Rubio Rebuttal to SOTU Says Obama Will Hurt the Middle Class

'I oppose your plans because I want to protect my neighbors'

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will argue tonight that President Barack Obama's economic approach is damaging to the middle class.

"Presidents in both parties, from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan, have known that our free enterprise economy is the source of our middle class prosperity," Rubio will say in his official GOP rebuttal to the State of the Union. "But President Obama? He believes it's the cause of our problems."

Excerpts of the speech released in advance show the speech will focus heavily on the economy, according to the Wall Street Journal.

"The tax increases and the deficit spending you propose will hurt middle class families," Rubio plans to say. "It will cost them their raises. It will cost them their benefits. It may even cost some of them their jobs. And it will hurt seniors because it does nothing to save Medicare and Social Security. So Mr. President, I don't oppose your plans because I want to protect the rich. I oppose your plans because I want to protect my neighbors."

Rubio will also lay out a specific economic growth target.

"If we can get the economy to grow at just 4% a year, it would create millions of middle class jobs," Rubio will say. "And it could reduce our deficits by almost $4 trillion dollars over the next decade. Tax increases can't do this. Raising taxes won't create private sector jobs. And there's no realistic tax increase that could lower our deficits by almost $4 trillion."

Via the Wall Street Journal

Do you agree Obama will hurt the Middle Class?

[tomincali]

he wants 2 classes,the very rich and the very poor.

[thatgirl]

That meme is worn out. Cant find a new one?

[tomincali]

@thatgirl it may be worn out do to he refuses to stop pushing against the working class "citizens" . then again it seems that 47% was a lot higher.

[MaxPain]

Better then GOP plan of one Class the Uber Rich

[thatgirl]

@tomincali Please.

[Colin2k41]

@MaxPain This is why Republicans have more complex minds. When you lower taxes, it opens the job market. Problem is it will be hard to crete jobs because your boys the Demmies and Co. decide to regulate every goddamned thing out there.

[thatgirl]

Raygun thought trickle down was a sound economic theory. Oy vey.

[Grubby]

It produced the longest period of prosperity in US history. But then, the Liberals aren't interested in prosperity, only control.

[thatgirl]

@Grubby The 80s were the longest period of prosperity? In what country?

[jessejaymes]

@Grubby That's outright BS. We're still paying on reagan's deficits.

[InjusticeSucks]

The GOP great Hope.....Raygunnomics....man that one is so played out and Proven over and over not to work.But the GOP hangs on for dear life to their Old Ways.

[Cheenoguy]

@Grubby
Care to back up that mythology with actual facts?

[Grubby]

Rubio is right. Unfortunately Obama has so many people convinced that the businesses and job creators of this country, upon which free enterprise and capitalism is based, are somehow "bad", and that only government spending can give the middle class what they need. Unfortunately for us, this will only make the middle class less prosperous. Obama's method has been tried, with the Soviet Union and Communist China. Today, China is trying very hard to emulate our Capitalist system, and in the process is creating tens of millions of new middle class families every year. We are trying hard under Obama to go down the government tax, spend, and control path of those tried and failed systems. I find it interesting that the very people Obama says he wants to help are the ones he is hurting the most. Those are the people who voted for Obama, but he could actually care less about them. At the end of Obama's term, if he is able to get what he wants (and I hope the Republicans can block his efforts), we will have even more people on food stamps and in poverty, fewer middle class, a lower average household income, and less prosperity. Of course, the moron Obama will try to blame it on George Bush and the Republicans, but it will actually be due to his own deeply flawed policies.

[Thegrif]

157,000 jobs created, on the other hand there were 322,000 new unemployment claims.
Don't you just love Obamamath?

[thatgirl]

Niced copy and paste.

[Thegrif]

@thatgirl I read, no need to copy and paste, but thanks for playing the game.

[thatgirl]

@Thegrif lots of worn out memes being thrown around tonight, and I wasnt even speaking to you. Jeez.

[Thegrif]

@thatgirl yea i realized you weren't talking to me, after I sent mine.
Sorry, I am a dumbass.
But as for worn out stuff being thrown around, we throw it around still, because it still is the way it is.

[jessejaymes]

Well what did you think he was going to say. I mean the speech was written in advance of what obama said. This is stupid stuff.

[thatgirl]

Borowitz did a brilliant job skewering the rebuttal.

[Dan_Tien]

You would think that a rebuttal to a speech should actually be written AFTER the speech was given, wouldn't you? But it seems that Rubio already had plenty of material prepared to rewrite the history of the GOP as protectors of the middle class instead of the upper class, and didn't need to actually respond to anything in the State of the Union Address.

[Denizen_Kate]

Rubio gave me the impression of a high school student body president addressing a new crop of freshmen.

[harold_lloyd]

I had hoped for better, but he still seems to be sucking up to the teabaggers. Too bad, he might have been the first of a new pragmatic Republican party.

And yes, high school valedictorians do better than that.

