Some interesting news this weekend, in case you missed it. On SUnday we looked at the foolishness of govt subsidized incentives to bring handfuls of "good jobs" to Florida, when we are losing thousands of good jobs - that are already here - each month. In addition, this Florida-centric story is worth a read:"Republicans unsure of Bush's chances for 2004 election".
And, if you want a good laugh today's Sun Sentinel has this piece of work: "`A tale of two states,' best and worst of times". Hint: it is written by the chairman of the Republican Party of Palm Beach County. If this is Florida GOP thinking - and it apparently is - Florida is up for grabs in 2004.
ARE WE DOING BETTER UNDER "JEB!"? Tom Blackburn asks a good question: "We can do better" was the battle cry of Jeb Bush's campaign for governor in 1998. The returns are in on his first four years. It's time to ask: Have we done better? See how he answere it in "Jeb can do better at doing better".
Some tid bits:
- when he took the oath of office, Jeb Bush found a state with a 4.2 percent unemployment rate. Last month, it was 5.3 percent. A loss.
- The state median income -- half of families made more, half less -- was $3,804 below the nation's at the end of 1998 and $4,519 below at the end of 2002.
- Lower per-capita taxing has brought about lower per-student education spending. For the first time, in the past two years community colleges had to turn away students. Those schools are the core of the work-force innovations that encourage the governor. But you have to pay for them. In the Bush era, tuition has risen from 25 percent to 30 percent of the schools' budgets, but spending per student still didn't keep up with inflation.
CALLING FOR HORNE'S HEAD - Here's a taste of a St Pete Times editorial today:
The law that sets up a dubious experiment in online elementary education was written narrowly, in part because some senators were skeptical about whether Florida would be underwriting home-schooling. So the $4.8-million in virtual vouchers this fall were to go only to "students who were enrolled and in attendance at a Florida public school during the prior school year."
That's plain enough, but apparently not to state Education Commissioner Jim Horne. He defied the Legislature's directive and awarded $1.1-million in vouchers to first-time kindergarten and first-grade students, only then to turn around and say he "should have done a better job of checking this interpretation with the Senate."
Horne's solution, to take $1.1-million from a different education account, does little to resolve the misappropriation. As Senate Democratic Leader Ron Klein told the Palm Beach Post: "I didn't know there was a slush fund out there to pay for this school, which was never really approved by the Legislature in this format anyway."
This latest voucher misadventure raises more questions about Horne's integrity and whether his Department of Education can be trusted to oversee a rapidly expanding voucher program that already has prompted investigations by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the state's chief financial officer and the state Senate. "Voucher misadventures".
THAT'S THE IDEA -The government makes it tough to find out who bankrolls politically active not-for-profit groups. "Following the money isn't easy".
DCF BUDGET -Department of Children and Families Secretary Jerry Regier got his budget request only half right. Regier wisely wants more money to protect abused seniors and Floridians with developmental disabilities, but his request virtually ignores the continuing needs of Florida's abused children. Regier should have sought relief in all program areas where key gaps remain - not pit one deserving group against another. "DCF budget should ask for more".
WHO CARES ABOUT GOOD POLICY, POLITICS IS ABOUT PUNISHING "JEB!"'S ENEMIES -Florida's workers compensation insurance system had problems with premium prices, availability and the delivery of care. Gov. Bush and the House chose to focus instead on lawyers who represent injured workers. So now, availability is the new crisis. "Drop lawyer obsession and fix workers comp".
THIS MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE STUPIDIST THING THE GOP DID LAST YEAR (BUT IT IS A CLOSE CALL) -This year, as one of many tricks to avoid complying with the class-size amendment, the Legislature approved a plan under which students can complete high school in three years. There was no academic reason for it; the intent was to reduce class size on the cheap while compromising academics. Five months later, no legislator will admit to writing the amendment. "Make diplomas count".
OFF TOPIC -This just in from the statistical desk of the world's richest country: The poverty rate was up for the second year in a row in 2002, adding 1.7 million people to the poverty rolls, for a California-size total of 34.6 million. (Poverty decreased for eight straight years during the 1990s, reaching a 25-year low in 2000). Also in 2002, the number of people lacking health insurance increased by 2.4 million, the biggest increase in a decade, for a total of 43.6 million. Median income fell $500 per household, or 1.1 percent -- wiping out for many what tax cut windfall they received. The nation is still reeling from a job loss of nearly 3 million in the last three years. Bankruptcy filings, mortgage foreclosures and personal debt are at or near all-time highs. So, too, are the federal debt and the federal budget deficit. The picture isn't brighter overseas. "The malaise presidency". 6:22 AM
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