Crist Signals Some Support for Stimulus, Obama

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist (R) suggested that the stimulus package shunned by House Republicans could help his state.

Asked on MSNBC Friday whether he was with his fellow party members on the stimulus, Crist said, “Well, in some ways.”

“You know, as the governor of Florida, I’m concerned about what infrastructure projects can be supported by this plan, how we can help education, how we can help with health care for the most vulnerable in our society,” Crist said. “We have a deficit in our budget that we’re facing in our session coming up in March, and it looks like this could be [of] help to Florida if done right.”

Crist said he understood that every House Republican voted against the stimulus, backed by President Obama and Democrats in Congress. But he said that federal money could help Florida pay for healthcare for children and unemployment benefits, which Democrats have touted as the type of spending that can jumpstart the economy.

“Our unemployment has risen now to about 8.1 percent in Florida. So those people need help, and they deserve help,” he said. “And so I’m hopeful that that will be part of the plan after it’s negotiated with the Senate.”

Crist praised Obama for his efforts to make government more transparent, which is something Crist has said he’s tried to do in his state.

“In fact, one of the things I did when I first got sworn in, in fact, the first full day in office back in 2007, was sign an open records law, an executive order rather, to say that we’re going to have an office of open government here in the Sunshine State, in Florida,” he said. “And I was very pleased to see that President Obama did — it looked like almost exactly the same thing on his first day in office. Transparency, openness, you know, it is the people’s government, after all.”

Crist also called for bipartisanship in Washington, which Obama has been pushing for.

“You know, it’s a challenging time. There’s no question about it, but I think the realization that we’re all in this together, that we need to pull together,” he said. “I mean, we may have all gotten here on different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now. And I think that realization is exactly what we’re doing in Florida.”