Do low corporate taxes spur investment and jobs? Or do they simply reward the wealthy while increasing the tax burden on people who can least afford to pay?
While some companies clearly respond to Florida's low-tax lure, others say their investment decisions have little or nothing to do with state corporate income taxes.
The real key to succeeding in today's economy, some business executives say, is a pool of well-educated workers, low crime rates and competent judges who understand complex business laws. "Low taxes: Is that the formula for job growth?"
FCAT SCAM -When Gov. Bush released school grades in June, he said, "I'm so sick and tired of hearing over and over again that kids can't learn." He's used that tack to defend using the FCAT -- rather than the whole year's worth of work -- to flunk a record number of third-graders, a policy that hit minorities hard.
But now it's Gov. Bush's education henchman, Commissioner Jim Horne, who says some kids can't learn. So many schools are getting A's that state rules call for higher passing standards to take effect this school year. Yet this week, Mr. Horne persuaded officials to recommend putting off the higher standards in reading and math. "We need to stabilize things a bit," Mr. Horne explained. "We know we've had success with raising standards. But we need to find the right time." "Lower FCAT standards a reelection ploy".
What you saw last week in Florida was the Legislature and Gov. Bush using the state and federal constitutions for toilet paper and raising political hypocrisy to stratospheric levels, even by their standards.
STRAW POLL - From the New York Times:
Florida Democrats, frustrated at not playing a bigger role in the early round of presidential voting, are threatening to defy the wishes of the national party and some presidential candidates by informally polling state delegates months ahead of the official primary.
The state party will decide on Nov. 16 whether to go forward with a nonbinding straw poll of the 3,000 delegates at its convention on Dec. 6, underscoring tension between the national chairman, Terry McAuliffe, and party leaders here. "Florida Democrats, Seeking Edge, Consider Early Straw Poll".
House Speaker Johnnie Byrd pulled some chicanery on Senate President Jim King. King later turned the tables on Byrd. House Democrats put a scare into Republicans, then eventually got chain-sawed by the ruling party.
And
U.S. Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Oviedo, was back in Tallahassee last week. The former Florida House speaker returned during a chaotic week of standoffs, coups and countercoups reminiscent of his tenure with then-Senate President John McKay.
THANKS, THANKS A LOT -The last thing anyone in Florida should hear from telephone companies is righteous indignation. But the companies are shocked that anyone would see something sinister in their sponsorship last year of a golf tournament in Miami Beach that drew the same people who regulate utilities in Florida. "A round of phone hikes".
THREE THINGS ABOUT FLORIDA'S POLITICAL LEADERSHIP -Florida learned three things, none of them comforting, about its political leadership last week.
One helps to explain why House Speaker Johnnie Byrd wants to be in the U.S. Senate. Tallahassee is too small a stadium to contain his boundless demagoguery and contempt for constitutional principles. He needs to play in the same grand arena as Huey Long and Joe McCarthy. . . . This brings us to the second grim lesson, which is the boundless hypocrisy of Jeb Bush. On one hand, he expresses tender concern that the courts may have erred with respect to the wishes of a tragically brain-damaged woman. But on the other, he has sent 14 people to their deaths at the state prison without even a slight sign of regret. He has been so very eager to respect the finality of those judicial decisions that he has yet to recommend clemency in any death case. . . . The third lesson: Your living will may soon be worthless. The Schiavo exception expires after 15 days but the precedent is permanent. Any other legislature could decide, as this one did, that it knows better than you what's best for you. Some are already talking of rewriting the law. Sen. Anna Cowin, R-Leesburg, openly called Death with Dignity a political mistake. The "talking points/sound bites" memo distributed in the House implied an intent to stop all "legal dehydration and starvation deaths" and of giving the Legislature "time to assess the flaw in our current law." "Schiavo law expires, precedent will live".
AND WE'RE PAYING FOR THIS -In the recall campaign, Schwarzenegger promised to order a comprehensive audit of the state's books to help determine priorities in time for his January budget submission. That audit is being led by Arduin, who is finance director for, and on loan from, Republican Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida.
"She's drilling deep into the state's books to, among other things, find out what the true scope and breadth is of the problem that the governor-elect is going to have to confront and solve," said H.D. Palmer, a spokesman for the incoming administration's transition team. "[Cal] Democrats say audit won't solve [Cal] shortfall".
SO VERY, VERY SECRET - Rep. Don Brown, R-DeFuniak Springs, concedes that he would like to see Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, become House speaker in 2006.
But Brown won't say whether or not he is raising money to assist Ross' bid for leadership.
Brown, like many other legislators in recent years, has set up his own committee of continuous existence, or CCE, called the Committee for Florida's Economic Future. "Donor list under wraps".
THE PRIVATE SECTOR AT WORK -Increasingly, insurers raise rates or cancel policies if ratepayers file a claim - and sometimes if they merely call to ask about filing a claim. "Insurance risk".