Rubio addresses government's role in economy

Romney understands and applauds success, while Obama demonizes it, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio told the North Carolina delegation Wednesday morning.

Rubio, Florida's rising young star, was picked to introduce Romney for his nomination acceptance speech Thursday night. During that speech, he said, he wants to celebrate Romney's successes – as a father, husband, governor and 2002 Winter Olympics chief executive.

"I think it's important for people to know what a special and successful person (Romney) is," Rubio said. "He has a record and history of turning things around."

He talked about what the Republican Party believes should be the role of government in the nation's economy.

"We understand that prosperity is created, not when the government spends money, but when people take the money they have access to and use it to start a new business," he said. Those businesses create jobs, which allows their employees to spend money, which he said is the key to economic growth.

"This is the cycle of prosperity. It's not a theory. It's the story of our nation," he said.

Rubio contrasted Romney's economic platforms with policies endorsed by the current administration. He said the president can't win re-election based on his record in the Oval Office, so he instead has to attack and discredit his opponent.

"He tries to convince Americans that the reason they're worse off is because other people are too well off," he said. "He tries to convince people that the way people in this country become rich is by making other people poor."

North Carolina delegate Dianna Bingle, of Concord, said she thought Rubio's speech was right on message.

"The American people have seen this administration as a total failure," Bingle said. "We have millions of people out of work. We have children that are hungry. We have people that are homeless. We need to take care of the U.S.A., and we need to get back on track."