We learned last Friday that GOPer golden boy and Florida Senate candidate Marco Rubio was a deadbeat.
The bank started foreclosure proceedings for a home that [Marco] Rubio and [David] Rivera, both Miami Republicans, lived in when they traveled to Tallahassee as state lawmakers.
They bought the 1,200-square-foot house for $135,000 in 2005. They received an adjustable rate mortgage that allowed them to make interest-only payments until April 1, 2010.
Burgos said Rubio and Rivera began withholding payments in February because of a dispute about how the payments would be calculated after the interest-only period ended. He said that issue has been resolved.
Court documents show Rubio and Rivera owe the bank $138,394 with interest and late charges.
We already know who Rubio is -- the Teabagger's favorite candidate. But who is David Rivera? In addition to being Rubio's BFF, he also happens to be the Republican nominee for Congress in the FL-25 district -- the seat formerly held by Mario Diaz-Balart. Diaz Balart is now running for election in FL-21 -- his brother Lincoln's former district. Lincoln Diaz-Balart has quit Congress -- I'm not making this up -- to prepare for his campaign for president of Cuba, as he's convinced that the Castro brothers are on their last legs.
There's a whole lot of sleaze and crazy in the Southern Florida GOP.
You may remember the FL-25 district from last cycle, as Orange to Blue candidate Joe Garcia gave Mario Diaz-Balart a run for his money -- the first serious challenge the entrenched incumbent Republican ever faced. Mario may have won 53-47, but he was scarred by the experience. That's why he was so quick to shift over to his brother's more-Republican district for 2010.
This seat, which McCain won 50-49, is now open, and Joe Garcia is back to finish the deal. This is one of our top pickup opportunities this year, and is one of those rare races in which the polling actually looks decent for our side:
According to a survey that was commissioned by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee late last month, Garcia led Rivera 38 percent to 35 percent, with 24 percent undecided.
That 3-point lead was within the survey's 4.8-point margin of error. The poll found that independents broke for Garcia by 26 points.
The survey of 417 likely general election voters was conducted by the Benenson Strategy Group for the DCCC March 24-27.
The poll was commissioned by the DCCC in part to convince Garcia, who had taken a job with the Obama administration after his 2008 campaign, to throw his hat back into the ring. With Garcia in the race, Democrats hope that the 25th district will be one of the few places the party can play offense in a cycle where they are very much on defense.
For their part, Republicans aren't rushing to publish their internal polling in this district, the way they are doing in myriad other races around the country. Their polling must match the DCCC's.
We like to play offense. As in sports, the best defense is usually a strong offense, and we've got a great candidate in Joe Garcia (see his O2B questionnaire answers below the fold). The fact we're up against Marco Rubio's ideological and ethical twin is just icing on the cake.
Contribute to Joe Garcia
Joe Garcia for Congress
1) Do you support:
a) A public health insurance option, offered by the federal government and tied to Medicare reimbursement rates plus 5% (H.R. 3200 § 223, as introduced in the House)?
Yes
b) The Public Option Act (H.R. 4789), which would allow all citizens to buy into Medicare?
Yes
2) Do you support the Employee Free Choice Act (H.R. 1409/S. 560), including the provision known as "card check"?
Yes
3) Do you support a repeal of the policy known as "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (10 U.S.C. § 654)?
Yes
4) Do you agree that any immigration reform bill should:
a) Contain a meaningful path to citizenship - one that does not include overly-punitive fines or a touchback requirement - for law-abiding undocumented immigrants currently in the United States;
b) Ensure that expanded legal permanent immigration, rather than expansion of temporary worker programs, serves as the United States' primary external answer to workforce shortages; and
c) Ensure that any non-agricultural temporary worker programs maintain current caps on the total number of non-agricultural temporary worker visas issued, and also include a meaningful prevailing wage requirement keyed to the Service Contract Act and Davis-Bacon Act?
Yes
5) Do you think Congress should act to suspend regulation of greenhouse gas emissions by the Environmental Protection Agency?
No
6) If elected to the House, do you pledge not to join the Blue Dog caucus?
Yes
No equivocations here. Let's upgrade this seat in Congress.