DNC Calls on Barbara DeVane to Hit Rubio's Medicare Proposal But Leaves Out the Details

Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington on Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., offered a plan opening the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), a retirement program that federal employees and members of Congress have access to, to all Americans and for reforming Medicare. Rubio, who is a potential Republican presidential contender in 2016, also called for more private-sector options for Americans looking to save for their retirements.

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) pushed back against Rubio by showcasing retired schoolteacher Barbara DeVane who opposed the plan.

I am appalled by my own senators suggestion that raising the retirement age and voucherizing Medicare would be good for the country, DeVane said on Tuesday. As a Floridian but especially as a mother and grandmother I want my children and grandchildren to have the same benefits and peace of mind that I have been afforded through Medicare and Social Security, knowing that they earned those benefits because they worked hard and paid into the system. Sen. Rubio and the rest of the Republicans in Congress need to get a clue; we the people already rejected this plan in the last presidential election. Its time for them to start listening.

While the DNC is correct that DeVane is a retired teacher, shes best known in Tallahassee as a lobbyist and activist with ties to several liberal groups including NOW, the Northwest Florida Federation of Labor, the NAACP and the Florida Alliance for Retired Americans. DeVanes not exactly an obscure figure in Florida politics and has been active on the public stage for more than four decades. For the DNC to portray her as only a retired schoolteacher is a bit off, to say the least.

For more on Rubios proposals, check out tomorrows edition of Sunshine State News.