Rick Scott's Bogus White Paper

The white paper from Gov. Rick Scott is not an actual white paper. It is a piece of Scott propangda white paper is an academic policy paper. A piece of campaign propaganda contains paragraphs like this. Economic papers don't contain a cute gif of a piggy bank.

Under Governor Scott, the state has fundamentally changed the way it makes decisions with its taxpayers’ money. Florida has rejected the short-sighted state-level policies that worsened the fallout of the economic downturn and Florida now stands in stark contrast to the policies of the federal government that discourage private investment, job creation and stability for families.

If you are a government employee you are not going to get a raise. You might even get a pay cut.

Since October 2012, 16 different state agencies and more than 45 private sector businesses have been recognized for identifying more than $146.3 million in cost savings and $34.2 million in services.

Scott's commit to saving taxpayers money is rather dubious. Scott backed private prisons. Corrections Corporation of America were major campaign donors to Scott and the Republican Party of Florida. Scott wanted private prisons with no-bid contracts. Dr. Michael Hallett, Professor & Chair for the Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, warned Sen. Mike Fasano of the dangers of giving a single state prison a no bid contract.

"It renders the state subject to captivity once the contract is awarded, by giving one corporation so much power and control over such a significant segment of the state budget," he said. "You can’t turn this around on a moments notice."

Scott killed to high speed rail project which would mostly be funded with federal and private money. Scott did approve of the Sunrail. Former Sen. JD Alexander was a big backer of the Sun Rail project. I wrote this when the project was approved by Scott.

The blog Stop CSX in Polk County broke the story that Alexander's was purchasing Phoenix Industries. Alexander owns Altantic Blue. The company bought Phoenix Industries, a frozen food vender that does business with CSX. The transporation bill would have placed CSX's new hub near Alexander's warehouse. One needs a scorecard to track Alexander's conflicts of interest.

It should be noted that Alexander was the biggest backer of private prisons in the Florida legislature. Even the Republican controlled Florida Senate would approve of the private prison deal. Scott is not a fiscal conservative. Scott is a crony capitalist.

Florida has serious infrastructure problems. It won't get any better under Scott.

To continue this practice of guarding taxpayer debt obligations, Governor Scott will not allow the State of Florida to take on new long-term debt obligations to fund roads, land purchases or education facility construction without specific and accountable returns on investment for taxpayers. Where possible, the state budget will include the use of cash, rather than bonds to further protect the state from consequences associated with massive amounts of taxpayer funded debt.

Scott promises $500 million in tax cuts. Scott fails to say what taxes he will cut.Scott is a governor who takes pains avoiding policy specifics. Another reason there may be no specific tax cuts is because this bogus white paper was not written by an economist. No author is listed. This is campaign material proclaiming the awesomeness of Rick Scott.

The previous tax cuts Scott lists are a Florida Chamber of Commerce wet dream. Scott fails to say how the tax cut on the surchange phosphate mining or reducing taxes to fund unemployment is creating jobs. Those tax cuts were never about job creation. The tax cuts are about increasing corporate profits.

Rick Scott's Bogus Economic White Paper

Tim Geithner on the Fiscal Cliff

Secretary of Treasury Tim Geithner tells CNBC that the Obama administration will go over the fiscal cliff if taxes aren't increased on the top 2 percent.

Side note: it is interesting to see that Republicans are running away from their austerity deal they imposed on President Obama. The cuts are what Republicans previously agreed to. We now know that these cuts are too drastic and could lead to another recession. This is what is going on in Europe with failed austerity policies.

Tom Coburn Backs Tax Increases on the Rich

Sen. Tom Coburn splits from the Republican caucus on the fiscal cliff negotiations. Coburn told MSNBC that he supports tax increases on the rich.

"I know we have to raise revenue," the senator from Oklahoma told MSNBC. "I don't really care which way we do it. Actually, I would rather see rates go up than do it the other way, because it gaves us a greater chance to reform the tax code and broaden the base in the future."

Coburn has been the most grown-up of Senate Republicans on deficit reduction. Touching the Department of Defense budget has been taboo for conservatives. Coburn published a report detailing waste in military spending. One DoD item was "The 100-Year Starship Project." A conference was held asking "Did Jesus die for Klingons, too?" Coburn is wise enough to know money is better spent elsewhere.

Pelosi Wants Vote on Tax Cuts for 98 Percent

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is urging Republicans to extend tax cuts for 98 percent of Americans. Now.

