The Slant

Florida Legislature must invest big in the upcoming census if it expects a sizeable return in federal dollars

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:05:25 -0500

By Perry Thurston

Florida is home to a rich mixture of cultures, backgrounds and experiences. Our state's diversity is one of its greatest assets. As Florida prepares to conduct the 2010 U.S. Census, it is critical we do our best to ensure an accurate count of everyone who lives here.

As a delegate to Florida's Complete Count Committee, I recognize the critical importance of an accurate census count. Unfortunately, the Florida Legislature has appropriated less than $3 million for the 2010 Sunshine Census Initiative. The initiative's goal is to reach the hard-to-count population of our state, which include children, migrant workers, university students and people of many backgrounds. It is crucial that these people are counted.

The census takes place every 10 years. While the original purpose of the census was to determine the number of seats each state should have in the U.S. House of Representatives, today the count helps determine the amount of federal funding received by states, counties and cities.

Other important matters are determined by the census, including planning for schools, highways, and other public services. States also rely on census data for reapportionment and redistricting, particularly in the redesign of congressional and legislative district boundaries.

For Florida, to be a model for conducting the census, it is vital that at least $10 million is allocated. This is money well spent. Every additonal person counted is key to ensuring Florida gets its share of about $400 billion in federal funds distributed to local, state and tribal governments based on census data.

The Florida House and Senate should make supporting appropriate funding to meet the goals of Florida's Complete County Committee a priority.

Perry Thurston is a Democrat who represents District 93 in the Florida House of Representatives.

Bush was the real socialist

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:25:27 -0500

By Victoria Iannucci

I am so tired of people complaining about the deficit, moaning they want their country back and comparing health care reform to socialism.

Where were these people for the past eight years when George W. Bush was 45 days short of turning a surplus into a $5 trillion dollar deficit and his Congress had no objections? Why didn't they cry socialism when their constitutional rights were being chipped away, or they were being illegally wire-tapped and lied to about weapons of mass destruction?

Ask yourself if you were aware of the fact that the song, Thank you Mr. Hoover , from the play Annie, was removed by the Bush administration? Socialism? How could anyone be proud of a senator or congressman who cheered on a country other than their own to win the Olympic bid, just to spite the president?

You want your country back? I, for one, felt we lost our country starting in 2000, when Bush, Cheney and Wall Street began their theivery. How about we give our president a chance and quit listening to the lies from the right?

Victoria Iannucci lives in Coral Springs, Fla.

The financial Industry keeps biting the hands that feed them

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:29:55 -0500

By Denise Richardson

You would think that the financial industry would be a little grateful to the taxpayers who bailed them out of a billion-dollar hole, but no. In a stunning slap in the face to consumers trying to weather the current economic downturn, big banks are leading the charge AGAINST the kinds of financial reform that would ease mortgage restrictions and create opportunities for more homeowners to avoid foreclosure.

The people aren’t going to be pushed around any longer. In a protest that drew thousands to the streets of Chicago outside the American Bankers Association annual conference, consumers called for the banks to stop trying to kill measures that would offer greater consumer protection. For footage of the protest and a heartfelt plea from a victim of foreclosure, visit the AFFIL blog.

There is also a new petition circulating and gathering momentum, one that urges Congress to take swift action and regulate the mortgage servicing industry NOW. As the economy falters and homeowners struggle, this unregulated industry continues to be the source of much of the pain and distress felt by borrowers. They often try to seek help from the true holder of their mortgage, while simultaneously fighting against illegal foreclosure attempts by their mortgage servicing company.

Here are a few points made in the grassroots petition to Congress:

Tens of thousands of homeowners across this nation have spent hundreds of hours dealing with mortgage servicers who have little incentive to actually help them/us achieve permanent loan modifications; while in the process of obtaining a modification, many homeowners have been lied to, misled, foreclosed upon or threatened with foreclosure.

We propose an immediate halt to all foreclosures until new, mandatory guidelines are established and that these guidelines be overseen by a new Consumer Protection Agency, which was recently recommended by President Obama and endorsed by Sheila Bair, chair of the FDIC.

