Charlie wants a victory at any cost...

[FD Bro']

South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
It's all a hoax
Stephen Goldstein

Columnist

January 21, 2008

No, no, a thousand times no! On Jan. 29, I'm voting against Amendment 1, the hoax on property taxes. It's Tallahassee's latest version of "Pin the Tail on Floridians." Here are my nine reasons why:

1. The Florida Legislature always lies, double-deals and [url=deceives.

2. There is no guaranteed tax cut in Amendment 1, no matter what the governor and legislators claim.

3. According to the group Florida Ballot Initiative, if Amendment 1 passes, you may actually lose your Save Our Homes benefit. An expert hired by the Legislature predicted that the new "portability" provision would lead to a lawsuit and that, if it were declared unconstitutional, SOH would go.

4. Revamping property taxes should be part of a comprehensive overhaul of Florida's entire tax system, including the revocation of billions of dollars worth of unjustifiable, lobbyist-induced sales-tax exemptions.

5. [b]Tax policy should never be put in the state Constitution[/b] because it ties the hands of the Legislature. Elected officials need to be able to make changes to deal with fluid economic conditions. We're in the property tax mess we're in because Save Our Homes is in the Constitution.

6. The Legislature and the governor have only proposed a new constitutional amendment because they are gutless. They could already have given tax relief by passing a law or series of laws. Instead, they went the amendment route so they can blame voters for approving the measure when it turns out to be a disaster.

According to Florida TaxWatch:

7. "The new proposed amendment is expected to save average homeowners about $240. (I think that's a joke, after the governor and legislative leaders promised that our "taxes will drop like a rock.")

8. "The plan gives relief to those who need it the least (long-term Save Our Homes property), while giving virtually nothing to those that have seen their taxes rise the most (non-homestead property)."

9. "It will perpetuate and exacerbate the current system that shifts tax burden from homestead to non-homestead property. It will also continue to shift tax burden to new homeowners."

Vote Yes, and you'll be responsible for a major mess.

Copyright © 2008, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinio ... int.column



FD Bro'
Save Our Services

I will vote on anything that will get rid of that waste. It is not fair that because you owned your home for 20 years and its worth doudle the price of my house you pay only half the tax that I do.

TRUE Example: A school principal and I were talking about property tax issues. She was complaining because she pays $2700 in property tax for a house that is worth (according to her) $850k. Of course that is not what she paid for it years ago. I didnt ask what she paid.

My house is worth $300k and I pay $5400 in property tax because I bought my house only 3.5 years ago. Its time these people start to pay their fair share. F**K the SOH Tax!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT A JOKE!!!!

Homeowner's insurance through the roof, Unequal Homeowner taxes, Insurance Companies running rampant in Florida, doing whatever they feel, whenever. But, there's Good Ole Charlie, staring at the cameras with his pearly white teeth, tanned skin, and perfect hair, waving as if everything's just peachy. Oblivious to life and how the REAL PEOPLE live. He can't wait to appease every group fast enough to get the votes he needs to be president. Reality is this, I'M SORRY FOR I VOTED FOR YOU CHARLIE, GET A SPINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm so disappointed.

I will vote on anything that will get rid of that waste. It is not fair that because you owned your home for 20 years and its worth doudle the price of my house you pay only half the tax that I do.

TRUE Example: A school principal and I were talking about property tax issues. She was complaining because she pays $2700 in property tax for a house that is worth (according to her) $850k. Of course that is not what she paid for it years ago. I didnt ask what she paid.

My house is worth $300k and I pay $5400 in property tax because I bought my house only 3.5 years ago. Its time these people start to pay their fair share. F**K the SOH Tax!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amendment one helps you how? Seems like the person who owns the 850K home gets the deal with portabilty and you are still stuck with the shaft. Why would you vote yes on it?

VOTE YES to cut property taxes because it will force city and county officials to cut duplication, live withing OUR (their!) MEANS, cut waste, and get back to basics without the frills of every special official project with his/her name on it. With hope and open government, this cut in the RATE OF GROWTH of SPENDING will be only a start. Next, there has to be a cap on the $'s of taxes governments can have access to. Florida government spending for cities and counties has risen about 100% (about doubled) in the past 7 years. Meanwhile, the overall cost of living rose only about 15% and the population rose about another 20%. Needs rose a combined 35-40%, but the funds PLUNDERED from homeowners rose about 100%. THERE is NO JUSTIFICATION for that burden to be placed on property owners. JUST SAY YES!

Sounds like F.D. is worried about the City cutting his pay to fade the forced tax cut. Vote yes, and hold the Cities feet to the fire, do we really need all these 100k vice mayors?

[FD Bro']

Sounds like F.D. is worried about the City cutting his pay to fade the forced tax cut. Vote yes, and hold the Cities feet to the fire, do we really need all these 100k vice mayors?

Yeah, that's it - "fade."

Call the Mayor's office and ask him the status of three of the four Ladder Trucks that this CITY owns. He won't know unless he asks someone else, so I'm going to tell you. One was in the shop for maintenance while the other two were getting a new engine and a new transmission - respectively.

A new online survey has just been conceived by Fire Administration, asking for our input on the pending Fire Fighter Paramedic crisis.

Next time a Rescue rolls up to your house, count the number of Paramedic patches that walk through the door. You're paying for two.

You can keep pissing up the same rope if you want, but there's no free lunch.




FD Bro'
"Hate the game, not the player"