“Republicans can prove that they’re prepared to work in good faith on the fiscal crisis facing our country by calling up a vote to extend the middle-income tax cuts now,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told reporters at her Capitol briefing Thursday.

Pelosi wants the tax cuts on those making above $250,000-a-year to expire. Tom Cole is urging fellow Republicans to vote on the 98 percent tax cuts before the new year.

“I think we ought to take the 98 percent deal right now,” he said of freezing income tax rates for all but the top 2 percent of earners. “It doesn’t mean I agree with raising the top 2. I don’t.”

As a negotiating tactic, if the Republicans voted on the 98 percent tax cuts then the game is over. They would never have the Senate votes or be able to override President Obama's veto. Taxes on the top 2 percent would go up and Republicans wouldn't be able to do anything about this. Cole must this. I would love to see Republican internal polling on protecting tax cuts for the rich.

Bill Kristol Flips On Taxes

First it was Sean Hannity flipping on immigration. Now Bill Kristol supports raising taxes on the rich.

"It won't kill the country if we raise taxes a little bit on millionaires," he said on "Fox News Sunday." "It really won't, I don't think. I don't really understand why Republicans don't take Obama's offer."

"Really? The Republican Party is going to fall on its sword to defend a bunch of millionaires, half of whom voted Democratic and half of whom live in Hollywood and are hostile?" he asked.

Republicans don't have a lot of leverage. President Obama can decide to let the Bush tax cuts expire and tell Congress to vote on keeping the middle class tax cuts in place. The question is will he cave? That is very likely.

The truth is Republican policy positions suck. Hispanics were tuned into the racist overtones on immigration during the Republican primaries and voted for Democrats. The American people heard how the Bush tax cuts were suppose to increase the Clinton surplus. We then had a deficit. Mitch McConnell said we should increase taxes on "job creators." Never mind that unemployment has fell from the Clinton levels during the years the Bush tax cuts were in place. This is a party that isn't serious about sound policy. That is why the laughable Paul Ryan is elevated to the level of policy wonk. The Republican Party doesn't do policy. They pander to their base and lobbyists.

Vote No on Amendment 3

Former Florida Senate President Mike Haridopolos was running for the U.S. Senate. Haridopolos wanted to show the tea party set how much he hated taxes. Haridopolos proposed limiting how much tax revenue Florida could collect. The Republican controlled Florida legislature and the Constitution Revision Commission. Haridopolos succeeded in getting Amendment 3 on the Florida ballot.

STATE GOVERNMENT REVENUE LIMITATION.—This proposed amendment to the State Constitution replaces the existing state revenue limitation based on Florida personal income growth with a new state revenue limitation based on inflation and population changes. Under the amendment, state revenues, as defined in the amendment, collected in excess of the revenue limitation must be deposited into the budget stabilization fund until the fund reaches its maximum balance, and thereafter shall be used for the support and maintenance of public schools by reducing the minimum financial effort required from school districts for participation in a state-funded education finance program, or, if the minimum financial effort is no longer required, returned to the taxpayers. The Legislature may increase the state revenue limitation through a bill approved by a super majority vote of each house of the Legislature. The Legislature may also submit a proposed increase in the state revenue limitation to the voters. The Legislature must implement this proposed amendment by general law. The amendment will take effect upon approval by the electors and will first apply to the 2014-2015 state fiscal year.

Voters are up in arms over Gov. Rick Scott's education cuts. Teachers have gathered protest the cuts. Haridopolos only wants the "minimum financial effort" spent on schools. If lawmakers decide more spending is needed for schools, it would have to be approved by a super majority vote. The short answer is Haridopolos' amendment would make it nearly impossible school spending to increase.

The U.S Census Report found Florida is next to last in education spending per pupil.

Lowest per-pupil spending Utah - $6,064 Idaho - $7,106 Arizona - $7,848 Oklahoma - $7,896 Tennessee - $8,065 Mississippi - $8,119 North Carolina - $8,409 Nevada - $8,483 Florida –$8,741 Texas - $8,746

Florida has passed tax cuts under governors Jeb Bush, Charlie Crist and Rick Scott. There is no state income tax. Florida taxpayers are hardly spending too much on education. Vote no on Amendment 3.

SeaWorld Paid Zero Corporate Taxes

Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell writes that SeaWorld paid zero in state and federal corporate taxes last year. Another fun fact is only two percent of major for-profit companies paid taxes in 2010. The sad thing is Fox News and the tea party movement want people to believe that Occupy Wall Street is declaring class warfare on the rich.

