Sad to say.

Unfortunately, our local bid for a 1/2 cent sales tax for schools is going down in flames.

Because even though the state and county have drastically cut school taxes, they can make ends meet by cutting their wasteful budget.

Or so say the RWNJ retirees who live here.

in much more need of it than ours ever was. Was there a big initiative to pass it? Our county went all out - I think that's what did it.

I've never seen so many signs to pass. The paper endorsed it, all the school board candidates endorsed it.

This place has gotten so Tea Party there is now only one Democrat in elected office here. Dems don't even run in commission and other races.

On a happy note, the most obnoxious tea party commissioner just lost his re-election bid. To another R, but a decent guy.!

sales taxes are inherently the most regressive. All tax monies are fungible.

Anti solar in those states is just stupid

Every state wide office and the legislature is Republucan controlled. It's s miracle that last session the Michelle Fiores and Sharon Angles were shut down and compromise was reached.

On edit: autocorrect has stopped functioning, and at least we're not Arizona.

We've definitely got the market cornered on stupid. Red & stupid & corrupt.

A "North" or "South" Carolina

I just can't ever imagine living in the South again. It is, in fact, getting harder to picture myself staying in the US.

Florida isn't even, really, the South. It's Vegas on a state wide scale, unclaimed by either side since the Civil War. Some Floridians may think of themselves as Southerners, but most of the rest of the South has no idea of what to make of that entire peninsula. Filled with good people and wonderful culture, and every con man, grifter, and get rich quick schemer you could imagine. The main difference being Mormons or Sputhern Baptists secretly pulling the strings.

*This announcement brought to you by the Reedy Creek Improvement District, totally not a front to subvert the rule of law for the entirety of central Florida

but when I moved back here, it was even more of a shock to the system. I also lived in Alabama - now THAT was a frightening experience!

It's good to see that the obvious benefits of solar are finding inroads even in places where good decisions aren't always normal.

In the last 2 presidential elections and will do so again this year.

Just got a call from the FL Dem Committee person for our county and a neighboring one - they are convinced that if we just canvas Dems only and make sure they can all get the to the polls, we'll clinch it again. That was certainly encouraging to hear.

We can honestly tell voters that they, by carrying Florida for Hillary, can insure a presidential win. Because without the Sunshine state Trump has no path. That has been my mantra when talking to folks...the power is in the hands of we Floridians.

There's yet another constitutional amendment referendum on the November ballot that appears to be pro-solar, but is actually a nefarious attempt by the utilities in Florida to remove incentives for residential and commercial customers to invest in solar photovoltaic systems.

Despite the flowery language in the proposed amendment, this has the Koch Bros' and other fossil fuel interests' fingerprints all over it. By inserting a clause that appears to protect non-solar customers from any unfair burden of paying for maintaining the utilities' infrastructure, the crafters of this foul piece constitutionalize the utilities' practice of reducing or eliminating the practice of "net billing."

Customers who generate electricity through roof-top solar panel systems connected to the grid sell surplus electricity to the utility, which in turn sells the same kilowatts to other customers at the same rate. When the sun sets, or when weather reduces the solar panels' capacity, the owners buy electricity at the same rate. At the end of the billing cycle, the utility calculates the net amount owed.

The utilities' claim of hardship on the part of the 99.9% of their customers (non-solar) has been disproven in numerous studies. But that doesn't phase these companies and their supplies of coal, gas or petroleum. Profits take priority over sustainable, abundant energy in their eyes.

Fellow Floridians: please vote "No!" On 1 in November!

Gonna get me one of those.