The Hill
Rubio to resume holds on two western hemisphere nominees over Cuba
By Pete Kasperowicz - 12/19/11 09:17 AM ET
Freshman Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said Saturday that he would block the nomination of two of the Obama administration's western hemisphere nominees, because the State Department has failed to answer his questions about Cuba travel policy.
Rubio said on the Senate floor Saturday that he asked State to look into two "people to people" travel itineraries from a company out of New York. Rubio said that rather than fostering democratic change in Cuba, these trips appear to just be tourism. "The reason why this is problematic is because it gives money to the Castro government," he said.
Rubio said State's reply to Rubio on Saturday was essentially a non-answer.
"Then I got this letter today that, to summarize, basically says: Thank you for your letter, but we can't talk to you about it," Rubio said. "That is not what I expected to get, and so we are going to hold those nominations again until we take this seriously.
"This is a problem," he added. "We have these companies in America that are advertising tourism to Cuba — tourism that is not just a source of irritation, it is a source of hard currency."
Rubio's office said that the two nominations he would hold are those of Roberta Jacobson to be Assistant Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, and Adam Namm to be Ambassador to Ecuador.
Cuban Americans like Rubio have long argued that allowing travel to Cuba allows Americans to bring hard dollars to the island, which the Cuban government can then harvest by forcing Cuban residents to buy goods in dollar stores.
-----
JG: I am Cuban-American and did not vote for this piece of SCUM from Miami!
Showing posts with label Marco Rubio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marco Rubio. Show all posts
Monday, December 19, 2011
Monday, December 5, 2011
Will the GOP Nominate a Fake Cuban Exile for VP in 2012?
GOP should think again
Source: www.timesunion.com
By JONATHAN ALTER
Published 10:35 p.m., Sunday, December 4, 2011
With Newt Gingrich's surge, the Republican presidential race is more uncertain than ever. But the party's pick for vice president has for months seemed like a foregone conclusion.
Although he claims to have no interest in the job, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is still the most likely VP choice for any Republican nominee, especially Gingrich, who has mentioned Rubio specifically.
Rubio is young, bright, handsome and from a critical swing state that he carried in 2010 by nearly 20 points. Most important, he's Hispanic.
He doesn't have to help the GOP win Hispanics outright, just cut into the Democrats' huge advantage. The Obama campaign knows that if the President, who won 67 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2008, can be held below 60 percent this time, he's almost sure to lose.
But in truth, Rubio is not the ideal vice presidential candidate to solve Republicans' trouble with Hispanics. Cuban-Americans have a big voice in Florida politics, where they already vote Republican, but make up only 4 percent of Hispanics nationwide. Mexican-Americans make up 66 percent of Hispanics, and tapping their potential may determine the results in swing states like Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.
There's no evidence that a Cuban-American who opposes even the DREAM Act — which would create a path to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants who finish high school and join the military or attend college — will bring other Hispanics out to vote.
So Rubio sits atop the short list. This should have Republicans worried. He has been scuffed up in two flaps this year that highlight the complexities of being an ethnic minority in a party that's shooting itself in the foot with minorities.
First, The Washington Post reported in October that he "embellished" his background by falsely claiming throughout his political career that his parents fled Cuba after Fidel Castro's Communist takeover in 1959.
It doesn't help that the senator now seems to be at war with the most powerful force in Hispanic media — Univision, which has the largest Spanish-language audience in the country. In July, Univision aired a story about the drug arrest 24 years ago of Rubio's brother-in-law.
Rubio's staff told reporters that Univision had offered to kill the story in exchange for Rubio appearing on the network's Sunday show. Even if true, that hardly justified the next step. Rubio's surrogates demanded that Univision's president of news resign and that the Republican presidential candidates boycott the Jan. 29 Univision debate on the eve of the Florida primary.
None of this is likely to dissuade the eventual Republican nominee from picking Rubio if he thinks it will help him win the White House. But will it?
Jonathan Alter writes for Bloomberg News.
Source: www.timesunion.com
By JONATHAN ALTER
Published 10:35 p.m., Sunday, December 4, 2011
With Newt Gingrich's surge, the Republican presidential race is more uncertain than ever. But the party's pick for vice president has for months seemed like a foregone conclusion.
Although he claims to have no interest in the job, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is still the most likely VP choice for any Republican nominee, especially Gingrich, who has mentioned Rubio specifically.
Rubio is young, bright, handsome and from a critical swing state that he carried in 2010 by nearly 20 points. Most important, he's Hispanic.
He doesn't have to help the GOP win Hispanics outright, just cut into the Democrats' huge advantage. The Obama campaign knows that if the President, who won 67 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2008, can be held below 60 percent this time, he's almost sure to lose.
