Barney Bishop and the Rick Scott love affair
03/09/2011
Love is sometimes a fickle thing.
It was only last July when Barney Bishop of Associated Industries was so love torn that he could not decide whom he loved more - Rick Scott or Bill McCollum.
So in his own version of Big Love, Bishop joined hands with both men and endorsed each to be the GOP nominee for governor. Not exactly a profile-in-courge but a good way to hedge your bets.
Bishop has been in a swoon since Scott was elected Florida's 45th governor. And Scott has dazzled Bishop with a bouquet of promises including eliminating the corporate business tax, tossing out business regulations, eviscerating the Department of Community Affairs, and reducing the overall size of government.
Bishop is all but giddy.
Just like any family or business struggling with less income, we as a state are going to have to cut back expenses. It’s a disappointing reality, but the fact is we cannot produce new income out of thin air. When the Governor calls for shared sacrifice, we know it is a bitter pill but it is also the medicine we must take.
It would be hard to dismiss Scott's fervent belief that he wants to make his mark by returning Florida to prosperity. He appears determined to be the state's salesman-in-chief, and there seems little doubt that he wants to do what he believes is the right thing to accomplish his business-related goals.
We'll see.
But Bishop is disingenuous when he says the only solution to the state's financial problem is cutting expenses.
Any family or business struggling with less income does not just cut back on expenses. They also look for new sources of income.
Bishop pretends there is no money to be found - It’s a disappointing reality, but the fact is we cannot produce new income out of thin air.
Bishop knows better. Florida's best source for new income is sales tax fairness - removing sales tax exemptions.
Why should one group of businesses be requred to pay sales while others are not. It is not a tax increase, it tax fairness. And it would bring needed billions into the state treasury.
Bishop also said - When the Governor calls for shared sacrifice, we know it is a bitter pill but it is also the medicine we must take.
Without a serious look at removing many of the unfair sales tax exemptions it is hardly a "shared sacrifice."
Florida should do all it can to help business...but it should help them all equally.
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Art by Patrick Crowley of Crowley Political Report
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