Jeb Bush cut Florida taxes because the state is defense money rich

Saying Jeb  Bush is a "tax cutter" is a smokescreen for the former Florida governor's record as a fiscal conservative. In fact, Governor Bush was a smoke and mirrors tax cutting governor because the state is flooded with defense money.  It doesn't take a Cape Canaveral rocket scientist to figure out the Florida economy is flooded with defense money.  

Follow the red dots on this state map to see where the defense money money is:

In comparisom, the state of Maine now has zero military bases because the Brunswick Naval Air Station, in the state's Mid Coast, was relocated to Jacksonville, Florida. As a result, there are zero active duty military bases in New England. Yet, Florida has all the red dots in the attached map. How'd that happen? Obviously, having a brother (George 43) and father (George 41) as Presidents didn't hurt Florida's economy while Jebb Bush was Florida's governor. Surely, the state's magnetism for attracting defense money was nurtured by the family's political umbilical cord.

In other words, Governor Jeb Bush was able to cut taxes in Florida because the state is flooded with tax money from defense contracts.

Governor Bush was not a tax cutter. In fact, he was a tax gobbler!

Democrats must reveal how Governor Bush was able to cut Florida's taxes before the campaign to crown Bush III as US President becomes too involved.  

When Governor Bush hosts his roll out for presidential candidate press conference, I challenge the press to ask three questions (a) How much money in defense contracts did Florida receive in the state's revenue, while he was governor?  (b) How can Mr. Bush claim to be a tax cutter when Florida was a federal tax guzzler?  and (c) How does Mr. Bush respond to President Obama's normalization of diplomatic relations with Cuba?  

I suspect Governor Jeb Bush will choke on his answers to all three questions.  

Remember when Florida's Senator Rubio couldn't give up his blinkie water bottle when he gave his national GOP, TV response to President Obama's 2013, State of the Union address? Well, maybe Senator Rubio should loan that water bottle to Governor Bush during his roll out press conference, when he decides to announce his candidacy to become Bush III.  

News media must ask Governor Bush to explain to the American people how it was that Florida elected his brother to be President, before the election 2000 votes were counted? Also, how did it happen that Florida owns the Brunswick (Maine) Naval Air Station, leaving New England defenseless? 

Oh, and don't forget to ask about what's to happen with Cuba, if Bush III is elected?  

Senator Rubio alert! I hope you can get that water bottle ready.

Senator Rand Paul gets a broken clock award - supports Cuba normalization

America has been at war with Cuba for the  bulk of my lifetime, but all the while, our nation continues to pay rent for the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay.   

A majority of Americans likely have no idea about this duplicity, meaning, Cuba is an enemy nation but it does business with the US government, anyway.

Nevertheless, I'd bet a winning lottery ticket about one person who knows all about this business and that's Florida's Senator Rubio.   
 
Moreover, I'd be willing to bet again that Senator  Rubio knows how the US dollar rules in Havana Harbor, where American yachts line up along the docks.

In other words, the US is already in Cuba and Senator Rubio knows all about it. Too bad, but Senator Rubio didn't speak in support of the normalization of US - Cuban relations. As a Cuban American, Rubio could've claimed leadership with the President's executive action. I don't understand what Republican don't get about being supportive of Democratic policies, but leadership deserves recognition. Rubio missed an opportunity to claim credit with President Obama when he opposed the normalization policy.

Senator Rubio finally has a Republican challenger to his ridiculous opposition to President Obama's executive action to normalize  relations with Cuba.  Senator Paul Rand has come out on the right side of this issue and he doesn't even claim Cuban ancestry. 

The Washington Post reports that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who backs Obama’s move to normalize relations with communist Cuba, accused Sen. Rubio of being an “isolationist” with his hard-line opposition to opening up trade and diplomatic engagement with the island Cuban nation. Rubio “wants to retreat to our borders and perhaps build a moat,” said Senator Paul.

