E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSS
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio will deliver Republicans' response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address on Tuesday, GOP leaders announced Wednesday.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., selected Rubio -- an influential Latino conservative who was first elected in 2010 -- to speak for Republicans in their official response to the president's speech.
The State of the Union response slot is often seen as a potential launching platform for politicians who harbor national ambitions; fittingly, Rubio is one of the most-hyped figures in the GOP, and is thought to have designs on the party's presidential nomination in 2016. The honor carries a degree of risk, however: many past figures to deliver their party's response have been panned for their performance.
Nicholas Kamm / AFP - Getty Images
Republican Sen. from Florida Marco Rubio speaks at the BuzzFeed Brews newsmaker event in Washington on February 5, 2013.
“I’m honored to have this opportunity to discuss how limited government and free enterprise have helped make my family’s dreams come true in America,” the Florida senator said in a statement. “Limited government and free enterprise are the very foundation of what makes America special and separates us from the world, particularly through our strong middle class. I look forward to laying out the Republican case of how our ideas can help people close the gap between their dreams and the opportunities to realize them.”
Rubio has also helped take the lead recently in working with a bipartisan group of senators to craft a comprehensive immigration reform bill that allows a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. Rubio has worked to sell that legislation to conservatives, just as immigration is sure to figure prominently in Obama's yearly address on Tuesday.
"His speech will focus on the Republican Party's agenda to grow the middle class," a Rubio aide said. "Immigration will likely be mentioned as one way to grow the economy, but the speech really is about the Republican Party's commitment to limited government as the best way to help the middle class, and how it differs from the President's plans for bigger government."
"Marco Rubio is one of our party’s most dynamic and inspiring leaders. He carries our party’s banner of freedom, opportunity and prosperity in a way few others can. His family’s story is a testament to the promise and greatness of America,” Boehner said in a statement.
Added McConnell: "Marco Rubio embodies the optimism that lies at the heart of the Republican vision for America. On Tuesday, he will contrast the Republican approach to the challenges we face with President Obama’s vision of an ever-bigger government and the higher taxes that would be needed to pay for it."
Leave a Comment:
I think Rubio is a great choice and I voted for him here in Fl. and I am a "wasp ". Unfortunately Rove and a few other republicans are going to eat him alive after his speech. Another good republican down the drain, no matter what his aspiritions are.
The main problem with our party today is they destroy those within the party who could lead it back to strength.
The radical right will hang their hats....(Hang is the operative word)
On a wannabe minority?
How about Palin...That was a great testimony to what the GOP offers up for their own base and the American voting public.
Rubio is another Dem landslide
the socialist concept is great, until you run out of or money, then your Greece
So we should let Red states die?
None of them can sustain themselves without Blue state help
Yet the nations poorest cities IE biggest percentage below the poverty line are all ran by democrats.
Democrat Party Rule in these Cities
And yet the fact remains that the biggest welfare sucking states are RED
The biggest wealth producing states are Blue
My state is doing very well under conservative leadership.
I love how the rank-n-file Republicans think they are middle class, while living in a double wide, driving a used 1992 F-150! (BTW, don't tell anyone, but they don't pay federal income tax!)
Meanwhile, Mercedes-driving Orange County, CA Republicans making 300k/year, also think they're middle-class.
The REAL middle-class? Most of them voted Democrat.
Common, you are so ignorant , the fact is 13 out of the top 15 welfare states are blue states. try doing some research numbnuts
The republican party is going to address the $ 1 trillion per year deficit and the now $16.5 trillion national debt. It will be falling on deaf ears. The majority of americans think only in the present tense of entitlement gratification. The majority of americans have rendered basic arithmetic politically incorrect and inconvenient to their entitlement lifestyle. The majority of americans are not concerned that we are headed for financial collapse at warp speed, with austerity programs on the horizon. This doesn't bother the majority of americans because there is no future and no math. The majority of americans are only concerned about illegal immigrants, homosexuality or anything concerning there libidos, their endless expansion of their precious rights, and their marijuana high. Above all the majority of present tense only americans excel in kicking the can of responsibility to posterity. I can hardly wait for the rationalization for cocaine fo medical purposes, it will " speed up " your revovery from injury and disease.
Now what you say may be correct, after all they were legal at the turn of the century but then democrats seem to love their past mistakes because they can't learn any more.
The GOP created the $Trillion deficit
Now they will address it?
WOW
You seem to live in a GOP fantasy world
& this admin is continuing on with that trend
My opinion both parties need to pull their heads out, starting working together to solve the issue before it literally blows up in our face
Wrong
As most right wingers are on facts.
Deficit is going down thanks to our current president.
