...The Tampa Bay Times asked Rubio's team for the records in June and again in early October. A top strategist, Todd Harris, said Tuesday they would be released soon, possibly within the month, but declined to answer questions about what they might contain.
As speaker of the Florida House, Rubio was one of about a half-dozen lawmakers given Republican Party of Florida credit cards. During the Senate race, the Times/Herald obtained Rubio's statements from 2006 and 2007, showing he routinely charged personal expenses, from a $10.50 movie ticket to a four-day, $10,000 family reunion.
...Rubio defended use of the card; the minivan, he said, was damaged by a valet at a political function and the party paid $1,000, half the insurance deductible. Items that were personal were paid directly to American Express, he said, though records show that did not happen on a monthly basis. After reporting by the Times/Herald, Rubio did pay the Republican Party of Florida $2,400 for plane flights he double-billed to state taxpayers and the party.
Charlie Crist, Rubio's opponent in 2010, tried to make the spending an issue, but Rubio rode a tea party wave to blow past the then Republican governor, the start of national attention that has propelled him into the presidential race. Through it all, Rubio has refused to provide credit card statements from 2005 and 2006.
...In his 2012 book, Rubio did not mention flooring [for his East Miami home]. "I pulled the wrong card from my wallet to pay for pavers." He attributed the family reunion expense in Thomasville, Ga. — a celebration of him becoming House speaker — to a mistake by his travel agent, who used the wrong card.
...Now questions are resurfacing. During the GOP presidential debate last week, a CNBC host ran down Rubio's history and asked if he has "the maturity and the wisdom to lead this $17 trillion economy."
His response avoided the question. "You just listed a litany of discredited attacks from Democrats and my political opponents, and I'm not gonna waste 60 seconds detailing them all."
The next morning, television commentator Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman from Florida, said he was "stunned" moderators let him off the hook instead of pointing to records. "And yet everybody's going, 'Oh, Marco was great.' No, Marco lied about his financials."
http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/stateroundup/marco-rubio-spent-lavishly-on-a-gop-credit-card-but-some-transactions-are/2252470
------------
Video of Trump busting on Rubio about credit cards at the link. Someone who rode the Tea Party wave needs to be Mr. Clean Jeans.
Trump has also gone after Rubio for sweating a lot during debates. Is that going too low, too crude?
43 comments:
I saw a tweet i re-tweeted myself this morning about this.
"When I first heard about @marcorubio and credit card problems, my first thought was, "Me too!"".
Kind of unseemly for a billionare who's business's have filed chapter 11 a number of times to be attacking Rubio's credit rating.
It's not good. However, if Rubio reimbursed the GOP then it's not a big deal. Considering all of Hillary's Shady deals and Clinton Foundation shenanigans - Rubio's issues in comparison are paltry.
Trump supported Crist in that election.
Did Obama get this kind of personal scrutiny btw?
If i recall correctly most of his personal papers are court sealed.
The mixing of personal and business expenses is a HUGE no no for us as private business owners. If we do use business funds for personal expenses we have to be scrupulous in recording those expenses as either "owner draw" (which reduces the capital investment on the balance sheet) or more often as a disbursement that is a taxable event to us so that the IRS doesn't see us as using the company as a slush fund or piggy bank. We report all draws or expenses as taxable under the various sub accounts that I have set up ...rental, lease, employee reimbursement for out of pocket purchases for the company and of course payroll which is subject to FICA etc.
This mixing of personal and business/political funds should be an even larger forbidden activity. I am willing to give Rubio the benefit of the doubt as a young person who may not be as knowledgeable about bookkeeping or finances. However, I would have assumed that he had some sort of campaign workers or staff that would have advised him on keeping things separate and straight.
Since/if he reimbursed the funds I am not that concerned. When you consider the shenanigans that the Clintons are doing with their "so called" charity and the massive amounts of money that are being funneled and misused there and that the MSM is completely Ho Hum about this fraud, I think the emphasis on Rubio is just another targeted attack against a Republican. Democrats.....no big deal. Republican....OMG!!!! Get him!
I hope to vote for Marco Rubio for president.
In 2036.
He'd be smart if he used a cloth and wiped his server clean. The easiest way to get away with stuff.
