From St Pete Times Article (LINK):The chill in the housing market, higher interest rates and fuel prices appear to be taking their toll. National confidence numbers also fell in August, but not as much as they did in Florida.
The Florida Consumer Confidence Index fell 11 points to 76, while the national index, compiled by the Conference Board, went from 107 to 99.6.
The Florida drop is very similar to the one that occurred last September in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, only this time there was no hurricane to blame. Chris McCarty, director of survey research at the University of Florida's Bureau of Economic and Business Research, thinks the changed outlook for housing is at least partly responsible.
This and the infighting between Jebbie and some of the Repugs should improve our chances this November in most races. Jebbie has maintained popularity but my theory on that is that people vote with their pocket books. He encouraged this housing boom with his policies of gutting environmental regulations and urban sprawl regulations. Instead of building Florida based on sustainable jobs, he tied Florida's future to a bubble market.
His education initiatives have proved to be a disaster (Florida ranks 48th in SAT scores). A quality system of education is what attracts sustainable business. His tax policies favoring the rich have have inflated the cost of living here in Florida such that folks from the middle class on down are having to move to other states. We have the 2nd most regressive tax structure in the country thanks to his sales tax breaks for the wealthy and our high sales tax rate. For example, I have to pay sales tax when I buy replacement brake pads for my old Ford, but a wealthy guy does have to pay sales tax on parts for his lear jet. I'm looking forward to see his next poll numbers. Maybe Crist will have to run from him like the rest of the Repugs are doing from Shrub Inc.
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