Economists Are Not Shiny Happy People

An important meeting will take place next month and most Floridians aren't even aware of it's significance. Economists will make a new annual revenue estimate. The current estimate will not meet expectations. Florida is facing a $318 million tax shortfall. None of this is surprising to me. Dennis Hastert and Mike Gravel may think that sales taxes are a swell idea. I view them as an unstable form of tax revenue.

Unsurprisingly, Charlie Crist has stated that he will not raise taxes. There is good reason he will keep this pledge. It goes against his populist instincts and the Republican base will turn on him. Conservatives believe that George H.W. Bush lost to Bill Clinton because he broke his no new taxes pledge. They refuse to take into account that he was a horrible candidate and only won the White House because he ran against the even more dreadful Michael Dukakis. Republicans have run the nation into a huge deficit in Washington. If Florida Republicans believe they can continue to win elections with an unbalanced budget they will do so. As unorganized as Florida Democrats have been there is no reason to think otherwise.

I'm interested in what will economists reccommend to increase tax revenue. The state has relied new citizens to increase tax revenue. That creates more growth management problems. Which creates the need for more revenue. It's been a recipe for disaster. Florida Republicans are hostile to reality-based economic reports. They attacked economist Hank Fishkind for going against their shiny happy people narrative.