Sales tax holiday an election year stunt? ¡Ay, caramba!
by Michael C. Bender | January 11th, 2010Gov. Charlie Crist, Sen. Mike Fasano and Rep. David Rivera — all Republicans — summoned the media to the Capitol today to announce their support of a 10-day tax break on back-to-school items this summer (HB 483). The break had been canceled the past two years as the state faced historic budget shortfalls.
The state’s budget is expected to need another round of cuts this year. But it’s also a big time election year (Crist and Rivera are in GOP primaries), a point made in an off-hand joke during the press conference by Florida Retail Federation President Rick McAllister, who supports the tax break.
Rivera, whose Republican opponent, Anitere Flores, filed the same bill five weeks ago, had just finished giving reporters the Spanish version of his spin when McAllister took the podium.
“I’m not sure what Chairman Rivera just said, but I think it was ‘Elect Rivera,’” McAllister joked.
Crist jumped in and said, “It’s all good. He said, ‘Cut your taxes.’”
But McAllister pressed on with the joke: “‘Elect Rivera’ I think is what he said. Sneaky way to get that in.”
“Yours was much more overt,” Crist told McAllister while patting Rivera on the back.
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January 11th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
No sales tax on a pair of socks ?WOW! If It was across the board on all sales that would get things going.
January 11th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
How about a balance budget, without a tax holiday? People are in massive amounts of debt & upside down in their homes … spending $$$ on items their kids may not need. It’s this kind of shortsighted politics & past overspending of taxpayers’ money (when times where good) that has led to all our property taxes being increased. It’s fiscally irresponsible & puts even more of a burden on our real estate recovery, as FL is now such a crappy place to invest, with such high prop. taxes & insurance.
January 11th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
Choo Choo Charlie will do anything to
win his Senate seat election. He plays
politics very well on all Floridians
backs. Yes, I agree that everyone(especially families)can use a tax break
for school supplies-however, on the other hand-this state isn’t in the
greatest shape so why give it more
debt. Guess who pays for that debt?We
all do. So again, Choo Choo is looking
out for his best interests-way to go
Charlie.
January 12th, 2010 at 9:50 am
What do you expect China had a drop in exports to the USA last year! The republicans know that and are more than willing to get China back on top with this phony gimmick. The tax is a minimal amount of the sale but a great marketing tool. Even if the state needs the taxes the republicans must feel the need to help China is greater.
January 18th, 2010 at 6:06 pm
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