The American Dream has now become the American Nightmare courtesy of the banking industry, which is taking a cavalier approach to the stress, heartache and despair caused by the current lack of oversight, transparency and enforcement of loan modifications. It is of the utmost importance that action be taken to correct this travesty in order to preserve home ownership for the thousands of Americans that are and will continue to be struggling in this economic time.

Click here to read the petition in its entirety, sign it and send your letter to Congress, urging them to take swift and immediate action.

Please also take the time to urge Congress to mandate that mortgage servicing companies allow all borrowers access to a Monthly Mortgage Statement that would allow the accounting of a mortgage be transparent.

If borrowers have the ability to track payments, they can learn of any misapplied fees and penalties applied to their account. They will be aware of any mishandled escrow monies, additional principal payments and mortgage payments as they will have the ability to verify their mortgage payment is received and applied accurately every month. Errors and fraud can be detected—before it's too late, and innocent homeowners are forced into a nightmare scenario, forced to prove their innocence. Without the aid of a monthly statement borrowers are forced to blindly trust their mortgage is handled properly –and that's just not the case.

We have the power to change how our financial institutions handle our money. Take a moment to add your voice to the swelling chorus of consumers who won’t stand for the big bank status quo.

Don’t forget, the FREE National Consumer Empowerment Conference & Expo is coming up Saturday November 21. Don’t miss your chance to meet national and state advocates and have your voice HEARD.

Denise Richardson, whose picture graces this post, is one of our blog's contributing writers. She is a consumer advocate and author living in Hollywood, Fla. She can be reached at www.Givemebackmycredit.com

Get in on the conversation.

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:09:01 -0500

By Barry Epstein

Our regulars, The Dueling Columnists from the Sun-Sentinel, Stephen L. Goldstein and Kingsley Guy discussed their columns today, with Stephen opining there should be public financing of elections to diminish the effect of lobbyists, along with tightening ethics laws and enhancing whistleblower provisions to make it easier to ferret out corruption.
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As expected, Kingsley took a different tack. He believes the money in the political system will always be there and that the best way to prevent its corrupting influence is to make sure that its transactions are made public.

Lynn University's Dr. Robert Watson felt the Tuesday's elections were not an indictmentof Obama, but a rejection of the status quo, as incumbents did very poorly, especially with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg barely squeaking out a victory after spending more than $100 million on his campaign.

It's not too late to get in on the conversation. You know the issues. What's on your mind?

Take a minute to share your thoughts from the guests who just appeared on this morning's show. Barry Epstein Lives offers topical and interesting points of view on a variety of issues facing our South Florida community.

Our show airs at 10: a.m. on WBZT 1230 every Friday. If you missed today's show or would like to hear it again, the show will be re-broadcast on Saturday at 12:06 p.m.or at www.wbzt.com. Once you're on the site, click "Listen, Live." Enjoy the broadcast and then join in on the debate by posting your comments here.

Barry Epstein is a noted public relations, marketing and political consultant. His website is www.publicrelations.nu.

Fighting corruption grabs our pundits' attention

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 10:29:09 -0500

Given South Florida's penchant for political corruption, you'd might think the issue wouldn't get much of a rise out of our Dueling Columnists. Hardly!

Stephen L. Goldstein and Kingsley Guy are indeed hotly debating the ongoing efforts to rein in the stench that comes when ample amounts of money meet government and political figures whose sense of ethics are at best questionable.

Of course, our two pundits have vastly different approaches to the problems. Read their views below and tell us which is closer to your own.

Stephen L. Goldstein: Forget the studies; control the money.

Kingsley Guy: New cleanup frenzy won't fix anything.

Congrats to the GOP

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:10:07 -0500

By Douglas C. Lyons

Congratulations to the GOP!.

They won big in New Jersey and Virginia -- with candidates that actually ran positive, upbeat campaigns. Has the Republican Party found a formula to win, much less govern?

The jury's still out on that one.

Both gubernatorial races featured mediocre Democratic candidates. In New Jersey, the Democratic incumbent took the low road that would have made some of those infamous political operatives on the Republican side blush.