Get a clue or STFU
Current President has reduced the deficit? Don't make us laugh... Has it stopped doubling every four years, and now will double every five?
Yet we are projected to hit nearly another trillion dollar deficit this year
But ok prove your assertion with indisputable & unbiased facts then
Yup
You must be an idiot who pays no attention to reality.
Go whack off to your Rush poster and come back when you get a brain
See you can't even have a constructive dialogue without resorting to insults, way to go with that maturity level of yours.
Better known as lack of common sense...
I mean this in all fun but maybe you should change the name to "Common Sense not installed some assembly required".
Now we finally have it, another junky Republican with imaginary dollar bills flying inside his head from Florida, is going to speak about the sour cream, and violet roses of the trashy Republican Party!
YES, WE HAVE ANOTHER WINNER. seeking his own sanity. Yeah, Make fun of his name all you want, then turn around and call them ignorant. That's what your good at pal. Nothing ever useful to say or discuss, just slam the hell out of them all. Anyone who doesn't agree with your version of stupid or something you dont agree with, has to be called a name and told there ignorant. Don't forget to tell them there ignorant too, can't forget to do that.
Sir, Your posts offer nothing, like the individual behind it. The more I read your comments, you don't have a right to call anyone ignorant, because your posts more than make up for it. Your posts offer no viable solutions, just name slamming and drivel. BTW, just because you consider yourself democrat, doesn't give you the right, like you so often do, to tell other people what they can or cant have, what they should or shouldn't own, how much they can or cant have., etc. etc. Dont understand what I'm saying. simple--- MYOFB, and stay out of everyone elses. Stop telling people how they should live there lives as part of your daily drivel.
It won't make any difference who the GOP selects for the response ~ few other than the rabid Righties will be listening. They'd have better luck fronting the SOTU address ~ sorta like a set-up band before the main act. Who the Hell wants to hear a rehash by Republicans of the same things that cost them an election some 90 days ago? The smart GOPers are hanging back and running 'fresh meat' out for the response. Rubio is expendable, just as Jindall was previously.
Do we need a response from this light weight or anyone from the GOP? Who will explain to them what Obama said?
Obama doesn't even know what the f*ck he said unless he can read it off a screen.. Besides we need higher taxes... Waah..
Rubio could give his response now. They don't agree with anything. We need tax cuts for the rich, kill Medicare and make abortions illegal. Deregulate wall street and the banks. War with Iran.
What did President Bush use, wilman? He was dyslexic, and had trouble reading.
Why is every response about Bush? Still haven't left the sandbox?
Why is the sky blue? The grass green? It's all so confusing.
Do any of you fans of Rubio know that the Cubans who make it to dry land in Florida, can gain residency only one year later? The wet foot, dry foot policy is the name given to a consequence of the 1995 revision of the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966 that says, essentially, that anyone who fled Cuba and got into the United States would be allowed to pursue residency a year later. After talks with the Cuban government, the Clinton administration came to an agreement with Cuba that it would stop admitting people found at sea. Since then, in what has become known as the "wet foot, dry foot" policy, a Cuban caught on the waters between the two nations (i.e., with "wet feet") would summarily be sent home or to a third country. One who makes it to shore ("dry feet") gets a chance to remain in the United States.
I do not see how Rubio, being Cuban, can speak for the Latinos of Mexican descent.
They don't even like eachother.
Here's a quick preview of the response:
"Obama's wrong about everything, we're right about everything, and even though we did a nice job of putting the economy in a tail spin following 8 years of Bush wars we would really like you to put us back in charge again so we can f*ck it up even worse. Oh...and a couple more things: guns for everybody, gays should be put in a concentration camp and we will propose legislation requiring women to register their uterus with the GOP Pro-life Committee."
Any questions?
Roflmao, love the "requiring women to register their uterus with the GOP Pro-life Committee." The anti-abortion crowd would greet that idea with open arms. They would positively drool at the idea of being able to get women back under their control.
I would say by the liberal comments on this article they must be pretty worried about Rubio. They will not get 75% of the latin vote which that alone would have cost them the election. Start to sweat if he runs he will carry 95% of the latin vote like Obama carried 99% of the black vote. The only problem is there are double the latins as there are blacks. What do you have to lose after Obama the man likes every welfare program that comes before him here in the U.S. or abroad.
We are worried Rubio, Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann, Ron Johnson, Rand Paul, John McCain, Lindsay Graham, etc. Actually, Chris Christie is the only one we are worried about as he seems to be sane.
Sorry Patrick, but Hillary will spank the chili peppers off of your new GOP golden boy Ricky Ricardo.
