Miami, FL – Oct. 26, 2009   Noted economist Farid Khavari, a Democratic candidate for Florida governor in 2010, today discussed his plans for health care reform in Florida.

“No matter what health care reform plan Congress and the Obama administration come up with, the states will pay the price and we need to be ready,” said Khavari. “Florida will have 700,000 to 1,200,000 new Medicaid clients, with similar increases in other states. We can expect the mandate from Washington to be unfunded or inadequately funded. This will be a crushing burden on the states unless we have a comprehensive solution to improve health care quality and access, and reduce costs.”

Khavari has gained national attention for his innovative economic plans, including a proposed state-owned bank to slash interest costs in Florida, and a program to create one million private-sector jobs in Florida without subsidies. He addressed health care reform in his books Vultures (1987), Environomics (1995) and Toward a Zero-Cost Economy (2009).  Some of his concepts have surfaced in the current national scramble for health care reform.

“Health care is one area where improving efficiency actually improves quality. We can have universal access, top quality care, drastically lower costs—and doctors, nurses and other personnel can earn more with less stress,” Khavari said. “The key is restructuring the delivery system. We can leave practicing medicine to the doctors, not the lawyers or bureaucrats or insurance companies. We can eliminate any form of rationing. We can eliminate redundancy and red tape that add costs and take away from quality health care.” Details including a new clinic model are at www.khavariforgovernor.com.

“We need to slash insurance costs by 30% or more,” Khavari said. “Forcing everyone to buy health insurance will not lower costs, it will just hand a huge piece of the GDP to the insurance companies and destroy our economy. Insurance companies have no interest in improving care or reducing costs. They make a profit regardless. If costs are higher, their business grows. If they could make the same profit at half the price, they wouldn’t do it, because it would shrink the size of their business. Everything from stock prices to executive bonuses is keyed to growth.

“There already is a ‘public option’ called Medicaid. The state is already in the health insurance business. When we restructure our delivery system for Medicaid, we will have doctors rushing to work with us, a quality of care second to none, and costs per patient far lower than we have now. We can offer access to this system to everyone, much cheaper than private health insurance. The insurance companies can join us in lowering costs and improving care, or they can face unbeatable competition from the people. Health insurance cannot continue to suck the lifeblood out of our economy,” Khavari said. “And we will not stand for drug companies charging higher prices in Florida than they do in Canada.

“Restructuring our health care delivery system will create about 200,000 good jobs in Florida, which will cost nothing because they will be paid for by health care savings,” Khavari said.

Farid A. Khavari, Ph.D. is a noted economist and author of nine books. His latest, Toward a Zero-Cost Economy, is available in stores or for free download at the website.

Miami, FL  Oct. 14 — Noted economist Farid Khavari, a  Democratic candidate for Florida governor, has gained national attention for his plan to create a state-owned bank in Florida. Khavari’s plan to create one million private-sector jobs inFlorida without subsidies has won enthusiastic praise at each stop on the campaign trail, and in national media.

You might think Khavari would be a featured speaker at Florida’s statewide Democratic Convention, but you would think wrong. Hundreds of delegates to last week’s convention in Orlando were surprised to learn that Khavari and six other candidates were running for governor. “State Chairperson Karen Thurman chose Alex Sink several months ago to be the anointed candidate for governor,” said Khavari. “She did not consult with any of the county party organizations. At the convention, neither I nor any of the other candidates for governor were even acknowledged or introduced.

“I met hundreds of delegates who thought Sink was the only candidate, and who were outraged that the state Party did not even inform them that there were other candidates,” Khavari continued. “It’s the same story when I visit the county party organizations. The members are angry that Karen Thurman is the dictator of the Democratic Party in Florida. They have no say in anything the state party does.

“The Democratic Party in Florida is as democratic as the former Soviet Union or modern-day Iran.  The bosses choose the candidates. That’s not how it’s supposed to work in America,” Khavari said. “Meanwhile, as Chief Financial Officer, Alex Sink allowed the state’s retirement funds to lose $60 Billion in phony deals that made hundreds of millions for Wall Street sharks. How could she ever top that as governor? Another million people unemployed, 300,000 more foreclosures, another $60 Billion lost?

