Palm Beach County Commission Proposes Sales Tax Increase
The County Commission, by a 5-2 vote, is proposing to place on the ballot in August, a 1% sales tax increase to fund Fire/Rescue outside of the normal budget process. If passed, it would become effective at the end of the year when a .5% school infrastructure tax ends, thus the new rate would be 7%.
Unlike the school infrastructure tax, this one would not have an end date, and would eliminate the need for Fire/Rescue to participate in the normal county budget process every year. In effect, it would provide a steadily increasing revenue stream that would be earmarked for Fire/Rescue only, and would be collected regardless of budget needs. It should be noted in this context, that in the period 2004-2010, the Fire/Rescue call rate went up 19% (24% if you adjust for 2004 hurricanes), while the Fire/Rescue budget went up 82%. While most would agree that Fire/Rescue is an essential service, there are a lot of things in the budget that are only incidental to responding to emergencies. If this gets on the ballot, we will be picking it apart line by line.
The tax is supposed to be “revenue neutral” – that is the county would reduce the millage so the ad-valorem taxes on real estate would decline by the amount of the sales tax increase. That sounds good (shifting taxes to consumption rather than property) but there is nothing in either the proposal or the overlying legislation (SB1000, HB365 from 2009) that requires them to do so now or in the future. How long do you suppose it would take the County Commission to find that they “need the money” and put the millage right back where it was (or higher).
A broad coalition of business and grass roots groups is coming together to fight this bad idea. The first front is on the city level -as they need the agreement of 7 of the 12 municipalities that have their own Fire/Rescue operations. It is not clear how the cities will decide it – the interlocal agreements that address revenue sharing would have to be worked out first, and you can imagine that there will be a bit of lobbying going on. If you can, call your city council and find out what they plan to do and if there is a public meeting scheduled, then post what you find here. If they can convince 7 of the cities, the rest will have to go along or lose the use of the money that their citizens are paying to the sales tax.
The second front is at the county level with two public meetings on 5/18 and 6/8, where the text of the ballot measure will be discussed. The two dissenting votes last time were Jeff Koons and Steve Abrams. Karen Marcus is the author of putting the measure on the August ballot instead of November when more people will be voting. “It is just shifting,” Commissioner Jess Santamaria said. “It is not increasing taxes… It is a way of balancing things and making it more equitable,” he said. Please prepare to attend these meetings and say whether you agree with that statement.
The third front will be the ballot measure itself (if it gets that far). With all the other issues to deal with this year, it would be a shame if this fight is added to the mix, but we must be prepared. The coalition that is coming together in opposition to this measure has created a website to make the case and provide factual context. It can be found at . Please refer to it from time to time and join us in the fight.
CD 19 Election – A Look at the Numbers
In Tuesday’s election for Congressional District 19, Democrat Ted Deutch was the winner, receiving 62% of the votes cast. Voter turnout, an indication of voter interest (or lack thereof) was an anemic 15.2% of registered voters (10% in Broward and 17.4% in Palm Beach). The turnout in the 2008 election by contrast, was 73% in Broward and 72% in Palm Beach.
How did the vote compare?
Let’s look at the “liberal” vote versus the “conservative” vote in each election:
| Liberal | Conservative | |
| 2010 | Deutch: 62.1% | Lynch + McCormick: 37.9% |
| 2008 | Wexler + Graber: 72.8% | Lynch: 27.2% |
So the “conservative” vote increased by 10% for those that turned out.
Were the dynamics of 2008 overwhelmed by the candidacy of Barrack Obama which provided for the high turnout numbers, and coattail effect on other Democrats down-ticket? Absolutely not- in 2004, the turnout was 67% and 75% in Broward and Palm Beach respectively very similar to 2010.
To see if that mattered in CD19 we can look at previous elections, but there was no conservative candidate in 2006 or 2004. In 2002, Wexler won against Republican Jack Merkl with 72.2% of the vote with a turnout of 45-50% in the 2 counties. From this I conclude that the increase in conservative votes in 2010 COULD be significant, but it is certainly not a trend that will bring us a victory any time soon (barring a scandal or some other unexpected event).