The hispanic community pays far more attention to another label, it's called GOP. They know that Rubio doesn't represent them.
Keep wishing Patrick. BTW, can you provide evidence for your claim:
No, no you can't. Do yourself a favor: Stop watching Faux News.
good grief...another irrelephant speech from a dying party on it's way to extinction
Rubio isn't too bad. He does have one thing going against him though....He is a conservative LOL
Don't think there is anything wrong with being conservative. I believe if most of us were entirely honest with ourselves we would realize the majority of us are a combination of conservative/liberal ideals. Just my opinion
There wasn't anything wrong with being conservative. I wish that republicans still were conservative as I believe in the 2 party system.
are you a canidate?
I see that feistyredhead roselle is first again with words of wisdom. Did you come up for air, or is it that Odumbcrat let out some air. You are,without a doubt one screwed up female.
gerry...fiesty has more intelligence in her left ass cheek than you have in your entire family. "Odumbcrat"? Did you come up with that all on your own or did you have help from your Special Needs teacher?
*rolling eyes*
gerald, it's not based on any skill of hers. The scum at Newsvine let her and her far left cronies put up the first comment every time, probly because she's an employee.
You're concerned about Fiesty 3 pages later?
Are you obsessed with here posts or just.....
Well............
Don't have much to offer
Wow! They picked the self-made White boy. Mom and Dad and Grampa Garcia would be proud. Grampa was ordered deported for being a Cuban in the US without a visa, but NIS did him a favor and allowed him to stay without one. Mom and Dad are Cuban-born and spent nearly 20 years in the country before becoming naturalized citizens. Now Marco, a very bright boy who managed to use the opportunities available to get through college, has been branded the King of the Tea Party. He actually doesn't have anything officially to do with them, but if the shoe fits, wear it. Talk about climbing the ladder of success and pulling it up behind you so others like you won't get the same chance!! Ya gotta love the GOP. He's got a huge lip-lock on their butts and he's seeing himself climbing a few more rungs on that proverbial ladder.
Rubio...The new liberal enemy...
The liberal demagoguery attack and destroy machine going to work...
Only Rubio can take it and respond without a teleprompter...
Gee--when it comes to the Liberals on here--they really ARE braindead. Gee--I think they missed where a Judge in California filed a lawsuit against Obama filing a FAKE birth certificare and using a Dead Mans' Social Security number from Conn. in the 1800's. Unfortunately, the government started becoming greedy & corrupt back in the 60's. I like the picture with Obama and Martin Luther King Jr. looking at each other and King looking at Obama saying----you turned my Dream into a Nightmare!!! King would have been the 1st Black President if the Demoncrats hadn't had him killed--just to let you know---King was a REPUBLICAN and would have been better than Obama any day of the week and twice on Sunday!!!
Dude you need better tinfoil in your hat, the messages from Faux news are still getting in.
Wow, talk about stupid and crazy. Do you believe we went to the moon?
@ Dante--I'm NOT a dude--I can see you're still drinking the kool-aid right along with yak. I don't watch Fox news--I stay away from media biased liberal news---I do reseach unlike you braindead communists.
Rubio better be careful what he says, Barry may take offense, label him a terrorist and send a drone after him.
Don't Vote for Rubio in the 2016 primaries if he runs for president----
He's another spineless GOP coward who thinks you have to break the law to win elections, like Dumbocrat scum do.
Amnesty trash need not apply for higher office in 2016. Very, very simple. Legal Hispanics bueno, illegal hispanics malo. No, you don't get an award for breaking the law. You go home. Si senor?
Break laws to to win elections?
You seem top have an opinion on this.
Let's here what laws were broken.
Or are you just babbling like an idiot?
Rhetorical question.
You can't answer a simple question
I agree...he is a Florida Bum and uses his name...Latino..to gain the respect of Cubans. Other Lations'see through him. No Vote 100%
Illegals broke in here. In order to win future elections, Dems (and some GOP'ers) want to sign off on their law-breaking to get their votes and placate their relatives who are already here.
In looking into things about natural born, I saw some scary things that really made me think. We do need to address this legally. "Julia Lynch, had been born in New York while her parents, both British, were briefly visiting the U.S., and shortly thereafter all three left for Britain and never returned to the U.S. The New York Chancery Court determined that, under common law and prevailing statutes, she was a U.S. citizen by birth and nothing had deprived her of that citizenship, notwithstanding that both her parents were not U.S. citizens or that British law might also claim her through her parents' nationality." Then In re Look Tin Sing, whose parents were prevented by federal law from becoming US Citizens, and after they had him, they returned to China, the SCOTUS declared "that he was a citizen by birth, and remained such despite his long stay in China". in United States v. Wong Kim Ark (1898), which similarly held that the child born here of two Chinese parents was a birthright US citizen, and that decision also used the phrase "natural born".