John Boehner is William Wallace

Imagine John Boehner screaming "freedom at the end of the (highly overrated) Braveheart.



Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey wants Americans to imagine Boehner as a sword-wielding kilt clad warrior.

“I’ve got a flight out of [Georgia] in about two hours. We’re all coming back, that’s what everybody told Speaker Boehner on the conference call Saturday when we heard about this fiasco of a two-month extension voted on by the Senate,” Gingrey said. “We were literally shocked.”

“Out of 75 responses, there may have been one person that thought it was OK that we would put the fight off until two months from now,” he continued. “Everybody else said, 'Look, this is a 'Braveheart' moment. You, Mr. Speaker, are our William Wallace. Let’s rush to the fight. Get us back to Washington, let’s get to our work and we’re doing that.' "

Last week, Republicans and Democrats brokered a deal that overwhelmingly passed the Senate; it would extend the payroll tax cut two months. Lawmakers had been unable to agree on how to pay for a yearlong extension.

House Republican based their economic decision-making on the debt ceiling by watching a violent scene in the Ben Affleck movie The Town. Senate Republicans are less than thrilled about House Republicans rejected the payroll tax cut. Scott Brown is behind to Elizabeth Warren in the polls. Brown called the House Republicans rejection of the payroll tax increase "irresponsible and wrong." Sen. Richard Lugar is another Republican up for re-election who has spoken out against the House Republicans payroll tax vote down. Republicans are getting blamed for the gridlock in Washington. Voting against a tax cut for working class people is political suicide.

House Speaker John Boehner has lost control of his caucus. This was evident during the debt ceiling. Many of these tea party Republicans have more interest in being seat warmers than actually passing legislation. Boehner's 112th Congress has passed only 62 bills. Most of the bills either have no chance in the Senate are merely pointless. One bill was to move a post office. Another bill was to amend a section of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act. Boehner and his caucus aren't less government. They are lazy government.

The Silly 9-9-9 Tax Plan

For a Tea Party Nation member, Robert E. Kelly writes some surprisingly sensible things about the tax code. Kelly also is honest enough to point out that Herman Cain's 9-9-9 plan is flawed. Sadly, Kelly' solutions are not realistic.

I regard the Cain proposal as an incomplete idea that should be mixed with others to produce a tax system that will restore America to good government and to prosperity.

A better alternative would be to abolish all existing taxes, to close the IRS as we know it, to eliminate Amendment XVI (the power to tax incomes), to impose the so-called Fair Tax (a national sales tax), and to pursue a constitutional amendment that requires a balanced budget (with an allowance for wars and recessions) and a cap on spending of twenty percent of GDP.

Getting the United States Senate and 2/3 of the states to pass a constitutional amendment is nearly impossible. Congress , the CBO and the Office of Budget and Management would not have any idea what would constitute 20 percent of GDP spending. Estimates on the federal budget to the GDP aren't crunched by economists until after the fiscal year. Economist Bruce Bartlett called this idea the "Dopiest Constitutional Amendment of All Time."

I won't repeat all of my previous criticisms of the balanced budget amendment that can be found in the links. But let me discuss one other thing. The gross domestic product is not a concept defined in law and is revised constantly; from time to time, the Bureau of Economic Analysis revises the GDP data all the way back to 1929. And of course, the 18 percent figure is totally arbitrary; the proposal effectively assumes that all federal outlays consist of funds that are appropriated annually, rather than consisting primarily of mandatory programs such as Social Security, Medicare and interest on the debt. Even if Congress was willing to cut mandatory spending, it is practically impossible to do so quickly unless it is willing to reduce the monthly checks going to current retirees and other actions difficult to contemplate.

In short, this is quite possibly the stupidest constitutional amendment I think I have ever seen. It looks like it was drafted by a couple of interns on the back of a napkin. Every senator cosponsoring this POS should be ashamed of themselves.

Kelly does bring up the point that Cain's 9-9-9 plan is tilted toward the rich.

Again we have the same question: Will a lower tax rate applied to a higher base, plus the elimination of some income, yield a lower tax burden than higher tax rates applied to the existing base?

Cain must be more explicit in his presentation if he expects to sell this plan. I appreciate the dumping of the tax code, but I’m skeptical about his claim that his plan will be beneficial, and to whom? The tilt seems to be toward those with large capital gains and dividend income, and those with large estates. The lure to lower income groups is the elimination of the payroll tax.

