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Marco Rubio has spent a lot of time recently explaining how he used a Florida Republican Party American Express card, insisting that when he made personal charges, he paid for them himself. But there's an even more basic question about Rubio's Amex use, whether he should have been charging personal expenses to the corporate card in the first place. When Rubio was using the card, the Republican Party of Florida's policies stated that corporate cards were for "business use only," according to a report by an outside law firm that conducted an independent investigation into credit card expenditures at the...

Sen. Marco Rubio on Thursday pitched a vast expansion and update of the U.S. military at all levels and railed against the "outdated" leaders unprepared for the national security challenges of the 21st century. "Our many advantages are being compromised today by a major weakness. And that is, unfortunately, an outdated political establishment in Washington, D.C.," he said. Rubio, a first-term senator elected in 2010 who has never served in the military, asserted that he has "the record of judgment, the breadth of experience and the quality of leadership necessary to restore our strength and our security."

Via RCP, choose one: (a) “It’s a trap!” or (b) “They’ll tell you who they fear.” Actually, no, “they’ll tell you who they fear” is something righties say when Democrats are attacking a Republican, not praising him. They’ll tell you who they fear by how eager they are to tear that Republican down instead of building him up. Although … Democrats have been taking plenty of shots at Rubio lately, including the queen bee herself, so I dunno. Maybe he is the guy they fear. He’s the guy whom Bill Clinton fears, if you believe Ed Klein. Carville’s goofy, though,...

Thursday on Bloomberg TV’s “With All Due Respect,” Democratic strategist and former Clinton adviser James Carville offered his thoughts on the Republican side of the 2016 presidential ticket and declared the Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) would be that’s party’s best candidate to win the White House.

U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio charged grocery bills, repairs to the family minivan and purchases from a wine store less than a mile from his West Miami home to the Republican Party of Florida while he was speaker of the Florida House, according to records obtained by The Miami Herald/St. Petersburg Times. Rubio said Wednesday that he paid for all personal expenses billed to an American Express card given to him by the party to use from 2005 to 2008, when he left public office. The rest of the charges, he said, were legitimate party expenses. Those expenses include a...

Marco Rubio's use of a Republican Party of Florida American Express card is only part of the story. Over the course of his rise in politics, the Tampa Bay Times and partner Miami Herald chronicled his background and controversies. The most detailed accounting of Rubio's AmEx charges is this report from February 2010 that showed how the card was used for groceries, repairs to the family minivan and at a music equipment store. "I was as diligent as possible to ensure the party did not pay for items that were unrelated to party business," Rubio said in a written statement...

Marco Rubio has the good looks. The poise. Gift of speech. Let's just say it. Marco looks presidential. But he's nowhere ready for prime time. Not yet. Here's why Marco Rubio is not ready for the White House: 5. He hates work. He's been running for president since he was elected U.S. Senator by the Great State of Florida. 4. He has cash problems. Who doesn't right? But Marco wants to be president and has problems explaining how he handles his own finances and what he spends his Republican Party credit card on. 3. He has no record of passing...

The race for endorsements among Republican presidential candidates has been a slow one since we began keeping track of the endorsement primary earlier this year. Jeb Bush has sat atop our leaderboard, but many of his endorsements came before he officially announced his candidacy, and he's received only three since Labor Day -- all from House members. But this week, Marco Rubio has shown signs of momentum, picking up endorsements from three fellow senators, including one today from Sen. James E. Risch of Idaho. In contrast to Bush's 3 endorsement points since Labor Day, Rubio has received 22 -- by...

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has a conservative media problem. Rubio’s past support for immigration reform infuriated some of the big-name conservative media personalities who backed his upstart Tea Party bid in 2010, and they’re taking retribution now that he’s rising in the presidential polls.

It has become legend in Florida political circles Marco Rubio's financial story: two years of credit card transactions from his time in the state House, when he and other Republican leaders freely spent party money. Details about the spending, which included repairs for Rubio's family minivan, emerged in his 2010 U.S. Senate race. But voters got only half the story because the candidate refused to disclose additional records. Now Sen. Rubio's past is under fresh scrutiny as he emerges as a top presidential prospect. During last week's debate, he deflected questions about his financial discipline - most recently, he liquidated...

New Jersey governor Chris Christie came out swinging against his rival for the GOP presidential nomination Marco Rubio Tuesday. In a Tuesday interview with radio host Laura Ingraham, Christie responded to Rubios claim that the Obama administration's Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program could not be rolled back 'immediately.' The Florida senator told Univision host Jorge Ramos in April the DACA program, which exempts children who entered the country illegally from being deported, should 'end at some point' in the future. 'It cannot be the permanent policy of the United States but I’m not calling for it to be revoked...