[PNWest]

How come nobody's talking about Rubio's big gulp. http://youtu.be/krTZCrtXLCI Talk about not being ready for prime time.

[martydotcom]

Why would Rubio say Obama will hurt the middle class. Marco address these GOP Issues
"Accelerating transfer of wealth to the .001%(“the billionaires”)
Accelerating transfer of manufacturing out of the country
Marginalization or destruction of effective labor unions
Destruction of the middle class (i.e., the consumer class)
Capture of government by billionaires of both parties
Capture of the Republican Party by anti-Constitutional billionaires via Tea Party-financed candidates
Constitutional changes, including changes in practice to rule of law and an ever-widening circle of elites with immunity from prosecution
Creation via trade agreements of a transnational state that enshrines corporate sovereignty
Permanent war and a permanently expanding militaryThe ticking time bomb of increasing numbers of returning untreated war-damaged battle-trained veterans
Oil dependence without recognition of oil as a soon-to-be-depleted energy source
Deterioration of the environment, largely due to oil and carbon dependence, among other causes
Destruction of the integrity of our food supply
Destruction of public education"
via
Americablog.com

[commonsense51]

Obama wants to raise minimum wage to $9.00 per hour. Now what do you think businesses will do about that? They will either raise the prices on a Big mac and every other product the Middle class has to buy, which will create inflation, or they will lay off workers they can no longer afford. It is no coincidence why after four years of Obama's transformed America we still have 7.9% unemployment. He is always anti Business and pro low income workers who do nothing to help America. He is a Socialist no matter how many lies the Left tells you. His vision of America is one of big Government mandating and forcing free Americans to do what he thinks we should do all for the good of the irresponsible people who will spend all their time figuring ways to avoid getting a job. Rewarding dead beats and punishing hard work and success. That is the new Democrat party.

[Fishbone345]

You don't think fatties in this country will pay more for their Big Mac? I can guarantee you they will. And in droves too. Marking the price up won't make one dent whatsoever in McDonald's profit margin.

[martydotcom]

counterpoint > 5% of white and 12% of non white receive Fed mim wage... calculate the fact that all of their income is spent, How much will be injected into the economy ? Increased consumption = increased sales = increased tax revenue that millionaires won't have to pay.

[Cheenoguy]

1) Facts are that raising the minimum wage has not resulted in job loss. I know it seems like it should but it just doesn't.
2) Are you seriously calling minimum wage workers deadbeats?

[commonsense51]

@Fishbone345 Maybe you like inflation with every food product, movie tickets, dinners out, vacations, EVERYTHING will cost us all more! So now after everything costs more, that $9.00 per hour is not enough once more, then the Dems want to increase it over and over again as more people lose their jobs or can only get part time jobs. The GOP want real jobs, real growth, not more minimum wage jobs.

[commonsense51]

@Cheenoguy When I speak of dead beats, I'm speaking to the majority of welfare people, not minimum wage workers.

[scotta]

He is going to hurt everybody. He does not care for anybody but himself.

[martydotcom]

Your pain much be intolerable. How'd you'd like to be Marco ?

[scotta]

@martydotcom no I am happy to be me. I didn't go to college sue to the fact I could not afford it. They didn't tell folks like me about the small amount of help you could receive. I'm upset that iI didn't get to go. I am happy with the way my life ha gone so far.

[martydotcom]

@scotta was married with a child a 19 went to college 6am - 8am 6pm 11pm
got BA+ MBA. you get no pity. I couldn't afford it ether so I worked weekends too.
100 hr weeks. you didn't want it

[scotta]

@martydotcom no. This has been 30+ years ago. I was not married at the time working part time 70 hr week an a full time high school student who was supporting a mother and 4 siblings. At that time there was not much help help for college. My friends who went to college their parents were better off that my mom was. Their parents took out personal loans out to pay their way.

[Mittnewt]

Notice Marco doesn't use the lie about his parents being political exiles anymore. hacks when you get caught being a lying sack of shit.

[Calfkiller]

wonder if he would leave his brother in a hut in Africa while he ruled the world.

[mimi57]

@Calfkiller I guess we all know who the lying sack is...the one we've been having to
listen to for over four years...SOOO tired.

[Mittnewt]

@Calfkiller down the tube? Unemployment below 8%, stock market at a record high, housing market comeback, still have GM and Chrysler selling more cars than ever. do you have any clue where we'd be had the maverick and his dopey daughter had gotten in? you'd be typing this from the mission.

[Mittnewt]

@Calfkiller ROFL.....you mean the brother he never met???? What is your brother who you never met from Texas doing not living with you in the world of DUHHHH?

[Thegrif]

You Go Rubio!
Explain to everybody how because of Obamacare 200,000 less people will have healthcare, than before Obamacare.

[Denizen_Kate]

Please cite your source for that claim.

