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LGBT

Rubio: I Don’t ‘Pass Judgment’ On The ‘Sin’ Of Homosexuality (Except When I Do)

By Josh Israel on Dec 5, 2012 at 10:50 am

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL)

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who has called for the Republican Party to be more inclusive of minorities, said Wednesday that while his faith teaches homosexuality is a sin, he does not judge sinners. But his record on LGBT rights stands in stark contrast to this words.

Speaking to Politico’s Mike Allen, Rubio sought to adopt what he must have viewed as a moderate position on LGBT equality:

ALLEN: Is homosexuality a sin?

RUBIO: Well, I can tell you what faith teaches and faith teaches that it is. And that’s what the Bible teaches and that’s what faith teaches. But it also teaches that there area bunch of other sins that are no less. For example, it teaches that lying is a sin. It teaches that disrespecting your parents is a sin. It teaches that stealing is a sin. It teaches that coveting your neighbor and what your neighbor has is a sin. So there isn’t a person in this room that isn’t guilty of sin. So, I don’t go around pointing fingers in that regard. I’m responsible for my salvation and I’m responsible for my family’s, and for inculcating in my family what our faith teaches, and they’ll become adults and decide how they want to apply that in life. As a policy maker, I could just tell you that I’m informed by my faith. And my faith informs me in who I am as a person — but not as a way to pass judgment on people.

Watch the video:

While these may indeed be Rubio’s deeply held beliefs, his suggestion that as a policy maker he does not “pass judgment” is not backed up by his deeds. Rubio opposed allowing same-sex couples in Florida to adopt children. He opposed allowing gay and lesbian members of the Armed Services to serve openly. He opposes making it illegal to fire someone just for being LGBT.

Worse than his rigid opposition to legal recognition for same-sex couples, he recorded a robocall for the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) last month. His message was part of an unsuccessful $500,000 campaign by the anti-LGBT group to encourage voters to oppose pro-equality candidates and ballot initiatives in the November elections. Despite Rubio’s efforts, voters rejected NOM’s positions in every single race and all four ballot questions.

Election

Marco Rubio Clarifies The Earth’s Age: It’s ‘At Least 4.5 Billion Years Old’

By Igor Volsky on Dec 5, 2012 at 9:28 am

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) turned heads last month when he told GQ Magazine that he didn’t know the age of the earth and sparked speculation that he is laying a foundation for a 2016 presidential run. “I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries,” he insisted.

But on Wednesday Rubio walked back his remarks, telling Politico’s Mike Allen that he could have given a “better answer, a more succinct answer.” The Florida senator said he recognized that scientists agree that the earth is at least 4.5 billion years old and explained that this belief is not inconsistent with his faith. He also claimed that his answer is similar to how then-presidential candidate Barack Obama replied to the question in 2007. Here is Rubio:

RUBIO: There is no scientific debate on the age of the earth. I mean, it’s established pretty definitively, it’s at least 4.5 billion years old. I was referring to a theological debate, which is a pretty health debate. And the theological debate is … how do you reconcile with what science has definitively established with what you may think your faith teaches. Now for me, actually, when it comes to the age of the earth, there is no conflict. I believe that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And I think that scientific advances have given us insight into when he did it and how he did it, but I still believe God did it…. I just think in America we should have the freedom to teach our children whatever it is we believe. And that means teaching them science, they have to know the science, but also parents have the right to teach them the theology and to reconcile the two things.

Watch it:

“My faith teaches that [the earth being 4.5 billion years old] is not inconsistant. God created the universe. In the beginning, out of nothing, God created heavens and the earth,” he said. “The more science learns, the more I’m convinced that God is real.”

Climate Progress

GOP 2016: Science Committee Member Marco ‘Not A Scientist’ Rubio Says Age Of Earth Is ‘One Of The Great Mysteries’

By Joe Romm on Nov 21, 2012 at 12:32 pm

The leading contenders for the GOP presidential nomination are already jockeying for title of ‘most anti-scientific’.

The title of most ironic anti-scientist goes to Florida Senator Marco Rubio, who proudly displayed his anti-intellectualism in a new GQ interview:

GQ: How old do you think the Earth is?

Marco Rubio: I’m not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I’m not a scientist. I don’t think I’m qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.

Uhh, Sen. Rubio, may not be a scientist but he is a member of the Senate’s Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee. And presumably because he’s from Florida, home of the Kennedy Space Center, Rubio is actually on the Science and Space Subcommittee (!) which “has responsibility for science, engineering, and technology research and development and policy; calibration and measurement standards; and civilian aeronautical and space science and policy.”

The painful irony is that it is science and space science and NASA that have provided us with an accurate dating of the Earth – 4.54 ± 0.05 billion years:

This age is based on evidence from radiometric age dating of meteorite material and is consistent with the ages of the oldest-known terrestrial and lunar samples.

