In a blistering editorial, The Sun Sentinel blasted Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) for ripping off the taxpayers by taking his salary and not showing up for work and told Rubio that if he hates being a Senator, he needs to resign from office.
The editorial board wrote in part:
Sorry, senator, but Floridians sent you to Washington to do a job. We’ve got serious problems with clogged highways, eroding beaches, flat Social Security checks and people who want to shut down the government.
If you hate your job, senator, follow the honorable lead of House Speaker John Boehner and resign it.
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Let us elect someone who wants to be there and earn an honest dollar for an honest day’s work. Don’t leave us without one of our two representatives in the Senate for the next 15 months or so.
You are paid $174,000 per year to represent us, to fight for us, to solve our problems. Plus you take a $10,000 federal subsidy — declined by some in the Senate — to participate in one of the Obamacare health plans, though you are a big critic of Obamacare.
You are ripping us off, senator.
…..
Look, a lot us are frustrated by our jobs and office politics. But we still show up for work every day to earn a paycheck.
By choosing to stay in the Senate and get the publicity, perks and pay that go with the position — without doing the work — you are taking advantage of us.
The story began by Rubio telling CNN on Sunday that he doesn’t show up for his job in the Senate because voting doesn’t matter. The story snowballed on Rubio after it was reported the next day that he hates being a senator.
The call for his resignation from the Senate by a home state newspaper couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Rubio campaign. The Republican establishment is pushing for Rubio as their backup plan if Jeb Bush continues to fall flat on his face. Sen. Rubio hasn’t gained any serious traction in the polls and has no clear path to victory, but being seen as the “next great white hope” by party leaders has value.
Rubio’s missed votes will definitely be brought up during tonight’s Republican debate. The fact is that Marco Rubio is scamming the taxpayers out of his $174,000 salary plus the perks that come with being a senator.
The people of Florida deserve to get what they are paying for, and if that’s not Marco Rubio, he needs to resign today, and let someone else represent the people of his state in the Senate.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
