Florida Newspaper: Rubio 'Ripping Off' State by Staying in Senate

One of Florida's largest newspapers Wednesday called for Marco Rubio's resignation from the Senate, saying that he's "ripping off" the state by staying there and not doing his job while he's running for the presidency.

"Rubio has missed more votes than any other senator this year," The Sun-Sentinel said in its op-ed. "His seat is regularly empty for floor votes, committee meetings and intelligence briefings. He says he's MIA from his J-O-B because he finds it frustrating and wants to be president, instead."

And while Rubio insisted to The Washington Post earlier this week that he doesn't "hate" being a senator, he told CNN he's "running for president so the votes they take in the Senate are actually meaningful again."

But Florida sent Rubio to Washington to represent the state, the newspaper said, and the state has "serious problems with clogged highways, eroding beaches, flat Social Security checks and people who want to shut down the government."

And if Rubio hates his job so much, the paper, said, he should "follow the honorable lead of House Speaker John Boehner and resign it" and let voters "elect someone who wants to be there and earn an honest dollar for an honest day's work."

Rubio earns $174,000 a year to represent Florida, and takes a $10,000 federal subsidy to help pay for his Obamacare health plan, the paper pointed out, complaining that "you are ripping us off, senator."

Admittedly, it's not easy to run for president while serving as senator, the paper conceded, but Sens. Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders have missed only 10 votes, compared to Rubio missing 59.

And while Rubio has said his office has a staffer who gets constant briefings, that's not enough, the editorial said.

"Look, a lot us are frustrated by our jobs and office politics," the paper said. "But we still show up for work every day to earn a paycheck...your job is to represent Floridians in the Senate. Either do your job, Sen. Rubio, or resign it."

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