Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio

Marco Rubio is a Cuban-American from Miami. He graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and earned his J.D. cum laude from the University of Miami Law School. Rubio began his political career as the West Miami City Commissioner in 1998. He was elected in Florida House of Representatives the following year and in 2009, he won his campaign for the U.S. Senate. He is the junior United States Senator from Florida and a previous Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. Rubio is best known for his “100 Innovative Idea’s for Florida’s Future” proposal on which he consulted Floridian Citizens on ways to improve and reform the state government. Over half of the ideas generated through the proposal eventually became laws. Rubio is married to his wife Jeanette, with whom he has four children.

Campaign Website

Tax Reform

Rubio's Tax Reform (section page)

A Pro-Growth, Pro-Family Tax plan

• Simplify the tax code to reduce the number of brackets from seven to three (MRWTR)
• Unorthodoxically wants to keep the tax rate ~35% for the top household income earners (Politico)
• Rubio plans to get rid of the tax burdens on dual earning married couples (MRWTR)
• Wants to repeal ObamaCare and all associated $1 trillion in taxes (MRWTR)
• Wants to create a partially refundable Child Tax credit of up to $2500 per child that phases out above an individual income of 150k and a joint income of 300k (MRWTR)
• Eliminates all itemized deductions and tax “extenders” (MRWTR)
• Charitable contribution deduction and mortgage interest deduction available for all (MRWTR)
• Implements a single $2500 universal tax incentive for post secondary education or job skill training under the 400-500% threshold of the federal party line (MRWTR)

Businesses and Corporations

• Marco Wants to cut taxes for small business to 25% down from the current tax rate of 35% (MRWTR)
• Wants to implement a tax credit to any business offering between four and twelve weeks of paid family leave (MRWTR)
• Rubio’s plan aims to allow for immediate expensing of capital expenditures (MRWTR)
• Wants to reduce the double taxation of corporations doing business overseas (MRWTR)
• Aims to eliminate the federal estate tax that penalizes family owned farms and businesses (MRWTR)
• Interest income would not be taxable (MRWTR)
• Provides a transition period, which requires a one-time booking of investment at current law capital gains and dividend rates, minus the 3.8% investment tax hike from ObamaCare (MRWTR)

Jobs and Business Policy

Rubio's Jobs and Business Policy (section page)

Small Businesses

• Cut the taxes of small business to 25% (MRWAW)
• He wants to enable small businesses to immediately expense new investments (MRWAW)
• Wants to permanently repeal the estate tax (MRWAW)
• Rubio wants to completely rescind Obama care because of the associated tax hikes (MRWAW)
• He wants to reform current methods and induce the inclusion of small businesses in the regulatory process (MRWAW)
• Incentivize expansion of the American Energy Industry (MRWAW)
• Wants to put a ceiling on the negative economic impact of US regulations (MRWAW)
• Fight and seek repeal for the Carbon-Tax on the American Energy Industry (MRWAW)

Job Creation

• Wants to implement a skill and merit based system of immigration (MRWAW)
• “Know before you go act” - An act that would require Universities to offer future earning projections for a student’s prospective degree (MRWAW)
• Implement student investment plans which would create a relationship where a student’s degree would be financed by an investor who then receives a percentage of their future earning (MRWAW)

American Workforce

• Wants to give workers the option to receive either monetary compensation or paid leave for overtime work (MRWAW)

Health Policy

Rubio's Health Policy (section page)

Repealing and Replacing ObamaCare

• Expand access to affordable, quality health coverage by providing every American with an advanceable, refundable tax credit that can be used to purchase insurance. (MRWHC)
• Promote innovation in the Medicaid program by giving states a per-capita block grant, which preserves funding for Medicaid’s unique populations (MRWHC)
• Wants to keep traditional medicare and medicaid advantages for Seniors (MRWHC)
• Give Seniors a choice between a variety of private plans (MRWHC)
• Move Medicaid to a per capita block grant system (MRWHC)
• Reform insurance regulations to lower costs and develop state-based high risk pools for individuals with pre-existing conditions (Politico)

Drug Policy

Rubio's Drug Policy (section page)

Timid about reducing sentences for drug crimes as opposed to his fellow republicans who call for immediate revision

• Only medical marijuana and will not get behind it for recreational use (Washington Post)
• The federal should supersede state legalization of marijuana (OTI)

Middle East

Rubio's Middle East (section page)

On ISIS

• "These guys are not going to turn into stockbrokers overnight or open up a chain of car washes. They need to be defeated militarily" (RD7)