But, the bigger challenge for Republicans still remains. Can they get over their more rabid ideaology to win over independents? They did it this time with good results. If they can't duplicate that and give those independents a good reason to vote for them in 2010 and 2012, the results will continue to favor the party in power.

Note: This online feature allows editorial writers the chance to detach themselves from the institutional voice of the newspaper and express their personal opinions on a variety of subjects. This view belongs to Senior Editorial Writer Douglas C. Lyons. You can leave your comments here, or reach him at dlyons@sun-sentinel.com.

Country is back in good hands

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:49:18 -0500

By Jill Su

Re: "We just want our country back" : It is always easy to see who has been swallowing the extreme right-wing scare tactics. The letter writer throws around the dreaded "S-word" as the reason she wants her country back. Socialism is a political theory advocating state ownership of industy and an economic system based on state ownership of capital.

By that measure, is Sarah Palin's home state of Alaska socialist for sharing the state's oil-wealth revenues with every eligible man, woman and child, who receive payments from the state's oil royalty program?

I am glad to have "my country back" in the hands of a president who has read and understood our Founders' document.

Jill Su resides in Davie, Fla.

The private sector's track record isn't perfect

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:24:27 -0500

By James W. Grodsky

In the early 1950s, I was a project engineer for the U.S. Navy's Bureau of Aeronautics. We let a development contract for aradar relay receiver based on the low bid. As the contractor proceeded, it was apparent he was in trouble, so we established the Naval Research Lab Field Station in Boston as a technical advisor.

After the contractor in Clearfield, Pa. missed the initial and two extended delivery dates for a developmental model, we cancelled the contract and asked the NRLFS to complete the development, and they did, thanks primarily to an excellent government engineer, Henry Suter.

His model was tested, worked, and we went into production on the ARR-27 Radar Relay Receiver. It does not always happen that the government wins in competition with private industry, but it surely did in this case.

James W. Grodsky lives in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

Interchange fee flap amounts to a giveaway to big retailers.

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:00:01 -0500

By Ann Zucker

Denise Richardson is dead wrong about the “interchange fee” dispute between giant retailers and the banks who provide them credit services (“Memo to Congress: Folk are getting tired of being robbed through credit card ‘swipe’ fees,” 10.13.09). If retailers get the sweetheart deal on interchange they want from Congress, it’ll be an early Christmas for Wal-Mart and McDonald’s – paid for by you and me.

In an audacious request, the big retailers want Congress to waive antitrust laws – which protect consumers and workers – to allow them to obtain virtually free credit services instead of paying a minimal “interchange” fee for them (around 1.5% of the purchase amount, which is far less than it would cost retailers to extend credit themselves). Even as they complain about interchange, almost all retailers accept credit cards, because they are convenient, safe and boost sales.

If Congress lets big retailers shirk their responsibility to pay their share, average cardholders will foot the bill: an additional charge of $400 a year per card, according to economic experts who have studied other countries’ implementation of similar credit-card rules.

Imagine if retailers asked Congress to allow them to stop paying their electricity and water bills. They’d be laughed out of the room! Lawmakers should give the same response when it comes to interchange.

Ann Zucker resides in Weston, Fla., where she serves as president of the Weston Democratic Club.

Get in on the conversation.

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 11:15:43 -0500

By Barry Epstein

Sun-Sentinel Dueling Columnists Stephen Goldstein and Kingsley Guy discuss progress made on health care reform and what the public option would entail, particularly how it would affect taxes paid to the various health districts, since indigent care would be covered and create an enormous ripple effect.

The abysmal state of the tax codes, not addressed since the 1940's, is another topic of discussion with both Guy and Goldstein agreeing that the codes need to be revised and the exemptions reduced. The controversial flat tax made its way into the discussion.

Barry Epstein is a noted public relations, marketing and political consultant. His website is www.publicrelations.nu.

Who will really pay for regulating the financial industry?