We'll see how it comes out in the records, but they must be released complete and immediately. If it's not his personal card, then it's not private, and should be released now. I don't think it's a big deal either if his book keeping is a little sloppy. Honesty and integrity is not always clean and neat. The question is did he lie, did he cheat, because we have a very experienced world champion in that skill who we can vote for if that's what we want.
I have a set of corporate cards and personal ones. You need to keep those transactions separate just out of good record keeping, and the corporate veil and all that crap. I never mix them up even though I use credit cards for absolutely everything except the heroin, which I purchase with food stamps.
Look is Hispanic and they always have problems with cards.
They can't graspe the concept of green cards so why do you think they could handle a Visa card?
DBQ!
@Bag&Troop; 3:00&3:05... LOL!!
If Rubio releases his CC files, it will be light years ahead of Urkel releasing his birth or college records. Oh wait.
Whatever. The GOP candidates get examined under a microscope, by the press, by their own would-be constituents, and of course their GOP rivals whereas Dopey Old Fart Party members fail and sail upwards with barely a glance despite obvious corruption, venality, stupidity, and incompetence. GOP candidates can expect to have their academic, medical, divorce, and credit card records examined in excruciating detail. Dumbos needn't worry about such trivia. Even their birth certificates are state secrets until such time as their release is politically expedient. Just one more example of the double standards at play.
Clinton never released his medical records, Kerry tried to hide his Military record, and Hillary of course has lied through her teeth about Benghazi and her illegal "secret" email server.
But the only thing that matters is Rubio's credit cards.
I expense my heroin so I can write it off.
The double standard is a strong argument why to vote Republican. They have been vetted by other Republicans, by the Democrats, and by the media (which is redundant). This naturally leads to cleaner candidates among the Repubs. It is virtually impossible to have any dirt in the closet for a Republican Presidential nominee, unless the Dems are saving it for October. That's why operatives like Dan Rather have to make up shit out of nothing, just to try and bring the Republican down to Democrat nominal slime level.
If you know nothing else but the party affiliation, it seems obvious that the Republican is the far more logical choice if you want to an reasonably honest and clean President.
1) They have been vetted by everyone. Hillary should be in jail, and even her supporters know she's untrustworthy, but they will still vote for her, and so they fight against vetting her.
2) The press will do it's job only if the President is a Republican. It's all on the record for all to see.
3) Many Republicans will withdraw their support and cover if the Republican turns out to be dirty. A Democrat will retain full power and support from the Dems, at least until they are a lame duck, and even then.
Independents take note - the parties are not equal, and they don't both value the same things.
Disclaimer: I'm still a lifelong Democrat, and male, and white, so the self hate runs deep.
Those who complain about stop and frisk should see the kind of colonoscopy that small business owners are subjected to by the government. This impact falls disproportionately on whites and Asians....,,,,It's much easier to have and maintain a high credit rating when your father is a millionaire than when you're working your way through school. Trump gets away with a lot of crap. That's the true marvel of his campaign.
Understood, but on the news tonight it looks like it will be more than a month before the records are released. The optics are horrible.
Rubio isn't ready to be president. Neither was JFK. If only we could've had Nixon in 1960 followed by Reagan in 1968 and then JFK in 1976.
20 years from now Rubios credit card controversy won't matter. And 20 years from now he might be ready for the job.
deborah said...
Understood, but on the news tonight it looks like it will be more than a month before the records are released. The optics are horrible.
The optics aren't horrible. Rubio is a smart cookie.
We routinely charge a lot of purchases to visa because those chumps are counting on you carrying a balance. But if if you pay off the balance each month, you get no charges. Much like AmEx but no fees! Of course the Visa/MC fucks expect you to rack up debt -- that's how they thrive!
Shame on Troop! Shame on DBQ!
Why don't you go after "Ricky's" speedboat extravaganza?!?
__________
LOL at Meade. He's over here trying to run down Rubio because he dearly wants Republicans to cement their shoes to Carson so that his wife can lambast Carson for his stance on gay marriage -- and then take credit for it!
Are you guys blind?
Here's an imperative: continue to support and discuss all manners of alternatives to the witch annointed!
Let me distill this down: The biggest problem that Trump faces nationwide is that he has a Yankee's fan mentality. It only flies so far and it doesn't fly in California.
"It only flies so far and it doesn't fly in California."