Wants to undo the deal with Iran the first day in office

• Wants to use military force as a credible threat against Iran if it decides to proceed with its nuclear program (MRWISIS)

Military Strategy

• Build a multinational coalition willing to send troops and support (MRWISIS)
• Increase the number of American troops on the grounds to partner with allies and fight ISIS (MRWISIS)
• Increase the number of Airstrikes in Syria and Iraq (MRWISIS)
• Align with Sunni and Kurdish forces (MRWISIS)
• Target ISIS’ financial reserves (MRWISIS)

Political Strategy

• Broadcast American victories (MRWISIS)
• Work with Baghdad to increase Sunni inclusion (MRWISIS)
• Advocate and protect religious minorities in the region (MRWISIS)
• Publicize and Expose ISIS’ war crimes (MRWISIS)
• Halt new admissions of refugees (MRWISIS)
• Enhance the security screening of the visa program (MRWISIS)

Trade

Rubio's Trade (section page)

Reduce Barriers to Free Trade

• "My second goal is protecting the U.S. economy. For years, China has subsidized exports, devalued its currency, restricted imports and stolen technology on a massive scale. As president, I would respond not through aggressive retaliation, which would hurt the U.S. as much as China, but by greater commitment and firmer insistence on free markets and free trade. This mean immediately moving forward with the Trans-Pacific Partnership and other trade agreements." (The International Economy)
• "We must continue reducing barriers to free and fair trade. We should adopt the free trade agreements that have already been negotiated with Colombia, Panama, South Korea and other nations around the world. We should also insist that other countries reduce their own barriers to trade so that American goods can find new markets." (OTI)

"It is more important than ever that Congress give the president trade promotion authority so that he can finalize the Trans-Pacific Partnership."(CFR)

Immigration

Rubio's Immigration (section page)

• Modernizing the Immigration System
  • Change from a family based immigration system to one on merit and skill
  • keep the test on American History in addition to the skill based system
  • Invest in an entry and exit tracking system for Visas
  • Reassigning visas from family based immigrants to skill based immigration populations
  • All immigrants must learn English (MRWI)

“Our legal immigration system from now on has to be merit-based… and on whether or not you're coming here to become an American, not just live in America, but be an American.” (Washingtonpost)

Environmental

Rubio's Environmental (section page)

Fix Environment with the Free Market

• "We must be willing to embrace the free-market approach--not European-style, big-government mandates." (OTI)

Climate Change

• "I do not believe that human activity is causing these dramatic changes to our climate the way these scientists are portraying it, and I do not believe that the laws that they propose we pass will do anything about it, except it will destroy our economy." (OTI)

Energy Plan

Optimize America’s Resources

• Empower states and tribes to control onshore energy development within their borders (MRWEP)
• Rewrite the Obama administration’s five-year Offshore Drilling Plan (MRWEP)
• Immediately approve the Keystone XL Pipeline (MRWEP)
• Immediately lift the 1970s-era ban on crude exports (MRWEP)
• Expedite approval of American natural gas exports (MRWEP)
• Defend U.S. interests in international climate negotiations (MRWEP)
• Bolster the energy security of U.S. allies (MRWEP)
• Conclude TTIP negotiations without restrictions on access to U.S. energy exports (MRWEP)

Minimize Government Bureaucracy

• Create a national regulatory budget to limit the power of unelected regulators (MRWEP)
• Stop President Obama’s carbon mandates (MRWEP)
• Expose the true costs of environmental litigation to taxpayers (MRWEP)
• Simplify and improve the environmental review process (MRWEP)

Maximize Private Innovation

• Reform higher education system to support energy jobs of the future (MRWEP)
• Facilitate private-sector-led development of new technologies (MRWEP)
• Overhaul the tax code and cut taxes for business of all sizes (MRWEP)

Entrepreneurship and Innovation

Rubio's Entrepreneurship and Innovation (section page)

Rubio's Plan for Small Business Owners

(MRW - SBO)

• "Especially in the 21st century, small businesses are the engines of the American economy, driving innovation and creating the bulk of new jobs. Entrepreneurs and family business owners need to be free from overbearing government policy to grow and create. Only in a place like America can employees go to being employers, and it’s a healthy culture of free enterprise and small business ownership that makes that possible."
• "In the Senate, Marco has received 100% ratings from the National Federation of Independent Business and the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council. He has fought against ObamaCare, tax increases, and other policies that would harm small businesses and their workers."