“Sink’s famous plan to cut use of Blackberries by her employees covers the interest on $60 Billion for 34 minutes. What’s her plan to get a million Floridians back to work? What’s her plan to earn back $60 Billion before the taxpayers need to pass the hat and pay over $3,000 for every man, woman and child in Florida for her previous leadership?

“Fortunately, in spite of being crowned by Boss Thurman, it looks like Sink will not win in the primary next August,” Khavari added. “You can’t cover up $60 Billion forever.”

Besides Khavari and Sink, six other Democrats are running for governor: Joe Allen, Peter Allen, Michael Arth, Philip Kennedy, Anthony Knox, Sr, and Mark Shephard.

Candidates for the U.S. Senate were snubbed, too. “Thurman anointed Kendrick Meek as her choice for U.S. Senate, ignoring five others,” Khavari said. Also registered for the U.S. Senate race are Democrats Connie Brown, Tyrone Brown, Sr., Kevin Burns, Chuck Lunch and Lawrence Penpek.

Farid A. Khavari, Ph.D. is an economist and author of nine books, including Environomics. His latest book, Toward a Zero-Cost Economy, is available in stores or for free download at his website, www.khavariforgovernor.com.

Today the Repubublican Party of Florida took aim at Alex Sink in a mass email.  Below is the message and the graphic that they released with it.

Tallahassee- It has been nine days since Attorney General Bill McCollum announced his opposition to the government run public-option health care plan being pushed by Nancy Pelosi and members of Congress and challenged Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink to state her position on the issue. While Alex Sink continues to leave Floridians in the dark and waiting for answers, multiple Democrats from around the State of Florida have come out and made their positions known.

“I would like to encourage Alex and let her know that she doesn’t have to be scared anymore and she no longer needs to hide from the health care issue,” said Chairman Greer. “As a matter of fact, she can continue to dodge taking a true leadership position for the people of Florida and she is free to just mimic the position of one of the other Florida democrats who wasn’t too afraid to take a stand.”

“As this seems to be so simple for everyone else, I thought it would be helpful to remind CFO Sink that on this issue, like many other recent issues, she doesn’t need to lead, she can just follow,” continued Greer. “This isn’t the first time Alex Sink has refused to take a position on an issue and I am certain it won’t be the last.”

Miami, FL (MMD Newswire) September 9, 2009 – - Noted economist Farid A. Khavari, a Democratic candidate in the 2010 Florida gubernatorial race, today labeled Florida’s Governor Charlie Crist, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum “a dangerous Gang of Three.”

Citing the recently-reported $266 million lost in just one more bad deal by Florida’s State Board of Administration (SBA), Khavari said, “This is just a tiny part of $50 billion in SBA losses that we know of. The Gang of Three are the SBA’s three trustees. Now two of them are candidates for Governor and our Governor has appointed a crony to keep a U.S. Senate seat warm for him until 2010. We can and we must stop them in the 2010 primaries, if not sooner by impeachment.”

CFO Sink, Democrat, and Attorney General McCollum, Republican, are candidates for Governor. Governor Crist, Republican, is running for the U.S. Senate. Their current positions make them the three trustees of the SBA. “Two years ago the SBA had $138 billion. In March, 2009 they had about $83 billion. They didn’t lose this money in blue-chip stocks. They blew it in phony derivatives and so-called investments that no normal person would even consider, earning tens or hundreds of millions for Wall Street thieves,” Khavari said. “Now they want us to believe that these so-called securities, most of which have no market, have rebounded by $26 billion in the past five months? How stupid do they think the people are?”

