Rubio upset over US issuing visa to Castro's daughter

A report that the daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro has been granted a temporary U.S. visa has sparked sharp criticism from Cuban-American Sen. Marco Rubio and other Capitol Hill lawmakers.
Mariela Castro will get a visa to attend an academic conference in San Francisco and another event, one of her associates said.
The State Department declined Thursday to comment, citing confidentiality rules.
“I think the … decision to grant the daughter of Raul Castro a visa to come to the United States and spread the propaganda of her father’s regime is outrageous and an enormous mistake,” Rubio, R-Fla., said. “It sends a terrible message to the democratic movement in Cuba.”
Rubio, whose parents are Cuban immigrants, also called Castro's daughter an “arm of his regime” and said the U.S. granting her a visa was “shameful.”
The United States and Cuba have been locked in dispute since a few months after Castro rebels swept to power in 1959.
The U.S. does not have formal diplomatic relations with the communist country and has an embargo that prohibits American companies from doing business with Cuba.
Mariela Castro will lead a panel on the politics of sexual diversity at a gathering in San Francisco next week organized by the Latin American Studies Association, said an institute official who spoke on condition of anonymity because she was not authorized to discuss the matter.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/05/17/rubio-disagrees-with-us-issuing-visa-to-castro-daughter/#ixzz1vCNX54Gk

FULL INTERVIEW: Senator Marco Rubio Blasts Back Against Dems for Failing to Present a Budget

Thursday, Senator Marco Rubio joined Your World to address our nation’s debt crisis.

Rubio blasted Senate Dems for having failed to offer a budget for the last three-and-a-half years. Rubio said, “I mean, do people back home fully understand what I just explained? The Democrats in Washington that control the Senate have not offered a budget in three-and-a-half years, almost four years now. This government has spent close to $10 trillion since the budget was last passed by them.”

He conceded that in order to determine a budget, both Democrats and Republicans will have to compromise, but he questioned how that can be accomplished if Democrats won’t come to the table. More

Rubio calls Obama gay marriage announcement a distraction from economy, effort to divide [AUDIO]

On Laura Ingraham’s radio show on Thursday, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio reacted to President Barack Obama’s sudden personal support for same-sex marriage, announced in an interview on Wednesday with ABC’s Robin Roberts.

According to Florida’s Republican junior U.S. senator, the economy should be the focus, but there seems to be a different issue every week brought to the forefront by the president and his party.

“Every single week, whether it’s the student loan issue this week, or this gay marriage issue — next week it’ll be something else; every single week they will trot out another issue to avoid having to talk about the economy because this election is about the economy, which is what it should be about. He can’t win and they know that. They’re smart enough to know that.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/05/10/rubio-calls-obama-gay-marriage-announcement-a-distraction-from-economy-effort-to-divide/#ixzz1uVGeVbJ0

Rubio: I Won't Tell Newt to Drop Out

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, a leading vice presidential favorite for many Republicans, says he doesn’t think that Newt Gingrich or anybody else should be told to quit the contentious GOP presidential race.

In an interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Rubio said he’s not concerned about presidential process dragging on too long, and that the election will be “reframed” once the Republicans have their candidate.

“I don’t think anybody should be told to drop out,” Rubio said. “I think people should run until they feel that either they don’t want to continue or they don’t see a path to victory. I’ve never [believed] in asking people to drop out of a race because I had a bunch of people ask me to drop out of a race.”

Other excerpts from the interview:
On vice president: “I’m not going to be vice president” and he "wouldn't know how to" campaign for the position.
On Rush Limbaugh: The talk radio host has dealt with the controversy over his comments about a Georgetown law student “adequately. He’s spoken about it, he’s apologized.”

Read more on Newsmax.com: Rubio: I Won't Tell Newt to Drop Out

Marco Rubio statement to bloggers at CPAC

Florida’s Republican Senator Marco Rubio sat down with conservative bloggers at CPAC today and incisively outlined the differences in ideology between Barack Obama and that of a majority of Americans. Notice the lack of notes or “electronic devices.” Refreshing.