GOP GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE HEAT UP THE RHETORIC IN DUELING NEWS CONFERENCES

In the words of New York Times Regional Newspaper Group Tallahassee correspondent Joe Follick:

It rained promises in Tallahassee on Tuesday: Billions of dollars in tax cuts. Smoother driving. Money for those who adopt children.

Sounds like the start of a campaign year.

Duh!

Attorney General Charlie Crist and Chief Financial Officer Tom Gallagher held news conferences within a couple of hours of each other Tuesday, promising everything from off-peak breaks on toll road fees (Gallagher) to giving money to residents who adopt children (Crist).

Crist backs proposals offered by his opponent to cap property taxes. Gallagher's two-pronged approach would limit the increase of each county’s annual revenue to the growth of population and inflation, while allowing homeowners who move within a county to keep their current property taxes at the new home. Crist, though, said he would go further to extend the tax break to homeowners who move to other counties.

The cap of county revenue quickly found opposition from the Florida School Boards Association, with Executive Director Dr. Wayne Blanton said it would not work because construction costs for schools have increased nearly 70 percent in recent years. Also addressing the issue was Polk County Commissioner (and Florida's National GOP Committeeman) Paul Senft, who said such a cap would make things much more difficult for counties when it came to building roads and meeting other legal requirments.

Kinda makes me wanna shout/sing those classic Burt Bacharach lyrics from the Broadway musical:

Promises, promises

I’m all through with promises, promises now...