Khavari blasted the media. “Instead of doing their jobs, the Gang of Three were out collecting millions in campaign contributions from lobbyists and special interests while the SBA lost over $50 billion, a million Floridians lost their jobs, and a million Floridians lost their homes. The media are dazzled by the millions in contributions, charmed by Sink taking away Blackberries from state employees, and have all but declared the Gang of Three the only candidates for these offices. Not one of them has even hinted at a plan to clean up the mess. The media continue to cover-up $50 billion in losses and print whatever lies they tell about the SBA funds.

“Negligence, stupidity, or corruption? I don’t know,” said Khavari, “but the results are the same. We need to get the Gang of Three out of public office if we are ever going to revive Florida’s economy, put a million people back to work, and slash interest, insurance and energy costs for the governments and people of Florida without higher taxes. The Gang of Three has got to go.”

Khavari continued, “Now these geniuses, fresh from losing $266 million in just one shaky real estate deal, want to invest in Florida real estate for profit. Until we fix the economy, who could ever buy these properties from the state?”

Khavari’s economic plan for Florida, including a publicly-owned bank, has gained national attention since it was released in July.

Khavari praised as an exception a series of articles by four-time Pulitzer winner Sydney P. Freedberg published in the St. Petersburg Times and archived online at www.tampabay.com/writers/sydney-p-freedberg.

Farid A. Khavari, Ph. D., is the author of nine books, including Environomics. His latest book, Toward a Zero-Cost Economy, is available in stores or for free download atwww.khavariforgovernor.com, where details of his economic plan can be found

Bill McCollum

Attorney General Bill McCollum bashed the “public option” included in President Barack Obama’s and Congressional Democrats’ proposed health care reforms, saying it would ration health care.

McCollum, the presumptive GOP candidate for governor, held a campaign event this morning in which he trashed the government-backed option to health insurance and challenged his presumptive Democratic opponent Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink to do the same.

McCollum, who served in Congress for more than two decades, announced the creation of a health care advisory board and dragged out a six-year-old report issued by businesses and the insurance industry as a guideline for health care fixes in Florida.

The best way to fix health care maladies in the Sunshine State, according to McCollum: more tort reform.

Medical malpractice premiums are the main cause for the state’s escalating health care costs, he said.

He asked Sink to join him in opposing the health care reforms now being considered by Congress if the plan includes:
- the public option or any government-run insurance;
- a $500 billion reduction in Medicare that would be passed on to the states;
- any expansion of Medicaid.
McCollum also asked her to reject the plan if it does not include significant tort reform.

McCollum showed more tolerance towards Obama’s speech to schoolchildren, which Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer has publicly pounded on national television.

“I have no problem with the president addressing schoolchildren,” he said when asked about it. McCollum also said he would allow his own children to watch it if they were school-age.

Alex Sink

These days, Florida’s chief financial officer is cutting corners wherever she can.

Alex Sink, who is hoping to win the seat now held by Gov. Charlie Crist, said her department has instituted cost-cutting measures that will result in savings of some $210,000 a year in wireless costs — a 37 percent reduction, according to a media release issued by her office.

Some of those cuts are coming as a result of disconnecting 116 BlackBerrys, 56 cell phones and 40 air cards that Sink’s office determined did not meet newly established criteria. The rest is coming from lowering monthly costs for services and reducing unused services.

“We are always looking for more efficient and cost-effective ways to do business and figuring out ways to cut cell phone and BlackBerry spending just made sense,” Sink said in a release.

Less than a year ago, Sink, who is running a campaign on a platform of fiscal responsibility, announced plans to consolidate her department’s 11 consumer call centers into two call centers. The consolidation, which took effect Feb. 1, has saved nearly $727,000, with $2.25 million projected in annual recurring savings, according to the release.

In June, Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum, who also is running for governor, defended themselves against allegations they were racking up flights on state planes at taxpayer expense. She said she reimbursed the state for any flights taken by her family.

Bill McCollum

Attorney General Bill McCollum says he has some concerns about the gaming compact that Gov. Charlie Crist signed with the Seminole Indian Tribe on Monday.

But he says the ultimate decision as to whether to accept the deal is up to the state Legislature.

