Florida's Republican gov commits political suicide

[catzmeow]

Translation: Don't put your state before party, Charlie.

Regardless of what the party officials are saying, I don't think Crist has any big worries. He's very well-liked in Florida. I wish that McCain had chosen him as his running mate.

 

[catzmeow]

He may be popular but Floridians do not understand the enormous risk he is taking in this state by forcing insurance rates down. If a major metropolitan area gets hit with a cat 3 storm or higher, Florida could be bankrupt because so much of the risk is being born by the taxpayers.

I am a Floridian who understands that the cost of constructing in hurricane-prone areas should be borne by the individuals who live there, not by those who don't.

So, insuring that 2 million dollar place right on the gulf should cost a hellalot more than my house an hour from the coast.

Nonetheless, I still like Crist, for the most part.

 

[Ravi]

He may be popular but Floridians do not understand the enormous risk he is taking in this state by forcing insurance rates down. If a major metropolitan area gets hit with a cat 3 storm or higher, Florida could be bankrupt because so much of the risk is being born by the taxpayers.

I am a Floridian who understands that the cost of constructing in hurricane-prone areas should be borne by the individuals who live there, not by those who don't.

So, insuring that 2 million dollar place right on the gulf should cost a hellalot more than my house an hour from the coast.

Nonetheless, I still like Crist, for the most part.

My cousin's place in the keys on the gulf...untouched during Wilma. Me, 1.5 hours from the gulf coast...lost all my trees and many of my neighbors lost their rooves.

You're being silly, IMO.

 

[Xenophon]

The govs want bailout money badly, to cover their own mismanagement.

How are we going to pay for all these endless bailouts?

 

[oreo]

Recent polls show Crist remains enormously popular in Florida, with roughly two-thirds of voters approving of his job performance. He is especially popular among crucial independent voters, and few doubt he'd easily win reelection.

It seems like the governors feel the heat from the people, but the GOP doesn't seem to give a shit about the people.

Doesn't look good for the GOP if they keeps ignoring the people

Also, could this be a sign of "Republican governors for Obama 2012"?


Some interesting posts from bloggers on that site from the articles:

Dyce wrote on 02/13/2009 0251 AM:
It's simple, without the Federal money for education and medical services Florida will have to raise taxes. That would ruin Gov Crist's political career.

twizt wrote on 02/13/2009 00:53:22 AM:
Republicans are such hypocrites! When Bush gave $350 BILLION to bail out the banks they were pushing hard to pass it! It's different when someone does it to help everyone! This just shows me that they are only about division!

This is actually bothering me too, why exactly is the bank bailout so much more important for republicans then the people bailout?

The biggest crisis in Florida right now is property values. Just had a friend come back from visiting her sister down there. She said the streets are vacant in this little tourist area. Her sister just bought a home, got a great deal on it at $200K--the same place was selling for 600K just last year.

The proof will be in the pudding. If this new stimulus bill won't help property values in Florida or create many jobs--there is definitely going to be some backlash to Crist--as the taxpayers of Florida will be paying for this economic stimulus bill also. There will be backlash on President Obama also--if this doesn't work. As we have always seen, Americans vote their wallets.

Right now--this bill is considered a done deal. Only future history will tell if it works for the very hard hit areas in Florida. Just to let you know that the GOP have not been ignoring their constiuents, in fact they voted against this bill because of them. They have received millions of calls, e-mails & letters from their constituents telling them to vote against this bill. The blue dog democrats have also. It appears that the only ones who have ignored their constituents wishes were the ones that voted for this bill.

There's going to be a lot of sleepless nights for the congressmen & senators who voted for this stimulus bill, while full-well knowing that if the economy does not improve significantly in a very short time, the odds of them getting re-elected are zero to none.

 

[Charles_Main]

''I don't think he's helped any national Republican ambitions he may have by stepping up to the plate and batting for the other team. . . . There's a difference between working in a bipartisan way for the common good and switching sides and putting on the other team's jersey,'' said veteran Republican consultant Alex Castellanos. ``At the one moment when we've finally found our voice and remember who we are as Republicans, Charlie Crist forgets. It's stunning.''

Crist's full-throated support evoked a rare rebuke from one of his closest political allies, Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, who said on the Senate floor that Crist doesn't get it.

''I don't know that my governor understands all the details in this package -- that there will be nothing here to help with Florida's housing economy,'' Martinez said, noting the package is light on stemming the tide of foreclosures.

Crist acknowledged that he hasn't seen all the details but said Florida needs federal help, period.