But in truth, Rubio is not the ideal vice presidential candidate to solve Republicans' trouble with Hispanics. Cuban-Americans have a big voice in Florida politics, where they already vote Republican, but make up only 4 percent of Hispanics nationwide. Mexican-Americans make up 66 percent of Hispanics, and tapping their potential may determine the results in swing states like Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico.
There's no evidence that a Cuban-American who opposes even the DREAM Act — which would create a path to citizenship for children of illegal immigrants who finish high school and join the military or attend college — will bring other Hispanics out to vote.
So Rubio sits atop the short list. This should have Republicans worried. He has been scuffed up in two flaps this year that highlight the complexities of being an ethnic minority in a party that's shooting itself in the foot with minorities.
First, The Washington Post reported in October that he "embellished" his background by falsely claiming throughout his political career that his parents fled Cuba after Fidel Castro's Communist takeover in 1959.
It doesn't help that the senator now seems to be at war with the most powerful force in Hispanic media — Univision, which has the largest Spanish-language audience in the country. In July, Univision aired a story about the drug arrest 24 years ago of Rubio's brother-in-law.
Rubio's staff told reporters that Univision had offered to kill the story in exchange for Rubio appearing on the network's Sunday show. Even if true, that hardly justified the next step. Rubio's surrogates demanded that Univision's president of news resign and that the Republican presidential candidates boycott the Jan. 29 Univision debate on the eve of the Florida primary.
None of this is likely to dissuade the eventual Republican nominee from picking Rubio if he thinks it will help him win the White House. But will it?
Jonathan Alter writes for Bloomberg News.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
"I am a Cuban Exile Opera" starting Marco Rubio
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s bedroom eyes, pouty lips and honeyed voice make him the perfect candidate for a regular telenovela leading man.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, November 1 2011, 5:28 PM
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s bedroom eyes, pouty lips and honeyed voice make him the perfect candidate for a regular telenovela leading man.
Maybe that could be a change for the Cuban-American Republican senator from Florida and big Latino hope of the GOP, if, after his political career, Fox News can't find a has-been spot for him. One way or another, he's getting plenty of practice now.
For the last few weeks, Rubio's been the protagonist in one of those reality shows Florida is famous for, such as the ratings-busting sagas of “Elián González, the Dolphin Boy,” “Terry Schiavo: Unplugged,” “Electoral Hanging Chads 2000” and “Alberto Cutié, a Priest in Love,” to name just a few.
Rubio has been on the A-list as a vice presidential candidate to help attract disgruntled Latino voters. In the first episode, we see and hear that hype punctured when in early September birthers declared him not fully American.
Being the darling of the Tea Party didn't help him any in this purity test. Rubio was born in Miami in 1971, when his Cuba-born parents were not yet citizens themselves. According to the birthers' interpretation of the Constitution, this renders him ineligible to run for President or vice president.
In the second capítulo of the soap opera, the hero falls victim to an evil Spanish-language television plan that, according to Rubio's staff, tried to blackmail him into sitting down for an interview with who they consider the Lord Voldemort of Univision, anchor Jorge Ramos, the pro-immigration reform Fearless Warrior, in exchange for (the plot thickens) toning down a report on the drug bust of Rubio's brother-in-law two decades earlier.
The latest chapter finds El Marco caught in a biographical lie or the usual plot device of Deep Dark Family Secret that threatens the hero's success. Rubio has billed himself as “the son of exiles” who left the island to escape the death rays of Fidel Castro, the Cuban Darth Vader; this was a centerpiece of his narrative and a main selling point to win the vote of the Cuban community in Florida's Boardwalk Empire.
But in a surprising plot double-twist worthy of Alfred Hitchcock, an Enterprising Reporter digs out the fact that Rubio’s parents had actually come to the U.S. as run-of-the-mill immigrants in 1956, when Castro was still a beardless exile (a real one) in Mexico. The parents then (gasp) return to Havana in 1960 or 1961 after (double gasp) the revolution, maybe to stay for good … or to nurse the Grandfather who was run over by a bus… or not.
Millions of television viewers wait with bated breath for the conclusion of the story. But as with all classic Spanish soap operas, you have to hang in there for 30 or 40 more episodes to find the answer to questions such as: Can El Marco overcome all the bad publicity and still be picked as a running mate for the Republican nominee? If he is, will it make any difference to Latinos who are sick and tired of all the Republican hate-mongering and death by electricity at the border? Will he get a better haircut? Or, will he end up being the Sarah Palin of 2012, all coiffed and nowhere to go?