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:54:14 -0500

By Anthony W. Orlando

At a campaign stop in 1963, Robert Kennedy was talking about poverty and injustice and the programs he proposed to fight them. During the Q&A, an audience member called out, “And who’s going to pay for all this, Senator?”

“You are,” came the candid reply. Good thing he had the Kennedy charm.

The regulations proposed by the Obama administration to prevent another financial crisis are causing many concerned citizens to wonder the same thing. One reason many economists are cautious about regulation is that it costs money. Not only does it cost the taxpayer to employ regulators and fill their offices, but it costs the consumer when companies pass on higher compliance costs in the form of higher prices. Politicians like to say that greedy Wall Street bankers are the only ones who will suffer, but most folks know those bankers are too smart for that. They’ll find any way possible to make that money come out of your pocket instead of theirs.

Economists have been studying who bears that burden in a subfield called “public finance” for decades. When they measure how much firms pay versus how much consumers pay, they call it “incidence.” They’d like to make consumers pay all the cost, so it doesn’t come out of their profits. But if they raise prices too high, they’ll lose too many customers. The trick is to find the balance that maximizes total profit.

The trouble is, most incidence research has been done on taxes, not regulation. Taxpayers, for instance, might like the idea of increasing the corporate tax rate. It pays for our government spending without harming average consumers like you and me, right? Not so fast. It seems most corporate tax payments get passed along to you and me through higher prices.

Can we do the same analysis for the Obama regulations? The closest approximation is probably the few studies estimating incidence of reserve requirements. They’re not the same thing as the capital requirements that the administration wants to raise on Wall Street, but they can give us a hint as to whether we should expect higher interest rates and other fees on our bank accounts.

In 1985, Chicago economist Eugene Fama, who is a perennial favorite for the Nobel Prize, found absolutely no effect of increased reserve requirements on the interest rate paid by bank depositors. Two years later, Christopher James published independent research with the same finding.

If depositors don’t pay, then either borrowers or shareholders must end up holding the bag. Several researchers have measured the effect on shareholders, and all concluded that an increase in reserve requirements results in lower stock prices. Most of the cost is not borne by the consumers but by the shareholders.

But let’s keep it in perspective. That ain’t nothin’ compared to the cost they’ve borne this past year.

Anthony W. Orlando, whose picture graces this post, is a regular contributor to this blog. He is also a resident of southern Florida, a graduate student in economic history at the London School of Economics, the author of Life Is Not a Dress Rehearsal: The Spiritual Journey of a Teenage Traveler, and he runs the blog Trading Eights.

Opting out of health care, or going it alone?

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 09:20:47 -0500

The health care overhaul out of Washington has been fodder for debate for months, if not years. So, we shouldn't be surprised that it's become the low-hanging fruit for our pundits .

Stephen L. Goldstein and Kingsley Guy wade in on whether states should be able to opt-out or simply draw up their own reforms.

Read their comments below and tell us what you think.

Stephen L. Goldstein: Opt out provision a good remedy.

Kingsley Guy: Let states create their own plans.

Student assails sacrifice of school security

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:02:04 -0500

By Christine Young

I'm really glad Broward County schools are learning to prioritize and better manage their money. As a high school student, it makes me proud of my district toknow they're cutting back security to make way for the FCAT police. I would much rather administrators ensure classrooms have proper labels, resembling a kindergarten room, than to take care to make sure I'm safe in school.

Christine Young is a senior attendting Coral Springs High School.

Crime was horrific, but is life without parole justified?

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:08:47 -0500

By Kimberly Corteau

My heart goes out to the mother and son for the horrific crime that took place in Dunbar Village in Palm Beach County. I know that this will forever haunt them, and they will never fully recover.

But as horrific as the crime was, how do we justify sending kids to die in prison without the possibility of parole - for a crime short of murder?

At least one teen was born as a drug addict, another repeated first grade at least three times, and another repeated sixth grade three times. There are dozens of examples of visible physical and mental abuse throughout their young lives - visible to the community as well as the school system. One child often missed school because he was too injured to attend. The list goes on.