McCollum still insists that until an agreement is approved by lawmakers, the Seminoles are operating cards games at their casinos in violation of state law.

The tribe has continued offering banked card games and class III slot machines even though the Florida Supreme Court threw out the original compact with the state that permitted them to operate those games.

The justices ruled Gov. Charlie Crist lacked authority to enter that agreement without legislative approval.

Meanwhile, Crist says he’s more concerned about what happens if the Legislature doesn’t approve the new deal which would provide the state with a minimum of $150 million a year for 20 years.

Nearly all the money would be used for public schools, state and community colleges, and state universities.

“My concern if we don’t, the Legislature doesn’t, is that the federal government will allow them to do it anyway and then we won’t get a dime of the money,” said Crist.

“Right now the Seminole Indians in my judgment and I think anybody else who looks at it from a law stand point, are committing a crime in the state of Florida but we have no way to enforce that. It can only be enforced by the federal government. However, if the get a compact, whatever terms the compact are, if the Legislature approves it and it goes through and so forth of course then it’ll be the law of the state,” said McCollum.

The agreement signed Monday by Gov. Crist and the tribe would allow blackjack and other banked card games at all seven Seminole Indian casinos -including Broward County locations- not just the four that the Legislature authorized when setting parameters on the deal last spring.

Miami, FL (MMD Newswire) August 31, 2009 – - Noted economist Farid A. Khavari announced that he is a Democratic candidate in the 2010 Florida gubernatorial race. “I have published a complete plan to revive Florida’s economy and make Florida recession-proof,” said Khavari. “We can put 700,000 Floridians back to work. The state can earn billions providing 2% mortgages and 6% credit cards. We can cut insurance costs by 30% across the board, and reduce energy costs. All together, an average Florida family will own their home 15 years sooner and save $200,000 in interest, insurance and energy costs with this plan. State and local governments will save billions per year. We can do this without higher taxes.” Khavari’s proposal for a publicly-owned bank has attracted national attention since it was announced in July.

“What other candidate even has a plan?” asked Khavari. “All we read in the papers is how much money they have raised, not a word about any plans except to get elected.”

Khavari cited Alex Sink and Bill McCollum as examples. “Alex Sink is Chief Financial Officer of Florida. She is one of three trustees of the State Board of Administration. In the past two years this fund has lost over $50 billion, about 40% of its value. This is outrageous but it is being covered up.”

When asked how a $50 billion loss could be covered up, Khavari replied, “That’s easy. The other two trustees of the SBA are the Attorney General and the Governor.” CFO Sink is now a Democratic candidate for Governor, Attorney General McCollum is a Republican candidate for Governor, and Gov. Charlie Crist is running for the U.S. Senate.

The State Board of Administration is custodian of funds from about 1,000 state and local government entities in Florida including pension funds for state and municipal workers. “Whether this is negligence, stupidity or corruption, I cannot say,” said Khavari, “but they didn’t lose this money buying blue chip stocks. They lost it playing in high-risk derivatives and other trades that no sane person would consider.

“My plan will earn $50 billion for the state, and much more, without higher taxes. Who else has a plan? The media are dazzled by which candidate has raised the most money. Do you think those millions came from ordinary people? The media made a big scandal over $50,000 worth of rides in state airplanes, but this $50 billion loss is a million times bigger and the media are helping to cover it up.”

Khavari noted as an exception a series of articles by four-time Pulitzer winner Sydney P. Freedberg published in the St. Petersburg Times and archived online atwww.tampabay.com/writers/sydney-p-freedberg.

Farid A. Khavari, Ph. D., is the author of nine books, including Environomics. His latest book, Toward a Zero-Cost Economy, is available in stores or for free download atwww.khavariforgovernor.com.

Alex Sink

TALLAHASSEE – Just a few years ago, Alex Sink couldn’t have envisioned her position today: Atop the Florida Democratic Party, hoping to lead a resurgence after it has been out of power in state politics for more than a decade.

