Retirement Security
June 27, 2015
Richard Polangin on “Facing Florida” with Mike Vasilinda
To watch the “Facing Florida” With Mike Vasilinda TV interview on FLARA’s Resolutions with Richard Polangin that urge people not to move to Florida or to visit Florida:
- Click on link below
- Scroll down to the second interview, “The Florida Alliance for Retired Americans” and click on the triangle arrow to start the video.
Transcript of first 2.5 minutes:
WCTV 6/27/2015 5:15:27 AM: … hello everyone, thank you for joining us this week, and for the second year in a row, the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans is urging people not to move to Florida.
That’s not just retirees but that’s everyone, and this second year they’ve also suggested that people not even bother to visit, here in the state.
Joining me now to talk about this new report, Richard Polangin, who is the Director of Government Affairs for the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans…
You’ve got a list here of 16 different things of why you think people should come to Florida either, to even visit or live here, but what’s your biggest thoughts on why?
Well I think the biggest problem is, the problem with and bad behavior in the economy. We are first in identity theft, and we’ve been first in identity theft for three years in a row. These are complaints filed with federal trade commission, we’re first in consumer fraud complaints, filed with the federal trade commission, we’ve been first in two of the past three years. We’re first in mortgage fraud, we’re first in home foreclosures, we’re first in healthcare fraud, and taken together, this creates an atmosphere that is not conducive at all to the well- being of either people that live here or for visitors. and the legislature and the governor have turned a blind eye on these problems.
We have seen little scant notice of these problems in the press, and when you leave the country in these areas, we believe that there is an obligation on the part of our political leaders to address them constructively.
Well you know it’s almost systemic, I mean it’s if you look back to the origin of Florida, there were land swindles in the twenties. It seems like this is the normal, and it should not be the normal, and that’s what we’re saying. We’re saying this is not appropriate behavior, and people should be very cautious about Florida.
It’s not a good place to raise your kids, it’s not a good place to retire.
Well I raised kids here, what’s your complaint there?
I think our main complaint is that the economy of Florida doesn’t have a good way in it for kids to realize their potential. And I think it’s very important when you’re young to be able to be all you can be, to reach your potential in life. Our schools are very poorly funded. We’re 50th in per capita funding for public education, we’re 39th in per capita funding for higher education, we’re 46th in stem jobs in our economy, …