Cain’s plan does not speak to those who currently pay no tax because their income is too low.

Good luck on having Cain explain his plan. The truth is Cain 9-9-9 plan is a campaign talking point gimmick just like Rick Scott's 6-6-6 jobs plan. Cain and Scott never had economic experts draw up plans. Cain and Scott put a bunch of political consultants in a room to come up with an easy to remember catch phrase.

As far as Cain's plan being geared to the rich, Cain's campaign is filled with people that have worked for the Koch brothers. The incompetent Chief of Staff Mark Block has never won a presidential campaign. Block has worked for the Koch brothers' funded Prosperity USA. The Koch brothers are using Cain to be a spokesman for their tax agenda. It doesn't matter to them if Cain's tax policies won't fly in the general election. The Koch brothers and the rest of the GOP establishment knows Cain will never get the nomination.

Joel Award: Marco Rubio

It is time to give out the Joel Award. The award goes any celebrity, pundit, blogger or politician that purposely contradicts himself or herself.

Last month when President Barack Obama and Democrats were pushing for an extension of the payroll tax cut. Sen Marco Rubio and other Republican said there were not enough people paying taxes. This is the same Rubio that resorts to overheated rhetoric at the slightest mention of closing the tax loophole of corporate jets.

“Quite frankly, I am both disappointed for our country and shocked at some of the rhetoric,” he said in an interview with the conservative National Review. “It was rhetoric, I thought, that was more appropriate for some left-wing strong man than for the president of the United States.”

Rubio should try living in a third world country if he believes making Warren Buffett pay taxes on his corporate jet makes Obama into Stalin.

President Obama finally used the bully pulpit with his jobs speech to the Joint Session of Congress. Rubio quickly backtracked and decided he wants to extend to payroll tax cut.

"A payroll tax cut extension is a good idea, but an even better idea for job creation is a complete overhaul that cuts taxes for everyone instead of temporary measures," the Florida Republicans said in a statement. "The temporary payroll tax provision is fine, but it certainly shouldn't be the centerpiece of any serious jobs plan. Pro-growth tax reform should be.”

Translation: Rubio will vote for the payroll tax cut extension if there are tax cuts for the rich. For Rubio that his progress. Compared to his recent insensitive statements on Social Security and Medicare.

Quote of the Day

"It is also true, incidentally, that America is very low-tax compared to other developed countries. So nobody likes to pay taxes, everybody says ‘my taxes are too damn high,’ and they’re right, except that if we want services and the services we want — we want to protect democracy, you have to have men and women who are willing able to go overseas and able to be supplied…I pay my taxes and I get pretty good value for my taxes. I live in the greatest democracy in the world."

Obama and Republicans won't offer universal health care. However, they have no problem giving companies $700 billion-a-year to offer health insurance to their employees. Repealing the tax subsidy of oil companies would save $18 billion. The list goes on. Republicans won't allow these tax breaks to be repealed and Obama isn't going to fight them on the issue.

Compassionate Conservatism: Orrin Hatch Edition

Orrin Hatch said the poor need to do more to help pay off the deficit.

"I hear how they're so caring for the poor and so forth," Hatch said in remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday, in reference to Democrats. "The poor need jobs! And they also need to share some of the responsibility."

Hatch doesn't feel that "responsibility" should be shared by millionaires and billionaires. Hatch voted against a non-binding resolution that said the rich should do reduce the federal debt. The only Democrat to vote against the resolution was Ben Nelson. Hatch and Nelson are so owned by the rich that they will vote to filibuster a non-binding resolution. The resolution passed 74 to 22. The Senate will waste time debating a toothless resolution.

Kathy Castor On Republican Budget

WMNF has an interview with Rep. Kathy Castor. The Tampa Democrats says the Paul Ryan budget would privatize Medicare. Castor wants to after after the tax loopholes that allows several corporations to not pay taxes.

Crist's 'Broad Based' Nonsense

Gov. Charlie Crist is running for the U.S. Senate and needs to prove himself a fiscal conservative. Crist signed the Americans for Tax Reform pledge. The group is run by the scandal-plagued Grover Norquist. Conservatives attacked Norquist for his association with the Islamist Fifth Column. Norquist came under F.B.I scrutiny for his ties with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Republican politicians don't have the good sense to avoid Norquist.

