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Subscribe to RSSCORAL GABLES, FL -- Sen. Marco Rubio kicked off his bus tour on Saturday with an aggressive swing through southern Florida, meeting hundreds of well wishers who told him that he is the person they would most like to see in the White House.
Sen.Marco Rubio says President Obama 'shoved immigration policy down our throats' and that it was an election-year stunt. Rep. Xavier Becerra joins Ed Schultz to discuss Sen. Rubio's comments, and the overwhelming public support for the President's action.
No, he's not running for president -- yet. And even though the Florida senator will spend the next two weeks in swing states like Florida, North Carolina and Virginia, it is not for any campaign, but a book tour to promote Rubio's newly released memoir, "An American Son."
But that did not stop his fans in the Sunshine State from telling him how much they hope his political aspirations extend beyond the Senate.
If you ask Rubio, he's not working towards any other title than, perhaps, "best selling author." But hopping out of a bus emblazoned with his name and picture to sign books, greet potential voters and hold babies has a distinct campaign-like quality similar to what Floridians experienced just a few months earlier when then-Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich were slugging it out ahead of the state's primary.
It may be part of the reason why many who showed up to the four book signings throughout Saturday seemed to have dual purposes: meet the senator, then tell him how much the country, not just Florida, needs him.
"The future president of the United States is here!" yelled a woman standing in line at the Miami Barnes & Noble waiting to get her copy signed.
Rubio put down his black sharpie briefly to glance behind each of his shoulders. "Where? I don't see him," he responded.
Swatting down one of the day's many questions about the prospects of him becoming Romney's running mate, Rubio told a gaggle of reporters, "We're not here to talk about that, we're here to talk about the book."
"Talk about 2016," yelled a supporter standing by at Books & Books in Coral Gables.
The release of Rubio's memoir comes in the midst of Romney's search for a vice president. Rubio is the only candidate that Romney has admitted is being vetted after the Republican nominee refuted reports that Rubio was not being considered. After his election in 2010, the former Florida state legislator quickly rose to become a favorite amongst tea party conservatives, and this year has been frequently cited by members of the GOP as a top choice to join the ticket.
The autobiography was originally scheduled for release in October, but was pushed up, a move that some speculate had to do with a competing Rubio biography from a Washington Post reporter and an interest in being able to take advantage of the headlines he is drawing as a heavily talked about emerging leader in the Republican party. But the senator countered that the earlier release was more a product of convenience based on his schedule and being able to complete the work more quickly than originally anticipated.
"When the book was ready to go, we released it. So you release books when they're ready. Obviously the longer I wait, the more things happen, the more I have to add to the book," Rubio said after a signing in Fort Lauderdale.
The son of Cuban immigrants said his autobiography is not meant to be a political one, rather "a tribute to the American dream." But speaking to reporters at each of the signings, he did not shy from repeating some of his recent attacks on President Obama.
"He wants to use immigration as a Republican vs. Democrat issue and vice versa," Rubio said of the president. "That just makes it harder to solve.”
On the recent Supreme Court decision regarding the Affordable Care Act, Rubio said, "If you read what the chief justice arrived at, he's basically saying that the Congress now has the power to require you to buy running shoes as long as they tax you if you fail to buy it...If Congress can you make you buy something and penalize for you and tax you for it if you don’t, what powers does Congress not have? Is that really the country we live in?”
But by and large, as much as both supporters and media have wanted to shift the focus from his book to his future, Rubio has tried to keep the conversation about "An American Son." He began his book tour in friendly territory around his native city of Miami. At his final stop on Saturday in Coral Gables, he piled out of the bus with his wife Jeanette Rubio, their children and scores of cousins, nieces and nephews. It is a family, Rubio says, that represents the best of America.
"It's not just my story," Rubio said of his memoir. "It's the story of my grandparents and of my father and my mother and the sacrifices they went through so they could give us the chances they never had.”
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Rubio is the latest turd the Right is attempting to polish. He's short, too. His constituency wants guapo and grande, not picaño. Plus he's gone from Mormon to Catholic.
Mitch McConnell: It Doesn't Matter If Millions Of Americans Lose Their Insurance As Long As We Repeal Obamacare
Once again the GOP telling Americans that their loss is not important as long as the goals of the GOP are won for the GOP leaders only then such a sacrifice is a must and worthy cause.
Do you want to lose your healthcare just because the GOP wants Obama Care repealed?
Repeal, repeal, repeal. That’s all Republicans can think about the Affordable Care Act. It doesn’t matter if 30 million Americans are now covered or if insurance companies can’t discriminate against people with pre-existing conditions and it certainly doesn’t matter that kids can stay on their parents insurance until age 26. It just doesn’t matter to Republicans how good a piece of major legislation is, they want to repeal it anyway because they hate President Obama that much.
Newsvine article by Ms CYPRAH
IKR? what happened to jobs jobs jobs.
Well, we don't want to share our doctors with all those poor people. We might have to spend more time in the waiting room, mingling with all those little people.
out of the possible Republican choices he is really the best one.
and his name will appeal to the Latino vote.
He's Cuban. Romney and the GOP already have the Florida Cuban vote wrapped up.
Cubans get automatic asylum in the U.S. as soon as they hit the beach. No one want them to "self-deport".
You really do think Mexicans are stupid, don't you?
