Here’s the latest in Marco Rubio’s chronic absenteeism: As a member of the Florida House, Rubio “secured a coveted position” a select committee assembled in the days after 9/11 to “keep [Florida] safe,” then proceeded to blow off “nearly half of the meetings over the first five months of the panel’s existence, more than any of his colleagues.”
During his unexcused absences, the Washington Post reports, Rubio missed “hours of expert testimony and was absent for more than 20 votes — prompting the state House speaker who had given him the assignment to express concern.”
As a U.S. Senator, Marco Rubio has an abysmal career voting record — and he’s missed 87% of roll call votes this year. In the last year, Rubio was skipping hearings and briefings to campaign and attend fundraisers — including a classified Foreign Relations committee briefing on the Paris terrorist attacks that Rubio skipped to attend a campaign fundraiser in California. More recently, Rubio missed all but twenty minutes of a closed briefing on North Korea, because he had initially prioritized fundraising in Florida. Even as a FIU professor, Marco Rubio skipped 30 percent of the classes he was supposed to teach, for which his billionaire benefactor Norman Braman paid $100,000.
Today’s report about Rubio skipping nearly half of the 9/11 committee meetings isn’t some isolated incident of Rubio failing to meet the expectations expected of him. It’s just the latest indication that Marco Rubio is an ambitious politician eager to take on responsibilities, titles and prestige — but uncommitted to follow through on his obligations.
Read more from The Washington Post.
Published: Feb 18, 2016