Still, he is way out of the Republican mainstream in supporting a $789 billion package that won just three Republican votes in the Senate and zero in the House. His inability to support the package drove moderate Republican Sen. Judd Gregg of New Hampshire to withdraw his nomination as President Barack Obama's commerce secretary Thursday.

GOP seethes over Charlie Crist's stimulus-plan support - South Florida - MiamiHerald.com

Translation: Don't put your state before party, Charlie.

He has signed onto a pork laden, ear mark ridden, wasteful spending package. Shoved down our throats and called a stimulus package.

That should be political suicide for any Republican.

besides Crist committed political Suicide well before this, at least in the eyes of conservatives he did.

 

[Chris]

This is actually bothering me too, why exactly is the bank bailout so much more important for republicans then the people bailout?

I've been wondering that myself. Remember when McCain suspended his campaign to fly back to DC to give money to the banks? Sadly, we know where the GOP's loyalty lies.

 

[Chris]

I keep waiting for one of the Liberals on this board to explain how Bush spending money we didn't have got us into this mess BUT Obama spending even more money we don't have will get us out? Perhaps you could explain it to me.

No one ever made that statement.

Because Obama is spending money investing in America.

Bush spent money setting up a Shia government in Iraq allied with Iran.

 

[PubliusInfinitum]

As much as I'd like to see the Republicans move away from much of the nutbar element in the party, I'm not sure if Crist is where I'd like to see them go. He's a populist first and foremost, and would have been a Democrat 20 years ago when Democrats ruled this state. He's in the Republican Party because they are the dominant party in Florida.

He may be popular but Floridians do not understand the enormous risk he is taking in this state by forcing insurance rates down. If a major metropolitan area gets hit with a cat 3 storm or higher, Florida could be bankrupt because so much of the risk is being born by the taxpayers.

That's true... The Florida Legislature should require all P&C carriers to provide coverage across the board... by letting insurers opt out of Homeowner's Insurance and continue to offer other property and casuality instruments, he enables a reduction in the supply of such coverage, which can ONLY increase the cost... this a function of substantially increasing the risks to which the few remaining carriers are exposed.

And it is only a matter of time before his state carrier is hit with enormous losses which it will have no means to support... the entire premise is that the Feds will bail them out and that well is quickly going dry.

It's little more than yet another example of the absurdity that is left-think.

 

[Toro]

That's true... The Florida Legislature should require all P&C carriers to provide coverage across the board...

Of he should just allow them to raise rates to where the market will keep and bring back carriers into Florida.

The state is the biggest insurer here. It is under-reserved and charges below market rates. If we get hit with a major storm, the state will not be able to pay and will go cap in hand to DC looking for a bailout.

And its all politics. Crist is a populist and wants to be popular and liked so he's not allowing carriers to charge what they need to charge and they are leaving. I'll give Jeb Bush credit. He was looking for real answers to this problem, not some artificial quick fix to pander for votes.

 

[toomuchtime_]

Recent polls show Crist remains enormously popular in Florida, with roughly two-thirds of voters approving of his job performance. He is especially popular among crucial independent voters, and few doubt he'd easily win reelection.

It seems like the governors feel the heat from the people, but the GOP doesn't seem to give a shit about the people.

Doesn't look good for the GOP if they keeps ignoring the people

Also, could this be a sign of "Republican governors for Obama 2012"?


Some interesting posts from bloggers on that site from the articles:

Dyce wrote on 02/13/2009 0251 AM:
It's simple, without the Federal money for education and medical services Florida will have to raise taxes. That would ruin Gov Crist's political career.

twizt wrote on 02/13/2009 00:53:22 AM:
Republicans are such hypocrites! When Bush gave $350 BILLION to bail out the banks they were pushing hard to pass it! It's different when someone does it to help everyone! This just shows me that they are only about division!

This is actually bothering me too, why exactly is the bank bailout so much more important for republicans then the people bailout?

While I'm not opposed to the stimulus bill, it's not a people bailout, it's a politicians' bailout. Most of what's in the bill would have been on the Democrat agenda even if we were not in this recession. That is not to say many of these things are not worthwhile, it is to say they are irrelevant to an economic recovery, and if you followed the debate in the House, you saw that the Democrats didn't argue the value of the items in fighting the recession so much as that these items were worthwhile regardless of how they might effect the recession. The Democrats are voting for things their constituents want, and you can't fault politicians for doing that, but the claim that the recession makes passing all of these items too urgent for thoughtful debate, that failing to pass this bill immediately will lead to catastrophe, perhaps one that is irreversible, as Obama has said, is utter nonsense and intentionally deceitful to boot.

