Politics & Government

Ehrlich Goes After Young Over Government Shutdown

Who do you think is to blame for the government shutdown, St. Pete?

Democratic congressional candidate Jessica Ehrlich is going after Congressman C.W. Bill Young for the government shutdown. 

Ehrlich, who lost to Young in 2012, said Young's vote against the budget hurts residents in Pinellas County. 

"Congressman Bill Young’s petty partisan politics have now led to a government shutdown – resulting in unpaid furloughs for defense workers, economic uncertainty for small businesses, and hurting Pinellas County middle class families at every level. Congressman Young has delivered a self-inflicted blow that our recovering economy simply cannot afford," Ehrlich said in a statement Tuesday. “After forty three years in Washington, Congressman Young should know better, and his shutdown is the height of the irresponsible partisanship plaguing our nation."

Young, in an Oct. 3 statement, said he would support all legislation to fund the federal government.

“The time for politics is over; let’s get on to legislating and the hard work of tackling our $17 trillion national debt and solving important national issues like the current flood insurance crisis,” Young said in a statement. “All sides need to sit down and work these problems out together.”

Ehrlich is not buying Young's words. 

"Congressman Bill Young claimed he’d support a clean budget – then voted to block a clean budget just hours later – once again putting his reckless politics over any reasonable solutions to ending his shutdown,” Ehrlich said Thursday. " ... Enough is enough: it is time for Congressman Young to live up to his word and stop his shutdown before any more Florida families are forced to pay the price for his irresponsible Washington politics.”


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here