Guest AuthorAs we venture into the new year, old habits linger. One is the Dec. 31-Jan.1 ritual — the New Year’s resolution.
But this will not be a diatribe about personal self-improvement, although my wife will gladly tell you that I am still a largely unfinished project. This will not be a list of vows to exercise more, eat smaller portions and watch less television.
My wish list is for statewide improvement rather than an improved selfie.
There are lots of small things I would like to see in the new year. I pray that the Seminoles win their first national title in a decade. It would boost our state’s gridiron self confidence after the collective mediocrity in Gatorland, Buccaneertown and Dolphinville.
More seriously, though, it’s my hope for 2014 that the construction of a SunRail Commuter line in Central Florida could spark a move to revisit such a link statewide.
This is a big state — narrow and long. Opening quality commuter lines will make geography less of an obstacle to employment opportunity. We need to envision a state in which skilled Floridians can commute by rail between major metropolitan areas to work at high-paying, skilled jobs.
Imagine what that does to our real estate market? Our political leadership needs to see beyond Disney, Panama City Beach and the orange groves. A commitment to a 21st century public transport system sends the message that all the science, technology, engineering and mathematics talk isn’t just that.
With Obamacare on the books, I’d like to see Floridians engage in a more honest and constructive debate about how to help the millions of residents who still go to the emergency room for primary healthcare because they have no health insurance.
The Census Bureau reports that Florida is No. 2 in the nation in the highest number of uninsured people under the age of 65. At the same time, recent polling shows that a majority of Floridians oppose Obamacare. Go figure. The system is far from perfect and may need tweaking, but how can you say you care about people if you refuse to invest in their good health?
My big hope for this year is that we have a competitive governor’s race and aggressive contests for the Legislature. As the year ended, the inevitable email landed in my inbox. Florida Democrats were bemoaning their lack of fund-raising success. Let’s hope this isn’t harbinger of things to come. Neither Gov. Rick Scott nor Charlie Crist qualifies for the intellectual heavyweight division, but these guys will make up for their lack of policy heft with lots of cash.
This race has few presidential implications, but the stakes are high for Floridians jaded by one-party domination in Tallahassee.
While it would be a relief to see the end of those “Pink Slip Rick” bumper stickers, a Crist victory without an improved Democratic showing in the Legislature would be meaningless.
GOP-control of the Capitol has given us a buffet of cookie-cutter legislation cooked up by ideologues who view Florida as a test kitchen for the far right. Exhibits A and B — Stand Your Ground and mandatory drug testing for welfare recipients. By the way, a federal judge ruled the latter unconstitutional on Tuesday.
Call it a belated holiday present in the name of common sense. It bodes well for my 2014 wish list.