40 percent of Mexicans graduate from high school. Other, more advanced Latin American countries have 80 percent graduate. Illiterate Mexicans will obviously vote Democrat, just as illiterate Gringos do.
The Educated vote Democratic because they see through all the Repub stupidity.
As for Rubio, the rest of America's Latinos hate Cubans and wouldn't vote for Rubio.
lol.
He was a serious candidate for the VP position, until the Romney team figured out, "What? Cubans aren't the same as Mexicans? We can't just call him 'hispanic' and get a lot of Mexicans to vote for us?"
Some interesting facts about Mitt Romney. Is there a V.P. candidate who is his equal?
After going to both Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School
simultaneously, he passed the Michigan bar, but never worked as an attorney.
As a venture-capitalist, Romney's first major business deal involved investing
in a start-up office supply company with one store in Massachusetts that sold
office supplies.That company, called Staples, now has over 2,000 stores and
employs over 90,000 people.
Romney or his company Bain Capital (using what became known as the "Bain
Way") would go on to perform the same kinds of business miracles again and
again, with companies like Domino's, Sealy, Brookstone, Weather Channel,
Burger King, Warner Music Group, Dollarama, Home Depot Supply, and many
others.
Got your calculators handy? Let's recap.
Volunteer campaign worker for his dad's gubernatorial campaign 1 year.
Unpaid intern in Governor's office 8 years.
Mormon missionary in Paris 2 years.
Unpaid bishop and state president for his church 10 years.
Took no salary as president of the Salt Lake Olympics 3 years.
No salary as MA governor 4 years.
Gave his ENTIRE INHERITANCE to charity.
That's a grand total of 28 years of unpaid service to his country, his
community and his church. Why? Because that's the kind of man Mitt Romney is.
And he'll show you his:
1) Un-doctored Birth Certificate!
2) College transcripts!
3) Law degree!
4) Un-doctored Draft notice!
5) And un-doctored Social Security card, and what state it's registered in!
When was the last time we elected a politician of this character, intellect,
experience and integrity? Can we find a V.P. equal to Mitt?
Maybe not, but then again he isn't running to be V.P. is he?
Mitt just won't show you his taxes...
Kind of off-topic for this article, but since so many others seem inclined to discuss ACA...I cannot figure out how it's going to work when an person opts to not obtain health insurance until they have an accident or condition which requires treatment. If I understand the new law, the penalty for refusing to buy insurance is going to be pretty minimal, and the insurance company cannot refuse you a policy in spite of your pre-existing condition (cancer, broken bones, pregnancy, etc.) Why would ANYONE purchase health insurance until they absolutely have to?? And then maybe drop it until they need it again, since the penalties are less than the premiums? ?Am I missing something here? Won't citizens who think they're doing the right thing by insuring themselves from the get-go end up 'carrying' all the rest who wait until they need it to buy it?
Good question. The Congressional Budget Office projects only 4 million of us will choose to pay the fee rather than buy the insurance. Most of those will be wealthy who can afford better care than an ordinary insurance policy offers.
How the CBO arrived at that figure, I don't know.
Apparently the penalty kicks in after 2014 and goes up every year until it's equal to the cost of basic health insurance. There's no incentive to decide never to buy health insurance since the penalties will cost the same as the insurancee itself.
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/health-care-reform-bill-10-32431.html
Isn't there a 90 day waiting period from sign up to benefits?
That's just over 1% of the population paying this tax...plus, it's a tax by choice.
THIS is what the GOP is counting on for people to hate Obamacare???
only republicans will buy that master piece '' PRAISE BOOK '' of trickled down economics !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rubio blasts Public Workers which he is one of, but are we Americans as US Taxpayers paying Rubio's salary while he's on his book tour??? Rubio is a no-body, he'll get minimal sales except from right wingers who love his kind of crap!!! The guy has accomplished nothing except trying to become Romneys VP partner!!!
Yep in this book papa rubio swam from Cuba too Miami towing a life raft with a rope in his teeth...
FYI He is a Jew posing as a hispanic. The Zionists continue to run our country
Actually, the family started out as Mormon. THis is why Mitt won't choose him. No way America would go for 2 mormoms in the White House!
Does anyone remember JFK's comment about asking what you can do for your country as opposed to what your country can do for you? We live in an era of jealousy of the rich, where people don't want to work hard--they just expect to be given things. In a "free" country everyone does NOT have the same income and everyone is not entitled to money earned through the hard work of others. I am not a wealthy person, but I do work hard. I do not expect anyone else to support me. For my income, I give a lot to charity, but it is not my right to demand that everyone else give the same as I do. Our current VP gives nothing to charity--so much for the generous hand of the Democrats.
I am not a Republican, either. But I will vote for Romney as he is the only viable alternative to a man who is destroying America and the freedoms espoused by the men who wrote the Constitution. Our debt is so far out of control the children of Americans -- Dems and Repubs -- can never overcome it. And now King O wants to raise it even higher. We are a laughing stock in the rest of the world.
Are so many of you really blind to what is happening to our great country? Too much govt. power and control--you will regret this in a couple of years, if not sooner.
Another POS doing a book tour. Floridans how to you like me now? Too bad he didn't stay in Cuba, where he belongs. He is not the best Cuba has to offer, by a long shot!
All this book will be good for is seeing how much of a lying SOB Marco is yet again.
Everyone's suddenly an author...