I am future.
Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio gave his "economic" speech today. In it, he positioned himself as a candidate for the future who just happens to hold the exact same policy ideas as all the people who screwed things up for a generation. But never mind that—
to the future!
“For the first 15 and a half years of this century, Washington has looked to the past,” Rubio said. “Our economy has changed, but our economic policies have not, and we have learned, painfully, that the old ways no longer work, that Washington cannot pretend the world is the same as it was in the '80s, it cannot raise taxes like it did in the '90s and it cannot grow government like it did in the 2000s.”
Who's pretending the world is the same as it was in the '80s? Why can't we have the same tax rates as in the '90s? What's he going on about, in the 2000s? I've got files on my computer older than Marco Rubio's entire political career: If he wants to position himself as a man of vision and deep understanding of history's past mistakes, he's going to have to put more effort into it than a few tart phrases saying so.
“The race for the future will never be won by going backward,” Rubio said. “It will never be won by hopping in Hillary Clinton’s time machine to yesterday. She seems to believe pumping more of today’s money into yesterday’s programs will bring prosperity tomorrow. It will not. Nor will thinking small.”
This is so platitude-filled that it reads like a Simpsons parody of the political process.
We must go forward, not backward. Upward, not downward. Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others.
Head below the fold for more of Rubio's policy ideas.
All right, let's get to the meat of Rubio's New American Century policy ideas. As it turns out, he scooped them from the temporarily unfrozen heads of the cryogenically preserved Republican deep-thinkers that have been providing the same talking points for the last forty years. Meet Marco Rubio, Unfrozen Caveman Candidate:
Rubio focused heavily on taxes, saying he’d cut the corporate tax rate to the 25 percent average for developed nations, would establish a territorial tax system that encouraged U.S. companies to bring money they’re holding overseas back home, would allow for companies to claim more expenses for investing in creating jobs and will put a ceiling on the amount U.S. regulations can cost.
He also called for an overhaul to the higher education system, which he said is controlled by “a cartel of existing colleges and universities.”
So tax cuts for corporations, cuts to regulations that might impede their profits and something-something universities bad—a series of fresh "ideas" that have been the staple of Republican presidential campaigns since Marco Rubio was in diapers. Outstanding. Couple it with his demand to continue the Cuba embargo and a foreign policy team itching to relive the Cold War and you've got a fresh face that could really give Barry Goldwater a run for his money in the primaries.
Really now, I don't think this man of the future framing is going to work out. Might I suggest this rising star change his name to Marco W. Bush, in order to better appeal his apparent chosen base of people who still haven't had their fill of corporate trickle-down nonsense? Don't worry, Jeb's not using the last name. He'll be more than happy to lend it to you.