And so it goes ...

Yes I went last night to the House district 65 candidate forum.  All of the candidates where there and all certainly presented their positions.  It was an eye opening experience.  Let me offer a limited re - cap of the evening.

Someone had placed on most every chair in the room a two sided copied campaign document.  This document, I believe, is an illegal campaign document. As the document failed to have listed on it who paid for the preparation of the document.  Having this information clearly stated keeps some degree of stability and sanity in a campaign.  

One individual would wish to revert to the Constitution as written by our founding fathers and would not accept how the Supreme Court has changed the document over the years.  It is, I believe, their contention that the source of all of our problems in our world today can be traced directly to the Washington. Going forward that individual would maintain that the sole function of the government in Washington should be national defense.  To my mind our Constitution is a living breathing document which grows as our society grows and develops.  Our society today is radically different than the society our founding fathers lived in.  I have to wonder, where we to follow this individual's advice, who is going to tell my wife she can no longer vote?

Another candidate might have us remove the sales tax on equipment that manufacturing companies purchase.  While another would, I believe, wish to dismantle major portions of the state revenue systems.   Both of these individuals are wanting to remove the oppressive jack boot of big government from the neck of business so business can flourish and bloom in the garden of free and unfettered enterprise.  A third candidate looks to his impressive accomplishments and credentials as a public school teacher to represent our district.  The incumbent would asks that he be returned as he will be a member of the leadership team in the house.

Unfortunately, in my view, the structure of the forum failed to give the audience the opportunity to directly interact with the various candidates.  Rather all questions where required to be written out and submitted to the forum moderator who presented the questions.  This seriously constricted any open conversation between the various candidates and the members of audience.  Regrettably the audience was for the most part supporters of one or another candidate.  At best the turnout for the event was maybe 40 people.  The bigger question that should be asked is how we can attract a larger audience to events of this nature?  The individuals who spoke here are wishing to shape our lives, we should certainly be interested in what they see as a future.

I will take a swing at answering a question or two that was asked of all the candidates.  What bill would you work to have enacted?  We have heard the constant hammering, the drum beat of JOBS ... JOBS ... JOBS.  For the most part, other than cutting taxes no one seemingly offers a real significant  inducement for economic development.  One candidate did present their point of view that education needs to be center piece for job growth and I certainly would not disagree. CNBC came out within the past few days with a review of the states and how they see the top states for business.  I look to this annual rating as it is neutral, it does not have a political bias.  CNBC reports that the overall environment for business in our state has declined significantly, we have fallen from 18th place nationally to 29th place.  To my mind this suggests that the approach taken by legislature and the governor has failed.  In every rated category our state either declined, in some cases significantly, or remained the same.  The legislature can mandate activities within the state.  For instance, might the legislature mandate that a increasing percentage of electrical power sold in the state be produced from renewable sources?  To encourage manufacturing might the legislature offer a premium for items the states buys that are produced totally within the state.  

The CNBC review does not paint a pretty picture of our state.  Look at the numbers and how the numbers have changed year over year.  Put yourself in the position of the decision maker, where you have to select a location for a new project for your company.  Why would you select Florida?  The people I work with have kids that need to go to school.  For education, Florida ranks 42nd in the country just ahead of Alabama and Mississippi, yet last night one candidate bluntly stated that in their opinion public school teachers are over paid.  As the decision maker you will need to raise venture capital for this new project.  The environment for raising venture capital in Florida seemingly has declined significantly, falling from 9th to 24th.  The cost of doing business in Florida has been high and continues to be high while the overall quality of life is not seen positively.  The state seemingly has not enjoyed economic growth and unemployment continues high.  The sole advantage the state offers is the quality of the workforce.  Given this as a background, would you select Florida?  

And so it goes ...