Topic category:  Other/General

Florida Governer Crist has endorsed the favorite Republican candidate of Democrats and Leftists across the land. He has endorsed the Republican candidate favored by the New York Times. He has endorsed a Republican who has little chance of winning the presidency, a candidate who has no executive experience whatsoever. He has endorsed Sen. John McCain, who has little likelihood of being elected in November.

This is one more disservice Crist has performed for the citizens of Florida.

Running for election, Crist promised Floridians that he'd do something about their rapidly escalating property taxes. Instead of actually doing something sensible and showing some constructitive leadership, Crist presides over the most complex, patchwork nonsense that has ever been presented to the voters of Florida, the mishmash in the form of a constitutional amendment that is so full of problems that it will likely have little effect other than to increase property taxes for Floridians and prevent any real reform in Florida's complicated property tax silliness.

Crist could have lead the fight for a simple solution to the property tax problem. For example, he might have proposed a solution that was truly innovative, simple, and fair to Floridians. Instead, he proposes a politicians delight in the form of a complex, costly, difficult to understand and completely ineffective measure that, if it passes, will be embedded as a constitutional amendment, making real reform all the more difficult.

True property tax reform could be achieved with the following simple formula:

• All improvements would be assessed on the same basis statewide. That means the same house in one part of the state would be assessed at exactly the same value as an identical home of the same age in another part of the state. Land would be assessed according to locality; more desirable locations would have higher land values than less desirable locations, as it should be. Property tax assessments would be attached to property, not to taxpayers.
• Homesteaders would be able to deduct a specified percentage from their tax bills. For example, if the equalized assessed value of land and improvements produced a tax bill of $3,800, homesteaders would be able to deduct a fixed amount (to be determined each year based on economic conditions) of, say, 20%, yielding a net tax bill of $3,800 - $760 = $3,140.
• In no case would a property owners tax bill exceed 15% of their gross income. Consequently, in the above case, if the property owners' gross income were $15,000, then their property tax would be capped at $2,250.

So why hasn't Governor Crist proposed such a simple, straightforward and fair system?

And why has Governor Crist endorsed the least likely Republican of the three leading candidates to win in November?

Could it be that Governer Crist is really a RINO (Republican In Name Only)?

Evidently.

Sen. McCain is wrong in his opposition to Amtrak funding.

Sen. McCain is wrong in his acceptance of the Gore/IPCC global warming foolishness. Real atmospheric scientists, climatologists, and meteorologists are becoming more and more skeptical of the hysterical fear-mongering of Al Gore and his global warming followers who have no concept of the true nature of climate.

Sen. McCain's approach to energy independence is a continuation of the failed policies of the past with more of the same reliance on unproven, costly alternatives and conservation plus a heavy dose of federal regulation.

Sen. McCain is a loser. Gov. Crist does Floridians and all Americans a huge disservice by endorsing a candidate who will assure a Democrat victory in November.

That makes Gov. Crist a loser, too.

Bob Webster
WEBCommentary (Editor, Publisher)

Biography - Bob Webster

Author of "Looking Out the Window", an evidence-based examination of the "climate change" issue, Bob Webster, is a 12th-generation descendent of both the Darte family (Connecticut, 1630s) and the Webster family (Massachusetts, 1630s). He is a descendant of Daniel Webster's father, Revolutionary War patriot Ebenezer Webster, who served with General Washington. Bob has always had a strong interest in early American history, our Constitution, U.S. politics, and law. Politically he is a constitutional republican with objectivist and libertarian roots. He has faith in the ultimate triumph of truth and reason over deception and emotion. He is a strong believer in our Constitution as written and views the abandonment of constitutional restraint by the regressive Progressive movement as a great danger to our Republic. His favorite novel is Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and believes it should be required reading for all high school students so they can appreciate the cost of tolerating the growth of unconstitutional crushingly powerful central government. He strongly believes, as our Constitution enshrines, that the interests of the individual should be held superior to the interests of the state.

A lifelong interest in meteorology and climatology spurred his strong interest in science. Bob earned his degree in Mathematics at Virginia Tech, graduating in 1964.