Marco Rubio once bought a boat, and an absurd controversy ensued

1) A bizarre New York Times article reported that despite carrying student loan debt, Marco Rubio spent ”$80,000 for a luxury speedboat.“

2) An arguably more bizarre Politico article countered that Rubio’s EdgeWater 245CC Deep-V Center Console is in fact a “fishing boat” and that “In a place like Miami, home to billionaires and stars who have multimillion-dollar yachts, an ‘$80,000 luxury boat’ can seem like a contradiction.”

3) The median household income in Miami-Dade County is $43,000.

4) The official EdgeWater Power Boats website describes the 245CC Center Console as one of several models of “versatile luxury boats” that the company manufactures.

5) All recreational boats — from Larry Ellison’s superyacht to my dad’s pair of sea kayaks — are, in a sense, luxuries, even though many recreational boats are far from luxurious.

6) Ron Fournier had a take:

7) Chris Hayes had a better take:

8) Jeb Bush has plenty of family money.

9) Florida is one of just three states that require a special license to sell used pleasure boats, though obviously it’s a disproportionately important state for this particular industry.

10) The United States has a variety of tax- and mortgage-subsidy programs that encourage homebuying rather than other durable goods purchases. Thus, on average, Americans have larger homes and fewer recreational watercraft than would exist in a pure market system.

11) In 2018, some unknown person will take delivery of Triple Deuce, the world’s most expensive yacht, at a cost of more than $1.1 billion.

12) If you’re interested in a window into how Marco Rubio would conduct federal budget policy, you might want to read about his tax plan, which combines some interesting ideas with breathtaking fiscal irresponsibility.

13) Marco Rubio thinks we need to cut taxes, spend more on the military, and reduce government borrowing.