Hypocrisy is nothing new to Florida’s Junior Senator. Time and again we have seen he has contradicted himself on one issue after another. Rubio knows little about foreign policy yet consistently sounds off on the subject.
Much like his contradictory views on the Middle East, Rubio’s views on Cuba are filled with hypocrisy. But much like every other subject that comes up in national politics today, Rubio’s views are given a platform by the Washington Press Corps who seem unwilling to resist whatever charm he possesses. By contrast though, independent long-form publications like Salon and The Atlantic have been up to the task of unmasking Rubio’s duplicity.
On Cuba some very obvious cases of Rubio’s hypocritical rhetoric exist:
1. Respecting human rights
Rubio has waxed lyrically in the past three days about the need to protect and promote human rights in Cuba. Yet just last week Rubio tweeted that exposing flaws that might undermine our values because they potentially violate basic human rights “places American lives in danger.”
Those who served us in aftermath of 9/11 deserve our thanks not one sided partisan Senate report that now places American lives in danger.
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) December 9, 2014
Torture and the undermining of America’s moral authority doesn’t bother Senator Rubio. Yet he finds it necessary to lecture the nation on human rights in Cuba. If Rubio really suddenly cares about human rights and doesn’t care about free markets as he has now done a 180 degree turn on capitalism (more on that below) perhaps he needs to push legislation to restrict American trade and commerce with China, Saudi Arabia, Belarus and Uzbekistan among other nations.
2. Free market in the rest of the world vs Cuba
Marco Rubio is one of the foremost American advocates of “Reaganomics.” The very first speech I watched Marco Rubio give from the Florida House gallery was in 2001 was about respecting the “free market” and basically calling opponents of full repeal of the intangibles tax “socialists.” A year later, I watched Rubio give a similar speech about taxes on the House floor in the office of a Senator who was supporting Senate President John McKay’s (R-Bradenton) tax reform bill. Rubio’s speech used his family’s background fleeing communism and seeking free markets as a reason to oppose a sensible reform to Florida’s regressive tax code that was backed by a bipartisan majority in the legislature upper chamber.
Rubio’s free market rhetoric has continued to this day, yet when it comes to Cuba he suddenly opposes the free market and what almost every economics on the left or the right would indicate is best for Florida’s economy. Opening Cuba’s market to Florida’s agricultural goods and service-based economy could be a huge windfall economically for the state. Rubio the Reagan ideologue whose attitude towards big government is generally contemptuous ironically wants to keep this heavy handed government imposed control that stifles the free market and restricts the ability of Florida’s businesses to compete.
3. Free trade v embargo
Senator Rubio has been a strong advocate of free trade agreements with Latin American countries that open new market access for American goods since his time in the Florida House. But suddenly as referenced above, Florida’s Junior Senator has strongly opposed a policy which would open new markets to our state’s good and which many in the business community strongly back.
Some may choose to chalk Rubio’s duplicity to his emotion about this specific matter since he is a Cuban-American. I would give cut him some slack on this if he wasn’t so rigidly dogmatic on a consistent basis when it came to other issues. True leadership requires our elected officials to take emotion out of such decision making and on this test Rubio is flopping badly. For someone who just might want to lead this nation and the free world, tests like this show he is not ready for prime time.
The Florida Squeeze 
Lil Marco is sadly lacking in foreign policy moxie, in addition to changing with the wind on human rights, depending on whether he is talking about Cuba or Gitmo prison. He is a chameleon on an issue that is unchanging, and is an embarrassment to his Florida constituents. It is a curiosity how such a rookie ever conceived of himself as ready and qualified to run in his party’s prez primary? Everyone seems to know he is NOT ready for such a run, except Marco himself! I believe he lacks the stature to serve in the U. S. Senate. He is ethically challenged, having lied to the FL Legislature about his financial holdings as well as to the U. S. Senate. No newspaper article ever ran revealing the form of sanction the Senate Ethics Committee meted out for this ethical transgression as soon as he arrived in Washington, D. C.? Where, indeed, is the character, Marco?
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What a duplicitous KK piece about Marco Rubio. Its very foundation is ridiculous because it doesn’t examine Rubio’ primary objections to Obama’s left wing ass kissing of the Castro Brothers.
What does a political embargo have to do with a free market? There is no free market in Cuba and very little private enterprise. Its two-tier currency system is a good example. Foreigners must pay their hotels and purchases in dollars which the government gets and then pays its people with worthless pesos. Free market? For all the so-called potential buying of American products, what can the Cubans reciprocate with? Sugar? Just what kind of balance of trade does KK envision when Cuba has nothing to export to us or dollars to pay for trade with?
Rubio’s primary challenge is that Obama secured little of any concessions from Castro while caving in to everything Cuba wanted.
More than 8,000 political prisoners are held by Castro. How many will be released as a Cuban concession? How many will even be interviewed by a dozen Red Cross staff? . Obama claims more Americans will be able to visit Cuba, how many Cubans will be allowed free egress?
Sorry, KK, but your juvenile attack on Rubio is like Obama’s juvenile view of Communist Castro and his henchmen who will not allow free elections, free expression, empty his political prisons or even allow Cubans to watch Obama’s announcement. Why, because Raul Castro is bragging that Obama has allowed Cuba “to win the war.”
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You mean “free” elections like the sham elections that we have had in the U. S. since George and Jeb stole the White House in 2000? U. S. elections are a joke, rife with ten different types of election fraud. Ask your Republican buddies about their dirty tricks that make our elections an utter joke? People who live in glass houses, sir, should NOT throw stones!
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Really good piece.
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Rubio is a typical smarmy over ambitious Republican pol.
We need to retire him prematurely in 2016 and I believe we will!
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Thank you, Kartik. I believe that it is a well written article.
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I will also tell about it to my friends also in reality each of the persons recognized to me.
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Rubio is a con artist who knows how to manipulate the media to give himself WAY MORE credibility than he should ever have .
He lied to his base about deporting illegals , he lies about caring about Cuban human rights when his entourage got a nice paid vacation from China on their visit there .
Rubio now only has his base are the 1 issue voting , Miami Cuban junta and countless Cubans like myself are sick of these people with their assembly line of self serving and corrupt Miami politicos .
I don’t find Rubio corrupt but he is a self serving con artist who will betray anyone if it furthers his political career .
Rubio is TYPICAL of the Miami Banana Republic bunch . He simply knows how to play the media a bit better .
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