At the White House, Robert Gibbs, the press secretary, seemed to indicate you can’t take back a hug. Asked whether Mr. Crist had seemed to endorse the package, the spokesman said: “I think he was very supportive of the legislation and supportive of the benefits that it would have and has had for the state of Florida in seeing positive economic growth,” Gibbs said. “I would say yes, yes.”Crist is showing more and more that he cannot be trusted to say what he means and stick to it which is something the US Senate does not need as there are enough Democrats a few Republicans already. Crist is looking more and more like a Democrat-lite.
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
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.
Excerpt: Read more at southflorida.bizjournals.com
How ironic that the candidate in 2010 that resembles John Kerry and his being for something before he was against is Republican Florida Governor Charlie Crist who is running for US Senate in 2010. Kerry has been lengendary over the years with his flip flops from the Iraq War to recently Cap and Trade and a host of other issues. There was a reason that flip flops were used for Kerry in 2004.
Now it looks like that Crist is the heir apparent to the Kerry flip flops being for the stimulus and Obama before being against the stimulus for political purposes. The worst part is Crist thinks that everyone forgets his support of the Obama stimulus along with his welcoming him to Florida earlier this year. Just a little reminder picture in case you forgot.
Floridians have an opportunity to send a tax cutter (Rubio) to the US Senate or send a flip flopper (Crist) who will most likely support the Obama agenda after elected. Like the Kerry campaign, Crist is already doing dirty tricks to win. Not going to work as voters in Florida are taking notice of flip flopping Crist and are turning to Rubio. This should serve as a warning to Democrats who want to raise taxes and spend like there is no tomorrow -- American voters are tired of big spenders and flip floppers on issues.
Gov. Charlie Crist backpedals on stimulusCompare Crist to Senate candidate and Former Speaker of the FL House, Marco Rubio. When Rubio took over as speaker he made a bold move because the property tax situation in FL was out of hand so he wanted property taxes abolished except in 30 rural counties where it would crush their budget.
Gov. Charlie Crist, a U.S. Senate candidate, has been trying to distance himself from President Barack Obama and the federal stimulus package.
BY AARON SHAROCKMAN
St. Petersburg Times
Facing a potentially bruising Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, Gov. Charlie Crist continues to run from any assertion that he is linked to President Barack Obama.
Last week Crist told reporters he didn't know Obama was traveling in Florida. On Wednesday, Crist told a national television audience he didn't endorse the $787 billion federal stimulus bill pushed by Obama and passed by Congress in February.
``I didn't endorse it,'' Crist told CNN host Wolf Blitzer. ``I - you know, I 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.''
This, from the same man who skipped a Florida Cabinet meeting to campaign with Obama for the stimulus in Fort Myers in February? Who went on national talk shows and across the state selling the plan?
As the interview continued, Crist got on a roll.
``You know, unfortunately, the president thinks that everything we need to do for every problem that comes along is spend more money and that's just wrong,'' he said.
``Frankly, enough is enough. And I know that the people understand that. And I understand it. And I understand it because I'm the grandson of a Greek immigrant who came to this country with nothing, really taught me the value of a dollar, because his first job in America, in Altoona, Pa., was shining shoes for a living for $5 a month.''
Crist's comments about the stimulus startled conservatives, Democrats, and frankly, us, who all remember things differently.
The conservative Club for Growth responded Thursday with an online television ad, criticizing Crist's support for the stimulus plan. And the Democratic National Committee blasted Crist's comments to reporters across the country.
HISTORY'S CONTRADICTION
Let's go back to earlier this year, to see what Crist had to say then.
From Hardball with Chris Matthews on Feb. 3: Speaking of the stimulus, Crist said, ``It's going to help [Floridians'] children. It's going to help their traffic situation. It's going to help produce more jobs here in the Sunshine State. That's a perspective that I have to have as, in essence, the CEO of Florida. And that's why I support it.''
From Time on Feb. 10: ``I see this package as a pragmatic, common sense opportunity to move forward. I didn't campaign for Obama, we don't agree on everything, but he's my president, and my job is to help Florida stay in the black.''
