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Tuesday, October 05, 2010

Why I won't be voting for Marco Rubio

I took a look at Marco Rubio's ideas on how to "take back America"

There are a few very good ideas. Some include automatic sunsetting of government programs, requiring a 2/3 vote of house and senate to approve new taxes, a balanced budget amendment (I could take or leave this as the feds don't follow the rest of the Constitution anyway).

Click the title link to see the lists for yourself.

Every one of his lists includes at least one idea that grants MORE power to the federal government, not less.

List 1: Grow the Economy:
"IDEA #8: Repeal and replace ObamaCare. We must repeal ObamaCare and replace it with common-sense reforms that will actually lower health care costs for American families and businesses." Get rid of one bad federal law and replace it with more bad federal laws to add to the federal laws that created the healthcare problem in the country that had the best healthcare in the world until the federal government started getting involved....

List 2: cut spending (I like many of the ideas he presents here, yet.....)
"IDEA #12: Reform Entitlement Programs. Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are going broke and will bankrupt our country. Benefits for those currently receiving them or those approaching retirement should not and will not change. But the truth is that for those who are younger, the programs will need to change or they will no longer exist when they themselves approach retirement age. Unlike his opponents, Marco has been willing to confront this reality, to talk about it with voters, and to come up with common-sense solutions that will safeguard our future." The ponzi scheme is failing! /sigh. Keeping this program alive as a federal program just continues to perpetuate the first major scam on the American public since the creation of the federal reserve itself.

List 3 Health Care: Riddled throughout is the demand to move state regulation of insurance to the federal level.Some believe it would open the market to more insurance policies from other states, thus giving MORE options, MORE choice, and lower prices. The reality, as has been proven time and again, is that it would destroy smaller companies, thus reducing choice, reducing options, and increasing prices as fewer business remain to compete. For an existing business to enter a different State's market they just have to comply with the State's regulations - that hardly prevents an insurer from entering a State's market. Each State must have a free market - we should not be considering a federal market, ever!


List 4 Gulf Coast Economy: Several of these ideas have me confused as they aren't federal level ideas (especially the sales tax and property tax relief) However, this one struck me as completely odd,,,,IDEA #10: Relax onerous fishing bag limits and seasons. When it is safe to do so for the next two years, we need to focus on opening our waters with relaxed quotas for all fishing so grounded fisherman can get back to work.
(When/if this oil spill is halted it's hardly the time to look at relaxing fishing limts as these fish populations will be struggling to recover...)
Again, most of these ideas are/should be state level policies and I don't see how they have anything to do with the federal government.


List 5: Education. This list is out of control with massive increase in federal power.
"Idea#6 - protect teachers by insulating them from frivolous lawsuits. " First, our justice system couldn't tell if a lawsuit was frivolous if it was biting their rear-end. Second, we don't need even more people moving to a legally protected status. We need to remove EVERYONE from legal protection - especially our government leaders!
"Idea #3: Make Block Grants Conditional On Performance And Accountability Measures." Oh, yeah, give the federal government even more power over that tiny amount of funding they currently provide our indoctrination centers.
"Idea #12: Promote A National Virtual Learning Platform." Sweet! Let's create the baby that will become our National School indoctrination program that all students will be required to watch from home and is funded by the taxpayer or could be funded by the taxpayer and some businesses! Uhm, no!
I could touch on nearly all the ideas here as they all have a flaw or two that is major.

List 6: Agriculture
"• IDEA #1: Stand Up To The EPA On Numeric Nutrients." This idea makes no sense. Paraphrased: 'We are facing federal imposition of economically damaging numeric nutrient standards, so congress should step-in and ensure that Florida leads the effort to implement numeric nutrients.' Huh? We should lead the way on using them to ensure we don't get economically damaged by having to use them?
"IDEA#2: Promote Economic Growth And Job Creation Through Trade." More NAFTA - after all it REALLY helped us get where we are right now! We traded our jobs and our products right out of the US! Let's do the same with oranges!
"IDEA #5: Reform America’s Foreign Pest And Disease Interdiction Process." Federal efficiency by increasing sharing of information between three agencies that should not be sharing information and at least one of these agencies shouldn't even exist.
"• IDEA #6: Matching Grants For Agriculture Research." Take our tax money and force us to pay for research that is already being paid for by us when we buy the products.

List 7: Commitment to Veterans.
"IDEA #1: Keep The Department Of Veterans Affairs (VA) As A Cabinet Level Department." Instead of dismantling this BS concept, we should continue to tout that the Cabinet is the most powerful table in America and keep American's paying for yet another seat at this table that shouldn't exist.
"IDEA #3: Overcome The Benefits Claim Backlog" How else can this be done without growing the government branch that services these requests?
"IDEA #4: Seamless Transition Back Home." How else can this be read other than to create jobs to tell us veterans what all we are eligible to receive when we leave military service? I thought I got that talk during my last week of service.
"IDEA #8: Demand Accountability At Arlington National Cemetery. We must monitor the Department of the Army’s attempts to straighten out this fiasco and ensure this level of mismanagement is never reached again." We must pay more people to watch the people that we were already paying to check into this fiasco that happened while under the watch of people we were paying to ensure something like this never happened.
"IDEA #9: Increase Veterans Mobile Healthcare Clinics. In 2008, the VA announced four mobile health clinics to bring care to veterans in predominately rural counties. We need to consider adding to the fleet and continue to provide support to those veterans far away from a medical center." More money spent to build facilities that will be in areas where they will barely be used?
"IDEA #2: Protect Defense And Veterans Spending. We must get our country’s budget, deficit and debt under control. However, we cannot do it at the expense of our veteran services, national defense and safety." Neocon much? We can drastically reduce our defense budget by bringing our troops home. But if we did that we wouldn't need agreements with Canada and Mexico to bring their troops to quell civil disturbances on US soil.

Want to help veterans in one fell swoop? Make any person that has served our country federal tax exempt. Not State, just federal.

List 8: Seniors
"IDEA #1: Increase Prosecutions On Those Who Prey On Seniors Through Fraud And Financial Crimes." Forget due process and all that, let's just increase prosecution! This doesn't make any sense. We need to ensure that people who prey on seniors are tried and if found guilty - convicted. Yet if there isn't a case we can't just prosecute them. The federal government doesn't have any say in prosecution of these kinds of crimes, States do.
"IDEA #2: Protect Seniors From Identity Theft." Another BS idea that gives no solution. We need to ensure everyone is protected from identity theft, yet it is not a realistic goal. Yes, we must share ways to help prevent identity theft, but we can't stop it once and for all - the thieves get better at it.
"IDEA #3: Protect Current Benefits For Seniors." Keep SS and Medicare as is for the generation that we cannot afford to provide these benefits for. Whereas I agree with the sentiment, there just isn't the prosperity required to support the baby boomers in and entering retirement. The ponzi scheme is failing - our funds were spent on other things and they don't exist.
"IDEA #5: Crack Down On Unapproved Prescription Drugs." Uhm, no the FDA needs to be constrained as an advisory panel for people to consider before using a drug. The federal government has no authority to remove any drug from the market - the responsibility lies with the consumer to decide what they will use and due process should be brought against any product manufacturer that has placed false claims on their product or endangered people unnecessarily. The FDA is why we pay 20,000-40,000% more than the cost of drugs. I do not need my hand held when it is time to get something that will make it easier for me to endure pain I am in, or to try something new that could save my life, but die while waiting for the FDA to "approve" it.