Senator Marco Rubio's Conservatism

Senator Marco Rubio (R) FL

That supercilious MSNBC charlatan Ed Schultz has recently taken to calling Marco Rubio, the young Senator from Florida, a "pretty boy," insinuating that his looks and not his ability to lead and legislate, were responsible for his election.  The reality is that Senator Rubio, in spite of his youth, is much more profoundly in touch with the status of today's America, than some of his elder peers in the Senate, especially those on the other side of the aisle.    Townhall’s Erika Johnsen  has said  “I can’t believe how much truth he delivers in speeches, teleprompter-free and even off the cuff.”

Marco Rubio represents the ideal American dream.  The son of immigrant parents, he and his family have achieved America's promise to all - if one is willing to work hard, apply oneself, study and observe the values and principles that are the foundation of this great country, success is attainable. 

As is their custom, liberal Democrats are resorting to scare tactics to frighten America's seniors every time someone mentions reforms to programs such as Social Security and Medicare.   It is a fact that unless these programs are reformed, including stopping the fraud that now takes place, by the time today's younger generations reach our age there will not be any money for them to receive benefits from the programs into which they've paid all their lives.

We Two Sisters are representative of America's seniors.  Sister one, at age 65 is retired, and she and her husband live on a fixed income, receive Social Security, and were forced by law to take on and pay for Medicare.  They are also witnessing first hand what the Obama administration's disdain for American initiative and entrepeneurship is doing to their life's investments.  Sister Two is a widow who lives on a fixed income of Social Security and pension, and will too be forced to take on Medicare next year. She too is affected by the fluctuations of the stock market, and the uncertain future of our economy.  We know from whence we speak.  We are living it.  Those changes that are being proposed by responsible Republicans do, and will affect us personally, but we are in agreement that we need to have accountable reforms.

We ARE frightened by the prospect of a second term for Barack Hussein Obama.  Having attained Medicare status under Obama's watch, we've seen Medicare fraud in action, and our healthcare cost has risen considerably.  Add to that the fear of laws that will adversely affect the healthcare of America's elderly from laws contained within ObamaCare, and that is truly disconcerting.   

Senator Marco Rubio won a tight race in Florida.  He has, we believe, because of his oratorical skills, his unwavering  dedication to conservatism, and his integrity, captured the eye of the nation and the media.  Recently he was invited to speak at the Reagan Library in California.  Today we'd like to feature an excerpt from Rubio's speech at the Reagan Presidential Library, which eloquently defines America as the land of prospertity and compassion that most people still want it to be.

Two Sisters

The Miami Herald



 

 Posted on Sat, Aug. 27, 2011

Prosperity, compassion go hand-in-hand in conservative agenda.

 

by Marco Rubio

"I was raised in Ronald Reagan’s America. He was elected when I was in fourth grade and he left office when I was in high school. Those years formed so much of what today I know to be true. Reagan didn’t just believe that the Soviet Union and communism could fail, he believed it was inevitably destined to fail and that it was our obligation to accelerate that process. There was something else, though, that defined his presidency: the proper role of government. And I think the vast majority of Americans share a common vision for what they want our nation to be.

They want it to be free and prosperous, a place where your economic hopes and dreams can be accomplished. But they also want us to be a compassionate America. We are a nation that is not going to tolerate those who cannot take care of themselves being left to fend for themselves. We’re not going to tolerate our children being punished for the errors of their parents and society.
So, we are a nation that aspires to two things — prosperity and compassion.

 Now, America’s leaders during the last century set out to accomplish that. Both Republicans and Democrats established a role for government in America that said, yes, we’ll have a free economy, but we will also have a strong government that through regulations and taxes will control the free economy and through a series of government programs will take care of those in our society who are falling behind.

Though it was well intentioned, it was doomed to fail because it forgot that the strength of our nation begins with its people and that these programs actually weakened us as a people. All of the sudden, for an increasing number of people in our nation, it was no longer necessary to worry about saving for security because that was the government’s job. For those who met misfortune, that wasn’t our obligation to take care of them, that was the government’s job. And as government crowded out the institutions in our society that did these things traditionally, it undermined our ability to maintain our prosperity.

 We built a government and programs without any account whatsoever for how we were going to pay for it. When Social Security first started, there were 16 workers for every retiree. Today there are only three for every retiree and soon there will only be two for every retiree.

Program after program was crafted without any thought as to how they would be funded in future years or the impact on future Americans. I know that it is popular in my party to blame the current president. But the truth is the only thing this president has done is accelerate policies that were already in place and were doomed to fail.

We have before us a golden opportunity to craft a proper role for government where both prosperity and compassion exist side-by-side.

We must begin by embracing certain principles that are absolutely true. Number one — the free enterprise system does not create poverty. Every nation that embraces market economics and the free enterprise system is pulling millions of its people out of poverty. The free enterprise system creates prosperity.

The second truism is that poverty does not create our social problems, our social problems create our poverty.

The singular objective of our economic policy from a government perspective is simple — it’s growth. Growth in our economy, the creation of jobs, and equality of opportunity through our governmental policies. We don’t have to reinvent this. Like a tax code that’s fair, predictable, easy to comply with. Like a regulatory framework that doesn’t exist to justify the existence of the regulators.

And it is the proper role of government to invest in infrastructure. Yes, government should build roads and bridges, but it should do so as part of economic development. Not as a jobs program. And government should invest in our people at the state level. Education is critically important to compete with kids in India, and China, all over the world.

Conservatism is not about leaving people behind. Conservatism is about empowering people to catch up. We do need a safety net, but it cannot be a way of life. It must be there to help those who have fallen, to stand up and try again.

I believe in America’s retirement programs. But I recognize that these programs as they are currently structured are not sustainable for future generations. Now, I personally believe that you cannot make changes to these programs for the people that are currently in them right now. My generation must fully accept that if we want there to be Social Security and Medicare when we retire, and if we want America as we know it to continue when we retire, then we must begin to make changes to those programs now, for us.

Every generation of Americans has been called to do their part to ensure that the American promise continues. We’re not alone, we’re not unique, we’re not the only ones. I would argue that we have it pretty good. And yet I think it’s fully appropriate that those of us raised in Ronald Reagan’s America are actually the ones who are being asked to stand up and respond to the issues of the day. For we, perhaps better than any other people who have ever lived in this nation, should understand how special and unique America truly is."

Copyright Miami Herald 8/27/2011