The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist: on Budget & Economy


Charlie Crist: 2006: canceled high-priced Governor's Inaugural Ball

I did something I don't think anyone really expected, something I instinctively knew was right: Three weeks before Inauguration Day, I canceled the Governor's Inaugural Ball. It wouldn't be right, I said, to put on this high-priced party, paid for by a bunch of trade associations and lobbyists, while so many Floridians were suffering as badly as they were.

And let's be honest: Those fancy dinner-dances are almost always a tedious bore.

My decision wasn't too popular inside the campaign office or around Tallahassee. I started getting blowback from some of my biggest donors. "I'm sorry," [I said to those complaining]. "But I'm going with my heart on this one. I'm just not comfortable having some lavish party when Floridians are struggling so hard.

Canceling the governor's ball sent an early signal that this was not going to be your typical Republican administration [and lose touch with the people]. We threw open the gates of the mansion and invited everyone in. It was the People's House.

Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p. 80-83 Feb 4, 2014

Charlie Crist: 2009 stimulus saved teacher & cop jobs; and revived economy

On Feb. 23, Jeb Bush called my support for the president's economic stimulus "unforgiveable." Jeb started sweetly. I was a "talented guy," he said, "about the nicest guy I've ever met in politics." Then he let loose.

"There's one thing that he has done that I just find unforgiveable. He is the only statewide political leader that I'm aware of, that embraced the stimulus package when Republicans were fighting to suggest an alternative."

Now, I do believe that some things in life are unforgiveable But accepting money from Washington to save jobs of teachers, police officers, and firefighters and help revive our economy? No, that's not one of them. Besides, almost every governor ended up taking some or all of the money. I was just the only Republican who was so up-front about it.

Jeb kept pounding on the stimulus, which he termed "a massive spending bill that is not related to stimulus. It is related to trying to carry out a liberal agenda."

Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p.218-219 Feb 4, 2014

Jeb Bush: $787B economic plan: whole lot of spending & not stimulative

A month before the election, George W. Bush had gotten fairly solid bipartisan support from the Congress for his TARP plan, which directed the Treasury Department to purchase up to $700 billion in troubled assets from some of America's largest banks. But when the new president took office and proposed a $787 billion economic-stimulus plan to jump-start the broader economy, that bipartisanship seemed to evaporate overnight.

The Obama stimulus plan didn't fit their theory of what government should do at a time of economic crisis, which seemed to add up to nothing at all. The unfettered market was supposed to solve everything.

Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p.154-157 Feb 4, 2014

Jeb Bush: Stimulus more related to liberal agenda than stimulus

On Feb. 23, Jeb Bush called my support for the president's economic stimulus "unforgiveable." Jeb started sweetly. I was a "talented guy," he said, "about the nicest guy I've ever met in politics." Then he let loose.

"There's one thing that he has done that I just find unforgiveable. He is the only statewide political leader that I'm aware of, that embraced the stimulus package when Republicans were fighting to suggest an alternative."

Now, I do believe that some things in life are unforgiveable But accepting money from Washington to save jobs of teachers, police officers, and firefighters and help revive our economy? No, that's not one of them. Besides, almost every governor ended up taking some or all of the money. I was just the only Republican who was so up-front about it.

Jeb kept pounding on the stimulus, which he termed "a massive spending bill that is not related to stimulus. It is related to trying to carry out a liberal agenda."

Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p.218-219 Feb 4, 2014

  • The above quotations are from The Party's Over:
    How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat
    by Charlie Crist.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Budget & Economy.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Charlie Crist on Budget & Economy.
Candidates and political leaders on Budget & Economy:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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