Paul Krugman Op-Ed on Texas Budget Mess … Is Florida Next?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/opinion/07krugman.html?_r=2&ref=opinion

There has likely never been a time in this State’s history where active citizen participation is desperately needed.

Florida now has a head of state very much in the mode of TX Governor Rick Perry.  In many ways, except land availability (in which TX clearly outdistances us), we are confronting the same budgetary woes.  These budgetary woes will not be addressed with tax increases, but — counter-productively — with tax repeals to corporations, much again to JEB’s elimination of the intangibles tax.  So, our upcoming deficits will only be addressed by Mr. Scott and the GOP-led Legislature through spending cuts, with the most likely victims to be schools, state/public employees, environmental oversight, and public safety.  It may also occur through a disastrous ‘sell-off’ of state assets at bulk rate prices to large private interests.  We all saw how well that went over in CA over the past 3-4 years.