MSNBC Looks into Evidence Disputing Florida Sen. Rubio’s Claim That He Is a ‘Son of Exiles’
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Tag: Marco Rubio
Watch Republican Sen. Marco Rubio Lie and Lie and Lie about Being the Son of Exiles
From American Bridge 21st Century:
As reported in the Washington Post, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio was caught embellishing his life story. Despite numerous claims that his parents fled Cuba after Castro’s regime took power in 1959, documents show his parents came to the U.S. in 1956.
Rubio made the false assertions not just on his official Senate bio, but in numerous speeches and cable television appearances over the years. Watch a sampling of his embellished statements in a new video from American Bridge 21st Century
New Republican Senators Not Very Popular
3rd – or 1st, depending
Rank of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) in popularity of new senators. Public Policy Polling ranked the top ten of the senators elected in 2010 and found the only two Democrats in positions number one (Joe Manchin, W.V. with a rating of +33) and two (Richard Blumenthal, Conn. at +18). Rubio was third, but first among Republicans, with an approval rating of +7, with Rand Paul (Ken.) near the bottom at -2, and Roy Blunt (Mo.) dead last at -9.
GOP Florida Sen. Rubio: Social Security ‘Weakened Us As a People’
Part of the series, Assault on Florida.Via Digby:
RUBIO: These programs actually weakened us as a people. You see, almost forever, it was institutions in society that assumed the role of taking care of one another. If someone was sick in your family, you took care of them. If a neighbor met misfortune, you took care of them. You saved for your retirement and your future because you had to. We took these things upon ourselves in our communities, our families, and our homes, and our churches and our synagogues. But all that changed when the government began to assume those responsibilities. All of a sudden, for an increasing number of people in our nation, it was no longer necessary to worry about saving for security because that was the government’s job.
Isn’t that nice? If only we could go back to the days of Ward and June Cleaver when everyone took care of each other and didn’t need things like money or health insurance when they got old and sick and couldn’t work. Back in the good old days everyone took care of the poor and there was no suffering or pain. It was one big happy family. Except, of course, that’s just crap.
Think Progress reports:
[P]rior to Medicare’s enactment in 1965, “about one-half of America’s seniors did not have hospital insurance,” “more than one in four elderly were estimated to go without medical care due to cost concerns,” and one in three seniors were living in poverty. Today, nearly all seniors have access to affordable health care and only about 14 percent of seniors are below the poverty line.
Florida Mayor’s Race Could Be Early Indicator of Tea Party Decline
Jacksonville Republicans are reeling because the nightmare they were having when they went to bed last night didn’t slip away as they hoped at today’s dawn. No, Democrat Alvin Brown, a former Clinton administration and Al Gore advisor, African-American, and pro-education candidate (not to be confused with bizarre nobody Alvin Greene of South Carolina) was still 603 votes ahead in the mayor’s race, just like he was last night.
As we speak, absentee and provisional ballots are being counted, so anything could happen in what the elections supervisor is calling the closest mayor’s race in Jacksonville history. Anything could happen, that is, except reinstating the conventional wisdom that a Democrat can’t win in Jacksonville – or in Northeast Florida. Apparently he can.
Brown was one of six candidates in the elimination round in March that was expected to easily pick Republican Audrey Moran, who passes for moderate in these parts, and fellow Republican and incumbent Tax Collector Mike Hogan to face off in the final race. Had that played out, Duval County voters would have the familiar Republican Thing One and Republican Thing Two from which to choose, and First Baptist Church (a Jacksonville institution that pulls most of the power strings), the Chamber of Commerce, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Wayne Weaver, and a few others could resume running things for another four years.
And then something strange happened.
[…]
GOP Continues to Spotlight White Males
Jeb Bush’s recent plea for his party to pay more attention to its Latino members seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Their selection of a white guy Midwesterner to perform the Republican rebuttal to the State of the Union address ignored rising star sunbelt Latinos, including New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio.
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) will give the speech, which according to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, will deal with economics.
“Paul Ryan has spent the better part of the last two years explaining exactly why the Democrat agenda has been so bad for jobs and the economy, and why we need to ditch the government-driven approach in favor of creative, common-sense solutions that put the American people back in charge.
Maybe Gov. Bobby Jindal’s poor showing reinforced the natural Republican inclination to stick with white guys
Republicans apparently noticed the economic crisis after the inauguration of Pres. Obama. It slipped past them when they were voting to allow Pres. George W. Bush to run up the deficit to unprecedented levels in order to wage war on a country that had not directly threatened us. They also must have been confused when they voted for Bush’s plan to spend $700 billion to bail out banks and other large corporations that had invested in mortgage-backed securities. Bush signed that Republican-approved law on Oct. 3, 2008.
Rubio, like Rep. Michele Bachmann (GOP/TEA-Minn.), plans his own State of the Union rebuttal for the benefit of his followers.
Verbatim
It doesn’t bother him that maintaining tax cuts for the top 2 percent of income earners would increase the deficit by $700 billion. In his world, deficit spending is bad if it saves middle class jobs but good if it covers tax cuts for the wealthy.
— St. Petersburg Times editorial titled, “Rubio’s Rigid Ideology,” which ends, “Rubio embraces an inflexible ideology, not practical solutions. The Republican leaves no room for compromise or consensus — and that is what is wrong with Washington.”
Somebody Needs to Drop Out
It’s time for Kendrick Meek to drop out of the U.S. Senate race in Florida.
A new Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times poll shows Marco Rubio now leading, with 41 percent. Florida Gov. Charlie Crist has the support of 26 percent of those queried, while Meek has 20 percent.
Meek can look forward to a lifetime of having earned the nickname “Kendrick Nader”
Why should Meek be the one to drop out? Two reasons. First, his numbers have been no better than they are right now from the beginning. Meek has consistently failed to sway large numbers of voters and there is no reason to expect that to change in the next nine days.
Second, were Crist to back out, Meek would stand virtually no chance of pulling Republican support. Crist backers who are registered “R” will vote “R.” On the other hand, many Democrats are willing to vote for the no party affiliated Crist if it means denying Rubio a victory.
The poll had a margin of error of 4.1 percent, so if Rubio stayed at 41 percent and Crist picked up Meek’s supporters (which he would very likely do), he would garner 46 percent.
Sadly, since early voting has already started, it might be too late even if Meek does decide to do the right thing and step away. Florida appears to be headed toward having a Sen. Rubio in its future. It’s a grim prospect, and Meek can look forward to a lifetime of having earned the nickname “Kendrick Nader” if he makes it happen.
Voters Have to Hunt for Charlie Crist’s Name on Florida Ballots
With polls showing Florida Gov. Charlie Crist at about 30 percent in his race for U.S. Senate against Tea Party Republican Marco Rubio and Democrat Kendrick Meek, the newly independent candidate is already swimming upstream.
I just got my sample ballot, and not only is Crist not listed third, he’s at number nine, ahead only of one other guy and the space to write someone in.
Blame it, along with many of his other campaign woes, on Charlie’s decision to go no party affiliation (NPA) rather than face Rubio in a Republican primary.
Here’s how ballot order works in Florida.
Florida Statutes, 101.151(2)(b):
The last time ten names were listed for one office on a Florida ballot was in 2000. And you know how that turned out.“The names of the candidates of the party that received the highest number of votes for Governor in the last election in which a Governor was elected shall be placed first under the heading for each office on the general election ballot, together with an appropriate abbreviation of party name; the names of the candidates of the party that received the second highest vote for Governor shall be second under the heading for each office, together with an appropriate abbreviation of the party name.”
So that explains why Rubio jumped to first and Meek is second, but why is Charlie second from last?
