In Marco Rubio's America, hard work pays $50 an hour

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., is on a mission to tear down the blockade between would-be innovators and the free enterprise system. This week, he delivered an hour-long address in Washington outlining a novel idea for restraining government regulation: a National Regulatory Budget. Rubio wants to regulate the regulators, giving them a taste of their own medicine.

The budget would be set by an independent board, Rubio said, which would limit the amount each agency’s regulations would be allowed to cost the economy.

“This would force federal agencies to enact only those regulations that serve an essential role,” Rubio said Monday at Google’s Washington offices, where the Jack Kemp Foundation held a forum on economic growth.

The National Regulatory Budget is one of several policies in Rubio’s vision for unfettered economic progress. Still regarded as a presidential hopeful for the Republicans in 2016, Rubio needs to shore up his economic credentials after losing ground with GOP primary voters last year over his immigration stance.

“Rather than focusing on policies that give the American people access to an entire banquet of economic opportunities, Washington is arguing over how best to divide up the scraps” Rubio said in his speech. “Look at the fervor surrounding the minimum wage debate. A $10.10 minimum wage is not the American dream. We need jobs that pay $30, $40, $50 an hour, and we need to equip more of our people to fill them.”

Rubio credits his parents and grandparents for teaching him such a sweeping vision of the American dream. Immigrants from Cuba, they considered living in the United States a great privilege, Rubio said, noting, “My grandfather loved this country and he never took it for granted, because he knew what life was like outside of it.”

Listen to excerpts of Rubio’s speech on The World and Everything in It:

Watch Rubio’s full speech at the Kemp Forum on True Growth:

A closer look: Sen. Marco Rubio