Marco Rubio's moderate posturing has come to an abrupt halt. Yesterday Rubio joined Rand Paul and Ted Cruz in voting to blow up the Senate by opposing a critical cloture vote on the confirmation vote for Richard Cordray to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, that had it been successful would have forced Democrats to turn to the Nuclear Option. Senators Rubio, Cruz, Paul, and and 31 other doctrinaire Republicans voted for an all out partisan war in the Senate instead of governing. They were willing to sacrifice America's well being as collateral damage in their ideological war.
Rubio has stopped talking about what had been his signature issue the Immigration Bill.
Marco Rubio Turns Away From Immigration as Bill’s Prospects Flounder
By Beth Reinhard
After relentlessly defending for months the Senate's ambitious overhaul of the nation's immigrationSen. Marco Rubio under fire for holding up black judicial nominees laws, Sen. Marco Rubio didn't respond when House GOP leaders last week trashed it as a "flawed … massive, Obama-care like bill."
The Florida Republican's office, which churned out countless press releases touting his interviews and speeches about the legislation, hasn't said a word about immigration since the Senate passed the bill on June 27.
Then Rubio backed away from two Black nominees for the Appeals Court that he had previously spoken highly of, putting a hold on their nominations.
Sen. Marco Rubio under fire for holding up black judicial nominees
By Alex Leary
The candidates are Brian Davis, for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District, whom Rubio glowingly introduced at his confirmation hearing, and William L. Thomas, for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District, who is gay.
Both made it through Florida's Federal Judicial Nominating Commission, a well-respected panel that make recommendations to the state's senators. Both were nominated by President Barack Obama.
Rubio's office did not answer questions from the Tampa Bay Times on Tuesday evening, referring to comments made by a spokesman earlier.
In May 2012, Rubio glowed about Davis and another nominee during a Senate Judiciary Hearing. "One of the pleasant surprises of this job is the quality of individuals who offer themselves for public service, and the quality of individuals who we've been able to forward to the president, to the White House, today being no exception," he said.
On Wednesday, members of the Congressional Black Caucus will hold an 11 a.m. news conference to discuss what it says is the "obstruction of African-American judicial confirmations by Republican senators."
In a statement, the group said, "Currently, 30 percent of judicial nominees pending confirmation in the Senate are African-American. CBC Members will highlight African-American judicial nominees in Florida whose confirmations have been stalled due to negligence and obstruction by Sen. Marco Rubio."
So why is Rubio trying to give himself a political makeover as an extremist? This story give us a clue as to why.
Florida conservatives push to recall Rubio
BY JILLIAN RAYFIELD
“They’re done with him,” she says of Florida’s tea-party activists. “They’re not voting for him and they’re angry. They’re angry because they feel they’ve been deceived.”
That might also explain why Rubio is resurrecting this bit of nuttery to do some grandstanding to the Far Right with:
Rubio calls for more conditions on U.S. funding to the U.N.
Reviving an old fight over U.S. funding for the United Nations, Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, is calling on the federal government to put more conditions on the funding the U.S. government gives to the world body.
And it explains this:
Marco Rubio, Rand Paul, Mike Enzi slated for tea party meeting
By TARINI PARTI
Sen. Marco Rubio will face several of his supporters-turned-critics in a closed door meeting of the Tea Party Caucus next Tuesday.
We need to remind Americans of Rubio's extremism when he inevitably tries to return to posturing as a moderate.