XPost: dc.urban-planning, wa.politics   
   From: impeach_obama@yahoo.com   
      
   Good Morning America's George Stephanopoulos was in full Obama   
   talking points mode, Wednesday, grilling Marco Rubio on why he   
   won't support the President's agenda. Every question the host   
   offered echoed the White House's State of the Union agenda.   
   Stephanopoulos lectured, "The President last night asked the   
   members of Congress to promise not to shut down the government,   
   not to do anything that would undermine the full faith and   
   credit of the United States. Can you take that pledge?" [See   
   video below. MP3 audio here.]   
      
   Rubio wouldn't be cornered, however. On the issue of   
   sequestration, he shot back: "And as far as these automatic cuts   
   are concerned, George, those are [Barack Obama's] ideas. He   
   insisted on that. He's the one that asked for that in the deal   
   that passed last year." Stephanopoulos spun, "Those were signed   
   on by Democrats, Republicans and the President alike." (The   
   former Democratic operative turned journalist offered this exact   
   talking point to George Will on Tuesday night.) Rubio scoffed,   
   "Yeah, well, I didn't vote for it."   
      
   At this point, the interview turned into more of an argument.   
   Not letting go, Stephanopoulos assured viewers that Obama   
   preferred an "alternative." He continued, "He wanted to have a   
   broader agreement with Democrats and Republicans to avoid the   
   sequester. That [Sequester cuts] was the fail safe."   
      
   Rubio mocked, "Well, we all prefer that. The question, of   
   course, is if he really prefers a broader alternative, when is   
   he going to offer it?"   
      
   Earlier in the interview, Stephanopoulos echoed the President's   
   remarks about guns, wondering, "But do you agree with the   
   President that there should be an up-or-down vote on his   
   proposals?"   
      
   A bemused Rubio noted that "other issues" also deserve an up-or-   
   down vote, including, "We should have a real plan to grow our   
   economy. We should have a real plan for tax reform."   
      
   GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: And joining us now, the man who gave the   
   Republican response to President Obama last night, Senator Marco   
   Rubio of Florida. Good morning, senator. Thanks for joining us   
   this morning.   
      
   MARCO RUBIO: Good morning, George. Thank you.   
      
   STEPHANOPOULOS: So, you laid out some very clear differences   
   than the President last night on the core economics. I want to   
   try and tease out at where there might be common ground. Let's   
   go to the issue of guns, to begin with. You said that we can't   
   have any proposals that undermine Second Amendment rights. But   
   do you agree with the President that there should be an up-or-   
   down vote on his proposals?   
      
   RUBIO: Well, I mean, you can say that on any issue in   
   Washington. Certainly, if that's the way it– it has to work   
   through the legislative process. There's other issues that   
   should have an up-and-down vote, as well. We should have a   
   budget. We should have a real plan to save Medicare. We should   
   have a real plan to grow our economy. We should have a real plan   
   for tax reform. All these deserve an up-and-down vote, as well.   
   Now, as we said last night, we were heartbroken and we were   
   sympathetic on what happened in Connecticut. And we need to   
   prevent that from happening again. Unfortunately, all of the   
   things the President is proposing, none of them would have   
   prevented what happened in Connecticut. We need to look at the   
   real root causes of violence in America.   
      
   STEPHANOPOULOS: And on the issue of immigration, the President   
   said he wanted a responsible pathway to earn citizenship. You   
   signed on to bipartisan principles for citizenship. But you   
   didn't repeat it last night. Do you still share that goal?   
      
   RUBIO: Well, the speech wasn't just going to be about   
   immigration. I'm part of that work group. And that's-- We laid   
   out our principles and I remain committed to those principles.   
   Ultimately, it's not good for America, to have 11 million people   
   who never have a chance to be invested in the American dream.   
   So, there has to be a process to get there. They have to have a   
   work permit first. They are going to have to earn the right to   
   ultimately earn that green card. And obviously, once you have a   
   green card, you're five years away from becoming a citizen.   
      
   STEPHANOPOULOS: The big clash with the President last night on   
   those core economic issues. And you know, those across-the-board   
   budget cuts are coming fast, on March 1, a potential government   
   shutdown at the end of March. The President last night asked   
   members of Congress to promise not to shut down the government,   
   not to do anything that would undermine the full faith and   
   credit of the United States. Can you take that pledge?   
      
   RUBIO: No one here is talking about shutting down the   
   government. And as far as the automatic cuts are concerned,   
   George, those are his ideas. He insisted on that. He's the one   
   that asked for that in the deal that passed last year.   
      
   STEPHANOPOULOS: Those were signed on by Democrats, Republicans   
   and the President alike.   
      
   RUBIO: Yeah. Well, I didn't vote for it. Because– One of the   
   reasons I didn't vote for it is because it was such a terrible   
   idea. But I think it's wrong for him to insist on that. He   
   actually came up with it. It originated in the White House, the   
   idea of these automatic cuts, specifically hits defense and the   
   military. And now, he's saying we have to get rid of them. We   
   may. Don't go on acting like he had nothing to do with it. It   
   was your idea.   
      
   STEPHANOPOULOS: Well, the President preferred an alternative, as   
   you know. He wanted to have a broader agreement with Democrats   
   and Republicans to avoid the sequester. That was the fail safe.   
      
   RUBIO: Well, we all prefer that. The question, of course, is if   
   he really prefers a broader alternative, when is he going to   
   offer it? President Obama has been president for four years and   
   a month. The budgets he has offered are so ridiculous, George,   
   that not even Democrats in the senate would vote for them.   
      
   STEPHANOPOULOS: Finally, I have got to ask you about the water   
   bottle last night. Twitter went a little bit wild. You tweeted   
   about the water bottle yourself. You got it there again. You   
   know, you showed an ability to laugh at yourself. Do you have   
   anything to add to that tweet from last night?   
      
   RUBIO: No. I needed water. What am I going to do? It happens.   
   God has a funny way of reminding us we're human.   
      
   STEPHANOPOULOS: You have a big smile on your face. Thank you for   
   joining us.   
      
   http://newsbusters.org/blogs/scott-whitlock/2013/02/13/marco-   
   rubio-schools-obama-shill-george-stephanopoulos-reminds-host-s   
      
   --   
   Are you obligated as an armed civilian, to defend unarmed   
   liberals while you are both under fire by foreign agents of the   
   outlaw Obama administration?   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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