The Obama Zone

There is an excellent article in the Washington Examiner about the fact that the Democrats in Congress are not even pretending that they will pass a budget this year – a total abdication of their duty under the constitution. Read it HERE.

But the best part about the article was this comment posted by “General Mayhem” that very effectively evokes the “Twilight Zone”.

You’re now entering a dimension beyond what hope’n’change has stimulated, not to mention spoiled and squandered.
It is a dimension as unpopular as Obamacare and as untimely as cap’n’trade.
It is a middle finger raised between platitude & lassitude, and between a campaign that never ends and sound bites forever blaming Bush; and it lies between spin to allay Gulf fears and photo-ops with tar balls, all capped off by an Oval Office speech touting wind turbines, solar panels, and “energy-efficient windows.”
This is a dimension of flimsy obfuscation and of Jones Act and EPA waivers long delayed. Beyond it are other dementia— the distraction of hoops and bogeys, a declining dollar and an ever-dizzy Dow, plus dimwitted vicissitudes from McCartney and Calderon.
You’ve moving into a dimension of both denial and delay, of ideas ignored and logical things undone. You have seen the signpost up ahead— it reads, “It took a spillage”— and you’re just crossing over into . . . the Obama Zone

Francisco Rodriguez Town Hall

This afternoon, in the picturesque seaside Palm Beach Shores Community Center, Francisco Rodriguez, candidate for Florida House District 83, held a town hall for members of that community.  Organized by Carol Hurst, a supporter and Palm Beach Shores community leader, the event was an opportunity for Francisco to give his views on a variety of issues facing Florida today.

When asked for his view of the Sunrail bill, passed by the legislature earlier in the year and sold as a way to bring federal stimulus dollars into the state, he was very clear.  It should not have been passed and he would have voted against it.  Accepting federal money now but obligating the state to provide significant funding for it in future years is a bad deal for Florida.

A common theme that pervades Francisco’s thinking on several subjects is the Constitution and the rights of states to determine their own destiny.  For example, the Federal Government is required to manage the border and control immigration – it is not a state responsibility.  That said, when the job is not being done it is acceptable for the states to see that federal law is enforced.  Arizona did not need to pass the controversial law, but by doing so it provides political cover for law enforcement.  In another example, states are free to adopt any fiscal model they wish – and spend and borrow as they see fit, but when the day comes that bad decisions lead to potential default, the other states (or their citizens through federal taxes) should not be asked to bail them out.  The time has come for states to stand up for their rights and start using the 10th amendment to push back against federal overreach.

The Health Care Freedom Act is one example of this, and Francisco would support a mechanism whereby the states could control the amount of taxes collected in the state that gets sent to the federal government.

On state taxes, Francisco is not a fan of property taxes – which he equates to “paying rent” on a property which you own, and instead prefers use-based taxes with defined purposes such as a gas tax to fund only roads.

Schools, he believes, should be controlled at the local level – including such things as curriculum content and testing approach.  He was not a fan of the recently vetoed education bill, saying it gave too much control over local decisions to the bureaucrats in Tallahassee.

Florida House district 83, currently held by Carl Domino who is running for Senate district 25, sits at the northeastern part of the county and includes parts of Jupiter, Palm Beach Gardens, Juno Beach, North Palm Beach, along Singer Island and Palm Beach Island to just south of Southern Boulevard. ( Click HERE for map. ) In the Republican primary on August 24, Francisco faces Realtor Nancy Cardone and Palm Beach Kennel Club manager Pat Rooney.

A number of RCPB members were in attendance, including organizer Carol Hurst, Jim Vissi, Melissa Andrews,  Delia Garcia Menocal, Clair and Don Jones, Sue Varey, Bette Anne Starkey, Helen Wilkes, and Fred and Iris Scheibl. Following are a few pictures from the event.

Fire Rescue Sales Tax Debate

This afternoon at the South County Civic Center the Voter’s Coalition of Palm Beach County hosted a public meeting on the topic of the proposed 1% additional county sales tax to provide an independent funding source for Fire/Rescue operations.

Chaired by Voter’s Coalition President Bob Newmark and assisted by Honorary Chairman Harold Ostrow, the meeting started with an opportunity for candidates present to have 2 minutes of remarks. There were a LOT of candidates – so many in fact that the entire first hour was taken up by their presentations. Candidates for County Judge positions, County Commission and School Board seats, Florida House and Senate, and US Congress were present, including some familiar faces to the RCPB including Joe Budd (CD19), Carl Domino (FS25), Karl Dickey (BCC district 4), Anne Lee Kanjian (School Board district 4), and Lloyd Comiter (County Court Group 7).

