On CBS’ Face the Nation, host Bob Schieffer and guest Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) exchanged blows about the budget battle and who is to blame for the current state of the economy.

Schieffer challenged statements Rubio made on the Sean Hannity Show where he said that everything in America is worse since Obama took office, and he accused Obama of bringing the government to the brink of default.

Schieffer: Do you really mean all of that literally Senator?  That everything in America is worse and I take it that it’s all Barack Obama’s fault?

Rubio: Well first of all every president has to be judged by the times in which he lives as president. This president has now been in charge for two and a half years. Okay?  He has raised federal spending by 28%. Washington went along with his prescription for joblessness which was the stimulus package. And unemployment is  higher than when he took over, significantly higher. In fact we have not had unemployment this high, for this long  since the Great Depression with no signs of it getting better.  Over twenty million Americans today as they watch this program are either unemployed or underemployed. And none of the things he said we need to do in order to turn that around have worked. As far as waiting long to deal with this. Here are the facts.  I came to Washington in January.  We already knew about this debt limit issue was upon us. Nothing happened during the State of the Union. He proposed a budget that was so ludicrous that not even the Democrats in the Senate would vote for it. A budget that increased the debt not solved it. Months went by weeks went by and until very recently the president was completely  disengaged from this debt limit debate.  And I do think in that in the context of politics  there was a strategy to leave this to the last possible moment so that there would be a take it or leave it scenario like what some are painting right now. And I repeat this is not a game. This is a very serious issue.  People watching  at home, they don’t care who wins this debt limit debate they want to know how come they can’t find a job. And the answer is because until America has a credible solution to its debt problem people will be afraid to invest in America’s economy and create jobs here at home.

Schieffer: Well aren’t you going to have to concede though Senator that maybe the previous administration might have had a little something to do with the bad economy that the president inherited when he came into office? And the other part

Rubio:  Sure.  So when does it start getting better Bob?

Schieffer tried to blame the Bush administration for the current problems in the economy. While Rubio admitted that Obama didn’t exactly inherit a healthy economy, the fact is that most Democrats have stopped invoking the former President’s name when it comes to placing blame for today’s economic problems.

When asked by Matt Lauer last month whether or not Obama owned the economy, Obama adviser David Plouffe said, “Of course he does,” and adding that”we are making progress.”

Even DNC Chairman Debbie Wasserman Schultz admitted that the economy belongs to the Democrats when she was interviewed by Politico last month.

“We own the economy. We own the beginning of the turnaround and we want to make sure that we continue that pace of recovery, not go back to the policies of the past under the Bush administration that put us in the ditch in the first place,”

The next time Schieffer tries to pin the blame for the poor performance of the Obama economy on President Bush he should check with his Democratic buddies to make sure they are all on the same page.

Rubio: America's problem is debt, not debt limit

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About the author

Don Irvine
Don Irvine is Chairman of Accuracy in Media. He is active on Facebook and Twitter. You can follow him @donirvine to read his latest thoughts.

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