Anyway, with a house in LA being recently shut down because Chinese women were coming here to give birth in order to give their children US citizenship, supposedly for protection in case they needed to get out of the country. Could one of the children born to these women be taken and raised by the Chinese government to use that loophole to send him back and run him for President? It sounds like a sci-fi or thriller movie, or a consiracy theory, but it could work. We really need to block that loophole, either by changing that part of the constitution, or by changing the idea that anyone born here automatically is a citizen.
Maybe he can regale us with another story of how his parent's fled Castro's regime; just a couple years before he came to power.
Sorry, but he is just another Suck Up Republican who thinks being Latino will gain him Votes. He is just another flash in the pan and bends in the wind to say or do anything for Polical gain. Call his Bluff!
Why do you hate Latinos?
Attention scholars, I am 50/50 with Rubio.. but on a side note.. you do realize Rubio, is not eligible to run for president correct..? You do know this right..? God please tell me you know this.. If you know that.. then you also know obama, actually sits in the white-house illegally.. as he himself is not eligible to be president.. and his birth in Hawaii, is irrelevant... IRRELEVANT.. has no bearing.... I pray you can read and understand at the same time..
Your wacko conspiracy theories have no merit and have been thoroughly debunked. End of story.
Bobby Jindal must have been talking about folks like you.
"We've got to stop being the stupid party".
My advice is to keep up the crazy. It helps my side win elections.
Dracula: Obama has one thing that Ribio doesn't - that is one American born parent. Now had he been born in Hawaii 3 years earlier, there may have had to have been some clarification as there was when Mitt's Dad ran for the GOP nomination against Nixon because he was born outside the US while his parents were missionaries, or Chester Arthur whose mother was American, father was Irish, and Arthur was born in Vermont.
This is the GOP's answer to Obama?
Looks Cuban-born to me. Probably a secret Castro-supporting commie. I want to see his "real" birth certificate because anyone he shows is likely a fake. It's all a lie. He has a secret agenda. He hates America and him and his Latino hordes are coming for you. I know. Rachael Maddow told me.
-snark
Rachel Man-Cow?
chesty puller ass clown?
Chesty Puller was a Marine who demonstrated honor in battle.
You sir, have no honor, and you should find another screen name.
Hey yak, for your "amusing" original statement, just gotta warn you, the last sentence didn't logically flow with the rest.
If you can track down any fellow Democrat who got above 1000 on their SAT test, maybe they can explain it to you.
By the way, another possible nickname I will allow for myself, for those who don't approve of "Chesty Puller" is "The Bank Dick"
Chesty, if your unhinged brain is a measure of rational thought, I'll take that as a compliment.
"We've got to stop being the stupid party". -Bobby Jindal.
Guess who he was talking to?
Right wingers will back Rubio because they are commanded to do so.
Remember Palin?
hahhahahahhahahahahahhha
SNL did a hilarious skit where her own words were quoted verbatim.........
No writing necessary.....She was a joke unto her own.
Hhahahahahhahahahahahahaha
And that's what the radical right in this country wants you to consume?
no they made up a lot on SNL, like the "I can see Russia from my house" comment.
She actually said, you can see Russia from here in Alaska which most elementary school kids should be able to tell you, Aleutian Islands and all that, but, you know, the average drooling rabble member of the Democratic party ran with the SNL line, and I'd say half or more believe she actually said that.
Cuz they're dumb, and everything has to be dumbed down for them. Him racist. Him like rich. Me get check from government.
Well, that's because she made such an ass out of herself, so many times, a lampoon of her will be what people remember. Her implication was that Alaska's proximity to Russia gave her foreign policy expertise, which is laughable at best.
Caribou Barbie is such an idiot, even Fox fired her. Stupid, right-wing crazy doesn't win elections and even the GOP knows that now.
Look folks I live in Florida . Marco Rubio , cannot even remember which time his family fled Cuba made him a sorta citizen . For you Birthers . RIGHT HERE MARCO RUBIO , Is NOT able to be President . Lord , You nice Republicans , NEED to get a grip .
Also to Chesty , Welcome back to ignore for trying to mix Palin and FEY . Sarah is an absolute IDIOT . Her time is done .
I know Democrats are all farm animals, but Common Sense brought up the SNL Palin skits originally.
Man, did any of you knuckledragging lefties ever get an A in anything but PE?
Do you know what projection is Chesty?
Marco was born in Miami Carpenter7. At least know the facts