The pro-tax side was represented by Fire/Rescue Battalion Chief Ron Beesley, who made the case that critical services are threatened by the pressure on ad-valorem tax revenue caused by the real estate downturn. Sales taxes he said, are payed by tourists (who use the services) and not just by homeowners. The intention is for the tax to be offset by an equivalent decrease in the ad-valorem taxes currently allocated to Fire/Rescue in the county and cities.

The anti-tax side was argued by Christina Pearce and Nat Roberts representing the business community (Nat is the incoming Chairman of the Economic Council of Palm Beach County). Their argument (careful to say they oppose the tax, not the Firefighters) focuses on the abundant negatives of the proposal, including that the tax is permanent and has no limit or caps (unlike the .5% tax for school construction which sunsets this year), has incentives for increased spending, will result in 9 months of double taxation, funds an essential service with an unpredictable source of funds, and that there is no assurance in the statute or the proposal that property taxes will, in fact, be reduced.

The State Legislature gave counties the ability to fund Fire/Rescue through the sales tax (SB1000 and HB365 which passed last year), by means of a ballot referendum. To get it on the ballot requires the approval of 7 of the 12 municipalites with independent fire districts, and approval of the County Commission which will take up the issue n meetings on 5/18 and 6/8.

A key moment in the debate occurred when Nat Roberts pointed out that Fire/Rescue spending increased over 80% in the 6 years (2004-10) that call volume only went up 19-25%, much of that to salary and benefit increases. Chief Beesley countered that with the fact that much of the increased spending was cash for capital construction of new fire stations – undertaken because “the revenue was available in the boom”. One was left to ponder the question as to what would restrain their spending when or if they were to get a “booming” source of revenue – like a sales tax during an economic recovery. Seemed pretty damning.

All in all, it was an interesting exchange attended by well over 100 members and guests. Below are some pictures from the event provided by Joy Stone.

Palm Beach County Inspector General Chosen

Following two days of interviews, members of the seven-member Palm Beach County Inspector General Selection Committee have tentatively chosen the county’s first independent Inspector General (IG).

Sheryl G. Steckler was the top choice among eight finalists for the new position. She is currently the inspector general with the Florida Department of Children and Families, and is second Vice President for the National Association of Inspectors General and President for the local Chapter (Tallahassee) Association of Inspectors General.

The County Attorney’s Office will now begin negotiating a contract with Ms. Steckler which, by ordinance, will be for four years.

Click HERE for the county press release.

RCPB members were involved in the creation of the county Ethics Ordinances that passed late last year. Through public comment, meetings with commissioners and staff, drafting some of the final ordinance wording that helped guarantee the independence of the office of Inspector General, and participation on the implementation committee, we fully support the process and wish Ms Steckler well in her new role if she chooses to accept it.

Background on Sheryl Steckler from the DFC website: (Click HERE.)

---

Appointed Inspector General in October 2002, Sheryl’s office currently consists of three units: Investigations, Internal & Single Audit and Appeal Hearings. Ms. Steckler’s oversight includes the agency’s programs and functions which extend to the agency’s outsourced community partners as well. Ms. Steckler has worked in law enforcement and related positions for over 24 years. Prior to joining the Inspectors General community in 2002, she spent eight years as the Director for Pinellas County, Florida Consumer Protection which included Mediation, Criminal Investigations and Regulatory Oversight. Ms. Steckler was also with the Florida Auditor General’s office in Performance Auditing and Public Assistance Fraud for over nine years. Ms. Steckler is currently a Certified Inspector General and Certified Inspector General Investigator. She is an Infragard member with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (Homeland Security). She is also a former certified law enforcement officer and certified welfare fraud investigator. Ms. Steckler holds a master’s degree in Public Administration and a bachelor’s degree in Criminology from Florida State University. She is currently second Vice President for the National Association of Inspectors General and President for the local Chapter (Tallahassee) Association of Inspectors General. She has held elected positions as President and Vice President of Conferences for the National Association of Consumer Agency Administrators. Ms. Steckler has also served as a member (appointed by the Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services) of the Florida’s Consumer Council

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.

« Previous Page — Next Page »