Stay tuned.
doloresprida@aol.com
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, November 1 2011, 5:28 PM
U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio’s bedroom eyes, pouty lips and honeyed voice make him the perfect candidate for a regular telenovela leading man.
Maybe that could be a change for the Cuban-American Republican senator from Florida and big Latino hope of the GOP, if, after his political career, Fox News can't find a has-been spot for him. One way or another, he's getting plenty of practice now.
For the last few weeks, Rubio's been the protagonist in one of those reality shows Florida is famous for, such as the ratings-busting sagas of “Elián González, the Dolphin Boy,” “Terry Schiavo: Unplugged,” “Electoral Hanging Chads 2000” and “Alberto Cutié, a Priest in Love,” to name just a few.
Rubio has been on the A-list as a vice presidential candidate to help attract disgruntled Latino voters. In the first episode, we see and hear that hype punctured when in early September birthers declared him not fully American.
Being the darling of the Tea Party didn't help him any in this purity test. Rubio was born in Miami in 1971, when his Cuba-born parents were not yet citizens themselves. According to the birthers' interpretation of the Constitution, this renders him ineligible to run for President or vice president.
In the second capítulo of the soap opera, the hero falls victim to an evil Spanish-language television plan that, according to Rubio's staff, tried to blackmail him into sitting down for an interview with who they consider the Lord Voldemort of Univision, anchor Jorge Ramos, the pro-immigration reform Fearless Warrior, in exchange for (the plot thickens) toning down a report on the drug bust of Rubio's brother-in-law two decades earlier.
The latest chapter finds El Marco caught in a biographical lie or the usual plot device of Deep Dark Family Secret that threatens the hero's success. Rubio has billed himself as “the son of exiles” who left the island to escape the death rays of Fidel Castro, the Cuban Darth Vader; this was a centerpiece of his narrative and a main selling point to win the vote of the Cuban community in Florida's Boardwalk Empire.
But in a surprising plot double-twist worthy of Alfred Hitchcock, an Enterprising Reporter digs out the fact that Rubio’s parents had actually come to the U.S. as run-of-the-mill immigrants in 1956, when Castro was still a beardless exile (a real one) in Mexico. The parents then (gasp) return to Havana in 1960 or 1961 after (double gasp) the revolution, maybe to stay for good … or to nurse the Grandfather who was run over by a bus… or not.
Millions of television viewers wait with bated breath for the conclusion of the story. But as with all classic Spanish soap operas, you have to hang in there for 30 or 40 more episodes to find the answer to questions such as: Can El Marco overcome all the bad publicity and still be picked as a running mate for the Republican nominee? If he is, will it make any difference to Latinos who are sick and tired of all the Republican hate-mongering and death by electricity at the border? Will he get a better haircut? Or, will he end up being the Sarah Palin of 2012, all coiffed and nowhere to go?
Stay tuned.
doloresprida@aol.com
Monday, October 31, 2011
The facts of the matter: Marco Rubio is a typical capitalist politician: HE IS A LIAR!
The spin meisters at Marco Rubio's office are working overtime trying to contain the scandal surrounding Marco 'Baby Face' Rubio.
No matter what he or his spin handlers are saying, the facts of the matter are this: Marco Rubio's family left Cuba in May 1956, when the U.S. favorite political puppet, General Fulgencio Batista, was murdering the Cuban people right and left. He is only a "refugee" from Cuba's darkest seven years.
Like George W. Bush, when he invaded Iraq, Rubio has built his life and fake ideas on a LIE.
Would you buy a used car from this man? BUYER BEWARE!
No matter what he or his spin handlers are saying, the facts of the matter are this: Marco Rubio's family left Cuba in May 1956, when the U.S. favorite political puppet, General Fulgencio Batista, was murdering the Cuban people right and left. He is only a "refugee" from Cuba's darkest seven years.
Like George W. Bush, when he invaded Iraq, Rubio has built his life and fake ideas on a LIE.
Would you buy a used car from this man? BUYER BEWARE!
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Marco 'The Idiot' Rubio: he doesn't want you to fly to Cuba from Tampa
St. Petersburg Times
Rubio defends his stand against more Cuba flights
By Steve Huettel, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Oct 27, 2011 02:38 PM
TAMPA – Sen. Marco Rubio and Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce officials chose not to rekindle a battle over new flights to Cuba.
But during a visit here Thursday, the Miami Republican bristled at a reporter's suggestion that he tried to block flights from Tampa to protect Miami travel businesses.
"The idea that I'm a friend of the fly-to-Cuba-from-Miami crowd is absurd,'' he said at a press conference. "No one would criticize someone going to Cuba to see their dying mother. What we're opposed to is expansion of these new flights from Miami or anywhere else. The add more money to the (Castro) regime.''
