Over the summer, the Romney campaign began a not-so-subtle effort to attack President Obama as "foreign." Saturday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), before being pulled from the trail due to a family emergency, pushed a similar, more overt version of the same attack.
For those who can't watch clips online, the far-right senator said the president's ideas are "the ideas of countries people come here to get away from."
The crowd seemed to like the line, but I'm curious: can Rubio -- or anyone else -- actually identify an Obama idea that comes from "countries people come here to get away from"?
Obama's ideas on taxes are effectively the same as Bill Clinton's. Obama's ideas on comprehensive immigration reform are effectively the same as George W. Bush's. Obama's ideas on health care reform are effectively the same as moderate Republicans' from the 1990s and Mitt Romney's own state-based policy.
Obama's ideas on gay rights are effectively the same as Dick Cheney's. Obama's ideas on a cap-and-trade policy are effectively the same as those found in the McCain-Palin platform. Obama's ideas on fiscal and monetary policy are effectively the same as mainstream economists' for the last several decades. Obama's ideas on foreign policy are so uncontroversial, Romney endorsed most of them during a debate last week.
From the beginning of his presidency, for good or ill, Obama has made a deliberate effort to stick to policy proposals that have traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support. So here's a follow-up question for Marco Rubio: can you name one of these foreign ideas you find so offensive?
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I've always found it difficult to respect or even trust anyone who can't get their life's story straight!
Don't believe a word coming from the mouth of Marco Rubio! -Kevo
"the ideas of countries people come here to get away from."
So funny, so painful. THE reason for the founding of the USA can be found in "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal..." The Boston Tea Party was a demonstration in support of the idea of "No taxation without representation."
People DO come here to get away from repressive regimes and theocracies, and what do they find?
Teaparty/Taliban/Republicans who would deny anyone who disagrees with them the right to vote. Teaparty/Taliban/Republicans who shoot women in the head for making personal decisions.
To paraphrase an old saying, there are 3 degrees of mendacity: "LIES, DAMN LIES, and REPUBLICAN TALKING POINTS!"
Marco Rubio doesn't sound to me like an American name. Where's your birth certificate, Mr. Rubio?
Is that his Bette Midler or his Charo? Boy he sure can work off a crowd!
Is the Mormon Rubio lying or the GOTP Rubio lying? Is there a difference?
Is it not amazing how these Morally, Self-Righteous Republicans who claim to be GOOD Christians keep breaking God’s 8th Commandment: "Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor." Translation - thou shall not LIE.
" actually identify an Obama idea that comes from "countries people come here to get away from"?"
How about Cuba, and Universal Health Care?
So you are saying that Mitt Romney took his state's healthcare plan from Cuba? OK
Universal health care...
Like in the third-world totalitarian dictatorships of Canada and England and France?
Um...or how about Canada, the UK, France and Universal Health Care? You are cherry-picking, friend.
We rank 37th globaly behind countries like Costa Rica, Morocco, and Greece but we rank 1st in per capita cost
People come here to get away from Canada, the UK, France.
Who knew?
Actually, I left America for England because here I have health care and in the US I couldn't afford it. Actually, that's a bit of a fib, I moved to England to marry an Englishman but at least here if I need to go to my GP or A&E I don't have to wonder how I'm going to pay for it. Although, technically, we do pay for it through taxes but if I get cancer or have a heart attack I can just get on with the healing process rather than deal with all the paperwork, worry if my insurance will be cancelled, consider selling my house to pay for it. Before you start talking rubbish, at least have a logical conversation with yourself. So you don't like the idea of universal healthcare? I suspect it's because you don't like the idea of helping anyone but yourself. Have a blessed day.
Having had the pleasure of being on this blog for awhile and getting to recognize Day's "voice", I'm fairly certain the point he was making was that even poor old Cuba, communist, struggling, "get-me-the-hell-outta-here" Cuba is advanced enough to recognize that ensuring adequate health care for its citizens is a good thing.
It's also likely that he's mocking the idea that people from countries as great as mine (Canada) and others (the UK and France) would leave those societies to move to the US where one disastrous minute could ruin you.
That was my read of his comments.
Mrs. Harrison,
Those on the right in the US all display a very crude version of the "I'm all right, Jack, pull up the ladder" mentality.
"the ideas of countries people come here to get away from."
Considering that Obama is in many ways more conservative than Nixon I can only imagine those countries would have to be either places ruled by totalitarian despots or that have sunk into complete anarchy
Only from Florida, where they blame "Obama's economy" for THEIR crashing their own economy by making a casino racket out of real estate. If any state has emulated the banana republic to our south, it has been Florida.
I've never considered Rubio to be very bright. He is one of the GOP "chosen" to attract Latinos. He has zero substance and just isn't very smart.
I love that they send this guy out to attract Latinos. One thing Republicans never grasp is the massive differences between the various Latino cultures in this country. There are Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Central and South American based cultures that all have widely different views and interests they are not one homogenous group. and from my expierence I don't think this guy is part of any of them
notice he seems to be in southern fl more then southern Calif. guess he know the difference. or at lease some of his handlers does.
Not even California how about Arizona or Texas...of course he might get pulled over and asked for ID more often
LOL
So true, but then again they would just point and say it was a democrat cop. trying to smear the good law.
Obama's ideas come from Clinton, Bush, Cheney and even Romney, and yet they still identify him as 'foreign'.
Gee, I wonder what makes Obama different from those named... hmmm....
