As the Republican contention for who will win the party’s primary boils down to just nine candidates — only seven being worthy enough for Sunday night’s stage — a favorite and hopeful among Republican voters is Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. Particularly popular among Republican youth, Rubio has gained clout in staying relevant to voters despite having to contend with the show-stealing bravado of the party’s two frontrunners, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and the braggart billionaire Donald J. Trump, placing third in the Iowa caucus just behind “The Donald” himself.
It should come as no surprise that Rubio is attractive to the young Republican constituency: His youth, promise to balance the budget and devotion to the myth of trickle-down economics are hot topics for Republicans who frequent Hot Topic. Here in Florida, his status as a Gator doesn’t hurt his popularity either. But what is surprising is hearing a prospective voter speak of Rubio as one of the few truly conservative candidates among the Republican assortment, claiming he is among the few who understand what it is to push for and enact responsible fiscal policies. But Marco Rubio is not a conservative.
Rubio’s subscription to the tenets of modern Republicanism — denial of man-made climate change, belief that marriage is between a woman and a man, opposition to anything with Obama’s fingerprints on it — is enough to grant him the label of a Republican. He has earned that and nobody wants to take that away from him. Of the title of a true conservative, however, Rubio is not worthy.
Replacing the Affordable Care Act with tax credits and fewer regulations, cutting corporate taxes to 25 percent (taxes that won’t get paid anyway) and capping economic regulations: These are applications of the tenets of conservatism that have duped a good portion of the American population into heralding the Republican party as “the fiscal ones.” Marco Rubio has supported all of these. And yet, with his promise to balance the budget, Rubio throws all of his supposed conservatism aside when he vows to increase defense spending.
Prioritizing defense is the position of warhawks, not conservatives. A true conservative doesn’t view the now-defunct and flawed $1.5 trillion F-35 jet as a fiscally responsible maneuver. Republicans who share Rubio’s sentiments warn about the loom of socialism, regulation and superfluous taxation by the federal government but then advocate excessive spending on a program that taxes the hell out of the American people.
The hypocrisy of Rubio’s stance doesn’t end at the advocacy for funding a bigger and badder military. The senator’s belligerent demeanor when it comes to foreign policy is also one that contradicts the essence of economic conservatism.
Promises to have a lasting presence in Iraq and levying tougher sanctions on Iran while scrapping the current nuclear deal are not actions that induce a more fruitful economy.
Actually, any investment like the one Rubio proposes militarily in Iraq would equate to a divestment of the American people. The billions of dollars spent on a futile campaign in Iraq are a smack in the face to social programs of value. The campaign would not only cost the American people a substantial sum of money; it would also place a substantial cost of living (literally) on fathers, brothers and husbands.
Scrapping the Iran nuclear deal not only increases the risk of further tension between our nation and another in the Middle East, but it also ignores the economic possibilities that can arise from opening up trade routes to Iran. After all, it is a mainstay of free-trade philosophy that a country does not wage war against one with which it trades freely.
Advocating for more costly war campaigns in the Levant and vowing to scrap diplomatic relations with Iran are not conservative values: They’re those of American Republicans.
Justin Ford is a UF journalism junior. His column appears on Tuesdays.
