Marco Rubio in The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist

On Environment: Fix environment with free market, not government mandates

I signed 3 executive orders limiting greenhouse-gas emissions, setting stricter limits for cars sold in Florida, and insisting that utilities generate at least 20% of their electricity from renewable sources. Surprisingly, I didn't get much immediate blowback in Florida, even from my fellow Republicans. The only exception I recall was a snarky op-ed in The Miami Herald from Marco Rubio, then Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. Marco said he didn't really mind my focusing on the environment, but he didn't like the way I was doing it. "We must be willing to embrace the free-market approach--not European-style, big-government mandates," he declared. Which meant, in practice, do nothing. Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p.105-106 Feb 4, 2014

On Tax Reform: 2007: Replace all property taxes by adding 2.5% to sales tax

Everyone liked the sound of lower property taxes. But the details could get awfully convoluted. Marco Rubio had a plan of his own. He wanted to eliminate all property taxes--all property taxes!--on primary residences, then add another 2.5% to the state's 6% sales tax. To me, that just seemed like a way to shift the tax burden onto poor people, who tend not to own homes and have to spend every nickel they make.

Marco's plan didn't get anywhere. But with patience and persistence, mine slowly did.

Source: The Party's Over, by Charlie Crist, p. 88 Feb 4, 2014

The above quotations are from The Party's Over: How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat by Charlie Crist. Click here for other excerpts from The Party's Over: How the Extreme Right Hijacked the GOP and I Became a Democrat by Charlie Crist. Click here for other excerpts by Marco Rubio. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
Please consider a donation to OnTheIssues.org! Click for details -- or send donations to: 1770 Mass Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140 E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org (We rely on your support!)

Page last updated: Feb 20, 2019