Tough talk during tough times

House Democrats held a news conference Thursday to criticize Republican-sponsored budget cuts that might have been avoided or minimized if the GOP was open to some other ideas, like raising taxes or borrowing from a reserve known as the Budget Stabilization Fund.

Rep. Dan Gelber, D-Miami Beach, the House Democratic leader, was in rare form. "Their policy is tethered to a sound bite: 'We all need to live within our means,'^" Gelber thundered. "I wonder if any of them has a grandparent in a nursing home ... I don't understand what these folks are up here to fight for." Later, Gelber decried "the inhumanity that's flowing from this place," adding: "These are not things a civilized society does. It isn't fair, it isn't right, it isn't fair."

Rep. Ray Sansom, R-Destin, the House budget chairman, didn't hear Gelber's comments directly. Told of them, he said: "It's very disappointing that the minority leader who preached bipartisanship as a hallmark has turned into the most partisan and divisive minority leader I've experienced in 20 years ... He's creating animosity and divisiveness ... I've offered a hand to them. That's not like Dan. He's a great guy, personally. I think he's letting partisan politics override common sense."

Comments

Wasn't there a blog on another newspaper where the FDP was going after RPOF for raising and SPENDING $15 million?

Democrats Dan Gelber & Steve Geller are the 2 fatcats in the FL legislature that have constantly supported local government's drunken spending.

Floridians may want to always take the opposite position of these two.

Drunken spending? It's more like roofies and date wape -- something the spoiled frat boys in the majority offices know all too well.

The Legislature forces local governments to raise taxes, else shut down altogether, by dumping billions and billions of dollars of mandates on them.

Sansom needs to realize that his party's take it or leave it style isn't bipartisanship, it is the roadmap to another seven seat loss.

STOP DIVERTING ATTENTION AWAY FROM YOUR LIES AND FAILURES, AND FIX INSURANCE LIKE YOU PROMISED “THE PEOPLE”!

Ray looks stupid complaining about being partison, come on, the House is the most devisive house ever and is lead by Ray Sansom.

What's "date wape?"

Things are tight so instead of tightening your belt, you waste your reserves or - worse - raise taxes on people already streched by the facts that things are tight. Great leadership, Ds.

Now how about figuring out how to "re-enfranchise" Florida and Michigan?

[Buzzard]

9:50:
"Perhaps he should have said gawop."

http://www.sbafla.com/pdf/investment/FRS_FACT_SHEET.PDF

This is a link to the State Board of Administration's web site. It refers to the status of the Florida Retirement System. I have heard a billion times from these 85 IQ politicians that schools should operate like a business. My question is if a for profit company was facing operations budget cuts to the extent that they would be laying off thousands of its employees but had $9.1 billion in actuarial surplus in its defined benefit retirement system, what would it do?

The answer is that it would suspend payments to its retirement plan until either the surplus was gone or the budget crisis was over. Forget the rainy day fund which are tax dollars that the Legislature collected from tax payers but NEVER INTENDS TO USE FOR ANY GOOD. The FRS has $9.1 billion (of taxpayers' money) sitting in a trust that will NEVER DO ANY GOOD FOR ANY EMPLOYEE, RETIREE or TAXPAYER.

[terminator]

8:40
within the next five to ten years hundreds of thousands of Florida's public employees will be retiring and will start pulling pension checks.
your "solution" to liquidate the pension fund so we can give more money to state and local government to piss down the drain is pathetic at best.
as a former public employee, I'm damn glad the FRS is in tip top shape unlike California's which is running a deficit. I'm glad my retirment benefits arrive monthly on time and I won't have to lose sleep at night wondering if the pension system will collapse under it's own weight when the baby boomers start retiring en masse.
As for your "for profit" company scenario, they would have gutted the pension plan to give fatcat executives multi-million dollar golden parachutes leaving the workers without their hard earned pensions (check United Airlines if you want one example or you may remember Enron)?
You sir are a moron!

On the one hand we have the tax cutters, claiming that everyone is paying record high taxes, and on the other we've got these legislators who say they can't balance the budget. What's the secret formula which can make these two mutually exclusive events co-exist at the same time???

Answer - the GOP's campaign financers (aka Big Business) are demanding tax cuts and these politicians are going to pay them back even if it means ruining our state.

Why don't we elect officials who will take our supposed record tax revenue and invest it in infrastructure, services, and education that will benefit Floridians - and not political whores entirely beholden to multinationals, developers, and out of state real estate investors, who have no long term interest in our state?

A vote for ANY GOP sponsored tax reform is a vote to continue tax giveaways to the rich.

And let's run all the selfish, heartless "Tax Watch" types out of our state while we're at it. Their short-sighted policies have left a trail of ruin and corporate exploitation in other states; we don't need to go through the same thing here.

Problem Solved!

9:44 that is simply not accurate. Sansom is a good and decent man who is forced to operate in an organization being run by devious, unprincipled children who think the legislature is a power trip...never mind that thousands of people will be harmed by their slash and burn approach to the budget. This is further evidence that major reform in how leadership is selected in the House is desperately needed. Selecting a leader out of fear is a great model for a totalitarian state but has no place in our Republic.

8:40 wants to take awway money that others have EARNED over 3+ decades.

Some might call 8:40 a communist.

Btw, General Motors is running major deficits in its pension plans. They didn't stop paying the retirees who earned them, they made cuts elsewhere.

For many retirees, a pension is fixed income.

I guess you're satisfied with starving old teachers?

10:02- If Sansom is a Leader, then he should step up and end the culture. I don't doubt that he is a genuine fellow, but complicity is guilt.

no wonder this state can't move forward - because enough idiots who live and vote here don't understand that lower revenue will need to result in budget cuts - just too hard a concept to understand for some idiots i guess

these same idiots are probably the ones who bought houses they couldn't afford becuase they lack basic financial skills

[terminator]

10:34 (head idiot)
it's your type of thinking that got the state in this mess to begin with.

you know, the idiots who never met a tax they didn't like.

or the one's who never passed on spending more money as opposed to being fiscally conservative.

what's the matter...your little pork barrel project going away?

BAAAHHHHH.....poor idiot.....damn that TRBC! WAAAAHHHH...I want more taxpayer money to piss down the drain.....WAAAAAAAA I can't rip off the taxpayers anymore....anyone see my pacifier?

um hey darth vader or terminator or whatever your stupid pathetic nickname is - my WHOLE POINT is in times like this when revenue is dropping we need to cut the budget - and it's the idiots who compain that don't understand that

learn to read before speaking out your a*****e

[terminator]

sorry my transformer must have blown a fuse!

10:34 You mean we should give up services, infrastructure, and schools so that we can give a bunch of out of state business interests an even bigger tax break than they already have? You must be one of those carpetbaggers who bought a dozen condos to flip and held on to them just a little too long, and now you want my kids to do without so you can still make the payments on your Benz.

Property values are up. Quit cutting taxes and we can balance the budget.

YOU KNEW WHAT THE TAXES WOULD BE WHEN YOU BOUGHT IT. NOW PAY UP AND SHUT UP.

Problem Solved!