[Thegrif]

@Denizen_Kate
CBO said that this year's tax cuts have changed the incentives for businesses and made it less attractive to pay for insurance, meaning fewer will decide to do so. Instead, they'll choose to pay a penalty to the government, totaling $13 billion in higher fees over the next decade.

The Washington Post

Really Kate, asking people to cite their source is equal to calling them a liar.

President Obama's health care law will push 7 million people out of their job-based insurance coverage — nearly twice the previous estimate, according to the latest estimates from the Congressional Budget Office released Tuesday.

[Denizen_Kate]

@Thegrif - "Really Kate, asking people to cite their source is equal to calling them a liar." No, it's asking for more information. I like to look into the details of things. Thank you for responding.

[Thegrif]

@Denizen_Kate that was my other personality, sometimes he is a A-hole
Sorry

[Cheenoguy]

On the positive side Rubio will never need a colonoscopy with his head so far up his rear end.

[Denizen_Kate]

Too bad for him. They give you really good drugs for those.

[Cheenoguy]

@Denizen_Kate
He already lives in an alternate reality negating the need for drugs as well.

[PoliticalSpice]

@Denizen_Kate Want powerful drugs? Take a sip of that tea they drink. Alters reality more then anything I ever tried, and I came of age in the 70's!

[Denizen_Kate]

@PoliticalSpice - But that stuff not only alters the reality around you, it alters YOU. I'll pass, I can't afford the loss of any more brain cells. :)

[RedFloppyShoes]

Rubio is one of the smartest people on the hill. He has my vote for 2016

[Calfkiller]

It was effective as well. You can tell by the way the Libs don't even try to argue any of the points, they fall back to comments made a year or more ago or outright juvenile insults.

[Calfkiller]

I meant to respond to a different poster, but since i'm here, I agree w/ you 100 percent. Rubio/Paul, or vice versa would be hard to beat by relying on big gov't psychobabble.

[mimi57]

@Calfkiller Yes, the same old crap.

[harold_lloyd]

I agree, he is smart, and a good politician. But he's not his own man. Did that rebuttal show much intellect? It was a straightforward suckup to the teabaggers, who he thinks are his base.
He couldn't begin to justify the things he said if it were a debate.
Maybe he's not as smart as I thought. Or as good a politician.

[RedFloppyShoes]

@harold_lloyd I think it was less suck up, as it was to play the emotion card that the Left uses. .

[BelinKS]

I think the State of the Union address in four years should be given by Rubio!

[Vaulter]

Marco Rubio for President 2016!

[mimi57]

I love Rubio, an immigrant who wants free enterprise and less big government. He's
young, smart, and charismatic... Just what the party needs!

[DARSB]

Sen Rubio was born in Miami. That makes him a Florida Cuban-American, a group that voted for President Obama in the last election.

[mimi57]

@DARSB He was born a Cuban citizen...that was then, we'll see what happens in 2016. Times change, and so do political parties. People can't stay stuck on stupid forever!(:

[PNWest]

@mimi57 Since you think that he is an immigrant and a Cuban citizen clearly you'll make sure that he can't run for President right?

[marine1]

sometimes the reality of truth is a hard pill to swallow and conservatives need to learn better how to serve it.

[mimi57]

@PNWest He was a natural born citizen of the United states...I've never said a thing about Obama not being a US. citizen.

[ConserveUSA]

Rubio did a good Rebuttal.

[DreamStat1c]

The rebuttal was poor and should have been written AFTER Obamas speech. He just came off as ill prepared and redundant.

[ctc]

I have to admit....I struggled to get past the chicklet-teeth, the eyelash extensions, the cold sore, and the stick-on ears....just to hear the same old obstructive rhetoric that the old Republican Party just lost an election with.

[mimi57]

No, that was Obama...he's a Dem, remember?! LOL

[Macro]

Marco Rubrio is inconsistent. First he says how he and his family benefited from government programs- Medicare, Student loans. Then he goes on to trash Obama's speech because he wants to maintain and preserve these programs. As a former teacher I am in favor of things like early childhood education for ALL four year olds, not just those who can afford it. Call me a bleeding heart liberal, but I think that it is immoral and un-American that a person who WORKS 40 hours a week at a minimum wage job should only make $14,500 a year. Where can an adult live on that wage? I think the minimum wage should be raised to $9 an hour. Why is that CEO's are making astronomical salaries , while the average working man's wage's haven't risen correspondingly. If you look at wage increases over the past decade, executive compensation shows a steep increase while the compensation for the average worker shows little or no change. This is fair?

[PNWest]

Of course it is not fair. The gap between the ultra rich and the rest of us has been widening since the days of Ronald Reagan. The GOP is in favor of this and the dems have been too timid in fighting to support the poor and middle class.

[Chromalord]

Rubio's rebuttal was awesome! It will greatly strengthen the Democrats agenda and solidify the publics belief in the ever increasing fragmentation of the GOP. Thanks Rubio!

[Food4thoughts]

That was the thirstiest rebuttal ever.

[Vance1]

Marco Rubio is 100% correct