Crist says he still supports stimulus concept, if not bill (digging a hole deeper alert)

The South Florida Business Journal ^ | 2009-11-06 | Michael Hinman

[rabscuttle385]

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says he is not flip-flopping when it comes to support of the federal stimulus package championed by Democrats, saying his comments earlier this week to CNN’s Wolf Blitzer were more about the actual stimulus legislation passed by Congress, and not the effort itself.

“I think the question posed to me was, ‘Did you endorse this specific bill?’” Crist told reporters Friday after speaking to the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices policy institute in Tampa. “And I said, ‘No, I didn’t,’ but the concept I thought, and still believe, was important, necessary and it helped Florida.”

Crist told Blitzer earlier in the week that he did not endorse the bill and didn’t “even have a vote on the darned thing. But, I understood that it was going to pass, and I wanted to be able to utilize it for the benefit of my fellow Floridians.”

So much benefit, in fact, that Crist appeared with President Barack Obama at a Florida rally in February – pictures of which that have been used by some conservative Web sites to try to paint Crist as being apart from Republican philosophy as he prepares for a primary run for a U.S. Senate seat.

[rabscuttle385]

[chuck_the_tv_out]

I don’t see how any responsible person can support putting a trillion dollars on the USA’s credit card bill.

There are no “fair credit practises” in world trade, you know. They can pull the plug any time.

[conservativebuckeye]

When you spend most of your spare time in tanning beds or bath houses, your brain has to be negatively impacted. The concept is the problem. He’s another in a long line of idiotic Keynesian politicians. Although, Ari Fleisher did say he’s a conservative on CNN’s election coverage. Judging by the ratings, I think I was the only man in America watching at that time.

[dila813]

Come on everyone, he didn’t support the bill, how could he? he wasn’t in congress so he could vote for or against it./sarc

[Tzimisce]

He was against it before he was for it. :)

[ken5050]

I just returned from the Pinellas 9-12 Meet-up, at which Marco Rubio spoke. First time I’d seen him in person. The guy is the real deal..period..Crist has a huge problem..when the poll niumbers tighten, there’s no way that he can avoid debating him...but when he does, Marco is going to clean his clock..

[denydenydeny]

A lot of dancing from Crist. I kind of get what he means, in that a stimulus bill that was entirely composed of infrastructure spending would be almost justifiable.

Infrastructure spending on highways and bridges would have immediate tangible benefits in jobs and manufacturing and long-term benefits in improved transportation effiency. I would still have opposed it (because we don’t have the money) but you could make a good argument for it.

But of course that’s not what we got at all. We got, basically, $40 billion of infrastructure spending and $800 billion of pork and welfare and food stamps, which stimulate nothing and only make people more dependent.

I don’t understand why Crist couldn’t say what I just said. Unless he really didn’t oppose the stimulus at all.

[chuck_the_tv_out]

I don’t think even Keynes advocated that going a Trillion dollars in hock, and paying off your union thug buddies would somehow fix the economy

[PhiKapMom]

He is the heir apparent to flip flopper John Kerry for 2010!

[milesdigby]

From N.Y. Times Nov 17, 2009

Mark Rubio says,
“He argues for small government and reduced spending, but mostly, he talks about the need to stop what he calls the Obama agenda. “The bottom line is that if you’re a Republican, the Republican Party should be an alternative, not a facsimile,” he said in an interview. “And I think I offer that.””

That is why I am voting for Mark Rubino over the RINO!