Florida's budget shortfall may hit $1.2B
With Florida's economy worsening, economists are likely Friday to forecast a $1.2 billion loss in projected tax revenues, which could lead Gov. Charlie Crist to dip into reserves or propose more budget cuts.
SHORTFALLS CITED
On his state Senate campaign website Wednesday, Gelber noted the monthly tax-collection shortfalls as well as the following statistics that indicate Florida is in for a tough ride:
• 78,000 people lost work from June 2007 to June 2008, making the state first in job loss.
• 40,000 Florida homes were foreclosed in June, the second-highest number in the nation.
• 300,000 homes are unsold, meaning there's a year's worth of inventory sitting empty.
• Existing state properties lost $153 billion in property values, thereby reducing the borrowing power that helped fuel Floridians' spending habits.
''Florida's troubled times aren't going to go away soon or without pain,'' Gelber said. ``And the pain is in the housing market and gas pumps.''
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080814/BLOG01/807073166/-1/newssitemap
Sounds like Crist and McCain are a lot alike.
Small crowds.
Same donation bundler .
Both against off shore drilling before they where for it.
Both do not see a problem.
Crist Fl. has always had an flooding problem.
I was raised here feel free to research flooding in Fl. I admit never on this scale being all at once. But the point being he's never tried to fix it. Come to think of it neither did Jeb Bush.
Crist repeatedly urged Floridians not to take Fay lightly he took Fl's flooding problem lightly.
McCain does not see a problem with the economy and doesn't see a need to fix it.
McCain's taking Our Nation's economy problems lightly.
The marked differences.
Gov. Charlie Crist wants to dip into reserves or propose more budget cuts.
McCain don,t want to dip into our oil reserves in case of the next war, I mean Emergency .
McCain can't seem to hear or understand the questions from the crowd. With Crist they can't hear him.
Out come nothing will change.
.Crist a no show for Buchanan rally
For most of the about 300-person crowd, whatever the governor said was inaudible as Robinson struggled to position the phone at the microphone so everyone could hear the governor.
I tried to get as close as I could to the stage where the raised cell phone became the focus of the crowd, but I only made out something about supporting presidential hopeful John McCain.
After about 2 minutes of the cell phone being held to the microphone, Buchanan realized most of the crowd still wasn’t hearing the speech.
With people heading of the exits, Buchanan stepped in and pushed the phone aside while it sounded like Crist was still trying to say something.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/florida/story/641294.html
Fla. GOP, Gov. Crist to back Rooney for Congress
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The state GOP chairman and Gov. Charlie Crist plan to endorse Tom Rooney in the primary that will decide who faces U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney in November.
Rooney, a former Army officer, is in a three-way race with state Rep. Gayle Harrell and wealthy investor Hal Valeche.
Mahoney's seat is the GOP's top Florida target this year. The Democrat won office after Republican congressman Mark Foley resigned in disgrace over improper electronic messages he sent to pages.
While party Chairman Jim Greer wouldn't discuss specifics about Friday's event, he said in select cases he will inject himself into a primary to avoid a bloodbath that will hurt the Republican nominee's chances in a general election.
The primary will be held Aug. 26
http://www.jacksonville.com/apnews/stories/081408/D92ICJF85.shtml
Tom Rooney recently received the endorsement of Florida Governor Charlie Crist in the hotly contested Republican Primary in Florida’s 16th Congressional District, despite the fact that Harrell has been leading in the polls, has the longest and most conservative record, and is most likely to win in November.
So why did Crist suddenly back Rooney? Well, Crist and Huckabee aren’t exactly the best of friends and to have the former Arkansas Governor stomping in his backyard probably irked Crist a bit and this may be his attempt at intimidating Mike Huckabee.
More likely, however, it has something to do with dead presidents, or at least the currency they are printed on.
Take a look at the money triangle for yourself.
You shouldn’t be surprised, this is how Rooney and his liberal family operate. They figure that men in politics can be bought off for a price, and sadly, in the case of Florida’s Governor, Rooney is exactly right: "You CAN buy Republican support".
Many of you have fought with me to support Governor Huckabee in the face of a corrupt party establishment that operates exactly like this. As a result, we have Republicans occupying all levels of government because they are wealthy and not because of their commitment to conservative values and the issues we on the grassroots level fight tooth and nail for every day.
Tom Rooney is the kind of Republican we need to kick OUT of Washington, not send there!
That’s why the Republican Party, or at least those truly representing the grassroots of the Republican Party need to come out and support Gayle Harrell.
That means, we need to get HuckPAC to endorse Gayle Harrell! But just as important as Governor Huckabee are we, the grassroots bloggers. No individual among us represents the entire conservative movement, but there’s absolutely no doubt that, together, we sum up the voice of the conservative movement really darn well.
Crist appoints a McCain supporter and a South Floridian
Gov. Charlie Crist announced today that he appointed one of John McCain's top Florida donors to the board of Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state's largest property insurer.
McCain is expected to make a choice of his own in the next few weeks: picking his vice-president -- and Crist is still a contender.
-Corry Capital Advisors partner and Vero Beach-resident William P. Corry, 45, will replace Richard DeChene on the board. Corry gave Crist $1,000 for his 2006 gubernatorial campaign and is among the top 20 donors to committees that have supported McCain's presidential campaign, according to Public Citizen, a non-profit consumer advocacy group.
My Comment Here:
"CAN buy Republican support" keeps ringing in my ears
-Crist also picked TECO Energy CEO and Coral Gables resident Sherill W. Hudson, 65, to replace Bruce Douglas, who stepped down last month as board chairman. More than half of Citizens' 1.2 million policyholders live in South Florida and Hudson will be the only South Floridian on the board.
Citizens board members are not paid, except for travel expenses and other costs associated with their duties on the board.
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/business/realestate/housekeys/blog/2008/08/crist_appoints_a_mccain_suppor.html
Public Service Commission's targets for renewable energy far below Crist's
A year ago, Gov. Charlie Crist made headlines by announcing ambitious goals to move Florida toward greater use of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power. But the state's Public Service Commission, which regulates power companies, appears to have other plans.
A draft proposal unveiled this week is so timid, critics say, that it would do little to nothing to stimulate the development of alternative energy.
Compare that to Crist's goal of 20 percent by 2020.
"The (PSC) targets aren't ambitious enough to drive any kind of investment in renewable energy technology in Florida," said George Cavros with the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.
The targets were "the weakest in the nation. Dead last," he added. "Gov. Crist would be 94 before his proposed 20 percent target is realized."
Among the new draft provisions: Any new renewable energy projects must not exceed a 1 percent increase in cost to consumers. Renewable energy advocates accused the PSC staff of adopting a double standard, pointing out recent requests by utilities to increase consumer charges by more than 20 percent for construction of new nuclear plants.
My comment here.
It's strange McCain's for more nuclear plants based on his extensive knowlege as a pilot whoe served on board a nuclear carrier.
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/article781623.ece
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