Monday, March 26, 2012

Matt Falconer versus Steve Precourt Florida House District 44

When word Matthew Falconer was about to announce his candidacy for State Representatives it sent shockwaves throughout the establishment in Tallahassee.
It has been reported Falconer’s likely opponent, Steve Precourt, leaked the news to Florida Speaker Dean Cannon who abruptly terminated Matthew Falconer’s appointment on the State’s Government Efficiency Task Force.
Cannon’s office released a statement saying he “did not want the appointment to be used for political purposes.” Matthew Falconer was placed on the task force because of his passion for reform and his ideas.
A day later Falconer received a call from the incoming Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford which is amazing given how busy the Speaker is during the last weeks of session. The Speaker politely let Falconer know he and leadership will be “supporting” Precourt.
The Speaker “controls” the “Florida Leadership Fund” which will have an estimated $15 million to spend supporting candidates of their choice. Precourt will have basically unlimited funds raised from special interests. And the average person can only donate $500 to any statewide campaign.
Another State Representative e-mailed Falconer suggesting he not run and reminded him Precourt will have access to “vast sums of money.”

Florida House Representative Steve Precourt supports billion dollar projects the Florida tax payers do not need, cannot afford, and do not want

The question is why are the most powerful people in Florida worried about a single candidate for a state house seat?
The answer is power. The “establishment” does not want to lose their grip on power in Florida.
Falconer has a rock solid conservative record and strong support amongst conservatives in central Florida. His plan is to restore faith in government through ethics reforms, a plan that calls to eliminate leadership funds.
These funds collects millions of dollars from special interests who benefit from government spending. In Falconer’s announcement speech he stated; “the reason we build bridges to nowhere and government rail systems no one will use is because an army of special interests profit from them; lawyers, lobbyists, engineers, and government contractors.”
And he is right.
The establishment in Tallassee does not want things to change. They do not want a reformer even if the public desperately wants reform.
Steve Precourt may be a terrific gentleman but he is part of the problem. He gets almost all of his campaign money from special interests. And he made/makes his living as an engineer designing government rail systems.
How dependent on construction industry contributions is Precourt?

The Florida's constriction industry earnings are down 47%, five plus years of decline

Precourt was a principal in the civil engineering firm DRMP, Inc. or Dryer, Riddle, Mills, & Precourt, a firm with a well establish record of service and value for the dollar. Capitalism build America and Precourt should be proud of his contributions to DRMP.
Looking back on a partial list of the 2006 contributions, at the height of the housing boom, Precourt received an astonishing 34% of his contributions from the industry and individuals working in the industry. This is more significant than the 34% number because any serious candidate will receive contributions from major industries just because they are a serious candidate.
It would be safe to say the civil engineering, construction, land development industry strongly supports Precourt. In normal economic times this would be perfectly acceptable. Today with massive inflation beginning, corruption, and economic desperation in the construction industry we do not need politicians trying to score one huge contract, usually billions of dollars for rail projects, for their special interest group of friends.
Frantic and worried politicians do not make good policy decisions. In 2011 Precourt has raised approximately $105,000.00 with much more expected.
The 2006 contributors to Precourt reads like a who’s who in the civil engineering and construction industry. Metha, AAGAARD, Ardaman, Boyer-Singleton, C. T. Hsu, Capri, Castle & Cooke, CH2M, Dewitt, and prominent individuals in the industry such as Ernie Cox of Ardaman & Associates. Since 2006 Precourt’s contribution list has expanded considerably to other special interest but the strong ties to the construction industry are plain to see in public records.
This is very important for voters to understand and see the potential catastrophe that can happen if a politician beholden to an industry decimated and desperate for any and all public works projects. Some construction projects may be needed and desired but others, such as the billion dollar rail projects, may be so expensive they saddle taxpayers with unneeded and unnecessary higher taxes for decades.
Desperation does not make good public policy.
Simply put we do not want distracted people in the legislature. We do not want a legislature representative whose overwhelming support comes from an industry that is frantically trying to influence, by any means necessary, projects that may or may not be needed by the public.
How desperate is the Florida construction industry?

The Florida Gross Domestic Product is still down 1.6% from 2007

In April 2006 the Florida construction industry made $42,029 (millions) and today $22,335, a drop of 47%. Earnings have dropped for five plus years with not one single quarter of increased revenues. That is an industry that is desperate and that is the industry Steve Precourt represents.
Everyone in the industry has been hurt. Everyone in Florida is affected by the industry and sympathizes with the industry, but we do not need huge government works projects that will waste resources in these desperate times just because we feel sympathy towards an industry.
The federal government can print money through the Federal Reserve to fund whatever they desire. Florida cannot.
The time has come to end the culture of corruption and put real citizen candidates in office. The days of the special interest candidates need to end and the days of citizen candidates are just beginning. The voters are waking up and in this race the choice is clear.
Full disclosure, I have worked as an unpaid volunteer for Matt Falconer’s 2010 Orange County Mayor’s contest. I have never received any financial compensation from any political candidate.

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