Marco Rubio has a plan to build his national profile: Take on Washington’s least sexy issues.
As he prepares for an expected 2016 presidential bid, the Florida Republican senator has released policy plans for a series of thorny debates including retirement security and higher education reform.
The latest installment is a tax reform plan, released this month with his colleague Mike Lee of Utah, that would slash the top corporate tax rate and give some families larger child tax credits.
It’s a move that carries plenty of political risk for Rubio. Making big changes to the tax code is typically divisive and inevitably attracts criticism from across the political spectrum.
But in a crowded Republican primary that is likely to include former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, his one-time mentor, taking on dense debates can help establish Rubio as an “ideas” candidate and boost his political and policy gravitas.
“He’s not going to be the guy that organizes the most money or the guy that goes out to build the traditional coalition,” said Newt Gingrich, the former House Speaker and presidential candidate. “He’s going to be the guy that says: Look … if you think we need someone with big ideas about the future, I’m your guy.”
Struggled to break through
Rubio, 43, has struggled so far to break through into the top ranks of potential Republican 2016 candidates. He came in at 7% in a CNN/ORC poll released Wednesday, lagging behind Bush, Scott Walker, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Ben Carson and Chris Christie.
But Rubio’s tax plan is getting him some notice.
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Florida Sen. Marco Rubio speaks in October 2013 at the Values Voter Summit, held by the Family Research Council in Washington.
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Sen. Mike Lee, left, and Rubio talk before a news conference to introduce their proposal for an overhaul of the tax code in March.
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Rubio, center, arrives in the House chamber ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress in March.
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Rubio speaks with the media after delivering remarks during the graduation of small business owners from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program held in Miami in February.
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Rubio talks to aides in December before speaking on President Barack Obama's announcement about revising policies on U.S.-Cuba relations.
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Rubio, left, talks to Sen. Lindsey Graham prior to a news conference on Capitol Hill in July.
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Rubio talks to reporters in June after a closed door briefing on Capitol Hill.
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Rubio speaks to the media in front of a wall dedicated to the victims of the violence in Venezuela as he shows support for the Venezuelan community at a restaurant in Doral, Florida, in April 2014.
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Rubio speaks to the media at the Doral restaurant in April 2014.
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Rubio checks his phone in March as he arrives for a Capitol Hill news conference to introduce a proposal for an overhaul of the tax code.
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Rubio, left, is greeted as he arrives at a restaurant in Doral in February 2014.
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Rubio, left, and Florida Gov. Rick Scott speak to the media in Doral in February 2014.
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From left, Sens. Cory Booker, Rubio, Kristen Gillibrand and John McCain wait for Obama to deliver the State of the Union address in January 2014.
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Rubio addresses an event held by the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research in January 2014.
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Paralympian Brad Snyder poses with Rubio during a Team USA Congressional visit in November 2013.
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Rubio speaks in November 2013 during a campaign stop for Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the Republican candidate for governor of Virginia.
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Rubio confers with McCain as U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in October 2013.
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Rubio, center, speaks to members of the media as Sen. Ron Johnson, left, and Rep. Ron DeSantis listen during a news conference on Capitol Hill in October 2013.
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Rubio returns to the Capitol after meeting with Obama and other Republican leaders about the government shutdown in October 2013.
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Rubio speaks to an aide on Capitol Hill as he arrives for the weekly Senate Republican Policy Committee luncheon in September 2013.
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“He’s put forward something that will be part of any final Republican proposal,” said Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and a leading anti-tax advocate. “If you get a Republican president, what will they do? Something between what (House Ways and Means Committee Chair Paul) Ryan does, and this.”
Rubio advisers welcome the chance to paint Rubio as an ideas candidate. They point out that he’s focused on policy since he was first elected to office, going back to his time in the Florida legislature when he hosted town halls dubbed “idea raisers” and published his first book titled “100 Innovative Ideas for Florida’s Future.”
“We’ve been rolling out detailed policy plans for over a year now,” said Rubio spokesman Alex Conant. “And he’s going to keep talking about policy for the next two years.”
The Rubio-Lee plan takes aim at business taxes. It would lower the top rate from 35% to 25% for corporations and so-called pass-throughs like partnerships. It would let companies expense investments and eliminate taxes on capital gains and dividends for individuals, though they would no longer be allowed to deduct interest payments. The plan also proposes a revamped child tax credit and creates just two individual income tax brackets — 15% for an individual making up to $75,000 (or $150,000 for married couples), and 35% for everyone else.
Criticism
In a demonstration of how controversial an issue tax reform can be, Rubio’s plan has spurred criticism on both sides of the political aisle.
Democrats have zeroed in on the part of the proposal that they said would benefit corporations and dismissed the proposal as an attempt to please wealthy Republican donors. The GOP has paid a high price in past elections for the perception that the party caters mainly to the wealthy.
Meanwhile, some conservatives have indicated they’re less enthusiastic about the fact that the proposal would hemorrhage money – at least in the short term.
Jim Pethokoukis of the conservative American Enterprise Institute called this the one “downside” in what he said was an otherwise “serious” proposal.
