These gross miscarriages of justice and unreported incomes are going to be rectified tout de suite in the Sunshine State. You've heard of Food Stamps? Florida has a Property Stamp program!

In a program to extend some aid to the state's beleaguered property owners, Florida will reimburse homeowners for up to 50% of the cost of home improvements designed to protect their homes from hurricanes, up to a maximum of $5000. The state has contracted with and paid private firms to conduct property inspections, and the reports generated thereby will be submitted along with the bills from firms who have installed storm shutters, reinforced roofs, installed storm gutters and other property improvements indicated as necessary by these inspections. Evidence of these improvements can then also be used to claim refunds on insurance premiums from the state's publicly financed insurance company (the private companies no longer sell insurance here). This all started as a small program to reimburse half the cost of an emergency generator if it was purchased by the homeowner to provide power due to hurricane-induced outages.

Those low-lifes who don't own property or can't afford major capital improvements have been on the welfare train long enough. It's about time the good, decent citizens of Florida got a break, too. Not only that, these programs will certainly help stimulate the economy by subsidizing the home improvements business too, as well as provide a boost to the banking and real estate industries that can't get their mortgage properties insured!

There has been some question as to how this will be paid for, especially since there is a lot of pressure on Tallahassee now to cut property taxes substantially. The talk is of a sales tax increase to take up the slack. An income tax would never fly in this state. Florida has a long record of this sort of thing, like beach restoration projects to protect the property and investments of resort owners by holding back the sea itself! We have waged war on erosion itself! Bring it on, Atlantic Ocean.