St. Petersburg Times Editorial
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
As speaker of the Florida House last year, Marco Rubio supported rail as an economic investment. As a U.S. Senate candidate now, the Miami Republican waffles. The Legislature approved a revised rail package Tuesday. Gov. Charlie Crist, Rubio's Senate opponent, supports it. Rubio won't say where he stands. Is that leadership?
Then:Speaker Rubio joined 76 other House members in 2008 to support an unsuccessful plan to spend $650 million to purchase railways from CSX for SunRail, a proposed commuter line for greater Orlando. Rubio's book of policy ideas touted investments in rail, highways and transit as huge job creators.
Now:Rubio declines to take a position on the Legislature's rail plan. "Back then it made sense from an economic perspective. Now we're living in a much different time, so it's a new cost-benefit analysis. Everything is done in the context of the moments in which you're living."