H/T Karl Dickey at The Examiner:
In his State of the State address today, Republican Gov. Rick Scott tried to convince Floridians to “keep working” and that “it’s your money.” Unfortunately, the truth is that fewer Floridians are working, and we’re keeping less of our own money.
The number of working Floridians has decreased dramatically on Gov. Scott’s watch, and his economic policies have directly resulted in thousands of lost jobs in Florida. Florida’s labor participation rate has fallen from the 25-year average of 62.4 percent, down to 59.6 percent, according to the Florida Legislature Office of Economic and Demographic Research.
It’s easy to tout positive unemployment numbers when you stop counting the nearly 442,000 Floridians who have given up hope of finding work.
Scott also proudly claimed to have cut the budget during his tenure. That is absolutely false.
Gov. Scott has increased the state budget by over $8 billion during his term. In 2011, Florida spent a total of $65.5 billion. Under Rick Scott, the state budget has ballooned to $74.2 billion. That’s more than the entire defense budgets of Canada, Australia, and Israel … combined. Attempting to spend our way to prosperity has gotten us into this mess, and Rick Scott should know better.
Any “cuts” that Scott refers to are simply minor reductions to the massive spending increases that he has proposed and signed. Gov. Scott has apparently taken a page from the Obama playbook, by spinning a decrease to the increase as a “cut.”
The truth is that Scott’s massive spending increases mean the state government now has much more of your money. Perhaps it’s appropriate that he gave this address to the state Legislature. He must have been talking to government officials – not you – when he said, “it’s your money.”
Scott proposed a paltry reduction to the auto registration fee, which would save Florida taxpayers $25 per year per vehicle. If it’s not even enough to fill your gas tank, is it even worth getting excited about?
The people of Florida need real tax cuts, not just talking points. That’s why I’m proposing a 100 percent tax exemption on all homestead properties, saving the average Florida homeowner $1,500 per year, and making a real difference for struggling Florida families.
Gov. Scott also took a great deal of pride in touting his record in job creation. But, once again, there’s a problem. The vast majority of these jobs exist only as projections on paper, not as real paychecks for Florida families. Of the 460,000 jobs Scott claims to have created since 2010, only 5 percent of them have actually materialized into actual jobs.
In one instance a “promise” of over 400 jobs with Redpine Healthcare Technologies has vanished as the financing dissipated and the owners are now in bankruptcy court.
In another instance, a sawmill with the “promise” of 127 new jobs has stalled due to red tape and government bureaucracy. In fact the majority of the projects and “promised” jobs attached to tax incentives have been stalled in large part to other government regulations and lack of financing, yet the jobs are still being misleadingly presented as being created by the governor.
As I travel the state speaking with small-business owners, I always ask, “What can government do to help you create jobs and economic growth?” Almost universally, they tell me that taxes and regulations are killing business, and preventing them from hiring new employees. I often hear statements like, “Get government out of our way, and we’ll do the rest.”
I have listened, and I am prepared to act.
That’s why I have proposed the Florida Intrastate Commerce Act. The Florida ICA will insulate manufacturers, distributors, retailers, and service providers from burdensome federal regulations, and create an environment for real job creation and lasting prosperity. It will release small and medium businesses from the shackles of overregulation, and allow them to expand and hire new workers. It will attract high-tech manufacturers to Florida, and open up new markets for skilled employees. And, it will do all this without having to spend a penny of “your money.”
Amid all the half-truths and half-measures of Scott’s speech, he found time to place blame on his predecessor, former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist.
At least that’s one issue upon which Gov. Scott and I can partially agree. Florida has witnessed more government and less liberty under the last two Republican governors.
Charlie Crist was a big-spending, job-killing governor.
And despite all his rhetoric and spin, Rick Scott has just been more of the same.”
Excellent statement by Adrian Wyllie. I will be voting for him.