Consumer confidence has reached a five-year high, but future optimism currently sits with how individuals view the 2012 presidential contest and less with the looming reality of the nation hitting the fiscal cliff, according to a University of Florida report.
The report released Tuesday reveals the state's consumer confidence index jumped to a five-year high of 79 -- up three points from a revised August reading of 76.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Florida’s September consumer confidence reached a post-recession high of 79 — up three points from a revised August reading of 76, according to a monthly University of Florida survey.
WASHINGTON — With the clock ticking down, our leaders still haven't cut a deal on the debt ceiling. Boynton Beach retiree Gerald Levine, 80, believes he knows exactly who's to blame. The problem is: it's a long list.
"If I had my druthers, I'd fire everybody in Washington," he said Wednesday. "Here we are, two weeks away from a default, which would be an economic disaster of immeasurable proportion, and they think it's a joke."
Gov. Rick Scott and Florida Republicans in Congress are betting that tax breaks and government spending cuts will spark widespread hiring in their job-starved state.
TAMPA, Fla. -- Rick Scott successfully ran for governor as the jobs candidate, selling the voters a mostly vague plan to create 700,000 new ones in the next seven years.
Florida’s growing clout in Washington will grow by two seats in two years.
That’s because the 2010 U.S. Census population numbers released Tuesday show the state grew by almost 3 million people in 10 years. Florida now has 18.8 million people, compared to 15.9 million in the 2000 count.
The population numbers are used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The new population numbers indicate that Florida’s delegation will jump from 25 representatives to 27 in the U.S. House following the 2012 general election.
When Florida voters head to the polls on Nov. 2, 2010, aside from casting votes for public office, they’ll also have six state constitutional amendments to mull over.
One of the proposals up for a vote, Amendment 4, aims to put land use changes before local voters, and has sparked heated debate.
Despite their differences, Florida’s Republican and Democratic gubernatorial candidates both promise not to raise taxes, and both have ambitious plans to invigorate a stalled economy. But with a budget shortfall as high as $2.5 billion, high unemployment, and stagnant growth, the opportunity to make radical changes may be limited for whoever wins.