How did all the grass roots support for Ed Lynch help? We know that South Florida 912, DC Works for Us, and the South Florida Tea Party were all making calls and walking precincts independent of the campaign, and many members of those groups helped the campaign directly. Hard to say objectively, but it surely didn’t hurt. Many calls were to people who were Lynch supporters but didn’t know about the election. Of course on the other side, Organizing for America ran 17 local phone banks for Ted Deutch, last weekend alone.
South Florida 912 selected a subset of the precincts in northern Palm Beach and did “saturation calling”. When the county releases the precinct vote tallies tomorrow or Monday, I will compare them to 2008 and see if there is a statistical difference between the years and contrasted with other precincts in 2010. Stay tuned.
Florida’s Bold Move
The Florida Legislature has passed a bill that can significantly improve public education by changing the way teachers are compensated and tenured. By tying compensation to results (student learning) as is done in the private sector, it has attracted nationwide attention and admiration.
The Chicago Tribune Editorial described it thus:
The most significant piece of legislation eliminates tenure protection for teachers. Newly hired teachers would work on an annual contract that can be renewed each year. The bill also does away with lockstep annual raises. Teachers’ pay no longer would be bumped based simply on how long they’ve worked, and how many graduate degrees they’ve obtained. Instead, their pay would depend on the achievement of their students. The more improvement their students make in the classroom, the more money teachers take home. Already tenured teachers keep their job protection.
The legislature’s move has teachers unions up in arms. Andy Ford, the president of the Florida Education Association, told Education Week that his group would work to shake up the make-up of the legislature. “We’re looking toward the November elections, where we’d repeal and reform the legislation, if we can change some seats in the Senate and the House,” Ford said.
Despite enormous pressure, legislators have sent a message that they’re committed to breathtaking reform. Their boldness is refreshing, a template we hope Illinois emulates.
Read the entire article HERE.
Unfortunately, Governor Crist has not yet decided if he will sign or veto this landmark legislation. He may be doing a political calculation about the support he could get from the teacher’s unions if he decides to drop out of the Republican Senate primary and run as an Independent (which he of course said he would not do). Why else would he even hesitate to embrace this change?
Please call the Governor at (850) 488-7146 or send email ( charlie.crist@myflorida.com ) and ask him to SIGN THE BILL.
Florida voters spurn Obama, new health care law
In a Sun Sentinel poll, there is bad news for President Obama and generic cialis 5 mg congressional democrats. The statewide telephone poll of 625 registered voters taken after the passage of health legislation on March 23-24 had this to say:
- President Obama favorability: 37%
- Senator Nelson favorability: 36%
- Support health care law: 34%, opposed 54%
- Support health care law(seniors 65+): 25%, opposed 65%
Good news for Ed Lynch maybe?
For the full story, click HERE.
Klein, CD22, says he’s ‘comfortable’ with his vote for health care overhaul
In today’s Post on Politics, George Bennett quotes the indomitable Ron Klein:
“I really have a good sense of the district and a sense of benefits that this bill will provide to the district,” Klein said in an afternoon conference call with reporters.
“Ultimately I think it’s the right thing to do and people will judge you based on using your best judgment and I’m very comfortable that I’m using my best judgment in making this decision.”
When asked how he will explain the $500B cuts in Medicare to the 125K seniors in the district, our Congressman answered:
“These are not cuts in benefits. They’re cuts to their profit margin,” said Klein, citing Congressional Budget Office and General Accounting Office estimates that the savings can be achieved by curbing overpayments, waste, fraud and abuse.
To Ron of course, “Profit Margin” and “overpayments, fraud and abuse” are one and the same thing. This is our “champion of small business” talking.
Klein’s replacement after the November elections, Lt. Colonel Allen West, had this to say:
“That figure will mean a decrease in services to our seniors and also with this bill passing you’re going to see doctors refusing Medicare patients. Our seniors are going to be adversely affected.”
