Posted on 02/13/2013 8:19:46 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Sen. Marco Rubio got a turn on the national stage opposite President Barack Obama Tuesday night, but some of the facts the likely 2016 presidential contender marshaled to make his case played loose with the truth.
Here’s POLITICO’s look at some of the Florida senator’s questionable claims during his prime-time debut.
* Sequester blame game
Rubio: “And tonight, he even criticized us for refusing to raise taxes to delay military cuts — cuts that were his idea in the first place.”
Actually, Obama didn’t directly criticize Republicans for not agreeing to raise taxes to offset the across-the-board spending cuts. He slammed them for trying to shift the budget hit to domestic programs, something the Pentagon and the defense industry have taken pains to oppose.
Indeed, both Democrats and Republicans signed off on sequestration under the impression neither side would let it happen. With just weeks to go before it hits, both are blaming the other side without offering a substantive way out of the impasse.
The senator did get one thing right: The idea of sequestration started in the White House.
* Climate change attacks
Rubio: “When we point out that no matter how many job-killing laws we pass, our government can’t control the weather — he accuses us of wanting dirty water and dirty air.”
It’s hard to say which “job-killing” environmental or energy laws the Florida Republican is talking about. Though Obama nudged Congress on cap and trade again, the president essentially gave up on this idea back in 2010 when it died in the Senate.
And when the bill died, Obama didn’t exactly go on offense slamming Republicans the way Rubio describes it.
* Medicare broke?
Rubio: “But anyone who is in favor of leaving Medicare exactly the way it is right now, is in favor of bankrupting it.”
By “anyone” Rubio clearly means Democrats. But through Obamacare, Democrats have already made changes to Medicare that added several years of solvency to the hospital trust fund. The health care law also initiated many changes to how Medicare delivers care, which are designed to slow spending growth. The president has said he’s open to other changes in the health care program for the elderly, as long as it’s part of a balanced approach of increased revenue and spending cuts.
In addition, Medicare isn’t going “bankrupt.” The hospital trust fund — one part of the senior health care program, although a crucial part — would start taking in less money than it pays out in a few years if Congress doesn’t do something about it — but Congress has always done something about it. Nevertheless, Medicare does cost a lot of money, the baby boomers are retiring and their future health bills are widely seen as a huge drag on the economy for years to come.
* Obamacare killing jobs?
RUBIO: “Obamacare was supposed to help middle-class Americans afford health insurance. But now, some people are losing the health insurance they were happy with. And because Obamacare created expensive requirements for companies with more than 50 employees, now many of these businesses aren’t hiring. Not only that; they’re being forced to lay people off and switch from full-time employees to part-time workers.”
There’s nothing in the law that is forcing people to lose insurance they’re happy with — in fact, according to census data, both the number of uninsured people and the uninsurance rate declined in 2011 (the most recent census figures available), partly because more people under 26 have gotten covered. Some people lose or change insurance every year — and that was true long before Obamacare became law.
It is true that some employers are at least contemplating cutting their full-time workforce to keep under the 50-worker threshold. How widespread this will be at the end of the day — or whether these people will be able to get subsidized coverage on exchanges or through expanded Medicaid — isn’t yet certain. But Rubio hit on a valid concern.
I don't know about that. I don't think we can agree on the species, let alone the sex.
Absolutely.
Regarding cap and trade: Zero just decided to use the EPA to impose job-killing regulations, ie. the War on Coal, to basically have the same effect by fiat vs. legislation.
I wonder how much she charges to haunt a house?
As a long time small(relatively) business manager, I really get tired of this ‘you can keep your insurance’ talk. Any owner that has under 50 will definitely drop their employer paid plan. If you netted $150000 in your business with 35 employees, the penalty I think is $2700 per employee per year, they are going to pay $750/mo/employee for their plan. $94,500 or $315000, which do you think they are going to choose? I have already been told what this result is, there will be no employer paid health insurance!
Wow...that is ONE ugly dude!
didn’t politico start off as a cionservative site? They sure as hell aint now if so-
...another satisfied customer of the Rosa DeLauro Charm and Beauty Institute...
Bow wow! What a dog!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.