But that doesn't matter even one itsy bit, because every single vote for any Republican for President has zero effect when cast in California. It's as if they required I.D. to vote, and we just can't handle the burden of getting it.
We be disenfranchised like a mofo out here, and nobody cares.
And CA isn't the only state where your opinion of the Republican means nothing. I doubt if the Republican nominee will even visit CA. I wouldn't waste my money.
On the other hand Hillary has visited L.A. five times since she announced her candidacy. Not one time did she meet with the public or the media for questions. All five times were fund raisers. She doesn't care what CA voters think either. Just give me your money you stupid sheep.
How did Reagan win California? Hint: it wasn't by being all anti gay and promising to overturn Roe v wade.
Meade said...
How did Reagan win California? Hint: it wasn't by being all anti gay and promising to overturn Roe v wade.
I suppose it helped that Reagan had been a CA governor. I'm not sure about his stance on gays. I do remember a lot of mumbo jumbo about his AIDS callousness from the Gaystapo.
Oh and Prop 8 won the same year that your vaunted Obama triumphed. Go figure, Meade.
The Hollywood/DC axis: Ugly business for show people.
@Meade: Has there ever been something so hidden in plain sight (in the blogosphere) as your wife's loathing of Ben Carson?
One of our greatest modern presidents, Dwight David Eisenhower, was 63 when he took office.
Incidentally, Dr. Benjamin Solomon Carson is 64.
She just can't broadcast it because of...race!
Meade, do you need a chapter and verse cite showing that your wife doesn't believe that Carson can even write his own speeches?
I'm not strongly supporting Carson here -- just playing devil's advocate against disingenuity.
Chiclet, I've never seen or heard any evidence of Ann Althouse loathing Ben Carson. You are either delusional or maliciously mischaracterizing reality.
Past:
Ann Althouse wrote: 2. Ben Carson read a speech. It was a good speech — though, as noted above, it was not appropriate for the occasion — but it was a written speech. Carson is a pediatric neurosurgeon, not an economist or a health care policy wonk or a speechwriter. We don't know what contribution he made to the writing of the speech. I don't know how that speech got into his hands, but once he had that position on the dais at the prayer breakfast, those hands were very valuable hands in which to put a speech. Who is the speechwriter? If it was Carson himself, alone, I'd be extremely impressed. And extremely surprised.
Chick, I don't have a problem with the speedboat...he said he bought it with a book advance.
I think it's very bad optics, but I guess the idea has been to get him popularized, then release the records. My mom feels badly for him.
This is not your daddy's California. Not anymore.
Speaking of the march of history:
"can lambast Carson for his stance on gay marriage"
That would be the same stance as both Hillary and Obama had much more recently. Now maybe some people don't care if they hire a known congenital liar, some may even prefer it, but one distinction is that Carson is probably the most honest and principled candidate in this race, and if you vote against him because of gay marriage, then your principles are of the highly malleable variety.
The worthless liberal harridans hate Dr. Carson because he saves babies. They only lionize doctors who kill babies and sell them off for spare parts.
And there you have the moby-like self-indulgent rhetoric that feels comforting to crybaby self-styled social conservatives but unfortunately will go a long way toward helping Hillary get elected.
Sincere thanks for keeping it over here and not crapping up the other place with it.
You're quite welcome, Meade. But it's only a matter of time before your wife's disdain bubbles to the surface again and she blithers on about Carson again.
Wait for it
The wurthless liberal harridans also love blacks in theory but make sure they don't ever have anything to do with them in real life. They value people like Michael Brown and Freddie Grey not Ben Carson.
Black people are just an abstract concept. Much like religion and faith to these evil miscreants.
Why not afford people who disdain you the same courtesy and stay over there and leave the good people who despise you alone. Don't come ove here to drum up business in a failing blog.
"And there you have the moby-like self-indulgent rhetoric...
Would you prefer lies, or the truth from someone you don't like?
bags, They prefer the former. "I'm ready for my closeup now, Mr. DeMille."
It is curious how the presumptions reverse themselves. Was there ever any concern trolling over whether Obama wrote his own (marvelous, inspiring, etc. gushing) speeches? Maybe it was enough that Obama SAID he was a better speechwriter than his speechwriter. Voila. Problem solved.
Also, topic changing in the comments. Naughty!
Post a Comment