Florida’s Budget a Mess: Taxpayers and Voters Take Notice

December 8, 2010 Leave a comment

If I was the city of Coral Gables I would plan for the worst revenue situation.  Taxpayers, take notice–the city will hit you again next year.

A legislative economist told the Senate Budget Committee on Tuesday that she expects a predicted $2.5 billion budget gap to widen because Florida’s economic recovery has been slower than forecast.

The panel’s chairman, meanwhile, hinted that Gov.-elect Rick Scott’s campaign promises for deep spending and tax cuts may run into trouble in the Legislature.

via Florida’s 2011-12 budget outlook getting gloomier – BusinessWeek.

Filed under Budget, Coral Gables, Finance, Florida

Real Estate News from MarketWatch.com: Find Something Positive for Coral Gables.

November 28, 2010 Leave a comment

The following are snippets last week from MarketWatch.com on real estate news and blues–mostly blues.  Do we think that Coral Gables will soon find its property tax values rising.  I guess not.  Sorry to be so pessimistic about the near term (three to five year) future of real estate in Florida and Coral Gables.

The pending supply or “shadow inventory” of U.S. homes hit 2.1 million units, or eight months of supply, in August, up more than 10% from 1.9 million units, or five months of supply, a year ago, according to a report by CoreLogic on Monday.

Sales of existing homes fell 2.2% in October, according to a report released Tuesday, with activity remaining mired near record lows as worries over prices, a glut of foreclosed properties, restrictive credit and high unemployment combine to weigh on the market.

After a big jump last week, mortgage rates stabilized this week, with rates on fixed-rate mortgages barely changing, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey of conforming mortgage rates, released Wednesday.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.4% for the week ending Nov. 24, up from 4.39% last week. The rate averaged 4.78% a year ago.

Sales of new single-family homes fell 8.1% in October to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 283,000, according to data released Wednesday by the Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Filed under Coral Gables, Florida, National

Tea Party Kills High-Speed Rail (Ohio and Wisconsin)

November 7, 2010 Leave a comment

Let Obama send that money to Florida–we’ll take it.  Thanks.

Republicans who were elected on Tuesday are beginning to deliver on their campaign promises to kill America’s future. Within hours of declaring victory, the incoming tea-party governors of Wisconsin and Ohio stood fast on pledges to kill $1.2 billion in funding for high-speed rail in their states. The funding, part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, will revert to the federal government for investment in other states — unless Republicans in Congress are able to kill that, too. Walker warned he would fight President Obama to keep the Milwaukee-Madison link killed “if he tries to force this down the throats of the taxpayers.” Kasich — who called the high-speed rail project linking Cleveland, Columbus, and Cincinnati “one of the dumbest ideas” he’s ever heard — used his victory speech to announce, “That train is dead“

via “Passenger rail is not in Ohio’s future”: New GOP governors kill $1.2 Billion in high-speed rail jobs: « Climate Progress.

Filed under Climate Change, Economy, Florida

Note on ‘Super PAC’ Dollars

November 1, 2010 Leave a comment

The Super PAC’s will add to shaping future elections in the US by interested in both political parties.  The Supreme Court has opened the flood gate for this kind of financing, whether we like it or not.  What will hoped for democracy may be manipulated for groups with the money to do so–hopefully, voter will wake up and change our system of paid-for-politicians.

The independent-expenditure-only “Super PAC” committees are perfect for corporations and unions that want to spend for or against candidates. Former McCain ’08 counsel and FEC Chairman Trevor Potter described them as the “holy grail” of campaign finance to The Washington Post.

“There’s much less disclosure than even with 527s and there’s no danger in running afoul of the law by accepting large individual contributions, or contributions from previously prohibited sources–corporations and labor unions,” wrote Rick Hasen, the William H. Hannon Distinguished Professor of Law at Loyola Law School and author of the Election Law blog, in an email.

“Super PACs” do have to disclose their donors (unlike 501(c)(4) social welfare groups such as American Crossroads GPS), but many of them are simply too new. Ending Spending incorporated on Oct. 5, and voluntarily disclosed that its sole financier and founder was Joe Ricketts, owner of the Chicago Cubs and founder and former CEO of Ameritrade. The group is soliciting other donations as well.

via Millions of ‘Super PAC’ dollars flow through Tampa and into races nationwide « Florida Independent: News. Politics. Media.

Filed under Florida, Politics

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