Rubio announcing his ‘innovative economy’ plan today

Chi town Republican presidential entrant Marco Rubio needed an overhaul of the United states.S. system on Tuesday, saying educational facilities were actually in operation just like a “alliance” and not just keeping up with the demands of participants or maybe economic climate. “We need to change how we provide degrees, how those degrees are accessed, how much the access costs, how those costs are paid and how those costs are determined”.

Still, Rubio used the speech as an opportunity to again try to cast the 2016 presidential race as one between the past and the future – a contrast his campaign thinks will benefit the 44-year-old Cuban American.

Rubio didn’t mention any of his Republican rivals by name when he said that, but did include Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in those references.

Rubio criticized the country’s current tax system for being unfavorable to large corporations and small businesses alike, a factor that he said contributes to companies shifting their employees and headquarters overseas.

Rubio has offered most of his ideas before, and critics were quick to point out Tuesday that he has not been able to pass any of them as law – and in some cases hasn’t even tried – while he’s been in the US Senate. “It is not the result of a cyclical economic downturn that will naturally correct itself. It is born of a fundamental transformation to the very nature of our economy”.

Rubio jabbed at fellow Republicans, primarily for letting government grow so much in the 2000s, and Democrats, for policies that he said stifle job growth and “snuff out innovation” – namely, their push for a higher minimum wage and for tax increases on the wealthy.

To break up what he called the higher-education “cartel”, Rubio pledged to create a new accreditation process that would allow low-priced providers, perhaps largely online, to compete with established schools.

But after his Chicago speech, Rubio will visit Iowa and then Nevada, both of which hold key nominating contests early next year.

Since then he has lobbied for sweeping conservative changes in higher education.

Rubio, who was saddled with student loans himself as a college graduate, wants students to be allowed to repay loans based on their postgraduate incomes.

He has called for colleges to tell potential students expected salaries for given degrees before students commit themselves to a major.

He is now polling in the top tier of candidates, sitting at fourth place nationally behind only Bush, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, and Ben Carson, according to the RealClearPolitics average of polls.