Crist signed Norquist anti-tax pledge. The problem is Crist raised taxes on cigareetes. Fees are technically not new taxes. Florida citizens will still feel the impact.

"It's broad based, if it's a majority," Crist said. "Clearly."


Here's what's clear: The state has about 15.6 million driver licenses and about 18.8 million motor vehicles. All of them will have to pay more.

Is that "broad based" enough?

Norquist's tax pledge is silly. Politicians should not paint themselves in a corner about promising never to raise taxes. Tax policy should be based on careful study and the current economic climate. It was pointless for Crist to sign the pledge. The Governor is terrified Norquist will whip up the base against him. Hardly a profile in courage.

Crist Caves to Norquist

The sway Grover Norquist has over Republicans is amazing. Norquist was at the center of the Jack Abramoff controversy. A Senate Indian Affairs Committee report found Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform was used to launder Indian tribe money for Abramoff.

"In addition, the Committee observed that a number of nonprofit organizations were used as instruments to channel money from one entity to another in an effort to obscure the source of funds, the eventual use of funds, and to evade tax liability on funds," the report continues. "Finally, the Committee also observed tax exempt organizations apparently serving as or being used as extensions of for-profit lobbying operations."

Norquist is known for incendiary remarks. Norquist actively seeks to bankrupt state and federal government.

"My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years," he says, "to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub."

Norquist compared the estate tax to the holocaust on Fresh Air.

Grover Norquist: Yeah, the good news about the move to abolish the death tax, the tax where they come and look at how much money you've got when you die, how much gold is in your teeth and they want half of it, is that -- you're right, there's an exemption for -- I don't know -- maybe a million dollars now, and it's scheduled to go up a little bit. However, 70 percent of the American people want to abolish that tax. Congress, the House and Senate, have three times voted to abolish it. The president supports abolishing it, so that tax is going to be abolished. I think it speaks very much to the health of the nation that 70-plus percent of Americans want to abolish the death tax, because they see it as fundamentally unjust. The argument that some who played at the politics of hate and envy and class division will say, 'Yes, well, that's only 2 percent,' or as people get richer 5 percent in the near future of Americans likely to have to pay that tax.

I mean, that's the morality of the Holocaust. 'Well, it's only a small percentage,' you know. 'I mean, it's not you, it's somebody else.'

Normal people would run away from Norquist. Republicans pander to him. Case in point is Gov. Charlie Crist signing the Americans for Tax Reform pledge.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist today signed the Taxpayer Protection Pledge sponsored by Americans for Tax Reform (ATR).

The Pledge commits signers to “oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rates for individuals and/or businesses … and oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions and credits, unless matched dollar for dollar by further reducing tax rates.”

Norquist actively lobbies for the defeat of any Republican candidate that doesn't sign the pledge or raises taxes. Republicans fear Norquist.

“I applaud him for his leadership and dedication to the taxpayers of Florida. I strongly encourage every candidate for federal and state elective office to sign the Taxpayer Protection Pledge,” Norquist continued.

I have no doubt Norquist encourages Republicans to sign his silly pledge. Norquist was a member of the College Republicans and helped Newt Gingrich take over the House. Signing the pledge does nothing for Democrats.

The Impact Fees Tax Shift

Florida Sen Mike Bennett is sponsoring SB 630. The bill is designed to favor the development industry. Florida is second in the country in foreclosures. It is no coincidence the real estate industry is Bennett's top campaign contributors. New development would drive down the already unstable real estate market and forced the public to pay for new roads and sewage. Infrastructure costs will not go away. The expenses will be shifted away from developers. Welcome to Florida's tax shift game.

The last thing needed is the construction of new homes. A Miami Herald and CBS study found it will take years to sell current empty homes. This study was done before the recession.

CBS and the Miami Herald collaborated to report that at the current sales pace, it would take nearly three years to sell all the condominiums on the market. For single-family houses, it would take almost two years. Meanwhile the U.S. dollar is plummeting to record lows.

The text from Bennett's bill.

An act relating to impact fees; providing for a 3-year moratorium on the imposition or collection of impact fees by a county or municipality; providing for future expiration of the moratorium; providing an effective date.

The Hillsborough County Commission is using the recession has an excuse to waive impact fees. The county is experiencing a 20-month backlog of homes. Smart Growth activist Mariella Smith wrote, "Incredibly, four of the seven commissioners — Jim Norman, Ken Hagan, Kevin White & Al Higginbotham — see the solution to our housing glut as MORE housing." And many Florida pols would rather have you pay the impact costs than developers.