Rubio on American Workers

"If the American economy is to thrive in the 21st Century, American workers need to have all the opportunities possible. Marco supports a wide range of reforms that will modernize our labor rules, create new incentives for job creation, and unleash innovation. Marco’s plans will help workers who have suffered during the Obama administration’s anemic economic recovery." (MRW - AW)

Protect Sharing Economy

(MRW - SE) "If there’s one thing that matters in the 21st century economy, it’s innovation. In order to be the leading economy on earth, America must be the most innovative economy on earth. It’s that simple. And whenever we talk about innovation, what we’re talking about is problem solving. We’re talking about finding ways to do things more efficiently, more affordably, and more conveniently than ever. One innovation entrepreneurs have come up with in recent years is the so-called “sharing economy.” Companies like Uber and Airbnb enable workers and consumers to provide or purchase the goods and services when they want, how they want. Unfortunately, government can get in the way, big time. Outdated labor regulations, new taxes, and other bad policies can prevent new, innovative businesses and technologies from ever being able to get off the ground."

Proposals "to protect innovators and consumers, and ensure that we can create a new American century:"

• Protect Innovation from Regulators
• Stop New Online Sales Taxes
• Prevent Burdensome Taxation of Digital Goods and Services
• Ensure that Internet Access Remains Tax-Free
• Reallocate Wireless Spectrum to Meet Commercial Needs
• Vigorously Defend Internet Freedom

"Protect Innovation from Regulators"

(MRW - SE) "Federal regulators usually provide cost-benefit analyses for proposed regulations. But the status quo neglects the important question of whether the proposed rule will be an impediment to innovation, cause industries to consolidate into just a few firms, reduce consumer choice, or otherwise inhibit genuine competition.

Agencies need to look at how their rules will affect the free-enterprise system. Marco will direct the agencies to issue a Competition and Innovation Analysis on all major rules. Any rules that will hurt the innovative, competitive system will be sent back for revision or rejected."

"Reallocate Wireless Spectrum to Meet Commercial Needs"

(MRW - SE) "Marco supports reallocating wireless spectrum controlled by the federal government, to shift it toward commercial wireless services, and supports increasing transparency about how the resource is allocated and improving the federal government’s wireless infrastructure. Better use of the wireless spectrum will boost innovation, lower costs for consumers, and broaden the range of wireless services available."

"Vigorously Defend Internet Freedom"

(MRW - SE)President Obama’s Net Neutrality takeover of the Internet, which involves subjecting a 21st-century technology to an early-20th century regulatory system, will hamper innovation and raise costs for Internet users. Marco would repeal it as president. The existing governance system for the Internet has allowed the technology to flourish and incredible innovation to occur. Marco would build off unanimous support of a resolution he passed in the U.S. Senate to fight proposals from foreign governments to gut current multi-stakeholder governance of the Internet.

Monetary Policy

Rubio's's Monetary Policy (section page):

Policy

"Sound monetary policy would also encourage middle class job creation. The arbitrary way in which interest rates and our currency are treated is yet another cause of unpredictability injected into our economy. The Federal Reserve Board should publish and follow a clear monetary rule -- to provide greater stability about prices and what the value of a dollar will be over time." (TA)

Audit The Federal Reserve

"I am proud to support a bill, just like I have every year since joining the Senate, that would require an audit of the Fed and allow Congress to examine its activities like they do other government institutions." (MRWAF)

On The Federal Reserve's Power

"the Fed has taken an outsized role in the American economy, purchasing over $4 trillion in bonds, mortgage-backed securities, and other assets. Its balance sheet is now larger than the GDP of Germany. This overreach has created an unhealthy, Fed-centric economy that leaves businesses and investors hanging on the arbitrary, unpredictable decisions of a few central bankers. Unwinding the current situation, as everyone knows is necessary, will come with even more new risks." (MRWAF)

Religion

Rubio's Religion (section page):

Quotes

Rubio's Quotes (section page):

• "That 2016 is not just a choice between Republican or Democrat. It is a referendum on our identity as a nation and as a people." RD8

Tax Reform

• "I am going to repeal every one of Barack Obama’s executive orders" MRS

Jobs and Business Policy

• "I don’t know why we have stigmatized vocational education. Welders make more money than philosophers. We need more welders and less philosophers." RD4

• "We need to repeal Dodd-Frank. It is eviscerating small businesses and small banks" RD1

• "You know, a lot of business activity in America is conducted like the guy that does my dry cleaning. He's a small corporation. He pays on his personal rate, and he is paying higher than the big dry-cleaning chain down the street, because he's paying at his personal rate." RD3

Health Policy

• "Unless they are immune-suppressed for medical exceptions, but I believe all children should be vaccinated." MRI