“Others raised questions, such as the nearly $4,000 he billed the Republican Party of Florida for a rental car in Miami and repairs to his family minivan, which he said was damaged by a valet at a political event.’
Doesn’t he carry auto insurance? Can’t he park his own car?
“But an investigator had harsh words for Rubio, saying the level of “negligence” exhibited by Rubio’s confusion between GOP American Express and his own MasterCard and failing to recognize the error on monthly statements was “disturbing.””
Can a man who is sloppy with his personal expenses be trusted with the taxpayer’s money? Millions of Americans carry an employer credit card in their wallets alongside their personal credit cards and seem to be able to know which one to use at the appropriate time.
“Rubio acknowledged double-billing state taxpayers and the party for eight plane fares to Tallahassee, calling it a mistake and repaid the party.”
I’ve filled out company T&E reports for over 30 years and never had the problem of double billing. I’ve also witnessed employees in the company who made these types of “mistakes” and were immediately fired with the “mistake” was detected.
“Rubio refused to be interviewed by the investigator, filing an affidavit instead, according to the report.”
More disturbing behavior suggesting arrogance instead of the humility one would desire in a representative of the people. If his behavior was totally appropriate, he should have welcomed the chance to meet face-to-face with the investigators. Too bad we common citizens usually don’t have the option of refusing to meet when a government investigator wants to question our behavior.
Even if the accusation and investigation was politically motivated, Mr. Rubio’s documented behavior was not above reproach. History shows the road to political corruption begins with small “mistakes”. If we condemn Timothy Geithner for his fumbling with Turbotax, and Barack Obama for his real estate deal with Tony Rezko, we must not give young charismatic conservative politicians a pass.
Why don’t you throw your hat in the ring and show everyone how it’s done?
I happen to like Rubio A LOT, but I agree, he did seem to slither out of this one. I’ve never had a problem double-billing my employer for expenses, or using his credit card for personal expenses.
The valet stuff, you pretty much stuck with at his level. It sucks and I avoid those people like the plague - I simply don’t like the idea of others driving my cars...but then maybe that’s because of how I grew up. In fact, my best friend took a rental car on a long-distance trip and had the oil changed during the trip (something that I would consider too). His only mistake was asking for re-reimbursement. I would treat it like fuel and eat the cost.