News

If entitlement reform is the third rail of American politics, then there is no place in America where the surge is more powerful than Florida. The Sunshine State has more Medicare recipients than any state in the union except California — making Florida ground zero for the Democrats’ coming “Medi-scare” campaign. So it is significant that, while some Republicans have been distancing themselves from Rep. Paul Ryan’s proposed Medicare overhaul, Florida’s junior senator, Marco Rubio, has emerged in recent weeks as Ryan’s most ardent public defender.

In the wake of the recent New York special election — where Democrats captured a long-time Republican seat while demagoguing Ryan’s proposal — Rubio has been everywhere defending Ryan and challenging the Democrats who criticize his plan to offer one of their own. After the vote, Rubio penned an Miami Herald op-ed backing Ryan, posted a YouTube video, and went on the airwaves to make the case for Ryan’s proposal.

I asked Rubio why he was sticking his neck out — after all, isn’t taking on Medicare the political kiss of death in Florida? Quite the opposite, Rubio says. “The flip side of that is if there is any state in the country that should be scared of Medicare going bankrupt it’s Florida. So that’s exactly why I’m involved in this issue. Because we have millions of recipients in Florida — and one of them is my mother.”

…

Read the full story here.