Senator Rubio is a young Senator. He needs to make it more and more clear when he votes it is based in fact, not populous opinion. It is sound governing practice that will carry his career forward, not populous rhetoric which in time will prove to remove confidence in his ability with voters. I would hope all legislators would want to be considered to be Great Americans, however, what is proving to be more true is the willingness to be elected for their personal wealth.
Senator Rubio should set himself apart from those carrying rhetoric as their way of being popular in the next election and stand on his accomplishments instead.
Senator Rubio needs to lead and not follow. Rhetorical stands are touted by followers and not leaders.
Senator Rubio should set himself apart from those carrying rhetoric as their way of being popular in the next election and stand on his accomplishments instead.
Senator Rubio needs to lead and not follow. Rhetorical stands are touted by followers and not leaders.
Jason Easley
April 13, 2013
Sen. Marco Rubio’s approval rating (click here) is six points lower with Hispanics than George W. Bush’s, so the Republican Party thinks it is a great idea to put him on all 5 Sunday shows.
The Republican “rebrand” strategy is centered around making Sen. Marco Rubio the face of immigration reform. The problem is that Hispanics aren’t flocking to the Florida Republican. A new poll from NBC News/WSJ/Telemundo found that despite months of efforts to elevate Rubio, the senator’s approval rating with Hispanics is 23%. Twenty five percent of those polled were neutral, 12% had a negative opinion, and 40% didn’t know him. On the surface, these numbers don’t seem all that bad. The fact that Rubio is a relative unknown could provide upside for his approval.
Republicans might be feeling good about Rubio if the same poll didn’t reveal that George W. Bush’s approval rating with Hispanics is six points higher (29%) than Marco Rubio’s (23%). President Obama’s approval rating with Hispanics is almost three times larger than Rubio’s (64%), but not even the president can match potential 2016 candidate Hillary Clinton’s approval rating of 65%....
Rubio needs to move away from the Republican rhetoric and do what is best for the country. His resistance to vote in effective Immigration Reform is a problem for him. He should not be so worried about what the US House will do, he needs to worry about his own commitment to improving the lives of people longing to be productive members of our country.
May 31, 2013
...The lack of enthusiasm (click here) from Republicans about a McDonnell campaign shows through in numbers that find he is only the fourth choice of primary voters in the state to be their next national standard bearer. 17% support Marco Rubio with Chris Christie at 15% and Jeb Bush at 14% also coming in ahead of McDonnell's 12%. After that it's Rand Paul at 10%, Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan at 8%, Bobby Jindal at 3%, and Rick Santorum at 2%....
Border fences don't work. They have never worked. There is only one thing that stops Mexican citizens or those from anywhere in Latin America, from coming to the USA and that is better quality of life in their homelands. Mexico is proving that to be true. If there are less people crossing the USA southern border is it because they are finding less reason to go north, so much as work at home where their families live.
McAllen, Texas
By Scott Nicol
February 27, 2011
...Nearly 650 miles of solid border wall have already been built, at a cost of $2.6 billion, plus millions more for upkeep and repairs. Unlike the virtual fence, which was scrutinized for a year before being shut down, a recent Government Accountability Office report found that "CBP [Customs and Border Protection] has not assessed the effect of [physical] fencing on border security."...Last month, the Obama administration (click here) finally pulled the plug on the "virtual fence" that was supposed to line the border between the United States and Mexico with cameras and radar towers. After sinking more than $1 billion into the scheme, the Department of Homeland Securitydetermined that it was a complete failure. Mark Borkowski, executive director of the electronic fence program at DHS, summed it up by saying, "It was a great idea, but it didn't work."...
The cost is incredibly ridiculous. This is the cost of a SINGLE line of fence. San Diego claims their fence is effective to 95% effective, however, San Diego has three, COUNT THEM THREE, lines of fence with the second one five feet higher than the first and the third is bent at the top to make it more difficult to climb. All that San Diego's experience proves is that if a state spends enough they will stem the flow of people that cross at that point of the fence. It doesn't mean they have stopped crossing, it only proves they don't cross as frequently at San Diego.
Rubio needs to move away from the Republican rhetoric and do what is best for the country. His resistance to vote in effective Immigration Reform is a problem for him. He should not be so worried about what the US House will do, he needs to worry about his own commitment to improving the lives of people longing to be productive members of our country.
May 31, 2013
...The lack of enthusiasm (click here) from Republicans about a McDonnell campaign shows through in numbers that find he is only the fourth choice of primary voters in the state to be their next national standard bearer. 17% support Marco Rubio with Chris Christie at 15% and Jeb Bush at 14% also coming in ahead of McDonnell's 12%. After that it's Rand Paul at 10%, Ted Cruz and Paul Ryan at 8%, Bobby Jindal at 3%, and Rick Santorum at 2%....
