Marco Rubio Can't Cite A Single Source He Relies On For Policy Decisions

Rubio can't cite one source for his opinions. Image credit From the Left

Marco Rubio (R - FL) was recently asked to cite examples of some of the "information, reports, studies or otherwise" that he relies on to 'inform' and reach the conclusion that 'human activity is not to blame for climate change.'

His response to the question? Nothing. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada. In fact, instead of answering the question that was presented to him, he decided to pretend that he was asked a completely different question. Worse, he went on to further pretend that the other question that he wasn't asked, wasn't the question that he, as a lawmaker, had to answer.

No, seriously. Call it political double talk, avoidance, skirting the issue, call it whatever you want, but the way that Rubio responded to this particular question gives a whole new level of credence to the theory that republicans are out of touch with the real world.

Not only does Rubio not state a single source that he relies on to make his decisions, he appears to make up a whole series of other questions, in order to avoid coming out and saying that he doesn't make decisions based on research or study of the issues.


First Rubio says that he doesn't deny that climate change is happening, but he thinks it's always changing. He goes on to say that whether the climate is changing due to human activity is not the question that is put before him as a policy maker. (Also not the question put before him in the interview.)

Next Rubio says that the question put before him as a policy maker is:

"If we ban all the coal in the US and if we ban all the carbon emissions in the United States, will it change these dramatic changes in climate and these dramatic weather impacts that we're now reading about, and anyone who says that we will is not being truthful."

What's scary is that Rubio has a lot of opinions, but he has no explanations for how he arrived at them. Not a single source is cited. He doesn't even have a quote from one of the climate change denying Scientists (four percent of scientists disregard climate change, 96 percent do not). He doesn't seem able to provide a reference to a study or research paper of any kind. At worst you'd think he'd respond with a link to some Koch funded, online right wing blog or maybe a propaganda flier produced by the oil and gas industry. No, Rubio just knows these things.

Sadly, Tea Party voters are all too happy to accept the idea that Rubio just knows stuff that 96 percent of Scientists don't know.

Now if you're thinking that Rubio's response to the question couldn't have been worse, you'd be seriously mistaken. In a follow up interview on Fox he told Sean Hannity that he gets a kick out of of all these people who wag their fingers at him, claiming that the science on climate change is settled. He gets a kick out of them because, are you ready? There is a 'consensus of scientists who agree that human life begins at conception.' Yes, he really said that. No, he didn't actually have a source for that totally false statement either.

Are conservatives really this ignorant? Are they really content to send the dumbest, least informed, least read and least educated on the issues off to Washington to decide on the issues?

I have a hard time believing that most people, even Tea Party people, make monumental decisions without doing any research first. I am not talking about voting, unfortunately. I am talking about deciding on things like where you want to live, work or go to school, for example. There are a lot of people out there who don't even do their grocery shopping without first reading the sales fliers. People who want to make informed decisions, because making informed decisions now, generally means people have fewer regrets later.

If you want to know how to get from point A to point B, you need look at a map. If you don't look at a map, you end up stuck in a cow field or running out of gas in front of the all night strip club at 2:00 am. When it comes to the future of our country, Rubio and other Tea Party are holding the wheel, but they have no clue where they're taking us.

This was a great question, one that I think a lot of people would have liked Rubio to answer. If his ideas and beliefs are informed and accurate, then one would think he would think he would want to use the opportunity to let the public know where they came from. But his ideas are neither sound nor informed. Rubio repeats the same old propaganda, none of which is based in fact.

Here's more on Rubio's interview from the Young Turks: