Marco Rubio - U.S. Senate - 2010

Miami, FL – U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio issued the following statement regarding today’s announcement by President Obama to “spend our way out of this recession” by spending unused Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds on a second stimulus package:

“Instead of learning from his costly $787 billion mistake, the President now wants to double-down on the failed Obama-Crist stimulus by pursuing a second stimulus. As a supporter of the first stimulus, Charlie Crist should acknowledge its failures and condemn this new call for a stimulus sequel that will grow our government and deficit at the expense of lasting private sector investment.

“Unless TARP funds are being used to cut the deficit as current law stipulates or to provide permanent tax relief that will lead to private sector investment, President Obama would be wrong to use this money for public works and energy projects under the guise of job creation initiatives.

“True economic development and job creation begins by empowering small businessmen and women, cutting government red tape, reducing the anxiety Americans feel about runaway Washington spending, and pursuing bold and far-reaching tax reform. Growing government through the stimulus and other liberal initiatives simply cannot replace or compete with the private sector’s limitless potential to create lasting jobs and prosperity.

“While caulking windows for one’s home might be a good idea from an energy perspective, it is not a job creation solution. In order to create jobs, entrepreneurs and small businesses deserve permanent tax relief that doesn’t single out favored industries or pet projects, while giving them a lasting incentive to invest in their ideas.

“During this time of economic uncertainty, Floridians also deserve reassurance that their taxes won’t be raised, government won’t take over health care, cap-and-trade won’t burden them with a national energy tax, card check won’t cripple small businesses, or that a second stimulus won’t plunge us into further debt.

“Instead, we should enact tax policies that encourage private sector investment, work to open new markets for American goods, and salvage what’s left of unused stimulus funds by redirecting them towards the entrepreneurs and risk-takers who built our economy in the first place. The time is long overdue to enact fiscally conservative economic policies that will give job creators confidence to reengage, not big government ideas that scare them off.”