambling for ways to shore up the state's finances without making more steep cuts to services such as school funding and health care for the poor. By law, the borrowed money must be paid back by the end of the fiscal year in June.

Florida needs to borrow money from trust funds — the equivalent of transferring cash from savings accounts to its checking account — because of plummeting revenues from sales"

[madfloridian]

7. More: Florida is 3rd in the nation in foreclosure filings.

"TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Nov 10, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- In today's economic crisis, Floridians are anxious about their homes and their jobs. With a 5.5 percent unemployment rate (CNNMoney, June 2008), many Floridians are either coping with job loss or concerned about losing their jobs. Perhaps more alarming, though, is that Florida ranks No. 3 in the nation for home foreclosures. According to MarketWatch, in July 2008, 1 in every 186 Florida properties received a foreclosure filing."

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/CPAs-Available-Answer-Questions-amid/story.aspx?guid=%7BC262968D-A3CC-439F-9724-4A784406A115%7D

Sure, Charlie. Everything is fine here.

[Bandit]

13. Part of the plan

Florida is prime real estate and the wealthy want it but they want it cheap. Get their government to cut all social programs so the needy have no assistance and are forced out of the area and all the land is up for grabs cheap by those that have done so very well under the Bush*'s..

[madfloridian]

15. Under that heading goes buying up once nice trailer parks...letting them decay.

Letting the infrastructure, such as sewage systems, just fall apart in poorer areas and then condemning the area.

Prime real estate for developers who come in with their bulldozers and greed.

[madfloridian]

8. Last kick for Sink for trying to get Republicans to care about their state

and their country.

[Sancho]

9. The schools and universities are getting clobbered...

There are early layoffs, open positions, stalled building plans, and college faculty leaving in droves. Some have pay reductions and others no raises for two years. The state lost more than 15% college faculty last year and the figure will be worse in spring of 2009. Qualified teachers and professors, especially in key areas are hard to find. The best leave first.

Some universities and districts are anticipating 5% to 15% budget reductions between Jan. 09 and the summer.

The highway robbery under Jeb and Charlie is as bad as any Enron or AIG ever thought to be...

[lib2DaBone]

10. Now the Repukes want to sell off Toll roads to Foreign Companies

Alligator Alley and the Florida Turnpike... paid for by TAXPAYERS.. to be sold to foreign companies. Whatever happened to "Country First" and all those lapel Flag Pins the Repukes are so proud of? Brilliant MF-er's.

[madrchsod]

11. 250 people were laid-off near here because->

a city in florida gave their former employer "free" office space a new city building. the city just happened to have "extra space" so the company could consolidate with their other division.

it`s hard to compete against states that has no responsibility to it`s citizens.

[bulloney]

12. I thought tax cuts stimulate the economy and create more tax revenue.

Another Republican lie comes full circle.

Florida doesn't have the manufacturing base that the Great Lakes region has, which has been suffering for decades from the exodus of jobs. What's Florida's excuse? Declining tourism?