Ah but I guess Rubio believes that kind of complicated sciency stuff is best left to scientists, not the people who oversee them and fund them. After all,  there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created — and we should “teach them all,” including “The World Turtle (also referred to as the Cosmic Turtle, the World-bearing Turtle, or the Divine Turtle),” which is “a giant turtle (or tortoise) supporting or containing the world.” And as I’m sure you know, this theory is entirely self consistent, hence the dictum “It’s turtles all the way down.”

For the record, while people can believe whatever they want, teaching them whatever someone happens to believe is not the path to a competitive 21st-century workforce — so it isn’t irrelevant to how our economy will grow as Rubio suggetss. The National Center for Science Education posted this statement on creationism from “scientists at universities and colleges in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana”:

Students who accept this material as scientifically valid are unlikely to succeed in science courses at the college level. These students will need remedial instruction in the nature of science, as well as in the specific areas of science misrepresented by Answers in Genesis.

Rubio naturally denies the reality of manmade climate change, too – if you reject the basic, universally-accepted stuff like radiometric dating, you’re gonna have trouble acknowledging things that are accepted by only 97% to 98% of climate scientists.

TPM has more in its piece, “Creationism Controversies The Norm Among Potential Republican 2016 Contenders.”

Election

Marco Rubio Flirts With Creationism, Says He’s Unsure How Old The Earth Is

By Zack Beauchamp on Nov 19, 2012 at 10:16 am

Scientists agree: the Earth is about 4.5 billion years old. But don’t tell that to Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) — he thinks the age of the Earth can be discovered by studying the Bible.

In an interview with GQ magazine, Rubio suggested that the age of the Earth was “a dispute among theologians” and that there is no way to know the truth about the age of the Earth:

GQ: How old do you think the Earth is?

RUBIO: I’m not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that’s a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I’m not a scientist. I don’t think I’m qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I’m not sure we’ll ever be able to answer that. It’s one of the great mysteries.

The age of the Earth isn’t much of a mystery to scientists, who use methods like radiometric dating to determine how old the Earth is with relative precision. To suggest we can’t know how old the Earth is, then, is to deny the validity of these scientific methods altogether — a maneuver familiar to Rubio, who also denies the reality of anthropogenic climate change.

Rubio isn’t the only figure in his party to challenge the scientific approach to the age of the Earth. Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) said “I don’t have any idea” how old the Earth is, while former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR) suggested “we just don’t know.”

Update

Rubio may not think that he’s a scientist, but he is a member of the Senate’s Commerce, Science, & Transportation Committee.

Election

Republicans Abandon Romney in Droves After ‘Gifts’ Comments

By Hayes Brown on Nov 18, 2012 at 12:32 pm

Mitt Romney’s comments to donors about the “gifts” that President Barack Obama gave to constituents to win the election continue to cause members of his party to run away from the former candidate. Despite their insistence during the election that Romney’s position on entitlement in America was accurate, the new consensus among the GOP politicians, if not their pundits, is that Romney’s statements could not be more wrong.

After several prominent Republican governors expressed their disagreement with Romney’s statements, the hits have continued coming. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, considered at one point by the Romney campaign as a possible running mate, said on Friday, “You can’t expect to be a leader of all the people and be divisive. You have to talk about themes, policies that unite people, and play to their aspirations and their goals and their hopes for their family and their neighbors.”

Tim Pawlenty, former Minnesota governor and another potential running mate for Romney, though silent on Romney’s 47% comments, likewise shot-down Romney’s “gifts” theory.

Those who didn’t outright disagree with Romney’s words disagreed with his message. Appearing on Meet the Press on Sunday, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) stated that it wasn’t his intention to vilify those who are beneficiaries of public assistance programs:

People can be on public assistance and scheme the system and that’s real, these systems are teetering on bankruptcy. But most people on public assistance don’t have a character flaw. They just have a tough life. I want to create more jobs. The focus should be on creating more jobs, not demonize those who find themselves on hard times.

Meanwhile, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) gave an interview highlighting his issues with Romney’s belief. “I don’t want to rebut him point by point. I would just say to you, I don’t believe that we have millions and millions of people in this country that don’t want to work,” Rubio said. “I think we have millions of people in this country that are out of work and are dependent on the government because they can’t find a job.”

New Mexico governor Susana Martinez (R) and top Romney surrogate to the Hispanic community Carlos Guiterrez have also joined in the chorus disparaging Romney’s statements and calling for more inclusiveness in the Republican party. It’s unfortunate that this many Republican politicians seem to have discovered the divisiveness of their party’s policies towards minorities and the working class only after a massive loss to President Obama.