How FDR Saved the Economy

Mika Brzezinski claimed, "The new deal did not work." I was not shocked that Jim Johnson agreed.

She's right. The New Deal did not end the Great Depression, but World War II did.

Some may claim the War caused massive government spending, it did, but it also sent millions of men into the armed forces to fight the war.

That's not to say New Deal programs (SEC, FDIC, etc) weren't needed. But no one should be under the impression that the New Deal did anything to bring an end to the worst economic crisis in history.

The country was living on rations. Until 2009, America borrowed at it's most during WWII. FDR signed the GI bill into law. That helped veterans get homes and college educations.

Short answer: the economy sucked during WWII. Imagine what the deficit would have been if FDR approved Bush-level tax cuts. Lincoln signed the Revenue Act of 1861 to pay for the civil war. Tax cuts during war are a bad idea.

Obama's middle and lower class tax cuts are intended to make people start spending. The problem is consumer confidence.



Obama has his work cut out for him. The progressive version of trickle down economics is not enough. Americans need to feel confident about where the country is heading. The President needs to make Americans feel the country is on the right path. Only then will consumors spend and lending institutions will give out loans.

Off topic: Congratulations to Jim. He will be blogging at Creative Loafing.

Barney Frank on Tax Cuts

Barney Frank attacks the Republicans mantra of tax cuts solving all problems.

Remember this gem from George W. Bush.

"A surplus in tax revenue, after all, means that taxpayers have been overcharged," the president said. "And usually when you've been overcharged, you expect to get something back." The surplus figure "counts more than any other" in the budget, he said.

Nondiscretionary spending increased 35.8 percent from 2001 to 2006. More Americans are earning less, as the cost of living increases. Bush attempted to spend more while bringing in less tax revenue. The result was a fiscal deficit. This is why Frank and many progressives find the GOP spin about tax cuts to be silly.

Crist Defends Trip

Gov. Charlie Crist defends his European trip that cost the taxpayers $430,000.

"I think that I have a duty to do as much as I can to promote employment for my fellow Floridians," Crist told the Times/Herald. "And that's what a trade mission is designed to do, and I hope it does it."

$1,300 was for room-service. Another $320 was spent on portable electric fans. $8,000 for first class plane tickets. Crist's hotel suite cost a thrifty $2,179 per night. Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey less than 12 hours work totals to $5,135. The trip was originally to cost $255,000. The business community covered $30,000 of Crist's expenses. Taxpayers are stuck with the rest of the bill.

How did a trip budgeted for $255,000 tally up to $460,000? Crist needs to answer that question.

Charlie Crist press release:

“These are historically challenging economic times our state is facing, but just like Florida’s families, we will continue to tighten our belts and live within our means. I am eager to work with Speaker Sansom, President Atwater and members of the Legislature to find solutions that best serve our people.”

Crist and Sansom are not in a position to discuss fiscal conservative policies.

The Great Sports Rebate Swindle

S.V. Date explains how the great sports rebate swindle works in Florida.

Because “rebate” has a specific meaning in the minds of most Floridians. It’s when you buy, say, a television at Best Buy, and then, after you send in the receipt, the manufacturer sends you a check for $50 or $100 or $1,000.

When the typical voter hears rebate applied to sports teams, the logical inference is that the amount “rebated” is based upon or limited by the amount of sales tax collected at the new park.

And that is precisely NOT how it works. Read the law (link below). After a team has been qualified by the governor’s office as meeting the projected requirements, the Department of Revenue starts sending the stadium owners a monthly check for $166,667 for 30 years — no further questions asked.

It gets worse. The Tampa Bay Lightning received a $166,667 monthly check the year of the NHL lockout. Florida taxpayers paid the Lightning the not playing. Talk about a bargain. Charlie Crist has decide to give the Tampa Bay Rays the same deal.

The Rays are now asking St. Petersburg to build a waterfront stadium. The price tag is $450 million. The Rays will put up only $150 million. We can take a good guess who will be paying the rest of the bill.

Jim Johnson made the unintentionally hysterical argument of the positive economic impact that "John Gruden, Vinny Lecavalier, Mike Alstott - they all have to fill up their gas tanks." That doesn't cover Rayomnd James Stadium operating at a deficit. Another point that destroys Johnson's gas purchase argument is studies showing that sport stadiums do not generate revenue back into the community.

The great sports rebate swindle will continue until voters stand up and say no more.