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Hernando Today

Meet Fred Taylor

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By FRANCES EARL, Call to Patriots

Hernando Today

Published: August 7, 2008

Last Thursday afternoon proved to be a very pleasant and most informative afternoon for me. It was spent getting to know Fred Taylor. He wears a brace on his right leg as a result of being shot four times while serving his country in Vietnam. He is the proud recipient of three Purple Hearts and a man very proud to be an American.

Taylor is a Democrat running to unseat state Sen. Mike Fasano in the upcoming election. He has a bachelor of science degree and a master's degree in education as well as a master's degree in hospital administration. He also is owner of Florida Business Intermediaries Inc.

We spoke of the grip special interests seem to have in Tallahassee. Sen. Fasano has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from lobbyists, insurance interests, developers, gambling interests and drug companies. Sen. Fasano sponsored a bill that let insurance companies drop your sinkhole coverage. He sponsored and voted for a bill that took 20,000 children off Florida KidCare, leaving them with no health coverage, and he sponsored a bill that would have cut more than $7 billion in education spending.

Taylor believes we should consider other plans to solve the homeowners' insurance crisis, including a plan that would replace Citizen's Insurance with a state-run windstorm-only program while private insurers would issue policies and service claims. He applauds CFO Alex Sink's plan to reduce the CAT Fund's exposure, which is now liable for an estimated $28 billion in damages, which could bankrupt the state.

Asked about Amendment 5, Fred described it as a tax swap.

"Amendment 5 swaps property taxes for a sales tax increase (no 3 percent cap), shifting school funding from a stable source to an unpredictable one, shortchanging Florida's schools by approximately $8.5 billion," Taylor said. "By reviewing certain exemptions and closing special interest loopholes, across-the-board property tax relief would be possible for homeowners and businesses."

I heartily agree with Mr. Taylor on this one, as the education in this state is already ranked so low that to think we can attract any businesses offering decent wages is a pipe dream. Do we plan to continue to offer millions of dollars in incentives to lure companies here, only to see them hire out-of-state (or even out of country) employees because our graduates are not considered adequate? With all the cuts to public education I wonder why we would want to further cut by taking education dollars to give vouchers (our money) to private schools. Who is getting the Lotto money folks?

Taylor pointed out that our only answers now seem to be employee layoffs and cutting vital services, and he rightly says "we can do better." He points to his military experience and the use of "After Action Reviews" to produce more efficient methods, going paperless to name just one. On education Taylor said, "We should stop shortchanging our children's future. In 2006, Florida ranked 45th nationally in per capita spending for education, with worse numbers for higher education. Without proper accountability reform, we are likely to remain at the back of the pack, and we must go beyond the FCAT to measure school performance."

Taylor spoke of the nearly 4 million Floridians currently uninsured. The Republican majority in our Legislature has cut Florida KidCare, which allows working families to insure their children when what should have been done was supporting programs that work, focusing on prevention and modernizing the system. Preventable illnesses (obesity, etc.) drive the cost of health care, and I note that our friendly neighborhood drug companies are now suggesting that the cure for childhood obesity is to just put these kids on drugs.

Has this become our answer for everything and what kind of research have they done to determine whether a developing mind and body will be adversely affected by these drugs? Why aren't we taking sweets and starches out of school menus and using physical education classes to help bring childhood obesity under control?

The state of health care in Florida is unacceptable, yet the Florida Legislature continues to cut these programs. When a family is unable to take a sick child to the doctor and ends up in an emergency room, the cost of health care for you and me goes up as does the cost of our health insurance. These costs will be paid by all of us.

Taylor thinks that Florida should consider granting tax incentives to companies that offer wellness programs to their employees. He believes Florida should lead the nation in developing modern, electronic information technology systems, phasing out paper, which will decrease costs, improve efficiency and increase the time doctors actually spend with patients.

I find Fred Taylor to be an excellent candidate. Check him out folks; he's for all of us.

Frances Earl, a former vice chairwoman of the Hernando County Democratic Executive Committee, can be contacted at fearl@tampabay.rr.com.

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