-Caveat Lector- From http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pbpost/epaper/editions/sunday/opinion_d39b7bcf505a00bc 005f.html
>>>... there seems to be a family resemblance here ... A<>E<>R <<< Sunday, October 27 Accent | Business | Local News Main News | Opinion | Sports Get bullish on Florida; make McBride governor Palm Beach Post Editorial Sunday, October 27, 2002 Bill McBride never has run for office. His opponent has the advantage of being the president's brother. Mr. McBride and his party will be outspent by more than 2-to- 1. Yet with the election nine days away, he is running even with Gov. Bush, and the reasons for the close race explain why voters should make Mr. McBride Florida's next governor. When candidate Jeb Bush campaigned in 1998, he said, "Florida can do better." Thanks to the work of his Democratic predecessor, he inherited a budget surplus of roughly $2 billion. Florida was poised to do better, even to do great things. Instead, Gov. Bush squandered the surplus on tax cuts that have returned nothing for the state. Having made lower taxes for a few corporations and the wealthiest 4.5 percent of Floridians his priority, the governor provided slogans and gimmicks that he hoped would fulfill his campaign pledge. Here are the results: Per-pupil spending in the public schools has dropped from 32nd nationally to 40th. Per- capita spending for schools has dropped from 43rd to 46th. Personal income has dropped from 25th to 27th. The budget for next year will be at least $1 billion short because, among other things, the governor made a withdrawal from the retirement fund to say he was increasing money for schools. Gov. Bush says Florida is "on the right track" with education. Objective studies disagree. The Florida Chamber of Commerce said in January that the state "ranks near the bottom tier in most measures of educational performance." A legislative task force said students from poor and immigrant families are falling further behind those from more affluent families and that Florida students fare worse on national tests than those from other states. Where the governor denies reality, Mr. McBride confronts it. In place of slogans, he offers successes from three decades of civic and business leadership. In place of gimmicks, he offers a renewed commitment to education and all the other public institutions that can make Florida a better place. On the important issues, the contrast could not be more striking. � Education. Mr. McBride favors spending that does more than simply try to keep up with growth and inflation. For the past two years under Gov. Bush, the share of the state budget going to the schools has shrunk; two-thirds of the tiny spending increase has come from raiding the retirement fund and raising local property taxes. Mr. McBride would use the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test to help students, as it was designed to do. Gov. Bush would keep misusing the FCAT to grade schools. � Taxes. Mr. McBride favors ending such special interest sales-tax exemptions as the one for stadium skyboxes. He favors reform to create a system that would be fairer to all Floridians. Gov. Bush opposed a plan that would have lowered the sales tax while removing special-interest exemptions, and this year he signed $262 million in corporate tax breaks while eliminating the one-week sales-tax holiday. His tax cuts for the wealthy cost the state about $2 billion a year, or enough to pay for the class-size amendment that he says the state can't afford to pay for. � Child welfare. Mr. McBride would conduct an outside review of the Department of Children and Families, then seek guidance from states where reforms are making the system work better. Gov. Bush, after firing one DCF secretary who made a weak agency much worse, hired another with little experience. His "review" consisted of handpicking cronies who shifted blame away from the governor who in 1998 promised to fix the foster-care system in six months. � The courts. Mr. McBride, who built his old law firm into the nation's fifth- largest, supports an independent judiciary. When Gov. Bush appointed Raoul Cantero to the Florida Supreme Court this year, he said the courts "have seized control over policy decisions that are not theirs to make." He means that the courts should uphold the governor and Legislature, even when their actions violate the constitution. Mr. McBride favored the old system that split power to appoint members of the commissions that help to pick judges. Gov. Bush gave himself sole power to appoint the boards. It is revealing that the governor, who praises his record, isn't running on it. When he isn't trying to sound like Mr. McBride on education, he is resorting to ads that lie about almost every McBride position and jab frantically at every hot-button issue: taxes, the death penalty, gun control. This is the Jeb Bush who in 1994 falsely accused Lawton Chiles of blocking a child-killer's execution. The same Jeb Bush ran in 1998. He just used a different script. Once in office, however, he reverted to the ideologue of eight years ago, taking a wrecking ball to state government before he has a blueprint. Mr. McBride's appeal is that he challenges Floridians, just as he has challenged himself. He asks Floridians to contribute, just as he has contributed. He sees a state of so many riches and asks why so many vital signs are so weak. While Gov. Bush concocts "devious plans" to avoid lowering class sizes -- even if voters demand it -- Mr. McBride pledges to work with the Legislature and create the best plan for the schools. While Gov. Bush threatens to make some of the state's most vulnerable citizens pay for smaller classes, Mr. McBride says that doesn't have to happen. On Nov. 5, voters should respond to a challenge, not fear, and elect Bill McBride. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A<>E<>R + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Forwarded as information only; I don't believe everything I read or send (but that doesn't stop me from considering it; obviously SOMEBODY thinks it's important) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. 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