My concerns with Alex Sink

[Tracy]

Since my informational posts seemed to draw some controversy I decided to put my concerns about Alex Sink into a blog post instead for everyone to read whenever they wish.

First off,some key words jumped out at me from her website that all leftists use frequently. Phrases like "giving back "to the community (as if the wealth you earn by your own hard work is somehow stolen from the "less fortunate" and must be returned) and "fairness" which is a commonly used social justice term.

I also have some concerns with some of her policy plans which I have taken directly from her campaign website.

(this is not a complete list,just a quick compilation)

1." By investing in Florida’s infrastructure, we create jobs now and develop a needed foundation for a new economy"

First thing I see is a keyword for spending tax money (politicians like to call it "investing" it sounds a lot better on the ears than the word "spending").
This position doesn't make any sense. Basically she's saying here that she doesn't mind using MORE tax dollars (which have got to be taken out of the private sector first by taxing us!)to create TEMPORARY jobs for someone else. How is it possible to build an economy on temporary jobs? And what happens to those people who will lose those jobs after they've repaved and done all the "busy work" that can be done in Florida? Will we need another big infusion of tax dollars so we can keep these people employed ?
When business is hit with more taxes they have have to cut back on expenses(employees are one of those expenses) or raise prices. Either way taking more money out of the private sector leaves less money for those people to hire and to expand business. Which means less opportunity for those people who don't work for government. We have already seen this FAIL spectacularly on a national scale (remember the stimulus?).Why would we want to repeat something that we have already seen fail?

2."Mandatory Ethics Training for State Employees and Officials. Florida should require and provide ethics training for all state employees and officials. Additionally, all state employees and officials should certify annually that they are familiar with the state’s ethics requirements and will abide by them."

What is this going to cost taxpayers? And in the end after the money is spent what will we get? I doubt that taking classes on ethics is going to make the state run any smoother or change someone who is unethical to a morally upstanding citizen and government worker. All this is is money wasted on a utopian goal that looks good on paper but that will never be accomplished.

3."Alex will bring home more of our federal tax dollars by leading a coalition of states, and demanding Florida is at the negotiating table when funding allocations are made. Alex will reach out to federal partners to make sure Florida is maximizing opportunities for passenger and freight rail funding"

How much will her rail scheme cost us? Yet another tax payer funded boondoggle. Remember most of us here excoriated Charlie Crist for this (choo choo Charlie,anyone?) And what's interesting to note here is that she mentions getting more of "our share" of federal dollars as if they weren't ours to begin with,Almost like it's some big pot of gold that the government has for the taking. Those dollars were taxed out of our economy,they weren't free.We all know in the end means more federal taxes for us all,in all states and more debt for our kids and thier kids to pay. It also leaves Florida indebted to and addicted to federal dollars for its livelihood.

4. Her tax incentives plan for business's who make use of the rail system is just a way to subsidize and prop up a business that will probably cost your business more in the long run than it will ever save you in "tax credits" Just another example of government picking the winners and losers in the market instead of private business and consumers doing the job.

5. "Alex will propose the creation of a non-partisan watchdog office - similar to the federal Government Accountability Office - that will advise the Governor, Cabinet and Legislature on how to make state government more efficient, effective, ethical, fair and responsive to citizens. "

More creation of bureacracy that we will be footing the bill for. And it doesn't stop with just that. After she creates this new office she says this "The office will be advised by a Governor's Performance Advisory Panel, a citizen-based group of community leaders and experts in eight key areas of performance"

So to watch over the first group she will create yet another group. Will the next group need looking after as well?

6.."Assure equal justice for all through a fair and impartial court system"

Not sure what she means by this statement,I wasn't aware that court systems were required to be "fair". I thought the purpose of our court system was to assess whether or not the law has been broken and to act accordingly."Fairness" is a social justice concept/keyword and makes me wonder exactly what she believes on this front.

