Charlie Crist a ‘no’ vote on bill to avoid government shutdown

Charlie Crist joined Gus Bilirakis in filing a bill to end weapon sales to Iran.

While Congress stares at a potential government shutdown Friday, St. Petersburg U.S. Rep. Charlie Crist is one House Democrat who says he won’t vote for another stopgap spending bill to keep the government afloat for another four weeks.

“The House of Representatives is once again being asked to vote on a short-term spending bill that fails to address the many urgent challenges facing our nation. I voted for the last two continuing resolutions to allow more time to negotiate these issues. But ‘time’s up,'” Crist said in a statement Wednesday night.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is urging Democrats to vote against the latest measure proposed by GOP leaders that would fund the government until February 16.

The continuing resolution, or “CR,” would be the fourth since the fiscal year began on October 1.

“This is no way to run a government. What does kicking the can to mid-February help solve that we can’t hash out this week? The answer: nothing,” a disgusted Crist said.

Democrats are unhappy that the CR currently does not include a plan to deal with the more than 700,000 young undocumented immigrants known as “dreamers.” It does extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program for six years, and delay some Affordable Care Act taxes that also help pay for the health insurance program.

“The American people elected us to solve problems, not play games,” Crist said. “Unless or until we get serious about the fixes and compromises we know we need to make to move our nation forward, I’m a NO on the continuing resolution.”

With a majority in the House of Representatives, the Republicans may not need many Democrats to support the continuing resolution. However, there are a number of members of Freedom Caucus members reportedly unhappy about another short term funding bill as well.

“It’s crisis management at its worst,” Gainesville Rep. Ted Yoho told POLITICO. “Nobody wants to shut down the government, but if they load this up … they’re going to have a fight on this.”