Jeb's Economic Time Bomb Ready To Blow

[Sancho]

http://www.flapolitics.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=2356

The following commentary was written by Paul A. Moore, a Miami teacher. He sends his superb commentaries to a small email list, but they deserve to be more widely read.
During his eight-year reign as governor of Florida, Jeb Bush fashioned an economic time bomb. On his way out the door he lit the fuse. His handiwork will soon devastate this state and visit unprecedented suffering on its people. It will be a nightmare, part of which will imperil the public schools, the operation of local governments and the state retirement system.

Meanwhile, if he could have, Jeb Bush would have relieved Florida's wealthy persons and corporate entities of their entire tax burden. As it stands he came very near his goal. Tax loopholes created during his administration for corporate income now shelter between $500 and $600 million that was counted as revenue before. $600 million more was lost to the state when Bush eliminated the tax on intangible properties (stocks and bonds) in January 2007.

Jeb Bush tried to privatize all things profitable and make the people assume all risk associated with investment. His program gave a leg up to charter schools and turned elements of the state's water supply, public roads and social services over to wealthy investors. The lynchpin of his healthcare agenda was to turn Medicaid into a private managed health care system. That program was piloted in five counties. The Department of Children and Families was turned into a massive private gamble that money could be made off Florida's most vulnerable children.
..................
This fiscal year the state treasury suffered the first waves of the tsunami that is coming. The servile Florida State Legislature was called back into special session barely six months after passing a $71 billion budget to address a 1.1 billion dollar revenue shortfall. Among other things these servants of the wealthy took $100 from each of Florida's public school children to rebalance the budget. The lights had not been turned out in the Capitol Building when the Office of Policy and Budget projected an additional $2.5 billion revenue shortfall over the next 18 months.

[Armstead]

1. That's just a preview

I suspect his brother is going to leave the presidency with a similar present.

[Warpy]

4. Of course he will!

He did it to Texas.

[Sancho]

5. I agree about shrub...

he will leave the US with a bunch of debt and surprises on the way out the door. It's time to get rid of all the *ush clan.

[seasat]

2. Even some realistic Repugs saw this coming.

Unfortunately Charlie Crist seems to believe the Repug mantra on taxes. I wish they had paid attention to John McCay and at least broadened the sales tax base. One of the biggest things that Jebbie did to screw us was the exemption of sales taxes for certain items. Only basic necessities like food and medicine should be exempt. They exempted about 300 different groups of items during his term. One of the most outrageous is the exemption for air craft parts. A rich guy can buy a new prop for his Cessna with no sales tax while I have to pay sales taxes on brake pads for my Taurus.

I don't expect our legislature to do anything realistic about the revenue shortfall. We need to reform our tax base so that it is not subject to economic downturns and is not so regressive. Realistically, we either need a broader sales tax, increased intangibles tax, or an income tax. We may need a combination of all three. We also need to repeal the "Save our Expensive Water Front Homes" clause that is hurting local property tax revenues and replace it with a sensible homestead exemption. However, I expect our legislature to instead cut education and social programs further increasing the divide between the haves and have nots.

[madrchsod]

3. my friend was employed by a state nursing home in florida.

she worked at illinois facilities for many years and was shocked when she started working at the "nursing home" it was`t a nursing home it was a warehouse for the mentally ill,prisoners,mentally and the psychically disabled and mixed in with house of horrors were the elderly that were not protected from the madness. but there are little or no property tax on anything connected to a business

[madfloridian]

6. He wanted to empty the government buildings in Tally....

just like Norquist wanted to drown government in a bathtub.

From Jeb's 2nd inaugural speech:

" There would be no greater tribute to our maturity as a society than if we can make these buildings around us empty of workers; silent monuments to the time when government played a larger role than it deserved or could adequately fill."

Only God knows what he has done...cause we don't know all of it yet.

[Capn Sunshine]

8. Part of that Bush philosophy

he won't be there he doesn't care.

Florida will be underwater soon due to global warming , but no one there in Talahassee seems the least bit concerned.

[rucky]

7. This is what they do best. n/t

[L0oniX]

9. Check this link out...

Reality Report Web Articles on America's Debt TIME-BOMB

http://www.time-bomb.org/%20Pages%20Left%20Nav%20Bar/Reality_Report_White_Bckgd.htm#

That website will keep you busy for a while.

[Robeson]

10. Excellent read, Sancho....

...thanks for posting. Forwarded to many.