In February, Rubio proposed an amendment to a Federal Aviation Authority funding bill that would have prohibited any additional flights between the United States and countries, such as Cuba, designated as "state sponsors of terrorism'' by the State Department.
At the time, charter flights to Cuba were restricted to three gateway cities: Miami, New York and Los Angeles.
Chamber CEO Robert Rohrlach fired off a letter to Rubio, saying that [he] benefited his hometown of Miami at the expense of Tampa Bay and four other Florida metro areas that were seeking non-stop flights to the island nation.
"I sincerely hope that you will withdraw (the amendment) in order to more accurately reflect the resolve of the entire state as opposed to the interests of a few.''
The amendment failed in the Senate. Tampa International and airports in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville and Key West subsequently won federal approval for Cuba flights. Charter companies now fly twice weekly from Tampa International to Havana. Two additional weekly flights — one to Havana and one to Holguin— start in November.
Contact Steve Huettel at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.
[Last modified: Oct 27, 2011 02:39 PM]
-----
JG: Florida voters ought to have their heads examined for having elected this idiot to the U.S. Senate.
Rubio defends his stand against more Cuba flights
By Steve Huettel, Times Staff Writer
Posted: Oct 27, 2011 02:38 PM
TAMPA – Sen. Marco Rubio and Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce officials chose not to rekindle a battle over new flights to Cuba.
But during a visit here Thursday, the Miami Republican bristled at a reporter's suggestion that he tried to block flights from Tampa to protect Miami travel businesses.
"The idea that I'm a friend of the fly-to-Cuba-from-Miami crowd is absurd,'' he said at a press conference. "No one would criticize someone going to Cuba to see their dying mother. What we're opposed to is expansion of these new flights from Miami or anywhere else. The add more money to the (Castro) regime.''
In February, Rubio proposed an amendment to a Federal Aviation Authority funding bill that would have prohibited any additional flights between the United States and countries, such as Cuba, designated as "state sponsors of terrorism'' by the State Department.
At the time, charter flights to Cuba were restricted to three gateway cities: Miami, New York and Los Angeles.
Chamber CEO Robert Rohrlach fired off a letter to Rubio, saying that [he] benefited his hometown of Miami at the expense of Tampa Bay and four other Florida metro areas that were seeking non-stop flights to the island nation.
"I sincerely hope that you will withdraw (the amendment) in order to more accurately reflect the resolve of the entire state as opposed to the interests of a few.''
The amendment failed in the Senate. Tampa International and airports in Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville and Key West subsequently won federal approval for Cuba flights. Charter companies now fly twice weekly from Tampa International to Havana. Two additional weekly flights — one to Havana and one to Holguin— start in November.
Contact Steve Huettel at huettel@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3384.
[Last modified: Oct 27, 2011 02:39 PM]
-----
JG: Florida voters ought to have their heads examined for having elected this idiot to the U.S. Senate.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
The Lies of Florida Senator Marco Rubio?
by The Associated Press
MIAMI October 21, 2011, 10:37 am ET
MIAMI (AP) — Florida's freshman U.S. senator and rising GOP star Marco Rubio is fighting back against allegations he embellished his family's history by claiming his parents were Cuban exiles.
Rubio's website says his parents came to America following Fidel Castro's 1959 takeover, and he has always publicly identified with the exile community. In turn he has maintained a strong and loyal political following within its Miami hub.
But media reports Thursday revealed his parents emigrated to the U.S. in 1956, when Cuban dictator Fulgencia Batista was still in power and Fidel Castro had just been released from prison and exiled in Mexico. Rubio's father was a bartender at a Havana hotel when he and his wife left, and Rubio's staff said he came for economic reasons.
The story was first reported by the St. Petersburg Times.
Rubio responded to the report with a statement saying his parents had tried to return to Cuba in March of 1961 in hopes that things were improving on the island post-revolution but quickly left because they did not want to live under communism.
"My parents are from Cuba. After arriving in the United States, they had always hoped to one day return to Cuba if things improved and traveled there several times," he wrote. "In 1961, my mother and older siblings did in fact return to Cuba while my father stayed behind wrapping up the family's matters in the U.S. After just a few weeks living there, she fully realized the true nature of the direction Castro was taking Cuba and returned to the United States one month later, never to return."
The return date is significant because it means Rubio's family planned to return to the island just as more than a thousand Cuban exiles from Miami were preparing for their doomed April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion in order to topple Castro's fledgling government.
Even if his parents were initially hopeful that things would be better under Fidel Castro, they would have been among the many Cubans who later fled the country after supporting the revolution and opposing the corruption under Batista.
Source: TPM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)