Phil Ammann
Marco Rubio, a prospective 2016 Republican presidential candidate, floated a few “new economic ideas” during an appearance at a recent legislative conference of the International Association of Firefighters.
Rubio’s plans went over with the firefighters like a lead balloon, according to a new email from the Florida Democratic Party.
The email — subject: “Marco Rubio Can’t Fool America’s Firefighters” — featured a post on the Factivists fact-checking website. On it, the FDP calls the Florida Republican’s new tax plan a “tired proposal” to cut taxes for the wealthy, while raising taxes on middle class Americans.
“Unfortunately for Rubio,” the email says, “his patronizing attempt to bamboozle America’s firefighters and the American people falls flat.”
Rubio’s proposal unleashed a wave of criticism, calling it nothing more than the same trickle-down fiscal policies that look to “prop up the very rich and powerful corporations” while raising taxes on the poor, increasing the nation’s deficit along the way.
FDP officials then mocked the Republican Party’s “fresh face,” saying Rubio “isn’t quite ready to take off the training wheels.”
To prove its point, the email notes several news articles critical of Rubio’s plan, which include:
- Center on Budget & Policy Priorities: Lee-Rubio Tax Plan: Huge New Windfall at the Top, Lost Child Credits at the Bottom
- Forbes magazine: The Rich Get (Much) Richer Under The Rubio-Lee Tax Plan
- The New York Times: Rubio-Lee: Promise and Problems
- New York Magazine: The Fight for the Soul of the Republican Party is Over: The Rich Won Again
Rubio could have an uphill battle if he chooses to run for the White House, especially in light of a new Mason-Dixon poll released Tuesday suggesting the incumbent U.S. senator might be more viable in a 2016 re-election bid than a presidential run.
In addition, he will not have to bamboozle any firefighters doing so.