You go Ron! FAR AWAY. Please.
For the full article, CLICK HERE
Meet Pat Hughey, Candidate for PBG City Council
Those who attended our recent lunch meeting had a chance to see and hear Pat Hughey, running for Palm Beach Gardens City Council seat 2 against current Mayor Joseph Russo. The election is March 9, 2010.
Pat has been a Gardens resident since its founding and has contributed to the community in various ways, including being a founding member the Citizens Mobile Patrol, and working on city beautification and safety issues.
Her campaign is focusing on improving transparency in city government, trimming the budget, and arguing for term limits, as she believes the 24 years the incumbent has held the seat is way too long.
If you would like to meet Pat and Rob Palladino, the candidate for PBG Council seat 4, there will be a public meeting on Sunday, February 28, 2010, from 2:00PM to 4:00PM at 601 Heritage Blvd. in the University Commons, Jupiter, FL.
For more information, you can visit Pat’s website HERE.
RNC Chief Courts Grass Roots Leaders
According to the Washington Post, about 50 leaders of grass roots groups are meeting with RNC Chairman Michael Steele and top party “operatives” tomorrow in Washington. Karin Hoffman, the South Florida leader of DC Works for US is quoted in the story:
Karin Hoffman, founder of DC Works For Us, a South Florida tea party group, said she initiated the meeting by approaching Steele last month and asking him to sit down with a range of tea party organizers.
She said her goal is to open a civil dialogue with the GOP leadership, but she dismissed any suggestion that tea party groups would merge with the Republican Party. “From the get-go, the grass-roots movement emerged from people desiring to be heard and not feeling like their voices are being heard in Washington,” Hoffman said in an interview. “This is the beginning of a formal discussion with the political establishment.”
Read the full story HERE, and the local update in Post on Politics HERE, and the Politico take on it HERE.
The Blue Model
So much of the news and opinion that is offered today on cable news and blog sites has an agenda. Right or left, it seeks to persuade, to ridicule, to bend the facts and the authors observations to fit the “narrative”. Because of this, it takes a lot of searching to find cogent analysis that is both objective and compelling, from sources of the opposite persuasion than your own. When I find such, it is always with delight.
Walter Russell Mead is unabashedly a liberal thinker. The Henry Kissinger senior fellow for US foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, and both a graduate and professor at Yale, he has been a lifelong democrat. In recent days, writing in the American Interest Online blog, he has published two pieces on what he calls “The Blue Model” – a name for the social and economic organization of the US since Franklin Roosevelt, characterized by stable employment, government regulation of business, and ever increasing standard of living. In the 70’s of course, the “Blue Model” started its descent into chaos and political polarization. His articles explore the reasons for this and hint at what is to come.
In the first, American Challenges: The Blue Model Breaks Down, he explains the model and the reasons for its decline, and then in Feeding the Blue Beast, he explores the dangers this poses to the democratic party, and what could be in our future.
He concludes:
What we really need in this country is a new generation of post-blue wonks who can think intelligently and creatively about how to dismantle the old structures and replace them with something that works. The political party that can figure this out and build a constituency for the massive and, inevitably, sometimes painful and disruptive restructuring this requires owns the future.
Highly recommended reading.
South Florida 9-12 Endorses Ed Lynch for CD19
After due diligence and meetings with both conservative candidates, the leaders of South Florida 9-12 have endorsed Ed Lynch. Read the background and reasoning HERE.
Palm Beach Post Endorses Ted Deutch (Oh – and Joe Budd too)
In the typically insulting way that the Palm Beach Post treats conservatives everywhere, the primary endorsement of the editorial board starts:
“After the party’s upset Senate victory in Massachusetts, Republicans got so giddy as to wonder whether — even though party registration is 2-to-1 against them — they could win the congressional seat held since 1996 by Democrat Robert Wexler.
Unfortunately for the GOP, the two best candidates in Tuesday’s primary are Democrats. Among the three Republicans, by process of elimination, The Post recommends Joe Budd.”
Read the the whole sorry article HERE.