In an eventful summer, the first-term chief financial officer has toiled behind the scenes to pick up Democratic endorsements and campaign cash — and worked to craft an image that has eluded Democrats in recent years, that of a budget-hawk conservative.

A career banker who had never run for office until the CFO job opened up in 2006, Sink, 61, said her swift rise in Democratic circles was “totally unintentional.”

“I think she represents the new face of the Democratic Party, as to fiscal responsibility,” said House Democratic Leader Franklin Sands, D-Weston. “We’ve been tagged as being bleeding heart liberals, and that’s not really accurate. Now it’s time for us to define ourselves, and she is the definition of the Democratic Party.”

With the 2010 election still 15 months away, Adelaide “Alex” Sink faces significant obstacles. Two polls this week show her trailing her likely Republican rival, Attorney General Bill McCollum. And many voters don’t know who she is.

In an interview, Sink said she plans to weave a personal narrative through her campaign. She grew up on a farm in Mount Airy, N.C., the town that inspired Andy Griffith‘s Mayberry. The future math major was put in charge of the family checkbook as soon as she learned to write in cursive, at 10 years old. She even made her own clothes, she said, becoming “quite the seamstress.”

“I think it’s important for Floridians to know a lot more about me on a personal level,” said Sink, who still speaks with a Southern lilt. Indeed, Sink’s first campaign-style video emphasizes her farm-girl roots, “where hard work and self-reliance were a way of life,” an announcer says.

In Tallahassee, Sink has spent two-plus years as CFO forging an image not as a partisan flamethrower, but more of a measured policy wonk.

Sink calls her job a perfect fit for a self-described “math nerd.” When she came into office in 2007, she put jars of beans around her office, a reminder of a 2006 campaign attack dismissing her as a mere “bean counter.”

As CFO, Sink combined 11 consumer hotline call centers into two, saving millions in overhead. And she pulled the plug on Project Aspire, a program to standardize the state’s accounting system that had drained $89 million with little to show for it.

Republicans, though, say her two-plus years in office have been light on accomplishments. “I think Alex Sink, from a public service standpoint, is going to have a hard time promoting specific decisions she’s made that have benefited Floridians,” said Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer.

Even if Sink has focused on money-saving moves that are small in light of Florida’s $65 billion budget, she says they indicate how she’ll govern: with an eye on items that don’t usually grab headlines, like contracting and operational efficiency.

As she told the fiscally conservative Florida TaxWatch last week, “I’m full with enormous ideas about waste. We can run government more efficiently. There are still, I believe, hundreds of millions of dollars out there. Let’s go after that.”

Sink said that’s why she wants to be governor — to apply her business experience to ferret out waste in the dozens of agencies run by the governor. Her campaign also will have a broader theme, one that is so far lacking specifics: creating a new economy for Florida. She notes the state seems stuck in a boom-bust cycle, built on growth and real estate.

“It always bursts. And then we get left behind,” said Sink.

Still, Sink — and her CFO office — remain something of a mystery to most voters. Functioning similar to a state treasurer, the CFO oversees 13 agencies and about 3,000 employees. She is also the state’s fire marshal, reflecting the hodgepodge of duties combined to create the office in 2002.

Another part of Sink’s background is more politically complicated: Her quarter-century as a banker, culminating as Florida chief for Bank of America from 1998-2000, when she retired. In an era of bailouts and bonuses, the public seems fed up with big banks.

Allies, though, say Sink has the kind of story and experience that will appeal to voters. “She’s had a career outside of politics. It’s a background voters are looking for,” said Sink pollster David Beattie.

Sink and her husband, 2002 Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill McBride, have two kids. Bert McBride is a senior at Stanford University and an offensive lineman on the football team. Her daughter, Lexi, is entering her junior year at Sink’s alma mater, Wake Forest University.

Sink, a millionaire from her banking career, lives in Thonotosassa, near Tampa.

“I had my own perspective, I have the perspective of a business woman, a farm girl, a working mom, a PTA mom,” said Sink. “I want to bring my business experience in here and look at the way government is run. And it’s not run very efficiently.”