Fleecing The Rubios

Sen. Marco Rubio is letting us see his cards, and surprise!  It's a race to the bottom to see which Republican would destroy the nation's public schools and universities first: Rubio or Bush.

On education, Rubio said he would establish a new accreditation process that would “expose higher education to the market forces of choice and competition” and create income-based loan repayment programs to make student debt more manageable.

“Our higher education system is controlled by what amounts to a cartel of existing colleges and universities, which use their power over the accreditation process to block innovative, low-cost competitors from entering the market,” he said.

“Within my first 100 days, I will bust this cartel by establishing a new accreditation process that welcomes low-cost, innovative providers. This would expose higher education to the market forces of choice and competition, which would prompt a revolution driven by the needs of students — just as the needs of consumers drive the progress of every other industry in our economy,” he said.

He also called for student investment plans and an increase in vocational and apprenticeship programs to encourage high school students to begin careers as mechanics, plumbers or electricians.

It’s a message that could appeal to some of the younger voters Rubio hopes to win over.

The Florida senator focused on taxes, saying he’d cut the corporate tax rate to the 25 percent average for developed nations, establish a territorial tax system that encouraged U.S. companies to bring money they’re holding overseas home, allow companies to claim more expenses for investing in creating jobs, and put a ceiling on the amount U.S. regulations can cost.

On immigration, he said he would push for an overhaul that encourages “skill and merit-based” immigration, rather than family-based immigration.

Pretty much every check box on the Chamber of Commerce corporate bonanza right there: massive business tax cuts, corporatized schools and colleges to turn them into profit centers (and hey, lower tax revenues will mean cuts to education, making for profit schools more "competitive" as public schools are starved) and exploitation of low-cost apprenticeship and immigrant labor.

There's nothing new about Rubio's plan, it's just the business wing of the GOP all day, every day. Think Kansas, only in all 50 states!

Won't that be fun?