From Meet the Press on Feb. 22: Q: Why would you buck your own party, which did not vote for this plan in Congress, as you know, to support the stimulus?
Crist: ``It's not a matter of bucking the party, it's a matter of helping the people. I mean, I really view it as an issue of what can I do that's best for the people of Florida? We've got almost 20 million people that live in the Sunshine State now. I think my obligation is in essence the CEO of the state, to do everything I can to help us get through this tough economy. Certainly this stimulus package, about $12.2 billion to Florida, will help Florida an awful lot.''
And that's just a sampling. But then there's the rally in Fort Myers on Feb. 10. Crist skipped a Florida Cabinet meeting and a lunch with former Gov. Jeb Bush to tout the stimulus bill in person. If you've forgotten, there's photos and video to jog your memory.
Excerpt: Read more at Miami Herald
Interesting that Crist sat on the sidelines in the debate and although the plan was eventually shelved, Rubio was given credit for the fact that the spotlight was shown on the outrageous property taxes people are paying in FL. Today home prices have tanked all over FL and in some areas home owners are seeing some relief in property taxes but in other areas nothing has changed.
We are posting this article from 2007 to show you that Rubio isn't afraid to stand up and be counted while Crist flip flops. We have to wonder how much then Governor Crist did to help tank this plan without it ever going to a vote of the people.
Speaker pushes for change
By ALEX LEARY
Published March 31, 2007
TALLAHASSEE - For House Speaker Marco Rubio, it was a rallying cry to abolish property taxes. But he sounded a little desperate.
Support for his plan to eliminate property taxes on primary homes and raise the sales tax was eroding fast, and Rubio was trying to salvage his signature issue.
"If this House doesn't put out bold ideas, no one will," he told his fellow Republicans.
For 15 minutes Tuesday, the 35-year-old House speaker from Miami issued an unmistakable challenge: "We will be judged on this session by what we do or fail to do on this issue."
Ignore the naysayers on editorial pages and the woe-is-me refrain from city and county commissioners, Rubio said, reading from prepared notes in a departure from his normal off-the-cuff style.
Rubio did not need to say what many already knew. It is he, more than anyone, who will be judged by the outcome of the property tax debate.
By striking fast with an ambitious plan, Rubio eclipsed Gov. Charlie Crist and the Senate as the face of change for Florida's tax system.
Now, as Rubio's plan encounters silence from a skeptical Senate and only polite encouragement from Crist, the speaker faces criticism that he reached too far, too fast.
"The risk of going for a home run is nothing happens," said Rep. Carl Domino, R-Jupiter, who opposes the Rubio plan because it would raise sales taxes by 2.5 cents per dollar. "I didn't get elected to vote for a tax increase."
The second youngest speaker in modern history, Rubio opened the 2007 session as the hotshot, second only to Crist in star power. Rubio was the guy with all the potential and a book brimming with ideas.
When he announced his property tax plan, he called it the most significant tax cut in Florida history, even as it included giving Florida the highest sales tax in the nation.
The frenetic pace at which the plan proceeded signaled Rubio intended to dominate the debate. The same morning he unveiled it, a House committee considered the legislation.
One of the few people who objected was a Polk County commissioner who just happened to be in Tallahassee.
Six weeks later, the plan lies in limbo, hobbled by relentless criticism. It has gone through several mutations, making it easier for Senate Republicans to criticize, even though they have yet to unveil their own plan.
Thirty rural counties were excluded from the plan's proposed tax rollback because House leaders were convinced it would crush their budgets. Hospital districts were spared, too.
Then, with county officials clamoring for more of a voice in the debate, Rubio announced the biggest change yet: Voters in each of Florida's 67 counties would decide how much more sales tax they would pay, and the beneficiaries would only be homeowners - not business owners, snowbirds or renters.
At that moment, the tepid Democratic support for Rubio's plan vanished.
Excerpt: See Full Article at: St. Petersburg Times Archives
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