Florida state amendments off the ballots

In a massive rebuke, a unanimous (do you know how rare that is these days?) Florida Supreme Court rejected three of the possible state amendment referendums yesterday. Jeb Bush reportedly seen clutching a security blanket and sucking his thumb afterward.

The three amendment proposals were:

• Amendment 5 - which cut property taxes to fund schools, in exchange for a vaguely defined tax swap that could shift the tax burden to higher sales taxes. The amendment was noted for being poorly worded, failing to highlight how the shift could take place, that the revenues generated by the sales tax would still fail to compensate for the lost revenues from the property tax, and that the tax shift wasn't even guaranteed (any law including the word 'might' means it will never happen). It was also noted for being full-out batsh-t EVIL!
• Amendments 7 and 9 - sideways attempts at re-introducing vouchers (which has become a pet project of social conservatives to get more public money into religious private schools): Amendment 7 was removing the "no aid" language that bars state money from going to religious institutions, number 9 requiring school districts to spend at least 65 percent of their money in classrooms but also eliminating the need for a 'uniform' public school system (meaning private schools could take over). In both amendments' cases, the court ruled that the group who submitted them - Jeb Bush's Taxation and Budget Reform Commission - did not have the authority to shove those two onto the ballot.

All in all, this means two things:

1. The social cons are going to try even nastier tricks next time, and
2. Our tax system still won't get the real reform it needs to ensure better school funding

Peace out! I'm off to ride the MIGHTY MOONWORM!