Florida Property Tax Amendment Passes

After detailed analysis and scientific exit polling (of my wife and myself) I'm predicting the amendment will pass. Which is odd because I voted against it and my wife didn't vote one way or the other.

I'm surprised this passes (or looks like it will). For one thing, it needed 60% which was supposed to make amendments harder to pass. Second, it doesn't go anywhere near far enough. It would not help people that already own an expensive house (bought within the last few years of this real estate bubble) with their high taxes and it doesn't put seem to help future "first time" buyers very much.

Since more people will be saving more money from their "caps", the tax rate will have to go higher and higher to make the money counties need. Maybe it shouldn't, but this amendment doesn't stop them, so I'm assuming counties will continue to tax and tax. Since more people are covered by the "cap", the gap between what they pay and what first time home buyers will pay will continue to grow and grow.

How is this fair? How is this sustainable?

Plus there is the Federal Constitutional issue of this puts an unfair burden on people moving to Florida (like a struck down car "impact fee").

I vote against it because I wanted to send a strong message for them to TRY AGAIN. Now there will not be as much pressure to do anything.

Property Tax Amendment 1 still getting 60 percent of 'yes' vote -- OrlandoSentinel.com

***UPDATE***

Well, lets see if this works...
Amendment 1's approval deserves smart response from government
(http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/opinion/orl-ed30108jan30,0,4602339.story) [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Voter Fraud Rumors in New Hampshire Primaries

Slashdot | Diebold Voter Fraud Rumors in New Hampshire Primaries

Well this didn't take LONG...

and of course it's TRUE because the exit polls agree with it...
..and it would hurt Clinton.... and Clinton has friends willing and able to do something like this.. [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Clinton: Right-Wing Conspiracy Is Back

It's BACK !!!!!! And better than ever!!

Clinton: Right-Wing Conspiracy Is Back

Funny, but Clinton's own new bill would "make it a crime to send misleading or fraudulent information to voters." I certainly think claiming there is a "vast Right-Wing Conspiracy" is misleading. Unless she can prove there is a coordinated effort to break election laws as opposed to just a coordinated effort to win elections legally.
[This Post Continues after the jump...]

Liberal Meltdown over FoxNews

Democrats and liberals are all for DIVERSITY until the have to live with it. FoxNews Does tilt right, but so do many Americans, and the other news organization clearly tilt left. Rep/Conservatives have lived with that for years, the poor Dem/Liberals just can't deal with it for some reason.

Liberals always talk about how much Conservatives "hate" this group or that group. Its nothing compared to how much liberal really hate George Bush on a personal level and hate FoxNews even thought is is a very good, very popular, very professional news organization.

Would FoxNews somehow contaminate the unedited, unfiltered, live debate broadcast?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0307/3069.html

reviewjournal.com -- Opinion - EDITORIAL: Meltdown over Fox [This Post Continues after the jump...]

McCain and Roe V. Wade

McCain: Roe V. Wade Should Be Overturned

"I do not support Roe versus Wade. It should be overturned," the Arizona senator told about 800 people in South Carolina, one of the early voting states.

Well, this is looking good.... [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Crist (FL Gov) - Replace touch-screens with "optical scan" voting systems

State: Crist wants touch-screen voting machines gone

WooHoo!! I love the Florida Governor!!

Here in Brevard County we've used "scan-tron" type ballots for years and they are great. The ballot is written in large easy to read type, you fill in a large oval to vote, you do it yourself so there is no tool between you and the ballot (except a Sharpie pen). You place it in a scanner box with (I think) tabulates the vote as you feed it in (so the counting is near real-time) and it will even spit it back out if you made a double vote or other error. (note that "not voting" in a given race is not considered an error)

It's a perfect system in my mind.

(PS - I hope "scan-tron" isn't copyrighted term.. I might not be allowed to express this opinion....) [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Obama: Perception vs. reality

Obama has a 95 percent liberal rating from Americans for Democratic Reform, a liberal advocacy group that ranks all members of Congress. Yet he is often portrayed as a centrist.

Obama: Perception vs. reality - Examiner.com [This Post Continues after the jump...]

NASA broke law in Kerry bunny suit visit

oh-oh....
NASA broke law in Kerry bunny suit visit
The Flame Trench space blog by Florida Today [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Source Code used in PUBLIC election is "trade secret"

Judge rules against Jennings, Democrats to seat Buchanan

I've always said that any voting machine should have its code turned over the the state and independently verified. These machines are not "new" technology and designing one is straight forward and easy. There is nothing "secret" about it unless the company is taking short cuts to save money.

I don't know the merits of this case, but getting a look at the source code should not require any special reason, it should be public information. [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Voting Machine Fails Test - Video to be reviewed

I've been against paperless vote from day one.
I think it is ironic that the changes the democrats demanded after the 2000 election may not be hurting them.

The problem is there is not way to recount anything and nothing to do except possibly have a "do over" election which has its own problems and issues. I think the machines should be replaced with ones that have a good paper trail and be ready for the next election.

Under video review: Re-enacted voting - Orlando Sentinel : Elections Under video review: Re-enacted voting - Orlando Sentinel : Elections

More info here..
Sarasota Voters File Lawsuit for Re-vote
I don't know why I'm so against a "Re-vote"... mainly because I think voting is so important that it most be done right the first and only time. If we say we can do "re-votes" (even for what I think is a legitamate reasons) then it will open the door to re-vote anythime something minor goes wrong. Elections should be FINAL very soon after being completed. The congressional term is two years and that is small enough as it is, by the time a court can rule a re-vote is needed and it is setup, and completed the term would be over.

I think we should Punt and make sure it doesn't happen again.

(the only pro-re-vote argument I can think of is its the only way to make sure mistakes like this never happen again. Kind of like throwing out a conviction based on inappropriate police action. The guy is probably still guilty, but the police have to be made to understand the bad guys will get away with it if they are careless...) [This Post Continues after the jump...]

A GOP PRE-MORTEM (Instapundit.com)

This about sums it up for me. I can't actually bring myself to vote democrat, but NOT voting republican will make my point clear.

I would rather it wait 2 years, but I really would like to see the House go Democrat. I think "divided" government is the best option. It has its weakness, especially in time of war, but both parties have proven to me they are not fit to be in total control.

Instapundit.com - [This Post Continues after the jump...]

Was the 2004 Election Stolen?

Rolling Stone : Was the 2004 Election Stolen?:

This makes the WTC Conspiracy theories look tame...

If this was written in just a little bit more "neural" language I might have read past the first page. But its not, its written to appeal to people's emotions, not their reason. I know when an author is tring to manipulate me and not reason with me. And I don't put up with it. If you have a point to make, MAKE IT!!

Maybe it was just meant to be an introduction, but the first few paragraphs made so many extreme claims with more footnotes than anyone could ever follow. Foot notes are great, but the narrative needs to back up some of these claims better.

I'm posting it here not because I agree with it, but just because its interesting... [This Post Continues after the jump...]