The argument that the stimulus bill will produce an economic recovery, which Obama acknowledged it wouldn't in his press conference, is based on the false assumption that the increase in aggregate demand produced by government spending will somehow spur an increase in demand in the private sector that will revive the private sector, but no amount of government spending will allow even one more credit worthy borrower to get a car loan that will help to save the jobs of auto workers at auto manufacturing plants or all the workers at auto dealerships, or to get a mortgage that will help to stabilize falling land values and eventually put construction workers back to work. And without sufficient access to credit, even companies with backlogs of orders to fill cannot hire the workers and buy the materials necessary to fill those orders, so increasing demand for these companies without also increasing access to credit cannot produce a recovery in the private sector economy.

So what you are calling the bank bail out is the people's bail out for auto workers and construction workers and for any worker whose employer is being forced to cut back production because of insufficient access to credit.

 

[Old Rocks]

When Crist runs for re-election, he will get it. Many Senate and House Republicans will not in 2010.

 

[midcan5]

This is actually bothering me too, why exactly is the bank bailout so much more important for republicans then the people bailout?

So so true.

"The modern [republican] conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness." John Kenneth Galbraith

The Conservative Nanny State

 

[toomuchtime_]

When Crist runs for re-election, he will get it. Many Senate and House Republicans will not in 2010.

If Obama grows a pair big enough to face down Pelosi, Dodd and Frank so that he can fix our financial system, Republicans will do well running against Democrats who oppose the "bailout" and if he doesn't and millions of auto workers and construction workers and other workers who were laid off because their employers didn't have adequate access to credit to keep them on have exhausted their unemployment benefits, Republicans should do well. It will be the Democrat opposition to putting up money to fix the financial system that will be put on trial by all these millions of unemployed Americans in 2010. At least that's how it will be if the Republicans stay on issue and don't get bogged down on gay marriage or stem cells or abortion or . . . .

 

[garyd]

Okay I doubt seriously if anyone has had time to read all 11,000 pages of this monster as of yet so forget about anyone understanding it in anything other than in the most general terms. On top of which according to numerous sources it appears to be written by people who are borderline computer illiterate or are purposefully tring to confuse any one who does try to read it. It's on a PDF which isn't searchable which for something this massive out to be illegal anyway. It has numerous margin notes and whole sections have been deleted but left in the file.

 

[Avatar4321]

This is actually bothering me too, why exactly is the bank bailout so much more important for republicans then the people bailout?

Because you are completely missing the point that Republicans are trying to make: No one should be bailed out.

And you know what? Despite all this spending no one is geting bailed out. Government money isnt fixing the bank problems. Because throwing money into failling systems doesnt help. They have to fundamentally change the way they do business not just address the symptom of the bigger problem.

And the people sure as hell arent getting bailed out. There isnt anything in the stimulus bill that helps people. Everything in the bill is simply to satisfy special interest groups who have been funding Democrats for decades. It doesnt benefit the people. In fact, its burdening the people by making them responsible for more reckless spending.

Neither the American people, nor any industry, needs a bail out. We dont need government to fix our problems. And more importantly throwing money at symptoms doesnt fix problems. It might gloss over them for a few months. Maybe even a year or so. But the problems with our economy are problems with our culture. Dishonesty. Reckless debt. Refusing to take responsibility for problems now rather than later.

You can never have a strong economy when its foundation is so faulty.

 

[Ravi]

This is actually bothering me too, why exactly is the bank bailout so much more important for republicans then the people bailout?

Because you are completely missing the point that Republicans are trying to make: No one should be bailed out.

If that's the point they were trying to make the majority of them should have voted against the bank bailout.

 

[Avatar4321]

This is actually bothering me too, why exactly is the bank bailout so much more important for republicans then the people bailout?

Because you are completely missing the point that Republicans are trying to make: No one should be bailed out.

If that's the point they were trying to make the majority of them should have voted against the bank bailout.

a majority of them did.

 

[garyd]

The bailout was ion fact passed over the Opposition of a large number of Repuiblicans IN fact the Reps voted against the first bailout package by 135 to 63 and against the second by 110 to 88

 

[Zoomie1980]

This is actually bothering me too, why exactly is the bank bailout so much more important for republicans then the people bailout?

Because you are completely missing the point that Republicans are trying to make: No one should be bailed out.

If that's the point they were trying to make the majority of them should have voted against the bank bailout.

Most Republicans DID vote AGAINST the Bank bailout.....