Clueless Rubio

English: Official portrait of US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 Marco Rubio:

"I support people making more than $9. I want people to make as much as they can. I don't think the minimum wage law works," Rubio said. "We all support -- I certainly do -- having more taxpayers, having more people who are employed. I want people to make a lot more than $9 - $9 is not enough. The problem is you can't do that by mandating minimum wage laws. Minimum wage laws have never worked in terms of having the middle class have more prosperity ... let's have a debate about growth and what generates growth because a minimum wage law ... is not the way to do it."

Working full time, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year an employee making the federal minimum wage will earn $15,080 a year.  There are many estimates for middle class income, but absolutely none of them include $15,080.  Lower middle class income is commonly referenced at 32,500-60,000.  While coming way closer than Mitt Romney who placed middle class income at 200,000 dollars a year, republican senator Marco Rubio demonstrates not only his complete ignorance of the middle class in this country but also the working poor.  A single mother with one child working full time at minimum wage is below the poverty line, meaning she does not earn enough money to satisfy the basic needs of her family.   Senator your opposition to raising the minimum wage is that it won't help the middle class?  We agree, but we were discussing the working poor not the middle class. Raising the minimum wage won't help the middle class, the rich or climate change but would improve the lives of millions of  hardworking poor Americans who can't afford a bottle of water when they are thirsty. 

My niece Linda sent me this link to the Living Wage Calculator  which lists expenses and typical wages including the living wage for each geographical location in the United States.

OOPS: GOP Rep. Inadvertently Makes The Case For Nearly Doubling The Minimum Wage

  Related articles

• Marco Rubio: 'I don't think a minimum wage law works'
• Top Republicans Oppose Obama's Call To Raise The Minimum Wage
• Obama's proposal to raise the minimum wage collides immediately with usual Republican malarkey
• Sen. Marco Rubio Shockingly Tells CBS News This Morning: 'I Support People Making More Than $9′
• Marco Rubio says he opposes minimum wage laws. What about the other GOP 2016 hopefuls?
• Obama takes his pitch to the people after setting out ambitious agenda

Rubio's Doublespeak On The ACA

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

English: Official portrait of US Senator Marco Rubio of Florida. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

  “Well, I think it’s telling that a victory for the Obama administration means a middle class tax increase. It is now unlawful for you not to buy health insurance. And if you don’t buy it, you have an IRS problem. If you do not buy health insurance, the IRS is going to be on your back and chasing you. They are going to take away your refund, they’re going to increase your fees.”

First off Senator, you should know congress has cut IRS funding every year since 1990.  Today, the IRS budget is 1/3 what it was a decade ago, in spite of the fact that for every dollar of funding the IRS provides 4-5 dollars of revenue in recovered taxes.  It's estimated that every year the US loses 385 billion in revenue due to cheating on taxes, mostly by the wealthy.  That's almost 4 trillion over a decade!  The IRS simply does not have the resources to "chase after every American". 

In Massachusetts,  less than 1% of the population pays a penalty instead of purchasing health insurance.  Most Americans will gladly purchase healthcare if its affordable, and the ACA helps insure about 30 million more citizens.  Finally, a tax increase applies to tanning salons and cadillac healthcare plans,  99% of Americans won't face a tax hike, but the 1% will and the wealthy are making more noise whining about paying a few dollars in taxes than 30 million Americans soldiering on without any healthcare.