Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) criticized President Obama on economic issues in the official Republican response to the State of the Union, calling for a renewed focus on the “free enterprise economy.”
Rubio, speaking from the Speaker’s conference room in the Capitol, argued that less government regulation and taxes and will help grow the economy, familiar themes for the party. But Rubio's comments showed a renewed focus on the middle class — and he used his family’s middle-class immigrant story to emphasize why it mattered to him.
“This opportunity – to make it to the middle class or beyond no matter where you start out in life – it isn’t bestowed on us from Washington. It comes from a vibrant free economy where people can risk their own money to open a business. And when they succeed, they hire more people, who in turn invest or spend the money they make, helping others start a business and create jobs. Presidents in both parties – from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan – have known that our free enterprise economy is the source of our middle class prosperity. But President Obama? He believes it’s the cause of our problems."
He also recorded a version of the speech in Spanish — the first time the State of the Union response was given in two languages.
Read more on Rubio's Republican address to the nation.