Border fences don't work. They have never worked. There is only one thing that stops Mexican citizens or those from anywhere in Latin America, from coming to the USA and that is better quality of life in their homelands. Mexico is proving that to be true. If there are less people crossing the USA southern border is it because they are finding less reason to go north, so much as work at home where their families live.
McAllen, Texas
By Scott Nicol
February 27, 2011
...Nearly 650 miles of solid border wall have already been built, at a cost of $2.6 billion, plus millions more for upkeep and repairs. Unlike the virtual fence, which was scrutinized for a year before being shut down, a recent Government Accountability Office report found that "CBP [Customs and Border Protection] has not assessed the effect of [physical] fencing on border security."...Last month, the Obama administration (click here) finally pulled the plug on the "virtual fence" that was supposed to line the border between the United States and Mexico with cameras and radar towers. After sinking more than $1 billion into the scheme, the Department of Homeland Securitydetermined that it was a complete failure. Mark Borkowski, executive director of the electronic fence program at DHS, summed it up by saying, "It was a great idea, but it didn't work."...
The cost is incredibly ridiculous. This is the cost of a SINGLE line of fence. San Diego claims their fence is effective to 95% effective, however, San Diego has three, COUNT THEM THREE, lines of fence with the second one five feet higher than the first and the third is bent at the top to make it more difficult to climb. All that San Diego's experience proves is that if a state spends enough they will stem the flow of people that cross at that point of the fence. It doesn't mean they have stopped crossing, it only proves they don't cross as frequently at San Diego.
By JULIA PRESTON
Published: October 19, 2011
...In 2009, the Congressional Search Service (click here) reported that the Department of Homeland Security had spent roughly up to $21 million per mile to build a primary fence near San Diego. The cost had ballooned as the fence extended into hills and gullies along the line.
The same year, Customs and Border Protection estimated costs of building an additional 3.5 miles of fence near San Diego at $16 million per mile. Even this lower figure would yield a rough projection of $22.4 billion for a single fence across the 1,400 miles remaining today.
These estimates do not include the costs of acquiring land, nor the expense of maintaining a fence that is exposed to constant efforts by illegal crossers to bore through it or under it or to bring it down. In March, Customs and Border Protection estimated it would cost $6.5 billion “to deploy, operate and maintain” the existing border fencing over an expected maximum lifetime of 20 years. The agency reported repairing 4,037 breaches in 2010 alone....
It doesn't matter that scary rhetoric sounds good to angry constituents, what matters are the facts. The fact currently reflect there are less people crossing the border. There are several reasons for that, including the fact, the Obama administration has deported more persons than any other administration before them.
FACT, no matter how many people the USA sends back or how high it makes the fence or how redundant the number of fences are to prevent crossings, it will never stop drug cartels. The drug cartels use submarines and half submarines to carry their illegal merchandise to the USA. The only country in North America that can afford their addictions to the extent there are those addicted. See, Canada has effective drug recovery programs. Government programs.
Senator Rubio should not dodge the issue, but, take it head on. People welcome to become citizens in the USA have been denied their 'belonging' for a long time, it is time to open the door and let them in. Going through a process will take long enough, but, to pin their hopes on a border fence is more than silly. If the fence never passes some arbitrary idea of performance, they will have spent their lives without opportunity. That is a betrayal. People should not be taken advantage of, so much as guaranteed rights by legislation passed by the federal government.
If these folks are required to wait in line, pay taxes, pay penalties and have satisfied any reasonable demand, but, the border fence doesn't yet work; it isn't their problem, it is the problem of the USA and whether or not there is enough funding for border patrol agents and/or maintenance of the fence. That is tragic and unconscionable. Take a stand and stop having a rubber backbone, Marco!
It doesn't matter that scary rhetoric sounds good to angry constituents, what matters are the facts. The fact currently reflect there are less people crossing the border. There are several reasons for that, including the fact, the Obama administration has deported more persons than any other administration before them.
FACT, no matter how many people the USA sends back or how high it makes the fence or how redundant the number of fences are to prevent crossings, it will never stop drug cartels. The drug cartels use submarines and half submarines to carry their illegal merchandise to the USA. The only country in North America that can afford their addictions to the extent there are those addicted. See, Canada has effective drug recovery programs. Government programs.
Senator Rubio should not dodge the issue, but, take it head on. People welcome to become citizens in the USA have been denied their 'belonging' for a long time, it is time to open the door and let them in. Going through a process will take long enough, but, to pin their hopes on a border fence is more than silly. If the fence never passes some arbitrary idea of performance, they will have spent their lives without opportunity. That is a betrayal. People should not be taken advantage of, so much as guaranteed rights by legislation passed by the federal government.
If these folks are required to wait in line, pay taxes, pay penalties and have satisfied any reasonable demand, but, the border fence doesn't yet work; it isn't their problem, it is the problem of the USA and whether or not there is enough funding for border patrol agents and/or maintenance of the fence. That is tragic and unconscionable. Take a stand and stop having a rubber backbone, Marco!