At what point does the community share in the responsibility and address this at its core? These are young human lives that never stood a chance. No genuine helping hand. How does our school system allow elementary-aged children to repeat grades three times? Is there no Plan B?

Judge Krista Marx is quoted as saying she sympathized with the defendants' difficult lives, including poverty, fatherlessness and drug addiction, but none of those things explained their lack of a moral code.

What more could it possibly take to explain their lack of moral code?

The penalty for this crime should be severe, but should we allow children to live and die in prison without an attempt at rehabilitation or a chance to somehow right their wrong?

We should question why Florida leads the nation in sending teenagers to prison for life with no possible parole for crimes such as burglary, assault or rape.

And in response to the author who recently expressed that "community service" was a distraction from her teenage son's schoolwork, be thankful that you live in area where community involvement is expected. These are life lessons that will never be experienced through textbooks. He is fortunate to be given that chance.

Kimberly Courteau lives in Boca Raton, Fla.

Yup! I said it: Charlie's senate race "no longer a fait acompli."

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:42:29 -0500

By Jack Furnari

There’s an interesting correlation between the Orlando Sentinel story about GOP donors who supported Gov. Charlie Crist in 2006 donating to Democrat Alex Sink’s campaign for governor instead of Bill McCollum, and the allegedly suppressed Florida Chamber of Commerce poll that purportedly showed Marco Rubio gaining on Crist in their race for the Senate seat currently held by Crist appointee George LeMieux.

I’ve heard from multiple well-placed sources that the rumor originally reported by The Buzz about the withheld numbers from the Florida Chamber of Commerce poll is true. All over the state, political insiders are quoting the Crist 44-Rubio 30 number as evidence that the race is tightening and Rubio is getting some traction.

A lot of the big money raised in statewide races is from non-ideological and apolitical “hot-money donors.” These donors tend to view political contributions as just part of the cost of doing business. Their donations have very little to do with ideology and everything to do with the prevailing insider wisdom about “who is going to win.”

The problem is the “hot money” is often wrong. Remember, many of the hot-money donors are the same people who were telling us that the 2008 presidential race was going to be between Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani. The dispassionate hot money often underestimates activist intensity and the power of a passionate candidate committed to a set of principled positions based on core beliefs.

That the hot-money support is a mile wide and an inch deep is obvious, and basing a campaign on the “going to win” narrative is always fraught with peril. A couple of bad news cycles and the illusion of “inevitability” is shattered and the race is up for grabs. Ask Hillary Clinton if you don’t believe me.

Other than “he’s going to win,” I have yet to hear a Crist-for-Senate supporter articulate the reasons to support Crist for senator over Marco Rubio.

Thus, last week, on the heels of the Chamber poll rumor and the Republican Executive Committee of Palm Beach County’s straw poll vote, which was won by Rubio 90-17, we were treated to the first round of Crist radio commercials aimed at bolstering the Gov’s conservative credentials.

Frankly, I was mystified by the Crist commercials because I’m unaware of any conservative credentials or beliefs held by Gov. Crist that would be available for bolstering.
While I’ve never been accused of being overly diplomatic, I’m usually a bit more subtle when talking to the press than I was on Friday with Josh Hafenbrack of the Sun Sentinel regarding the Crist radio spots.

I spoke to Josh right after having surgery and when I was still under the influence of anesthesia, which was augmented by prescription painkillers, and said the following about the Crist commercials:

"Rubio is gaining ground. Anyone would have to say Charlie Crist is the favorite, but the outcome is no longer a fait accompli," said Jack Furnari, a Boca Raton GOP activist who voted for Rubio in the straw poll. "I don't think Gov. Crist is trying to win over conservative activists -- they're gone. He's trying to fool the public. That's a good strategy and it might work. We'll see."

The quote accurately reflects my true feelings on the subject, but it was a tad undiplomatic by any standard, which leads me to leave you with the updating of that most quotable Latin phrase, “ in vino veritas,” with the new and improved version “in Percocet veritas.”

Jack Furnari is a regular contributor to this blog. He is a conservative activist and a columnist for the Boca Raton News. He can be reached at jacktda@yahoo.com