A practical liberal or Progressive. You get what you want by moving the needle towards your side, which all of these policies do compared to what we have now, and not by standing still and shouting, "No!" as the repubs have.
Must be some psychological quirk that people born in Cuba -- Rubio, Sununu -- have-- they think they have a lock on what's "American" even though they aren't, or weren't by birth.
The icing on the cake. Foreigners calling Americans and their ideas foreign.
Seems to me another coded racial dog whistle, Shameless "Wingnuts" hate thisPresident for 1 reason. Men of his color should staff the kitchen of the White House and not reside in it. The tea party is just the reincarnation of the KKK.
For those visiting Republicans who will yell at Mr. Beloten's post as playing the race card consider the following fact (I know I used that 4 letter word).
A new Assoicated Press Poll found: In all, 51percent of Americans now express explicit anti-black attitudes, compared with 48 percent in a similar 2008 survey. When measured by an implicit racial attitudes test, the number of Americans with anti-black sentiments jumped to 56 percent, up from 49 percent during the last presidential election. In both tests, the share of Americans expressing pro-black attitudes fell.
Another one of those facts: Retired Army Col. Lawrence Wilkerson (a Republican) said on the Ed Schultz show "My party is full of racists."
I wish this weren't true, but if one studies the day and time of the KKK at it's height, it was in fact a terrorist organization (at least by today's definition) and although a lot of White people WERE NOT members of the KKK, they certainly identified with their actions. After all, the KKK were the enforcers of a larger communal belief, i.e., separation of the races. To me, the real shame are those White people who follow along, not necessarily those who proudly and loudly identify their racist stripes. Today's tea party has used budgetary matters (debt/deficit) as cover for the real agenda: "Put that n*gger in his place." It's why the disgrace train continues to roll on and why lies are so readily accepted. Smart Republicans can't even bring themselves to LOUDLY shout down this type of nonsense. And that seems awfully like the old days when the KKK lynched Black people and White people who sympathized. Nothing is ever new under the Sun.
KKK exactly. Tea Party is a name of an event which took place when slavery was in place. Tea Party just an enactment of the 18th century; where they want to take this country.
They want their country back. Hmmm.
The multi-national corporations behind these puppets have ZERO allegience to the U.S. You don't get more "foreign" than that.
Like a herd following the front of the herd right off a cliff the same people Marco Rubio is trying to appeal to with his foreign comments are the same people that mock Europe's actions on every account completely ignoring the fact that Republicans are proposing the same austerity plan they've carried out that has driven them off a second cliff into another recession. So glad to hear Rachel mention this on Sunday's Meet the Press because it is surprise me that no one has since Bill Clinton first mentioned it months ago. Even though most won't latch on to it the way they normally would because it's coming from Democrats it's the most recent evidence we have as to how bad drastic cuts are right now and the fear of this will stop some from following everyone else off the cliff.
Americans who cheer those speeches, did they leave their minds and brains at home before coming to the event?. Don't blame the politicians, blame the ignorant Americans. If they stop cheering stupidity then politicians will learn to be sensible.
Sometimes those cheering crowds bolster the ego of a politician so much they just start saying any old foolish thing that comes into the poor heads. I don't think it's because they really believe these things, I think it's because they're taking cues from the crowds and want to be accepted and liked and think that if they liked "this outrageous statement" they will love "this even more outrageous statement". There's been a lot of that lately on the republican side. It just says to me that they lack self confidence.
Marcos Rubio es un traidor a su propia gente y cree que es un gringo. Cuando los gringos se cansa de él va a venir corriendo llorando a su gente.
Marcos Rubio is a traitor to his people and thinks he is a gringl. When the gring's get tired of him he will come back to his people crying.
True...collaborationists always come to a bad end.
For anyone here that doesnt know Cubans tend to be much more right wing! because they do not get treated as any other immigrants. Simply by setting foot on U.S soil they are granted residence as political refugees. They have a vested interest in keeping relations with Cuba Hostile.
Dragoon21b: Exactly. Like Native Americans .... not all one tribe, one language, one culture, one religion, one style of dress ....
How about Romneystan?
I don't think that Rubio has ever gotten past his Cuba lie about his parents, or wiped his hands clean from his credit card issue; his hands, and his mouth, are soiled.....
Romney's tax returns had US as Foreign Country....so who is more foreign?
they still have no regards for the facts so you will never get any factual information from these Republicans
Marco Rubio is pushing the same mantra as Mitch McConnell and the gang voiced on president Obama's inaugural. Marco Rubio is of the same cloth as TEA-Republican across the nation disenfranchising voters of color. Any and all representatives from the TEA-Republican parties are suspect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9TjVsQa57c
It has been proven repeatedly the bigotry, prejudice and biasness are taught by parents, peers and pulpit pounding preachers against blacks and foreigners.
RepoRhetorician at it`s best,,!! did they not have a plan as well and we are still waiting for that
Rubio and Sununu are free to go back to their homeland of Cuba at any time.
Rubio I the GOP's lackey. He will say anything to gain favor. What he seems to forget is; he is a minority, just like some of us. If Obama's health care is like Cuba's, England, France, Canada etc. then so is Romney's.
Everyone tends to forget that the Health Care Law in Massachusetts was Ted Kennedy's project. Romney just signed on the dotted line. When President Obama signed the Affordable Care Act, Ted Kennedy was by his side. Sen. Kennedy advocated for Universal Health Care for about 15 years or more. Give credit where it is do.