The way Americans regard the people they elected and sent to Washington, D.C., to run the federal government has undergone a distinct change, according to U.S. Rep. Ander Crenshaw.
Speaking Friday to the Downtown Council of the JAX Chamber at The University Club, Crenshaw said only 10 percent of those polled have a positive perception of Congress following the debates over the nation’s budget and debt ceiling and the October 16-day shutdown of the government.
“In the old days, people didn’t like Congress, but they liked their congressman,” said Crenshaw, a Jacksonville Republican.
He attributed the poor performance in the popularity polls to the progression of major issues that have been in the national spotlight.
“Things are pretty much a big mess in Washington,” said Crenshaw. “We’ve been lurching from one crisis to the next.”
Crenshaw said his office on Capitol Hill received more than 3,000 telephone calls from constituents when President Barack Obama was threatening military action against Syria during the chemical weapons crisis.
He described the Syria incident as “part of an incredible amount of activity in the past four or five weeks — and most of it not positive.”
Commenting on the deliberations over the federal budget that led to the shutdown and the eventual agreement to increase the debt ceiling that led to government workers being able to get back to work, Crenshaw said he didn’t go along with proposing to fund the government with the exception of the Affordable Care Act, referred to as “Obamacare.”
With the Senate controlled by the Democratic Party and a Democrat in the White House with his name on the government health care law, segregating health care from the budget would never work.
“I didn’t think that was a very good strategy. There was no end game,” Crenshaw said.
“The Republicans were blamed for the shutdown, but there was plenty of blame to go around,” he said.
Crenshaw favored a different tack, but admitted it would never make it to the floor of the House for a vote.
He said he supported cutting the funding for the IRS and stipulating that none of its appropriations could be used to enforce the individual mandate that requires people to be covered under health insurance.
“The IRS wastes a lot of money doing things they shouldn’t be doing,” he said.
On the positive side, Crenshaw cited the Navy’s decision to relocate the USS New York, an amphibious transport dock ship, and two patrol boats from Norfolk, Va., to Mayport Naval Station by Dec. 1. He said 3,000 officers, crew and their families would come to North Florida along with the vessels.
“That’s good for national security and good for the local economy,” Crenshaw said.
The Downtown Council’s next meeting is 7:30 a.m. Nov. 15 at The University Club in Riverplace Tower along the Southbank. Duval County Public Schools Superintendent Nikolai Vitti has been invited to speak to the group. Guests are welcome.
For more information, visit downtowncouncil.org.
(904) 356-2466