Lost in the shuffle while Donald Trump leads the polls and dominates media coverage of the Republican presidential race, this week U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., tried to make the case that he represented the nation’s future as he called for a “New American Economy for the 21st Century.”
Rubio spoke about the economy in Detroit on Thursday and tried to put a human face on his fiscal policy by showing how average Americans “David” and “Danielle” would do under his plan.
“If we continue to cling to an outdated tax code, a failing higher education system, and policies that make it harder for businesses to grow and opportunities to flourish, then we will be the first generation in history to pass a weaker America on to our children,” Rubio noted on Thursday. “But if we embrace the New American Economy, we will put our people back in control of their own destinies, and more people will achieve the American dream than ever before.
“My tax reform plan is pro-growth and pro-family,” Rubio added.“Increase the child tax credit to help parents invest in the future. Cut taxes for all business to 25 percent. Allow 100 percent expensing of every dollar invested in a company, including new equipment. As a result, experts say we’ll grow the economy by 15 percent, increase wages by 12.5 percent, and create almost 2.7 million full-time jobs.
“Education is the second critical component of the New American Economy,” Rubio continued. “Higher education is no longer a mere option in America; it is now a crucial pathway to the American dream for most people. I will do the hard work to modernize our outdated higher education system. I will expose higher education to the market forces of choice and competition.
“Finally, we have to get Washington out of the way,” Rubio added. “Complying with federal regulations has cost our economy $772 billion since 2008. And Washington adds more rules every week. Last week, for example, regulators published $205 million in new regulatory costs, led by – get this – a new efficiency standard for ceiling fan light kits. This is outrageous, it’s unnecessary, and I would stop it by instituting a National Regulatory Budget that limits the costs each agency’s rules can impose.
“If we embrace the New American Economy, the accomplishments of our people will astonish the world, and our children and theirs will live in a New American century," Rubio concluded. “If I’m our president, I will fight for the New American economy every single day.”
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) fired back insisting “Rubio's record makes it clear that he has no new ideas – and the middle class will suffer under his watch.” Labeling the Florida Republican as “Retro Rubio,” the DNC hit Rubio for opposing the federal bailout of the auto industry; backing tax cuts for businesses and higher earning Americans and insisting middle class Americans could pay more under his tax plan; raising the Social Security age; standing against President Barack Obama’s federal health-care law; and cutting federal aid to higher education.
Christina Freundlich, a spokeswoman for the DNC, fired away at Rubio on Thursday.
“The future for Danielle and David is not looking too bright under Marco Rubio’s watch,” Freundlich said. “They could have to pay more in taxes, could lose their health care, and might not be able to help their children pay for college. The burden would be shifted to them. David and Danielle’s jobs could have been at risk if Rubio had his way and let Detroit go bankrupt.
"Marco Rubio says he’s a new type of Republican – but all he’s done is champion the same failed GOP policies that folks like Danielle, David and millions of middle class families have suffered from,” Freundlich added.
Of the 17 major candidates running for the Republican nomination, Rubio, who is 45, is one of only four of them in their 40s. Only Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., who was a born a month and a half after Rubio, is younger than the senator from Florida. The leading Democratic candidates are considerably older, with former Gov. Martin O’Malley, D-Md., the youngest at 53 while the rest are all in their mid-60s to mid-70s.
This is a bit of a switch for the parties. Traditionally, the Republicans have backed older candidates: Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney. Democrats have often gone younger with Franklin D. Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama.
Rubio is trying to make a play for Generation X, something that U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., didn’t quite succeed in doing as Romney’s running mate back in 2012. Still, in a crowded field and with Jindal lagging behind most of the candidates, Rubio is well-poised to fight for the future -- a sharp contrast to other candidates like former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Gov. Jeb Bush, R-Fla. In the crowded Republican primary, this might be one of Rubio’s best chances to stand out from the pack as the GOP hopefuls try to catch Trump.
Reach Kevin Derby at kderby@sunshinestatenews.com or follow him on Twitter: @KevinDerbySSN
