About Marco

51 years old

Hometown: Miami, Florida

Marco was born to his Cuban immigrant parents in Miami, Florida, but he spent his early years in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was a top football player at his high school and earned a football scholarship at Tarkio College in Missouri. He ultimately went on to earn a law degree from the University of Miami before starting a career in poltics. Marco worked in the Florida House of Representatives for eight years, culminating in a speakership in 2006. Rubio started his own law firm and worked at the Florida International University before eventually winning an election for Florida's senate seat in 2009. This year, Marco Rubio enters this year's election seeking to make the Republican Party "new and vibrant."

Rubio's economic plan focuses on driving business innovation and jobs by lowering corporate tax rates and reducing regulation. Rubio would make defending net neutrality a priority and cease the creation of new taxes on online sales and digital goods and services. Rubio supports the Trans-Pacific Partnership and the Keystone Pipeline.^[1][2]

If elected, Rubio would work to promote human rights and democracy in China and Cuba and combat ISIS by building a multinational coalition willing to send troops into Iraq and Syria, expand airstrikes, and provide arms to Sunni and Kurdish forces. Rubio would work to reject and reverse Russia's annexation of Crimea by providing lethal military assistance to Ukraine and ceasing all diplomatic engagement on any issue not related to Ukraine.^[3]

Rubio has said he would increase military spending by one trillion dollars and permanently extend section 215 of the Patriot Act.^[4]

If elected, Rubio would provide employers with a reliable way to check legal status while working to secure the border with additional investment in electronic monitoring and personnel. Rubio will work to stop "sanctuary cities" by discouraging law enforcement officers from cooperating with federal immigration authorities and cutting certain federal grant programs. He would reform the immigration system to provide a merit-based system for legal immigrants.^[5][6]

If elected, Rubio would work to reduce the number of tax brackets from seven to three and simplify the rates to 35%, 25%, and 15%. He would cut the top corporate and small business tax rate to 25% while reducing capital gains, dividends, and estate tax to 0% after a transition period.^[7]

If elected, Rubio would work to optimize America's resources by allowing states to control onshore energy development, altering Obama's five year offshore drilling plan, approving the Keystone Pipeline, and increasing American natural gas exports. Rubio would also minimize environmental regulation. Rubio would facilitate private sector led development of new energy technology and support universities to teach for the energy jobs of the future.^[8]

Rubio's plan to minimize government regulations on the environment includes reversing Obama's carbon mandates, publishing costs of environmental litigation, and simplifying the environmental review process.^[8]

If elected, Rubio would reform secondary and college education. He would prohibit the federal government from creating mandates on curriculum or state standards and create a national school choice program. Rubio would also establish income based repayment as the universal repayment method for federal student loans and reform the accreditation system to accommodate non-traditional education.^[9]

To reform secondary and college education Rubio would simplify tax incentives into one simple provision and reduce the complexity of federal financial aid.^[10]