GOP presidential candidate hopeful Marco Rubio shares personal odyssey at FreedomFest

For U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, the American dream led his parents from Cuba.

It’s a path that helped shape the Republican presidential candidate’s beliefs in free enterprise and limited government.

Rubio spoke Friday night in Las Vegas at FreedomFest, an annual nonpartisan conference for people who espouse libertarian-themed values. About 2,000 are attending the conference. The Florida Republican spoke of his family’s Cuban roots and the opportunities the U.S. offered in their rise from poverty after they immigrated in 1956.

His father worked as a bartender well into his 70s, and his mother held down different jobs as a cashier and maid. For several years when he grew up, the family lived in Las Vegas.

“They never became rich,” Rubio said. “They never became famous, but my parents became successful.”

They owned a home in a safe neighborhood, he said, paving the way for a bartender’s son to become successful.

“This country owes me nothing,” Rubio said. “America owes me absolutely nothing. I have a debt to America I will never repay.”

The American dream isn’t dead, Rubio said, adding, “The road to the American dream has gotten narrower.”

Rubio said the tax code needs to be simplified, calling it burdensome and complicated and expensive.”

In today’s global economy, with more countries turning toward free enterprise, fewer regulations are needed, he said.

Massive regulations prevent smaller businesses from emerging and competing, Rubio said.

He also said a different, more flexible, approach is needed in higher education, one that takes into account and gives credit for different life experiences.

“What matters is what you know not where you learned it,” Rubio said.

Flexible options, including online education, are needed so a single mother earning $11 an hour has a path to education while raising her family.

The U.S. has a government, but the government isn’t what makes the country great, he said.

“Big government has never been a good idea,” Rubio said. “It has always been a bad idea. In the 21st century, it is a disastrous idea.”

Rubio is running in a crowded field of more than a dozen GOP presidential contenders, including another high-profile Floridian: Jeb Bush, a former Florida governor and the brother and son of two presidents.

A recent CNN/ORC national poll ranked Bush at the top of Republican candidates with 19 percent, followed by real estate mogul Donald Trump with 12 percent. Rubio placed sixth in that poll, with 6 percent support.

Rubio visited Las Vegas on May 28 outside the famous Gold and Silver Pawn Shop.

Nevada, with a population that’s 27 percent Hispanic, holds one of the West’s first presidential caucuses in February 2016. It will be an early test of Rubio’s appeal to voters.

Contact Ben Botkin at bbotkin@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2904. Find him on Twitter: @BenBotkin1.