“The big concern is that this is not deficit neutral. If you’re worried about the debt or deficit, that’s a big chunk of change,” Pethokoukis said.
The tax plan caps a series of policy issues Rubio has attempted to tackle over the last year including higher education, retirement security, Obamacare and regulation of the tech industry.
The Rubio-Lee tax plan attempts to address what is shaping up to be a top political priority for the GOP headed into 2016: middle class outreach.
The $2,500 child tax credit, analysts say, should be well-received by families with children who want to feel like they are getting money in their pockets immediately. Eric Toder of the Urban Institute’s Tax Policy Center is skeptical of the notion that the Rubio-Lee plan will eventually pay for itself, but said the child tax credit should help boost the proposal’s appeal among middle class voters.
“The tax plans that are put out in the primary season are meant to appeal to the base,” Toder said. “Part of the Republican constituency is people with large families who will benefit from the expansion of child credits.”
’Going first’
Advisers said there was no correlation between the timing of Rubio’s tax plan release and a GOP primary season that’s rapidly gaining heat. But a tax plan is an essential part of any presidential candidate’s platform, and in the coming months, other likely GOP candidates are expected to share their own vision on tax reform and come at the issue from different angles.
Bush has declined to sign Norquist’s famous pledge to never raise taxes and has come under fire for signaling that he would be open to a so-called “grand bargain” to get the country’s fiscal house in order. Paul, on the other hand, recently promised to unveil the “largest tax cut in American history.” An official announcement is expected within the next few weeks.
For now, Rubio enjoys the benefit of being the first of the pack to address the issue in a comprehensive way this cycle.
“By going first, you also issue a challenge to everyone else in town and everyone else who may or may not be seeking higher office,” said Sage Eastman, a longtime policy adviser to former Rep. Dave Camp, the ex-chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. “It’s clearly looking to drive the conversation, and it’s better to be in the driver’s seat than in the back seat.”
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Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has said his decision to run for the Republican nomination will be based on two things: his family and whether he can lift America's spirit. His father and brother are former Presidents.
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Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is establishing a committee to formally explore a White House bid. "If I run, my candidacy will be based on the idea that the American people are ready to try a dramatically different direction," he said in a news release provided to CNN on Monday, May 18.
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On March 2, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson announced the launch of an exploratory committee. The move will allow him to raise money that could eventually be transferred to an official presidential campaign and indicates he is on track with stated plans to formally announce a bid in May.
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South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham has said he'll make a decision about a presidential run sometime soon. A potential bid could focus on Graham's foreign policy stance.
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Hillary Clinton launched her presidential bid Sunday, April 12, through a video message on social media. She continues to be considered the overwhelming front-runner among possible 2016 Democratic presidential candidates.
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Sen. Marco Rubio announced his bid for the 2016 presidency on Monday, April 13, a day after Hillary Clinton, with a rally in Florida. He's a Republican rising star from Florida who swept into office in 2010 on the back of tea party fervor. But his support of comprehensive immigration reform, which passed the Senate but has stalled in the House, has led some in his party to sour on his prospects.
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Lincoln Chafee, a Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat former governor and senator of Rhode Island, said he's running for president on Thursday, April 16, as a Democrat, but his spokeswoman said the campaign is still in the presidential exploratory committee stages.
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Jim Webb, the former Democratic senator from Virginia, is entertaining a 2016 presidential run. In January, he told NPR that his party has not focused on white, working-class voters in past elections.
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Vice President Joe Biden has twice before made unsuccessful bids for the Oval Office -- in 1988 and 2008. A former senator known for his foreign policy and national security expertise, Biden made the rounds on the morning shows recently and said he thinks he'd "make a good President."
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New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie has started a series of town halls in New Hampshire to test the presidential waters, becoming more comfortable talking about national issues and staking out positions on hot topic debates.
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Rep. Paul Ryan, a former 2012 vice presidential candidate and fiscally conservative budget hawk, says he's keeping his "options open" for a possible presidential run but is not focused on it.
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Sen. Rand Paul officially announced his presidential bid on Tuesday, April 7, at a rally in Louisville, Kentucky. The tea party favorite probably will have to address previous controversies that include comments on civil rights, a plagiarism allegation and his assertion that the top NSA official lied to Congress about surveillance.
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Texas Sen. Ted Cruz announced his 2016 presidential bid on Monday, March 23, in a speech at Liberty University. The first-term Republican and tea party darling is considered a gifted orator and smart politician. He is best known in the Senate for his marathon filibuster over defunding Obamacare.
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Democrat Martin O'Malley, the former Maryland governor, released a "buzzy" political video in November 2013 in tandem with visits to New Hampshire. He also headlined a Democratic Party event in South Carolina, which holds the first Southern primary.
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Republican Rick Perry, the former Texas governor, announced in 2013 that he would not be seeking re-election, leading to speculation that he might mount a second White House bid.
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Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, a social conservative, gave Mitt Romney his toughest challenge in the nomination fight last time out and has made trips recently to early voting states, including Iowa and South Carolina.
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Political observers expect New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to yield to Hillary Clinton's run in 2016, fearing there wouldn't be room in the race for two Democrats from the Empire State.