Update

Newt Gingrich also dismissed the remarks during an appearance on ABC’s This Week. “I just think it’s nuts,” he said. “I mean, first of all, it’s insulting.” “The job of a political leader in part is to understand the people. If we can’t offer a better future that is believable to more people, we’re not going to win.”

Justice

Why The GOP’s DREAM Act Alternative Falls Short Of Real Immigration Reform

By Amanda Peterson Beadle on Nov 16, 2012 at 9:40 am

Following a presidential election in which Latino voters overwhelmingly voted to re-elect President Obama, lawmakers have had a renewed interest in reaching a comprehensive immigration plan. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said he is “confident that the president, myself, others can find the common ground to take care of this issue once and for all,” and even conservative radio host Sean Hannity said he now supports a “pathway to citizenship.”

The Daily Caller published early details of the GOP’s proposal: the ACHIEVE Act, a GOP-backed alternative to the DREAM Act that Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) office says is based on “a working draft of what Sen. Rubio began working on over the summer.” Rubio had floated the idea of a Republican alternative to the DREAM Act last spring but dropped his plan after Obama announced his directive to provide deportation deferrals for young undocumented immigrants.

The ACHIEVE Act that is reportedly being floated by congressional Republicans is little more than a watered-down version of the 10-year-old DREAM Act without a clear path to citizenship:

Essentially, the proposal involves several tiers: W-1 visa status would allow an immigrant to attend college or serve in the military (they have six years to get a degree). After doing so, they would be eligible to apply for a four-year nonimmigrant work visa (also can be used for graduate degrees.)

Next, applicants would be eligible to apply for a permanent visa (no welfare benefits.) Finally, after a set number of years, citizenship “could follow…”

This complicated measure would add several more hoops that undocumented immigrants would have to jump through before they could possibly qualify for citizenship in an undetermined number of years rather than providing a straightforward plan to help the largest number of DREAMers. Each year, about 65,000 undocumented immigrants graduate from high school in the U.S. with uncertain futures because of their legal status, and Rubio’s proposal would do little to offer them certainty.

Even though Rubio said Thursday that he thinks Congress first should pass some version of the DREAM Act to help young undocumented immigrants who want to go to college or serve in the military before considering comprehensive, a wide majority of Americans say they want Congress to come up with an immigration reform plan that includes a clear path to citizenship. The ACHIEVE Act would not accomplish this.

Instead of debating weaker versions of the DREAM Act that would limit the number of the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S., Republicans would support the original bipartisan DREAM Act plan if they were serious about offering a path to citizenship for undocumented students. The immigration measure could add $329 billion and 1.4 million jobs to the U.S. economy by 2030.

But even better than the DREAM Act, though, would be for Congress to craft an immigration reform measure that would offer a path to citizenship that includes all undocumented immigrants, not a small portion of the population.

Economy

GOP Senator Claims Tax Hikes For The Rich Will ‘Wipe Out Some Small Businesses’

By Aviva Shen on Nov 15, 2012 at 1:05 pm

Soon after President Obama affirmed his intention to let the Bush tax cuts on income in excess of $250,000 expire at the end of the year, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) warned that raising taxes on the wealthiest members of society would “wipe out some small businesses.” At the Atlantic Washington Ideas Forum on Thursday, Rubio acknowledged that Obama’s plan would lower the deficit by 7.7 percent every year, but argued that small businesses were somehow in danger:

The question becomes what problem are you solving and are you willing — are you prepared — to wipe out some small businesses in exchange for seven and a half percent of deficit reduction potentially? I think that’s a bad trade off.

Studies show the Bush tax cuts for the rich do practically nothing for economic growth, and in fact sharpen income inequality. Only 3 percent of small businesses would be affected by the expiration, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation. In fact, small businesses grew twice as fast under the old Clinton tax rates as they did under Bush.

While Rubio may not want to believe these studies, small business owners do; according to a recent poll, 57 percent of small business owners think that raising taxes on the wealthy would do less harm to the economy than spending cuts that would impact education, job training, and infrastructure investment.

Rubio also argued that the tax hike would be pointless, as millionaires and billionaires could simply game the system and “hire the best lawyers, lobbyists and accountants in America to figure out how not to pay those higher rates.” Despite widespread support for tax increases on the wealthy, Republicans are attempting to tie an extension of the Bush tax cuts to a deal to avoid the so-called “fiscal cliff” in early 2013.

