The runup to the presidential election is really a debate about growth and taxes, Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida told CNBC on Monday.
“Growth helps the debt be more manageable, unemployment, all of these things,” he said in an interview on “The Kudlow Report.”
“Tax increases do not lead to growth,” he said. “The reason why I oppose increases in taxes is not some religious objection, or even an ideological one. It is the knowledge that increasing taxes discourages growth.”
Rubio said that taxes remove money that was going to be spent into the economy. “When the government spends that dollar, they’re going to be a lot less efficient, a lot less stimulative,” he said.
Rubio, who is being considered a vice presidential running mate by presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney, also spoke about the debt crisis, health care and Arizona’s controversial immigration law, on which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday.
Asked by host Larry Kudlow whether there could be a compromise like the one former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush mentioned in an earlier appearance — $10 of spending cuts for every $1 of revenue increases — Rubio held firm.
“I’ve always believed that was a false choice. The goal is not to give each side they want,” Rubio said. “The goal is to solve the problem.”
Hours after the nation’s highest court upheld one of the most controversial parts ofArizona’s immigration law — that police can make checks for immigration status — Rubio agreed with the decision.
“I’ve always believed the Arizona immigration law was constitutional,” said Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, even as he admitted “mixed feelings” about it initially.
Part of the law that was upheld instructs law enforcement officials to verify the immigration status of anyone they detain.
“I understand why Arizona did it. I understand why the people of Arizona are frustrated. I believe they have the 10th Amendment right to pass that law,” he said.