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Governor Scott Unveils His Budget:The Whining Begins
A week ago, we received a call asking if the tea party leaders wanted to meet with Governor Scott and hear his budget before anyone else. We said “Yes” and quickly put together an event in central Florida. The town of Eustis welcomed more than 1,000 tea party leaders and members along with dozens of cameramen, satellite trucks and state and city law enforcement officials.
The plan was to have lunch with tea party leaders and then meet outside on the grassy area overlooking the lake. A deluge of rain changed the plans and the local tea party leader moved the event inside First Baptist Church – the only place in Eustis big enough to handle the crowd.
After a brief meeting with tea party leaders, Governor Scott unveiled his plans. The crowd cheered with a renewed hope that our state would once again be a competitive place for businesses to set up shop, thereby returning jobs to a state with 12% unemployment.
Immediately after his presentation, the Nay-sayers began their normal talking points:
- The rich will get richer and the poor will suffer
- Education cannot afford any more cuts, we are working on bare bones money now
- This will stagnate Florida’s economy
- Public safety will be at risk
- This is a “pie-in-the-sky” budget – no reality here
- You can’t apply business principles to government
- This will be “dead on arrival” when it hits the Legislature
I don’t know about you, but I have grown tired of hearing these same old talking points from the same ones who put us into this mess. It is time for Floridians to work together to fix our state and create an environment that attracts people to its shores.
Here are a few comments from Governor Scott’s speech. The naysayers say this is impossible, what say you?
- This "jobs budget" is focused on the goal of shrinking government, reducing your taxes, creating private sector jobs and holding government accountable.
- It's not a budget that dabbles. It doesn't offer a little something for every special interest or sweeteners for certain people.
- The fact is that government has to get back to its core functions. Only its core functions!
- As long as 1.1 million Floridians are out of work, we can't afford a government that runs wild with taxes, regulations and excessive spending.
- We can't spend more than we take in. And we take-in enough from hardworking Floridians.
- That level of spending was never wise and simply cannot be sustained. To those who suggest that we meet those new unsustainable expectations with higher taxes, I want to send a clear signal. That is NOT the answer. We will not increase taxes.
- Floridians shouldn't have to send more of their MONEY to Tallahassee to pay for non-essential government programs or solely fund the retirement programs of government employees.
- This "jobs budget" will reduce the business tax from 5.5 percent to 3 percent, completely phasing it out by 2018. And we will cut property taxes by $1.4 billion over the two year term. Together we will cut taxes by over $4 billion over two years.
- State government buys a lot of things, enters into a lot of contracts, and negotiates a lot of leases. By taking a fresh look at these purchases and by renegotiating contracts and leases, along with prioritizing and eliminating wasteful spending we can save the taxpayers more than $660 million over two years.
- We will save money by streamlining state agencies and consolidating overlapping functions.
- This budget constrains the growth of entitlements, offering better ways to serve Floridians receiving Medicaid, the health care safety net for the poor.
- This budget also saves $500 million by innovating the management of juvenile offenders and the management of our state prisons.
- For the first time, this "jobs budget" provides a measurable goal for every single line item so that we can track and assess whether it is cost-effective and achieving its mission.
- We will reduce state spending by over $5 billion while returning $2 billion directly to the taxpayers.
- For the entire speech and a copy of his budget go to: www.letsgettowork.net
I don’t know about you, but call me crazy – I like this budget!
I like the fact Governor Scott is willing to do what it takes to ensure our state is financially sound and will not be asking the Federal government for a bailout. Remember this: The Federal government gets their money from us! It’s a crazy cycle of insanity and the only way to stop it is to do the hard stuff and break the cycle.
I look at this budget as an “Intervention.” Governor Scott had the courage to look us in the eye and tell us our state was sick with overspending and relying on the Federal government to sustain us. He didn't just tell us we were sick, he had a way to fix it.
Now, it’s up to the State Legislators to approve it and move on. It will not be easy and the special interests will be in the back pockets of many of them. They will fight to the end to keep their special interests happy. If they don’t keep them happy, how will they win the next election?
The only special interests that need to be heard are We the People. If we do not stand up and support this budget, special interests will run our state as they have our Federal government.
Are you willing to help? Do you really want to be a part of a competitive race against other states who are doing the same thing? Or, do we want business as usual in Florida and watch as our unemployment figures shoot up?
If you are with us on this budget, get ready. The work begins now. Call your Representative (http://www.myfloridahouse.gov/) and let them know you support the Governor’s budget and expect them to do so too. Tell your neighbors and friends to do the same. Let’s make an all out effort to return jobs to Florida and it starts with supporting our Governor’s budget.
When you hear the Naysayers use their talking points, tell them this:
“It’s big-boy-pants time. Do you have any? We had to put ours on at home so you need to do it too.”
OR IF YOU HAVE A BETTER ANSWER, LEAVE IT IN THE COMMENTS SECTION OF THIS BLOG.
We know how to do this – so “let’s get to work!”
