Marco Rubio talks a lot about fiscal responsibility and his ideas to save the economy. He also talks a lot about the national debt and ways to balance the budget. So you'd think the guy would have his own finances in order. Not true. Today, The Wall Street Journal singles Rubio out as one of the candidates across the nation who is in "epic" personal financial trouble. Rubio seems to be in hundreds of thousands of dollars of personal debt. Of course, according to a former supporter he won't have to pay off his kitchen floors. He charged that to his RPOF credit card.
Democrats count a dozen Republican candidates in financial trouble, some of it epic. In June, Florida GOP Senate nominee Marco Rubio staved off foreclosure proceedings on a home he co-owned with another Republican, David Rivera, who is running for the House in South Florida. But the campaign acknowledged Mr. Rubio still carries a pile of debt on two homes, a home equity line of credit, a car loan and more than $150,000 in student loans.Naked Politics also points out, "More than $900,000 in home, car and student loans deflated his net worth to $8,332 in November 2008 when he left public office, according to his state financial disclosure form."
Egads, that's a lot of debt!
Rubio, unlike his opponent Kendrick Meek and Charlie Crist, has not released certain personal financial details, so the exact amount of his personal debt is unknown. Then again, since he left public office his finances may have improved. He did take that $69,000-a-year unadvertised job at FIU after securing benefits for the school as House Speaker. He also had a $102,000-a-year gig at Miami Children's Hospital.
Even while in the legislature he had a lucritive job at a law firm, that once paid him $1.2 million in his first year.
Though, apparently the guy couldn't pay for his own kitchen flooring. A former supporter says he made a $4,000 to $5,000 charge to his RPOF credit card for home remodeling.
From The Tampa Tribune:
According to that supporter, Tampa political consultant Chris Ingram, Rubio initially told Ingram he had paid for the costs - about $4,000 to $5,000 for new kitchen flooring - but later denied both putting the charges on the card and repaying them.
Ingram said he discussed the credit card issue with Rubio in August or September of 2009...
In a statement from a campaign aide, Rubio didn't respond directly to Ingram's account, but didn't deny Ingram's contention about the remodeling expenses. The statement attributed Ingram's account to political motives from someone who's now a Rubio opponent.
