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Published On: Wed, Nov 11th, 2015

Marco Rubio waves his ‘neocon’ flag at debate

An interesting exchange occurred at last night’s Republican debate contrasting two very different views on spending and foreign affairs between Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul.

Marco Rubio caricature cartoon

Caricature by donkeyhotey, donkeyhotey.wordpress.com

When asked about his large and expensive expansion of child tax credits in his tax plan, which the Tax Foundation says will cost as much as $170 billion a year, Mr Rubio said, “I have a child tax credit increase, and I’m proud of it. I am proud that I have a pro-family tax code, because the pro- family tax plan I have will strengthen the most important institution in the — in the country, the family.”

This prompted Dr Paul to chime in and his comments led to some interesting revelations.

“A point that I’d like to make about the tax credits.

“We have to decide what is conservative and what isn’t conservative. Is it fiscally conservative to have a trillion-dollar expenditure? We’re not talking about giving people back their tax money. He’s talking about giving people money they didn’t pay. It’s a welfare transfer payment.

“So here’s what we have. Is it conservative to have $1 trillion in transfer payments — a new welfare program that’s a refundable tax credit? Add that to Marco’s plan for $1 trillion in new military spending, and you get something that looks, to me, not very conservative. Thank you.”

Rubio then said it was the people’s money and compared investing in a piece of equipment to investing in our kids: “Everyone pays payroll tax. This is their money. This is not our money. And here’s what I don’t understand — if you invest that money in a piece of equipment, if you invest that money in a business, you get to write it off your taxes.

“But if you invest it in your children, in the future of America and strengthening your family, we’re not going to recognize that in our tax code?”

No where did Rubio explain or did the moderators ask him how he’s going to pay for it.

The debate then went to the next level where Rubio sounded like any neoconservative (Bill Kristol, Lindsey Graham or Dick Cheney) as he responded to Paul’s criticism of Rubio’s plan for $1 trillion in new military spending:

Rubio: I know that Rand is a committed isolationist. I’m not. I believe the world is a stronger and a better place, when the United States is the strongest military power in the world.

Paul: Yeah, but, Marco! Marco! How is it conservative, how is it conservative to add a trillion-dollar expenditure for the federal government that you’re not paying for?

Paul: How is it conservative?

Rubio: …are you talking about the military, Rand?

Paul: How is it conservative to add a trillion dollars in military expenditures? You can not be a conservative if you’re going to keep promoting new programs that you’re not going to pay for.

Rubio: We can’t even have an economy if we’re not safe. There are radical jihadist in the Middle East beheading people and crucifying Christians. A radical Shia cleric in Iran trying to get a nuclear weapon, the Chinese taking over the South China Sea…

Rubio: …Yes, I believe the world is a safer — no, no, I don’t believe, I know that the world is a safer place when America is the strongest military power in the world.

Paul: No. I don’t think we’re any safer — I do not think we are any safer from bankruptcy court. As we go further, and further into debt, we become less, and less safe. This is the most important thing we’re going to talk about tonight. Can you be a conservative, and be liberal on military spending? Can you be for unlimited military spending, and say, Oh, I’m going to make the country safe? No, we need a safe country, but, you know, we spend more on our military than the next ten countries combined?

Related: Rubio is not quite as conservative as he claims to be

I want a strong national defense, but I don’t want us to be bankrupt.

Again, Mr Rubio did not explain, nor did the moderators ask him to explain how he was going to pay for the $1 trillion in military expenditures.

The Republican Party audience in the building loved what they heard, not surprisingly.

Senator Rubio fulfilled a number of criteria of neoconservatism: The ends justify the means, expressing little opposition to the welfare state and endless spending and clear about his support of an American Empire.

Related: Florida Senate Debate at USF: Rubio shows his neocon ways, Meek tells the world why Crist is an independent

He also thought that giving Dr Paul the erroneous label of isolationist would be cute, as you could tell by his smile, which someone once described as a cross between a barracuda and a choir boy, after making the statement.

An isolationist? Several of the pro-war candidates on the stage were very clear about not wanting to Russian President Vladimir Putin…isn’t that isolationist?

Mr. Rubio should explain to the American people several things honestly about things he supports:

  1. How does he plan to pay for the massive amount of money required to do all the things he wants to do?
  2. Is he willing to shoot down Russian planes in Iraq if they were to do what he wants–implement a no-fly zone– and the implications for the military and the country in a potential far reaching war with Russia?
  3. He talked about issues in the Middle East, China in the Spratly Islands and other geographies. Tell the American people how many troops are you going to commit to Iraq, Syria, the South China sea, etc.

Mr Rubio clearly pleased his masters Sheldon, Kristol, Cheney, et al.

Robert Herriman is a microbiologist and the Editor-in-Chief of Outbreak News Today and the Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch

Follow @bactiman63

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About the Author

- Writer, Co-Founder and Executive Editor of The Global Dispatch. Robert has been covering news in the areas of health, world news and politics for a variety of online news sources. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the website, Outbreak News Today and hosts the podcast, Outbreak News Interviews on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify Robert is politically Independent and a born again Christian Follow @bactiman63

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  1. Ted Cruz: Does he believe in bailouts or not? - The Global Dispatch says:

    […] Marco Rubio waves his 'neocon' flag at debate […]

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