7.."Promote wellness programs to encourage healthy lifestyles. States have developed numerous programs to encourage people at every stage of life to engage in healthy behaviors; many programs are also especially targeted to children"

This sounds all well and good but @ what point do we say enough is enough? And what will the encouragement for healthy behaviors be? Will it be a stiff fine imposed on citizens ,like the wonderful new health law? Will it be an outright ban on foods or activities like the wonderful nanny state loving Bloomberg in NYC? I don't need a mommy to watch out for my health I need a government that does only the job it is intended to do.

8."Compensating public employees fairly is essential, because without the ability to attract and retain well-trained and knowledgeable staff, Florida government cannot deliver the programs and services that citizens depend on. Florida already is not competitive in this area compared to other Florida industries and even other states. In fact, state government employees have not had a general pay raise in the past five years"

Right now government is the fastest(and only) growing sector in jobs,which means more tax dollars will be needed to support it. What she's essentially saying here is that she is willing to take money out of the private sector job market and give it to government employees instead. Less money in the private sector means less jobs for everyone who does not work for government.

9. "Alex will make sure that Florida businesses start getting more state contracts. As Governor, she will provide a competitive bidding preference for in-state businesses that employ Florida residents. This will put more money into the hands of Florida businesses, which will directly create more jobs for Florida workers."

State contracts are paid using our tax payer dollars right? And yeah it sounds great for the people working who are getting the preferential treatment but what about the rest of us? What if the contractors out of state are willing to save taxpayers a bundle but she uses preferential bidding and denies them? Doesn't that mean that we have to foot the extra cost for her "job creation"?

And what of her statement that the green energy industries in Florida will need "supportive policies necessary to make Florida a global leader in new and renewable energy."
Sounds like she advocates paying out more tax dollars to support industries that in the end really don't work all that well.

I am also concerned that she makes no mention of controversial issues like health care. Not taking a stand on an issue usually means the politician thinks that their position on that issue will be unpopular,therefore they try to dance around it or hide it.
Note: Commenting has been disabled on this blog post so that I can add new info as I find it in the comments section where it can be easily found.

[Tracy]

Net worth of candidate Sink ,9.2 million

http://doe.dos.state.fl.us/PublicRecordsBER/wfPublicImagesBER.aspx?...

[Tracy]

Sink blasts McCollum for health care lawsuit

http://blogs.tampabay.com/buzz/2010/03/sink-blasts-mccollum-for-hea...

[Tracy]

Tax dollars wasted or necessary purchase? Apparantly there is some flak about a large purchase of assault style weapons @ Sinks Department of Financial Services.They bought 182 assault rifles costing $255,000 in the last two years for white collar fraud investigators.

http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/dcblog/2010/04/does_a...

[Tracy]

I found an article today that said CFO Alex Sink’s Florida Insurance Consumer Advocate Sean Shaw created a coalition of progressive groups comprised of representatives from various organizations which includes the Center for Economic Justice, Consumer Federation of the Southeast, Florida Consumer Action Network, Florida Public Interest Research Group, ACORN Florida, and Florida Community Health Action Information Network (CHAIN) to help provide consumer oversight in the insurance industry. So instead of taking the article at face value I researched it and sure enough there it is.

http://www.myfloridacfo.com/ICA/Newsletter/ICA_Vol2_Iss2a.htm#Coali...

I can't believe that Acorn or a group like the center for economic "justice" ( watch out this is a progressive buzzword!) would be part of an oversight comittee for anything.
For anyone unfamiliar with progressives and thier orwellian terms (think 1984)
economic justice - most basic explanation is redistribution of money and assets as they or the government sees fit

[Tracy]

As I continue my quest to learn more about Alex I will update articles and news of interest in the comment section. I found this press release to be telling in regards to how she feels about federal government interventions. I also found it funny in a not so funny way,considering that the federal funds for the disaster that was Katrina are only half spent and what money has been distributed was riddled with fraud.
http://www.myfloridacfo.com/sitePages/newsroom/pressRelease.aspx?id...

[Tracy]

Interesting...This article says that Sink has not made her tax returns public since she has been CFO. It also brings up the question of whether or not her blind trust is a conflict of interest for her.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/cfo-alex-sinks-blind-trust-li...