Prosperity has a price tag

On Thursday guest columnist J. Robert McClure regaled readers with a fable. The fable reads that Florida, through its enlightened, conservative leadership, can teach Illinois, Connecticut, and by extension all northern states how to be prosperous.

He points to taxes, government interference and social services as culprits. His argument is overly simplistic. The result of following programs like those suggested by The James Madison Institute has led to catastrophic results for Kansas. Even conservative Republicans in that state have realized the folly of tax cuts paired with the elimination of social services.

Also, McClure has an odd definition of prosperity as it applies to Florida. When 60 percent to 70 percent of students in Central Florida can’t afford school supplies, there is a problem with his prosperity. When Amazon warehouse jobs paying $12.50 an hour are considered positives for our economy, there is a problem with his prosperity. When Florida has an affordable-housing crisis and cuts the state funding for programs that were designed to alleviate it, there is a problem with his prosperity. When businesses are given tax breaks (corporate welfare) to relocate and do not even employ a fraction of those stipulated, there is a problem with his prosperity.

McClure faces a two-decades-long demographic shift in Central and South Florida that threatens his economic humbug. The population increasingly will demand more services. Those services will require taxation. Nothing is free. True prosperity always comes with costs.

Michael Arnold St. Cloud