I’m taking a moment from work to watch the President doing a wonderful job of communicating with his fellow citizens and listening to and answering questions. He’s down in Ft. Meyers, an area hard hit by foreclosures and unemployment. His ability to handle some very direct and diverse questions was a joy to watch. He definitely gets it. What a shame our leaders in Tallahassee don’t.
The President was introduced by Mr. Retail Politics himself, Gov. Charlie Crist, a Republican who at least understands who won the election but is clueless as to what ails Florida. Oh sure, he pitched the need for Florida to be the recipient of Federal stimulus dollars so we don’t wind up teaching school to our kids under an oak tree and having them write on little chalk boards and using an abacus to do math with. Too bad the Guvna doesn’t understand that the solution isn’t just one more property tax campaign or photo op away.
The President aknowledged that Florida is facing a financial crisis just like most other states. Well, he is only partly right. Yes, almost all states in the Union are facing revenue shortfalls and deficits. What he doesn’t know (or more likely is too polite to say to the Guv) is that Florida doesn’t just face a government revenue shortfall, it doesn’t have any revenue, or at least any reliable source for it.
Unfortunately some of the questions came from some of our most typical of residents, those who have no job, those who work at fast food restaurants, and those who have no home. The retired teacher also represented the retirees but he has a pension and income from social security, so he is doing just fine. Unfortunately, we do such a poor job of educating our citizenry here that all we can do is continue to provide serfdom existences to folks who provide services to senior citizens. Ain’t Florida wonderful.
Tags: Charlie Crist, Ft. Meyers, Obama, politics, revenue
I guess you don’t consider property taxes, intangible taxes, sales taxes, road use taxes, capital gains taxes, communications taxes, excise fuel taxes, license fees, continuing education fees, DMV fees, DOT inspection fees, traffic fees, license plate registration fees, liquor taxes, corporate registration and renewal fees, court fees, wetland mitigation fees, garbage fees paid by the waste company, landfill fees, building permit fees, special provision fees for stormwater, schools, Whatever County Forever fees, special tax district assessments, all types of surety bonding fees, fire fees, library fees, water/sewer surcharge fees, fees incurred do to the cost of billing fees….This ain’t revenue?
That is the point. The cost of government is the cost of government. We are going to pay for it one way or the other; either out of our front pockets or our back pockets. Now, whether and what those costs should be or even are is a matter for debate, which happens in the state legislature and local government diases. But, most of those user fees are there to fund the function of government that issues them in their function whether that is maintaining parks or courts, or building departments. These fees speak to the notion that it is always someone else’s responsibility to pay for those things rather than a broader responsibility of the entire state citizenry to have good construction, court systems, and parks.
I hope the president also understands how much tax revenue, nationwide, is being siphoned off by Internet commerce. Where did you buy your last CD or book? Probably on the Internet, and it was probably a tax-free transaction. We like to complain about taxes, because we sense (and we are correct) that there is waste in government. But Ken’s right, too. Someone has to pay the real cost of creating the kinds of communities, with roads, water, police, schools, that we all want to live in. Paying sales tax … like you pay when you buy a book at the Muse or a CD at Steve’s Downtown Music … is a pretty painless way for most of us to contribute. Let’s level the playing field by finding a way to tax Internet commerce. This is fair to the Muse, fair to Steve’s, and would go a long way toward patching the holes in sales-tax-funded budgets, like the state’s.
so what you are proposing is the government is a means into itself wherein
government determines the citizens value and way of life. the citizenry no longer determines the value of our government or its function. government knows best, huh Ken?
Overtaxed seems to forget that its not “government” but its “our” government. Our government doesn’t just do whatever it wants. It seems that way but we have elected representitives who forge policy. If they do a poor job its because we made poor choices in electing them. The more involved the citizens are in getting information from and to their government, the more policy reflects their wishes.
k-) Our government doesn’t just do whatever it wants
True. At least at the county level, the government does whatever the county manager tells them to do. How many people can even remember one of them standing up to the county manager?