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How Would Marco Rubio Handle America’s Money? by Ray
From the news desk of Reach More Now in Fort Worth, Texas, this is Ray Mossholder and this Campaign 2016 with a question: How Would Marco Rubio Handle America’s Money?
One of those things that the national media seldom seems to mention is the handling of money problems that Marco Rubio has had to work out all his forty-four years. First, there’s the matter of the Republican Party credit card. Marco misspent a great deal of money from a hundred thousand dollars limit Republican Party credit card that he carried in his wallet. When asked about that during a Republican debate, his response sounded like Hillary Clinton would you about the Republicans. He said such claims were “discredited attacks from Democrats and my political opponents”. But are they? In this edition of Campaign 2016 we’re going to look to find out. I like Marco, but I want our next president to be honest, or as honest as possible, given the truth that everybody’s human – even presidents. (Even the statement attributed to George Washington – “I cannot tell a lie” is a lie!) And since the current president has spent more money than all other of our -three presidents COMBINED, and since the national debt is this minute more than 19 trillion dollars and keeps growing every second, knowing how to handle our nation’s finances is one of the absolute necessities for whoever becomes president next.
One thing the media in all forms does is take the kind of thing that I’m going to share with you now and hold it away from everyone until a party selects it’s official candidate – then all the scandals and damaging National Enquirer kind of news–mongering breaks out and the stories don’t even have to be true. It’s why you hear me say every once in awhile that most newspapers in America are not worth putting on the bottom of your birdcage. But, before all this is used to sink this candidates ship of state, let’s get the truth out now.
When Donald Trump said during one of the Republican debates that Marco Rubio is “a disaster with his credit cards”, the Donald wasn’t just whistling Dixie. Marco mixed his personal and business expenses during 2005 to 2008 on an American Express card. Under IRS rules, donations to political parties, which are tax exempt, can only go towards influencing elections.
Former Republican Party spokesman Katie Gordon explains “the card Marco Rubio was using is meant to be used for official business expenses only.” But Marco instead used the card for lavish dinners, repairs to his family minivan, and purchases from a wine store near his house. On the card was even a $6,773 charge for a family reunion in a Georgia resort.
When the Tampa Bay Times broke this story in 2010, Rubio countered with the statement “I was as diligent as possible to ensure the party did not pay for items that were unrelated to party business.” He said that he reviewed the credit card bill every month and paid for the expenses that he deemed personal. Marco told those who attended the family reunion that he was in trouble for the money he had used on the American Express card, and several members of the family sent checks that helped him cover most of the reunion expenses. The Republican Party still ended up paying $714 for the reunion.
During that time Rubio and his wife controlled two political committees that together collected $600,000. Again the Tampa paper pointed out that Rubio had failed to disclose $34,000 in expenses, that he paid family members for expenses that were incorrectly labeled, and that he spent very little on contributions to other candidates. Later it was discovered that as speaker in Florida, Rubio double billed the Republican Party and state taxpayers for eight airplane flights, which totaled about $2400. When the discrepancy was discovered and Rubio was contacted, he said it was a “mistake” and reimbursed the party.
In 2012, the Florida Commission on Ethics made a thorough investigation of Rubio’s use of his Florida GOP American Express card and finally cleared him of any wrongdoing. But one of the investigators noted that he still found Marco’s “negligence” in habitually being far less than careful with money that did not belong to him “disturbing”.
And we’re not done yet. Rubio actually owned two homes, and he had problems with both of them. In 2005, Mr. and Mrs. Rubio bought a home in West Miami for $550,000. An appraisal on the home was then valued at $735,000 – far above the purchase price. Close to a month later, the Rubio’s qualified for a $135,000 home-equity loan from U.S. Century Bank, a bank whose owner just happened to be a major Rubio supporter. In 2008, a Miami Herald reporter asked Marco why his home equity loan didn’t appear on his financial disclosure forms. Rubio quickly updated the forms.
Marco was a close friend of David Rivera, who was a Florida legislator. Together they bought a $135,000 home in Tallahassee, Florida, that they intended to live in during the Florida legislative session. The home came close to going into foreclosure during Rubio’s 2010 Senate race because they had failed to pay the mortgage for five months. Rivera settled the issue with a lump payment of $9,525. Both Rivera and Rubio claimed the delay had been made because of a disagreement they had had with the mortgage company.
Rivera and Rubio have parted company since Rivera was fined $58,000 in a Florida ethics investigation that Rubio was not involved in. They ended up selling the house they had purchased together. It sold for $117,000, which meant they lost $18,000 on the sale.
And we are not done yet. In September 2014, Marco sold six of his retirement funds for $68,000. The New York Times reported those sales most likely cost Rubio about $24,000 in taxes and penalties. But Rubio’s financial situation has improved in recent years, a lot of that having to do with the sale of the two books he’s written. He paid off his student loans shortly after becoming a senator with the money he earned from his book An American Son.
According to his financial disclosures, shortly after he was elected to the Florida Legislature in 2000, he had $150,000 in student loan debt and he owed $30,000 in other debts, which gave him a net worth of zero. But after writing his first book he was given an $800,000 advance from the publisher which he used in part to pay off those debts.
In his own defense, Marco Rubio says he knows he’s made financial mistakes, ranging from sloppy bookkeeping to accidentally using the wrong credit card. But anytime any part of what I’ve shared with you right now is brought up, Rubio calls it a political smear.
I hope you know by now that I don’t take part in smearing anyone. But I believe every voter in America who hopes to select our next president, should be extremely clear about who they are voting for.
Donald Trump and Marco Rubio continue to call Ted Cruz a liar. Is he? I’ll answer that in the next Campaign 2016.
How Would Marco Rubio Handle America’s Money? by Ray
How Would Marco Rubio Handle America"s Money? by Ray