The Republican race for president appears headed to be a battle between four men: Donald Trump, Ben Carson, Ted Cruz, and Marco Rubio. Although Rubio is known as a potential favorite of the establishment, he’s also seen as someone who can bridge the gap with the conservative base, thereby uniting the party as a whole. That sure sounds great, but now there’s a problem for conservatives even larger than Rubio’s history with promoting policies that allow amnesty: His commitment to the rule of law, no matter the issue. n a little-noticed interview earlier this year with Univision’s Jorge “Borders Are...

We can talk all we like about national polls and Iowa polls and New Hampshire polls, and Ben Carson and Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. But among the bookmakers, there’s only one hot bet right now, and it’s Marco Rubio. Florida’s junior senator has surged into a commanding lead in the betting for the Republican nomination for president following last week’s strong showing in the CNBC debate. Bookmakers are now giving Rubio an astonishing 40% or better chance of becoming the nominee — nearly four times as high as they were rating him just three months ago, before the debates...

Marco Rubio’s rise in the Republican primary polls might not even last the proverbial “15 minutes.” Rubio is the personification of two major evils in the eyes of Republican primary voters. They see him as synonymous with amnesty and part of the Republican establishment that has betrayed their trust. He is the Republican establishment’s “Great Brown Hope,” a mantle that comes from the GOPe’s foolish and demonstrably false insistence that Republicans must pander to Hispanics with amnesty in order to win. This puts Rubio and the GOPe squarely on the wrong side of the issue. Rubio is a perfect example...

In a little-noticed interview earlier this year with Univision’s Jorge Ramos, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) 77% declared that, as President, he would keep Barack Obama’s executive amnesty for DREAMers in place until it was permanently codified through legislation. Rubio said, in part: DACA…applies to young people that arrived in this country at a very young age before they were adults and I don’t think we can immediately revoke that… I’m not calling for it to be revoked tomorrow, or this week, or right away. “I think it will have to end at some point and I hope it will end...

Marco Rubio with the pro-amnesty Gang of Ocho. In a little noticed interview earlier this year Senator Marco Rubio told Univision's Jorge Ramos that he would not cancel Obama's executive amnesty. Breitbart.com reported: In a little-noticed interview earlier this year with Univision's Jorge Ramos, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) declared that, as President, he would keep Barack Obama's executive amnesty for DREAMers in place until it was permanently codified through legislation. Rubio said, in part: DACA ... applies to young people that arrived in this country at a very young age before they were adults and I don't think we can...

CNBC’s media bias in Boulder, Colorado, last Wednesday night may have allowed Florida Sen. Marco Rubio to “lie” his way out of his financial past. The Orlando Sentinel seconded the opinion of MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough, who said, “Marco just flat-out lied to the American people,” about his financial past. Both contend moderator Becky Quick’s questioning of the Republican candidate’s previous cash problems was legitimate. “Senator Rubio, you yourself have said that you’ve had issues. You have a lack of bookkeeping skills. You accidentally intermingled campaign money with your personal money. You faced foreclosure on a second home that you bought....

FULL TITLE: MARCO RUBIO TO JORGE RAMOS: I WILL KEEP OBAMA’S FIRST EXECUTIVE AMNESTY IN PLACE UNTIL LEGISLATIVE AMNESTY ENACTED In a little-noticed interview earlier this year with Univision’s Jorge Ramos, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) declared that, as President, he would keep Barack Obama’s executive amnesty for DREAMers in place until it was permanently codified through legislation. Rubio said, in part: DACA…applies to young people that arrived in this country at a very young age before they were adults and I don’t think we can immediately revoke that… I’m not calling for it to be revoked tomorrow, or this week,...

Real-estate mogul Donald Trump hit presidential rival US Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) left and right during a Bloomberg Politics interview airing Monday. Trump has repeatedly feuded with Rubio on the campaign trail, even going so far as to send him a case of Trump-branded water to taunt him for supposedly sweating too much.But Trump's distaste for Rubio, who has surged in recent polls, was clearer during his interview on Bloomberg's "With All Due Respect."At one point, Trump even declared that he's "better looking" than Rubio.Here's a list of Trump's latest Rubio insults: "I think he's highly overrated. I think he's...

He’s addressed this topic before but we should start paying extra attention to his public comments about it, and not just because he’s the clear choice for nominee at this point among much of the Republican commentariat. (And probably soon to be the clear choice of the donor class, if he isn’t already.) We have a new Speaker of the House of Representatives, elected this very day, who’d have some key common ground with President Rubio. They’re both in their mid-40s, both center-right, both Mitt Romney allies, both one-time heartthrobs of the conservative base, and both now viewed suspiciously...