Are You a Better Spender Than Rick Scott?

The tragic re-election of Rick Scott is more than 4 months in the past, but for reasons so far known best to him, Scott is still in campaign mode. One of his latest slogans, designed to promote his recent call for yet more tax cuts, is: "Floridians can spend their money better than the government can."

Really, Rick?

I don't think Rick Scott actually believes that slogan, not even for a moment. And I'll tell you why.

His latest proposed "tax cut" is to our telecommunications tax -- the tax that appears on our bills for cable television and the like. The total tax savings for each bill will amount to a whopping (hold on to your seat) forty-three dollars per year.

Hmm. Now I can get that "fast food for a family of four" meal I've been putting off for so long!

But seriously, folks. If Rick really DOES believe that we can spend the money better than he can, why stop there, with a measly forty-three dollars?

Florida charges something like 15 cents per gallon for a gasoline tax. If we can spend our money better than Rick can, why doesn't he give us that back, too?

We also have a 6% sales tax rate. If we can spend our money better than Rick can, how about he reduces that to a 0% tax rate?

Come to think of it, though it wasn't exactly a tax, Rick also took 3% of all pay from state workers, and others under the Florida Retirement System, to allegedly fund their pensions. If they know better how to spend their money than he does, what did he take it for? He ought to give it all back. (Wait...scratch that. Since their salaries come from state taxes, that means they won't have any salaries. Never mind!)

And surely Rick doesn't think that ONLY Floridians are that smart. I'm sure he thinks tourists are as smart as we are. So why doesn't he just go ahead and cancel out that hotel occupancy tax?

I mean, think about it. If Rick is right, then all he has to do is cancel each and every state tax we have, and immediately, all we highly responsible and decent citizens will line up in droves to voluntarily donate our hard-earned and better-spent money to fund things like roads, bridges, prisons, highway patrols, help for the poor and needy, salaries for hard-working servants of the state, and even the environment. It's a win-win situation. Then, we can be sure that Rick will never again spend our money on things like drug testing for welfare recipients, incompetent prison medical service providers, and defending himself in court because of things like drug testing for welfare recipients and the hiring of incompetent prison medical service providers.

Come to think of it...when he says we can spend our money better than he can, maybe he's got a point.