The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist: on Local Issues


Charlie Crist: Sued Florida Power when they raised rates abruptly

Florida Power had raised its rates abruptly. People were livid when they opened their bills. We had a hearing in the Senate on the rate hike. But I felt like I should do something more personal and direct.

I sued Florida Power, though not as a state senator. I filed as myself, a consumer. I didn't have the state pay the legal bills. I paid for the suit myself. Some of my fellow Republicans were definitely shaking their heads at that. In a few special cases--this was one of them--the look was put into words.

"What are you doing?" Senator Grant wanted to know. "These are our friends. These are the guys who support us and help get us elected and raise money for us. You'll regret this. They're too powerful to mess around with."

"I respect how you feel," I told him. "But it's not how I feel. They're being unfair to the people who elected me, and I can't let that stand. What they're doing is wrong."

Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p. 47-48 Feb 4, 2014

Charlie Crist: Supported $2.4B federal funding of I-4 corridor

For almost 3 decades, Florida had been discussing high-speed rail. Once I was governor, it took 3 special sessions of the legislature and some extraordinary work by the state Transportation Dept. As my term was ending, everything was all but wrapped in a bow--the politics, the funding, the local approvals, the right-of-ways, literally everything except depositing Washington's check in the bank. People were genuinely excited about what was coming our way: state-of-the-art trains racing along the median strip of Interstate 4 at 170 mph between Tampa, Lakeland, and Orlando, a rail link that could stretch eventually to Miami.

Development would be spurred along the I-4 corridor, creating more investment and more jobs. And if the modern train service happened to take a few cars off the congested interstate, call that a welcome bonus. Did I mention the feds were paying for everything? Yes, everything.

Six weeks after taking office, the new governor announced he was rejecting the entire $2.4 billion.

Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p.303-5 Feb 4, 2014

Rick Scott: Opposed $2.4B federal funding of I-4 corridor

For almost 3 decades, Florida had been discussing high-speed rail [and we had finally negotiated a deal]: state-of-the-art trains racing along the median strip of Interstate 4 at 170 miles an hour between Tampa, Lakeland, and Orlando. Did I mention the feds were paying for everything? Yes, everything.

On February 16, 6 weeks after taking office, the new governor announced he was rejecting the entire $2.4 billion. Every last cent of it. "This project would be far too costly to taxpayers, and I believe the risk far outweighs the benefits," he said.

Republicans in the Florida Legislature were shaking their heads. 26 state senators, a veto-proof majority and a rare coalition of Republicans and Democrats, signed a letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood rebuking the new Tea Party governor and asking the US Department of Transportation to send the funds anyway. "Politics should have no place in the future of Florida's transportation," the senators wrote.

Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p.303-5 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.
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  • Click here for more quotes by Charlie Crist on Local Issues.
Candidates and political leaders on Local Issues:

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)
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