Views: 56
Comment
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Comment by Tim Reynolds on February 15, 2011 at 3:00pm
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The education system needs reform that is for sure. However teachers are underpaid and now he is going to take 5% more away from them to pay toward their pensions. I agree they should pay toward their pension but what they pay should reflect some benefit to them. There is tremendous waste in constantly changing curriculims which involves purchasing a new set of books for each student. Stick with a program and you could save millions in books alone. Without parent participation childrens education will always be declining. If parents are not willing to help their kids and willing to discipline their children for improper behavior then the school system will continue to decline. Lets get back to the basics and support our teachers.
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Comment by Phyllis Riik on February 9, 2011 at 1:47pm
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We can't spend more then we take in. That's the sentence of importance. Raise taxes if you want more money and more programs. Just like if you want things, work more hours. It's really up to us. I personally have always had to live within my means.
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Comment by Cindy Jordan on February 8, 2011 at 10:12pm
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Amen. Joshua, and Gerald you both are so right. It is about time we had a real leader in Florida. I am so excited to finally have someone do what they say. It is all about actions, not just a lot of words. It will be interesting when they start the urinalysis. We have to realize we have to cut, thruout the budget across the board. We cannot spend more than we have coming in. We need to call all of your Rep. to make them listen, watch, and learn. Finally, we have someone with real business experience, and attitude. Like Joshua said, even if it is not popular. I applaude Gov. Scott. There are a lot of us who have paid a lot of property taxes for years, and have no children in the public school system. We are all going to have to pay, in one way or another. It is in the name of America, and Florida. It's the only way we are going to be able to save it. So buckle up and get ready for the ride. It may be a little rocky. We are patriots, and true Americans. Not a bunch of whiny whimps.
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Comment by Tracy on February 8, 2011 at 3:49pm
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Sounds good!!
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Let's get rocking! What are waiting for? Oh,Yeah Bravo Gov. Scott!
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Comment by JL Gawlik on February 8, 2011 at 11:32am
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This is great, liked everyone's comments, now we must let the Governor and our state representatives and let them all know we are behind him and all the cuts. The Executive branch of the federal government has come out and stated today or yesterday that they will extend time that states have to pay back money borrowed for unemployment, i would prefer, we just pay it back rather than owe anything to the Federal government. Amazing, when my kids were in school the cost was more than have it is now. We need to get the Federal government and unions out of the school system and move forward.
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Bravo Gov. Scott! Promises made, promises kept. After your Governorship we've got a place for you in Congress. Keep-up the good work.
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Comment by Dawn Holder on February 8, 2011 at 9:33am
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Is it my imagination or is it that the more we spend, the worse things get? Seems like we can't afford anymore crime or illiterate people. Let's see if real economy and austerity works better. We need to encourage the folks on Capitol Hill as well as the folks in City Hall; let them know that this is the way to go. All three tiers need to be in harmony; so we have 1 down and 2 to go....better than a few months ago when were 0-3! Thanks to Billie and the rest of you for all you do.
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Thomas Jefferson, The Great Nostradamus Of Our Government
Thomas Jefferson while serving in France worried particularly about the formation of The Constitution of the United States. He was highly respected by George Washington, George Mason and Ben Franklin and communicated through writings prior to its draft . Some of his thoughts are embodied in the final draft and passage. His later writing after the passage shows continued concerns about the role of the Federal Government and the sovereignty of our States. For the sake of brevity, I have listed only a few of his writings regarding so the issues of our day. Over 200 years ago he reflects great foresight of our overreaching Federal Government and the lack of action of our State Governments.
They should look forward to a time, and that not a distant one, when corruption in this as in the country from which we derive our origin, will have seized the heads of government and be spread by them through the body of the people, when they will purchase the voices of the people and make them pay the price. Human nature is the same on every side of the Atlantic, and will be alike influenced by the same causes." --Thomas Jefferson: Notes on Virginia Q.XIII, 1782. ME 2:164
"A single government... of the most extensive corruption, indifferent and incapable of a wholesome care over so wide a spread of surface... will not be borne, and you will have to choose between reformation and revolution. If I know the spirit of this country, the one or the other is inevitable. Before the canker is become inveterate, before its venom has reached so much of the body politic as to get beyond control, remedy should be applied." --Thomas Jefferson to William T. Barry, 1822. ME 15:389
"The greatest [calamity] which could befall [us would be] submission to a government of unlimited powers." --Thomas Jefferson: Declarat
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Comment by Patriot One on February 8, 2011 at 9:03am
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The private sector can no longer afford the public sector. The only thing the public sector creates is more ways to get their hands in the pockets of private sector producers. Here is an idea to save the Citizens of Florida Billions. Cut Insurance regulation, end no fault auto insurance, require all policies to have Bodily Injury, property damage, medical payments and uninsured motorist. Put some teeth in the laws and fines for driving an auto without insurance. Almost 50% of registered vehicles have no insurance. Oh and how about some tort reform.
Now this is just my opinion, but tort reform, enforcement and deregulation could save the average Florida Citizen $900 to $1600 a year in insurance premiums alone. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but thats more savings form a single industry then I ever got from Government.
This is just one example from one over regulated industry in Florida. Imagine the economic impact of about 8 million people spending just $900 more dollars a year in Florida.
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