Another thing I find soul-crushingly boring is reading about Marco Rubio’s evolving tax plan. I don’t blame Brian Beutler for this; his article is quite good. It’s just that this topic involves taxes and Marco Rubio. Everyone keeps trying to tell me that I need to pay attention to Marco Rubio, but I have no idea why. I understand that the guy doesn’t look like a decrepit old horse and that he’s supposed to have some kind of nominal appeal to Latinos, but he’s about as substantive as Fred Thompson and at least as crooked as Senator Bob Menendez. Furthermore, his one political claim to fame is being a point man on the Senate’s comprehensive immigration reform plan, which is a little like being a Delta Tau Chi member at an Otis Day and the Knights concert, if you know what I mean.
What Beutler is (too) politely pointing out is that Rubio has managed to propose the biggest, most regressive, most budget-busting tax cuts in history, all while in the guise of standing up to the supply-siders and sticking up for the struggling middle class. Beutler calls him the most ‘disingenuous’ candidate in the race, which would, if true, be something like running a two-minute mile.
So, maybe it is true. Who can really say, though? It’s not like Mitt Romney didn’t set several Guinness Book world records for disingenuousness the last go-round, and look where there that got him.
Anyway, smart people are telling me that I really only need to pay attention to three candidates: Jeb, Scott Walker, and Rubio. I understand the first two, but I’m still not getting the third.