The next U.S. president will inherit a record budget deficit of more than $490 billion, a Bush administration official said Monday, according to the Associated Press. That figure shouldn't surprise anyone, with our economy not in the best shape right now, the war in Iraq, and the stimulus payments made to 130 million households. ...more

July 29, 2008

Well, now. What to make of the decision in Port Richey to whack out a venerable, if unpopular, source of income for the little city's operations? Has the majority not heard about the - oh, what is that phrase? ah, here it is - "crushing budget deficit brought about by falling property values and Amendment 1"? ...more

July 25, 2008

Hillsborough County might have an $87 million budget deficit, but it won't make up the shortfall by reducing or eliminating a popular after-school and summer recreation program, commissioners pledged Thursday. ...more

June 6, 2008

Students transferring from other colleges into the University of South Florida have long enjoyed an open door. From now on, they will have a harder time gaining entry. ...more

February 15, 2008

The spiraling growth of Medicare and the high cost of renewing President Bush's tax cuts are squeezing popular education, health, housing and anti-poverty programs in the budget blueprint he will hand to lawmakers Monday. ...more

February 3, 2008

President Bush wants to cut funding for teaching hospitals and freeze medical research in a $3 trillion budget for 2009 that is still likely to generate a record deficit once war costs are tallied up. ...more

February 2, 2008

The state's university oversight board today ordered its schools to begin cutting enrollment as a budget deficit threatens the quality of higher education in Florida. ...more

January 24, 2008

many haven't - but forget all those horrors that recently haunted Halloween movie and TV screens. AMT is the real thing - a monster that's about to eat you up. Well, a lot of you anyway. ...more

November 14, 2007

SEBRING — Daily diaper changes are just a small sample of the amount of work it takes to raise two middle-aged adult siblings who suffer from severe Cerebral Palsy and have the mental makeup of 8-month-old babies. Scott Lukaszewski, 41, and his sister, Jill, 38, have fought hard against the odds and lived relatively healthy lives, even though they do virtually nothing on their own. And although the siblings cannot speak for themselves, according to their father, the Florida Legislature has decided that budget deficit issues will come before their personal care. On Sept. 26, Mike Lukaszewski, 66, received a letter from the Agency for Persons with Disabilities- State of Florida, which said that each child he cared for would be getting a two hour per day cut in personal care assistance per month. The care each sibling would get was now going from 212 hours per month to 180. ...more

October 7, 2007

What if that toll road you often drive on business or vacation was privately owned? How about your state lottery being leased by investors from another state? Would tolls skyrocket? Would you trust the integrity of the lottery? All of these things could happen if the state decides to privatize some of its holdings to make big bucks. It sounds like a bad idea. Gov. Charlie Crist is listening to private investors who want to lease items like the Florida Lottery and toll roads, such as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, for huge chunks of change. In return for their billions of dollars, they would have the ability to market these things, and possibly raise prices, for decades to come. With Florida's $1.1 billion budget deficit, state leaders are listening to investors who might pay upward of $31 billion for the lottery system. According to an article in The Tampa Tribune, investors would then get something like a 40-year lease of the proceeds. ...more

September 28, 2007