Paul’s comments came after Rubio, who is the son of Cuban exiles, stepped forward as a leading voice of resistance to Obama’s policy. 
Rubio told the conservative Fox News that Senator Paul has no  idea what he's talking about. Senator Rubio versus Senator Paul feud is the loudest public dispute so far between potential GOP 2016 candidates.



Senator Paul’s comments were unusually personal, beginning with a series of tweets aimed at Rubio followed by a two-paragraph message on his Facebook page. 

“Senator Rubio is acting like an isolationist” and “does not speak for the majority of Cuban-Americans,” wrote Paul.  Then, Paul followed up with an op-ed on Time’s Web site Friday afternoon in which he wrote that he grew up learning to despise communism but over time concluded that “a policy of isolationism against Cuba is misplaced and hasn’t worked.”  He noted that public opinion has shifted in favor of rapprochement — especially among young people, including young Cuban Americans — and that U.S. businesses would benefit by being able to sell their goods in Cuba.



“Communism can’t survive the captivating allure of capitalism,” Senator Paul wrote. “Let’s overwhelm the Castro regime with iPhones, iPads, American cars, and American ingenuity.”

Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), also supports President Obama's action to normalize relations. "After a five-decade embargo, it was time to try something different,” said Senator Flake.

In my opinion, Senator Rubio's oppositiion to President Obama's normalization policy with Cuba is, likely, about money.  Anti-Castro Cuban groups are likely donating to Senator Rubio's political campaign, so he'll obviously speak their position. Although I don't know this "kick back" for fact, I'm confident money is the root of Rubio's anti-Obama Cuban action.  

Regardless of how or why Senator Rubio opposes Obama's action towards Cuba, the reality of the political discourse gives the "broken clock" award to Senator Rand Paul.  

Unfortunately, Senator Rubio is a "looser" on the Cuban normalization position.  His opposition is simply unexplainable. 

His adversary, Senator Rand Paul, turns out to be on the right side of the issue by supporting the normalization of Cuban US relations.  

Senator Paul can be right twice a day, like a broken clock, even if his logic is difficult to  understand.

Immigration Reform - Watch Republicans Shooting Themselves in the Foot

Republicans are shooting themselves in the foot with immigration reform.  They think it is important, but can't agree on a path to citizenship for hard working immigrants who contribute to our national economy.  They claim to be supporting immigration reform, but are unable to articulate a cohesive message they can all support. They just don't get how their own immigrant heritage is the reason they are Republican Americans.

“We’re in a demographic death spiral as a party,"said Senator Lindsey Graham- Republican of South Carolina.

Two Republican leaders are sending mixed messages about immigration reform.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R- FL), the architect of a comprehensive immigration bill that would legalize 11 million undocumented immigrants, refused to say on Sunday whether he supports the legislation he helped draft. He instead claimed that the measure does not have strong border enforcement provisions and would not receive bipartisan support.

In an interview on ABC’s This Week, Rubio told the guest host Jonathan Karl that public input indicated the need to create border enforcement provisions to prevent “another wave of illegal immigration in the future.”
JONATHAN KARL: You are one the primary architect authors of the bill that came out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, immigration reform. I have a basic question, do you support your own bill?

RUBIO: I think it’s an excellent starting point. I think 95, 96 percent of the bill is in perfect shape and ready to go. But there are elements that need to be improved. [...]

KARL: If it stays the way it is on border security, do you vote for it?

RUBIO: I don’t want to get involved in the hypotheticals and ultimatums.

KARL: It’s a real possibility.

RUBIO: No, I don’t think it is. A bill without increased border security which everyone has now conceded needs to happen. The debate is about what that border security provision looks like. If we do that, the bill will have strong, bipartisan support. If we fail, we will keep trying. The only way to pass the immigration reform law out of the House and Senate so the President can sign it is if has real border security measures.

This emphasis on border security is a waste of money because it plainly doesn't work.  Moreover, border security to protect southern illegal crossings are negatively impacting Canadian-American relations, by causing complications in border security in places without the same problems.  In Canada-US crossings, more border security is like the proverbial, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", and Canadian border crossings are not a problem needing fixing.