Security

GOP Senators Don’t Back McCain’s Plan To ‘Block’ Susan Rice’s Potential Nomination As Secretary Of State

By Hamed Aleaziz on Nov 15, 2012 at 11:43 am

Yesterday, Republican Senators John McCain (AZ) and Lindsey Graham (SC) said they would block the potential nomination of current U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice for Secretary of State. But not all of McCain and Graham’s Republican colleagues agree. Today Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that he will not “pre-judge” Rice if President Obama nominates her for Secretary of State. Rubio added that “you can’t go in with your mind made up” on the nomination. Rubio’s moderate approach resembles that of other GOP members like Sen. Jim Risch (R-ID), who echoed Rubio, saying that he’d like to wait “before I jump” and that he’d like to “do more examination.” And Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV) said on CNN today that he does “not blame” Rice for her comments on Sept. 16 that an anti-Islam film may have played a role in the attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

Yesterday, McCain cited interviews in which Rice relayed information given to her by intelligence officials after the Benghazi attack and said that the ambassador “should have known better” and is “not qualified.” McCain also said that he will “do everything in my power to block her.” Yesterday, McCain and Graham held a press conference, along with Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), to make similar points.

In reality, McCain and Graham’s comments are inaccurate. David Ignatius of the Washington Post wrote that the CIA report from the day Susan Rice appeared on morning talk shows on Sept. 16 said, “The currently available information suggests that the demonstrations in Benghazi were spontaneously inspired by the protests at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo…There are indications that extremists participated in the violent demonstrations.” The day after her first round of interviews, Rice said that she would wait until an investigation was complete and that “we don’t want to jump to conclusions before then.”

Here is Heck’s conversation with CNN’s Soledad O’Brien this morning:

Update

It looks like Senators Bob Corker (R-TN) and Rand Paul (R-KY) also disagree with McCain and Graham on this issue. Corker said yesterday that “you have to give someone a full hearing.” Paul told CNN today that he will not “pre-judge” Rice if President Obama does in fact nominate her for Secretary of State.

Update

Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-KY) said today that if Susan Rice is nominated by President Obama for Secretary of State then she must “answer” questions on Benghazi. Ayotte’s comments indicate that she will not, unlike McCain, automatically block a potential Rice nomination.

LGBT

Marco Rubio Robocalls Against Equality For NOM

By Josh Israel on Nov 5, 2012 at 10:50 am

The National Organization for Marriage has launched a last-minute barrage of robocalls to Maine, Maryland, and Washington State (which will vote Tuesday on whether to enact marraige equality) and presidential swing-states Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania. The calls, in both English and Spanish, feature noted anti-equality activists Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Fox News Channel host and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR).

More ironic is the participation of Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who in his RNC convention speech suggested that this be an election in which we choose “more freedom instead of more government.” Rubio has previously boasted the endorsement of anti-gay hate groups like the Family Research Council. NOM said, with partner groups, it will spend $500,000 on the calls, aimed at encouraging voters to oppose pro-equality candidates and ballot initiatives.

Health

Rubio Develops ‘Romnesia’ While Trying To Explain Romney’s Position On Contraception

By Annie-Rose Strasser on Oct 21, 2012 at 12:22 pm

Last week, President Obama joked that some Romney surrogates are suffering from “Romnesia” — an ability to forget the candidate’s old positions on major campaign issues, in favor of his new positions. On Sunday, during an appearance on Meet The Press, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) was presenting severe symptoms of that condition, spending a good portion of his interview trying to explain how Romney’s stances on contraception and abortion have not changed and ignoring the campaign’s efforts to to obscure Romney’s record on women’s health issues.

For instance, Rubio tried to sweep under the rug Romney’s support of the Blunt Amendment, a measure that would have allowed employers with “moral objections” to deny contraception coverage to their female employees. He also refused to say if Romney would “sign a bill that banned abortion,” as the former Massachusetts governor had promised during a GOP primary debate in 2007:

DAVID GREGORY (HOST): If [Romney] supports a measure that would say to employers you don’t have to provide access [to contraception], and then he is saying everybody should have access, how do both things become true?

RUBIO: Well, I think that’s a general statement about most employers. But there are a handful of employers that have conscientious objections to it, like the Catholic Church. No one is talking about contraception or preventing people from gaing access to contraception.[...]

GREGORY: On the question of abortion, true or untrue, Governor Romney has said he would sign a bill that banned abortion, should that come to his desk.

RUBIO: And I think what he is saying is laying out very clearly what his record is on it, and the exceptions that he supports.

Watch it:

Not only would the Blunt Amendment prevent women from gaining access to abortion, but Romney has also pledged to repeal the Affordable Care Act writ large. Doing so, would eliminate provisions that require insurers and employers to offer contraception coverage without additional co-pays. Romney’s pledge to defund Planned Parenthood would also significantly weaken women’s access to affordable contraception.

Romney and Paul Ryan have both supported personhood amendments — on the state or federal level — that would outlaw all abortion, as well as some forms of contraception and in vitro fertilization. As Romney put it during a GOP debate in 2007, “I would welcome a circumstance where there was such a consensus in this country that we said, we don’t want to have abortion in this country at all, period.” “[I]f the Congress [banned abortion], we had that kind of consensus in that country, terrific.”

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