Dubious Rubio's Bogus War on Poverty

I don't expect Sen. Marco Rubio to actually submit a bill for his laughable war on poverty. Rubio's big idea to end poverty is to turn anti-poverty programs ovrr to the states. That would result in less funding for anti-poverty programs. The Florida legislature hasn't expanded Medicaid and Gov. Rick Scott hasn't fixed the state's unemployment website. You think Scott and the legislature are going to commit significant resources to fighting poverty? That doesn't pass the laugh test.

Rubio's anti-poverty plan doesn't actually lift people out of poverty.

Replacing the earned income tax credit with a federal wage enhancement for qualifying low-wage jobs. "This would allow an unemployed individual to take a job that pays, say, $18,000 a year –which on its own is not enough to make ends meet – but then receive a federal enhancement to make the job a more enticing alternative to collecting unemployment insurance," Rubio's office said.

The income tax credit is a tax break for low income workers for low income families. Rubio is essentially eliminating a tax cut for poor people. This is the same Rubio who was against an extension of the payroll tax cut. However, Rubio went ballistic, on the Senate floor, when President Barack Obama proposed eliminating the tax loophole on corporate jets.

“It’s class warfare, and it’s the kind of language you would expect from a leader of a third-world country, not the President of the United States.”

Rubio would have the American people believe that ensing the tax loophole on corporate jets is going to make the United States in Somalia.

Rubio voted against the Gulf Restoration Act and Hurricane Sandy Relief. Rubio votes against people effected by disaster. However, Rubio will defend corporate tax breaks for company jets.

Rubio's own anti-poverty would not raise the minimum wage. Rubio voted against the Senate bill to raise the minimum wage. Rubio claimed he voted against Janet Yellen's nomination because of concerns over inflation. If Rubio was really concerned about inflation he would support raising the minimum wage. Wages aren't keeping up with cost of living expenses.

Rubio's policies would only increase income inequality.

Update: Heritage Foundation Scholar Robert Rector trashes Rubio's anti-poverty program. Rector makes a point on the conservative side that I did on the liberal side. Having the federal government give money to states and let the states set up their own programs would lead to horrible anti-poverty programs with no oversight. Rector worries that states won't set up work programs. He is probably right.

Like I wrote, Rector points out that Rubio's wage tax subsidy doesn't lift the poor out of poverty. It occurred to me that the wage tax subsidy makes no sense from a conservative prospective. Rubio is creating a new tax subsidy that must ve paid for by taxpayers. It would be wiser from a conservative policy prospective to raise the minimum wage. That way workers can spend their money in the free market and no new tax would be created. Yet Rubio is determined not to raise the minimum wage. Rubio's stance on not raising the minimum wage with hia inflation hawk stance.

Update: According the Associated Press Rubio believes people seek unemployment because they don't feel like working. What bubble was Rubio living in when the Great Recession caused double digit unemployment? It wouldn't surprise me that Rubio thinks that these unemployed people decided to take a tax paid vacation after Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy.

On Jim DeFede's radio show, Rubio once said that the working class live off "other people's leftover money. That gives you an idea of what Rubio thinks of working people.