Frank Attkisson's greatest hit

Rep. Frank Attkisson blew a gasket on the House floor saying he could not believe the state song was being debated while a bill loaded with property tax measures was swiftly defeated on a procedural vote.

"We have shown (the public) that we do not care about the taxes they are paying, and we think a song ... is more important," the Kissimmee Republican said. "I refuse to go along any further. I'm going to stay on the side of the taxpayer's wallet."

The bill contained language related to value adjustment boards and the widely loathed assessment practice known as highest and best, Attkisson told the chamber.

But Attkisson -- and the House Majority Office, which blasted Democrats for blocking tax relief -- glossed over a controversial part of the bill, one shielding online travel agencies, such as Expedia, from higher taxes.

Comments

[FL Taxpayer]

The democrats will pay dearly for going against the will of the people.

We want meaningful property tax relief now, or we'll target you democrats in the next election.

Oink, oink, oink - the soungs of Republicans who "fixed" property taxes so that they're going UP; who "fixed" property insurance so it went UP; who "fixed" PIP and so it went UP.

Oink, oink, oink - the sound of the friends of the Republicans who own beach front vacation homes and pay subsidised property insurance rates - subsidized by everyone else's "surcharge" on ALL of their insurance polices (home, auto, health).

Oink, oink, oink - the sound of the Republicans as they gave over a BILLION dollars to Corporations for boondoggles while cutting funding to child abuse investigators, foster care workers, adoption programs, nursing home inspections, education, the elderly, and the severely mentally and physically handicapped.

Oink, oink, oink - the sound of the Republican Leadership as it focused on a new state song, baggy pants, truck nutzzz - anything to avoid MEANINGFUL TAX REFORM AND FIXING THE PROPERTY INSURANCE PROBLEM.

Oink, oink, oink - as they turn the middle class into the working poor.

Remember next November!

6:49 - Can you be more of an idiot?

Oink, oink, oink 8:10 - are you afraid of losing your place at the trough???

Can one of the staffers hanging out on the blog help me understand something? I was watching the House Session live last night and bills were coming up for final passage in a flurry. Representatives were walking all overthe chamber, anjd there were groups huddled in the back and throughout the chamber talking while Questions and Debate were occuring. Then the Speaker stand in would call the question, tell the Clerk to unlock the machine and for votes to be entered. within literally 10 seconds the votes were entered and the machine was locked for the vote to be announced. When the vote was called there was no scurrying to desks to enter a vote, people were all over the place, but mostly not at their desks. How are the votes entered, can a vote be entered remotely? Can a vote be entered in advance? How does the vote get recorded in a flash when people are not at their desks? Thanks for helping this neophyte dummy understand how this happens.

[avoid toxic liberal who are halfwitted to say the least]

America used to be the “can do” country. Now apparently the land of hardy Pilgrims and pioneers often seems to act like sissies who wail and whine instead of solving problems that are fairly trivially addressed. One of those problems is high oil prices. Robert Samuelson:

What to do about oil? First it went from $60 to $80 a barrel, then from $80 to $100 and now to $120. Perhaps we can persuade OPEC to raise production, as some senators suggest; but this seems unlikely. The truth is that we’re almost powerless to influence today’s prices. We are because we didn’t take sensible actions 10 or 20 years ago. If we persist, we will be even worse off in a decade or two. The first thing to do: Start drilling.

It may surprise Americans to discover that the United States is the third-largest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia. We could be producing more, but Congress has put large areas of potential supply off-limits. These include the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and parts of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. By government estimates, these areas may contain 25 billion to 30 billion barrels of oil (against about 30 billion barrels of proven U.S. reserves today) and 80 trillion cubic feet or more of natural gas (compared with about 200 tcf of proven reserves).

What keeps these areas closed are exaggerated environmental fears, strong prejudice against oil companies and sheer stupidity.

At the moment oil prices look like they are declining or set to decline because of the end of a speculative frenzy and a worldwide recession or near-recession. But the long term trend is clear, and it takes a decade or more to get oil produced from places like ANWR. (The US could have been producing oil from ANWR for several years now but for the 1995 Clinton administration veto of an authorization to do so.) So it’s obvious that companies need to be able to start drilling — or have Americans sunk into the permanent state of “sheer stupidity” that Samuelson suggests?

8:28:

Members push other Member vote buttons all the time. They are not supposed to but it so much of a common place that nobody really pays attention to it.

[Ma Nature]

8:39 Blight me!

Now little remote buttons would be great... they would have to only work within a certain radius of the chamber... kinda like the wireless shock collars I have for my dogs... come to think of it... wireless shock collars for legislators so they don't leave the chamber... now that is an idea...

8:54

Thank you. So just because a vote was recorded for Rep. X, doesn't mean that Rep. X was actually even in the Chamber at the time?

8:19 - you mean the trough of public monies that democraps and their constituents cannot live without?

the trough that feeds off the hardwork of millions of other floridians who are productive members of society so a few who opt out of hardwork and opt in to the welfare system can take the money and turn around and say "F-U it's not enough!" - is that the trough to which you are referring? riiiiight.

9:31-

That's correct. I'd say it happens on 9 out of 10 votes.

[Chris W]

My, my. *Someone* is drinking at the bitter fountain this morning.

[Omega83]

4:04

the ones who cost your shot at "meaningful" tax reform were Crist, Pruitt, and Haridopolus when they backed Amendment 1 - not the D's.

Democrats are constantly blocking property tax relief demanded by the people.

Democrats = Tax & Spend