Marco Rubio talks China, VA woes – but not UFOs – in West Palm

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio focused on his main policy wheelhouse, America’s economic war with China, during his keynote speech at the nonpartisan Forum Club of the Palm Beaches luncheon Thursday. The senator attributed America’s dearth of well-paying jobs to both political parties leaning too hard into the international market after the fall of the Soviet Union, allowing China to become an international manufacturing powerhouse. 

To fight it, Rubio wants to incentivize American corporations to bring their business back home and penalize unethical manufacturing in China, a task he said has been met with resistance by national business lobbyists. “I believe the free market and the market outcome is generally the right outcome,” he said.  

That’s “because it's the most efficient outcome … but the part we have forgotten is, what happens when the market outcome is not good for your country?” added Rubio, a Republican. During the luncheon’s Q&A session, Rubio also fielded a question explaining his recent letter to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs about poor conditions in Florida’s VA hospitals, including the one in Miami which doesn’t have adequate air conditioning. 

He said there are problems with VA hospitals across the country, but he hopes his involvement in the issue will jumpstart a process to fix it. “Sometimes what happens is when a letter is written and makes it into the press, someone miraculously finds an air conditioner and installs it,” he said to laughter. “Whatever it is, as long as it gets done.”