Illegal border crossings will only be fixed when Mexico and Latin America improves it's own economic houses and protects its citizens against corrupt governments.

Senator Lindsey Graham - Republican Senator of South Carolina:Republicans know they must be more aligned with immigrant groups but, incredulously, they just don't seem to know how to do it!  Graham is one of the Republican co-sponsors of an immigration reform bill that would provide a pathway to citizenship for the nation’s 11.1 million undocumented immigrants. He told fellow Republicans that the GOP will fail to exist if reform does not become law.  “If we don’t pass immigration reform , if we don’t get it off the table in a reasonable, practical way, it doesn’t matter who you run in 2016,” Graham warned during on appearance Sunday on NBC’s Meet The Press. “We’re in a demographic death spiral as a party, and the only way we can get back in good graces with the Hispanic community, in my view, is pass comprehensive immigration reform. If you don’t do that, it really doesn’t matter who will run, in my view.”

Meanwhile, families are suffering needlessly as a result of Republican obstructionism on immigration reform. On Father’s Day, Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-IL) reminded Americans that the immigration bill making its way through Congress is paramount to millions of mixed-status families.

“I want to say it’s Father’s Day. A study just came out this week in Illinois, 56,000 children were left without a mom or a dad, some without parents in the last six years,” Gutierrez said on Sunday’s This Week. “It’s something we have to end. It’s a tragedy, what’s happening to American immigrant families. ”

If the current rate continues at roughly 1,100 undocumented immigrants deported daily, experts say 152,000 children will have a parent detained or deported. Other studies show a parent’s immigration status can impact children’s mental health, physical health, and school grades, making another case for a path to citizenship for fathers and mothers.

Hispanics won't support Rubio for GOP leadership just because he's Cuban American. Rather than just talking about reform, he must walk the walk. Yet, Rubio can't even provide leadership for his own immigration bill, even though his family are Cuban immigrants. Clearly, Rubio is shooting himself in his political foot.  If he wants to be a leader of Hispanic voters, he must shed immigration ambiguity and stand firm in support for a path to leadership for all immigrants, without regard for increasing border security.

Although Republicans are apparently proud of their strong political ties to the National Rifle Association, I don't believe this attraction is intended to cause morbidity.  

Nevertheless, Republicans who can't figure out how to save their party from the self inflicted wounds, caused by their refusal to agree on sensible immigration reform, are shooting themselves in their political feet.  By turning off Hispanic voters, they may never walk into the White House again.

Anti-Science Republicans Appear to Need Arithmetic Lesson on Election Outcome

http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/11/19/1213261/marco-rubio-flirts-with-creationism-says-hes-unsure-how-old-the-earth-is/


President Barack Obama was re-elected in 2012, to lead our nation for 4 more years. Yet, thousands of Republicans recoiled into denial rather than accept this outcome.  Many, led by Vice-Presidential candidate Congressman Paul Ryan, seem to act like the election never really happened.  They appear poised to return to government "obstruction as usual".  

Now, it turns out, one Republican, the Florida Senator Rubio, even courts voters who support the Biblical theory of Creationsim, over the sciences of geology and archaeology. Could this courting of Creationists mean Rubio wants to appeal to Christian right wing voters so he can garner support for his own future Presidential bid? Well, I can't imagine any anti science politicians as a leaders of the free world. Nevertheless, Rubio is courting Creationists.

Republicans who continue suggesting belief in Creationism is somehow a valid science, probably have a hard time understanding how their political party lost the 2012 presidential election.  

In other words, politicians like Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, along with former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, would rather believe our earth was created, exactly as we know it today, in 7 Biblical days, rather than accept the science of geologists who have determined the earth evolved since the creation, 4.5 billion years ago.  

Regardless of their resistance to accepting scientific discovery, Creationists are still capable of understanding simple arithmetic.  So, Creationists like Rubio and Huckabee need to know and understand this outcome.  Americans can not move backward:

332B.OBAMA*Popular Vote:51%62,615,406

206M.ROMNEYPopular Vote:48%59,142,004