U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R.-Fla.) said Monday that the legislative branch of the federal government is in gridlock and it won’t change for at least three months.
Speaking to the Rotary Club of Jacksonville, Crenshaw said that’s always the way it is in Washington, D.C., three months before a presidential election.
“The presidential election is dominating television in Florida and the presidential race pretty much dominates what happens in Washington. We’re at a standstill until after the election,” said Crenshaw.
The race between President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney isn’t ripe for a prediction of the outcome, even though the economy has historically been a factor in the contest between the incumbent and his opponent.
“We borrow 40 cents of every dollar we’re spending in this country and we’ve seen 41 months of unemployment over 8 percent,” he said.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. You would think the economic climate would favor the challenger, but it’s very close,” he said.
Crenshaw did predict there could be a major change of philosophy in Congress after the election.
Republicans achieved a majority in the House of Representatives in 2010, which Crenshaw doesn’t see changing after the upcoming election, but 23 Senate seats currently held by Democrats will be on the ballot in November, he said.
Crenshaw said the gridlock isn’t helping the economy recover, with as much as $2 trillion in private capital not being spent because businesses and investors are waiting to see what will happen at the polls Nov. 6.
“Uncertainty is created when people don’t know in what direction the country is going. Unless we can get people back to work, we will continue to struggle. We don’t need more taxes, we need more taxpayers,” he said.
Asked about Mayport Naval Station and the effort to home port a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at the base, Crenshaw said the news is mixed.
“The bad news is there is no money in the budget to continue upgrading Mayport for a nuclear carrier. The good news is the Navy hasn’t changed its mind” about stationing a nuclear carrier at Mayport, said Crenshaw.
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