100 Innovative Ideas for Florida's Future, by Marco Rubio


(Click for Amazon book review)

This book outlines Rubio's ideas for Florida, written in 2006, while he was a state legislator, but presumably at a time when he was considering a future run for US Senate. Rubio uses a process, which he calls "idearaising", to establish the list of ideas, as follows:

While the concept of "idearaisers" sounds like a democratic process in the town-hall tradition, it is not. The results in this book indicate the political bias inherent in this process. There are no liberal nor progressive ideas here; only conservative ideas. An "idearaiser" event, if actually intended to solicit ideas from the general public, would have a mixture of liberal and conservative ideas. Somehow only the conservative ones make it into Rubio's list of 100 Ideas for Florida.

That means that, in effect, Rubio is using the "idearaisers" as cover to support his own preconceived solutions to Florida's problems. If you're a conservative who expresses an idea, it might make it into Rubio's list. In other words, if Rubio would have supported that idea anyway, he's happy to give a citizen credit for it. If you're a liberal who expresses an idea, you can be assured that your idea will not make it onto Rubio's list.

That's not to say that Rubio has any ill-intent. The ill intent is inherent in the partisan process of gathering ideas. I myself have served on numerous idea-gathering commissions, and I will attest that the process serves primarily to rubber-stamp the ideas of the organizers. For example, I once served on a commission intended to reform how candidates ran for the Democratic primary. I got appointed as one of several token progressives, while the process was run by the anti-progressive insiders of the Massachusetts Democratic Party. We progressives tried to run the numerous hearings like Rubio's stated intent of "idearaisers": we listened to all comers, regardless of their politics, and recorded their input in a summary report. The Mass Dems did their best to bury that report, since it actually represented real ideas from the public. The Mass Dems' purpose of the statewide hearings was to provide evidence to substantiate the reforms that the Party insiders wanted (i.e., to keep progressives off the ballot). Anyone who testified at the hearings was duly listened to, and then noted, by name and with a personal story, if their ideas matched the Party's ideas. And they were ignored if their ideas differed.

Rubio uses the same process. Certainly SOME of the thousands of people who provided ideas matched his preconceived solutions; they get cited in this book by name and with a personal story. But certainly SOME of people provided ideas that disagreed with Rubio, and we don't get to hear from them. So don't be fooled by the ostensibly democratic process: Rubio's "100 Ideas" are HIS ideas, despite the imprimatur of public input.

-- Jesse Gordon, editor-in-chief, OnTheIssues.org, Oct. 2010

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Corporations     Marco Rubio: Loser pays, to discourage frivolous lawsuits.

Crime     Marco Rubio: Collect DNA of those convicted of sexually deviant behavior.     Marco Rubio: Mandatory life sentence for repeat sex offenders.     Marco Rubio: Endless death row appeals hinder justice.

Drugs     Marco Rubio: Teach students skills to avoid gangs, violence, & drugs.     Newt Gingrich: International drug traders use network for terrorist traffic.

Education     Marco Rubio: Incentivize foreign language curriculum in elementary school.     Marco Rubio: Prepare students for the Global Marketplace.     Marco Rubio: More options for student and parent choice in education.     Marco Rubio: 2+2 System: AA degree guarantees admission to university.     Marco Rubio: Integrate competition principles into education marketplace.     Marco Rubio: $4,500 voucher saves state $10,000 in per-student cost.     Marco Rubio: Private partnerships for provision of school services.     Marco Rubio: A+ Plan for Education: charters and choice.     Noam Chomsky: Education must provide opportunities for self-fulfillment.     Vito Fossella: $4,500 to offset tuition at private or parochial school.

Energy & Oil     Marco Rubio: Tax incentives for energy-efficient appliances.     Marco Rubio: Loans to public institutions for energy efficiency.     Marco Rubio: Florida has obvious advantages in solar energy.     Marco Rubio: Let hybrid drivers use HOV lanes & discount parking.

Environment     Marco Rubio: Partner with private companies for transportation system.     Marco Rubio: Hurricane Savings Accounts for homeowners' insurance.     Marco Rubio: Utilize toll revenues to widen & improve expressways.     Marco Rubio: Increase funding for making homes hurricane-resistant.

Families & Children     Marco Rubio: Parental notification for social networking website use.     Marco Rubio: Halt illegal activities at strip clubs & porn websites.     Marco Rubio: Increase $20M in tax credits for G-rated and PG-rated films.

Government Reform     Jeb Bush: Challenge relying on government for satisfaction.     Jeb Bush: Even private citizens have a public service role.     Marco Rubio: Reduce paid petition business in citizen initiative process.     Marco Rubio: Texas Sunset Review abolished 47 agencies; do same in FL.     Marco Rubio: Early FL primary forces diversity into presidential process.     Marco Rubio: Closer regulation of petition verification process.

Health Care     Marco Rubio: Launch a marketplace of affordable health insurance.     Marco Rubio: Capitated managed-care systems achieve better value.

Principles & Values     George Pataki: People safe in their homes are free to pursue their dreams.     Jeb Bush: Floridians bravely face the rigors of our paradise.

Tax Reform     Marco Rubio: Supermajority vote for any tax increases.

Technology     Chris Dodd: America's highways are an indispensable part of our lives.     Marco Rubio: E-budget website for detailed, issue-level budget.     Marco Rubio: Protect against identity theft with privacy opt-in.     Marco Rubio: Put budget online to allow public inspection and comment.     Marco Rubio: Public-private partnerships to build & operate roadways.     Marco Rubio: Increase criminal penalties for identity theft.     Marco Rubio: Protect kids from sex predators on Facebook & MySpace.     Melissa Bean: Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes.

Welfare & Poverty     Marco Rubio: Incentives to actually construct affordable housing.     Marco Rubio: Redesign child welfare to outsource foster care.     Marco Rubio: Institute tax-free zones in downtrodden inner-city areas.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Chris Dodd George Pataki Jeb Bush Marco Rubio Melissa Bean Newt Gingrich Noam Chomsky Vito Fossella