Marco Rubio's stunning gains against Charlie Crist in the Republican Senate primary largely stems from the Tea Party movement, whose main focus over the past year has been to defeat the Democrat's health-care reform efforts. Well, it passed yesterday, so what's a politician like Rubio to do? Well, he's starting a petition to recall it, of course.
"Yesterday's vote puts our great nation on a path away from the limited government principles that have made America exceptional," said Rubio. "Earlier this year, I pledged to support legislation to repeal any federal health care takeover that eventually passed. I reiterate my strong support for repealing it when I get to Washington and offering alternative reforms to make health care more accessible and affordable.Of course, the "petition" on his website isn't so much a petition as it is a signup for his email list, and what he wants to replace it with could also set the stage for a government takeover of health care anyway.
"Kendrick Meek was wrong to vote for this policy, and Charlie Crist was wrong to believe it should not have been scrapped weeks ago," added Rubio. "I urge Floridians to join me in supporting the repeal of this flawed plan. We cannot allow this debate to end now, and today I renew my pledge to undo this legislation and start over with common sense health care reforms."
We signed the petition out of curiosity. We got an email in return asking to confirm our subscription to the "Marco Rubio for Senate" mailing list. This isn't so much a petition to do anything as it is a way for the campaign to collect information to send out campaign and fund-raising material. No mention is made of who exactly this petition will be sent to besides Rubio's campaign team.
Rubio was on Local 10 this weekend and said he's in favor of the Republican-penned Coburn-Ryan bill.
The libertarian Cato Institute says the bill would still set the stage for a government takeover of health care, while adding new layers of bureaucracy.
The Democratic-funded CBPP says the bill would threaten employer-based coverage while not providing much of an alternative for those who don't receive insurance through their employers.
