Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican, has spent the last 24 hours furiously backpedaling on his radical, fascist plan for America, and his intent to impose a big tax hike for millions who absolutely can’t afford it. “All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount.” That’s what he said in his plan. All Americans.
About 50% of Americans earn so little they don’t pay federal income taxes, or what they would have to pay is reduced by tax credits. That half of America that can’t afford to pay federal income taxes already pays plenty in federal payroll tax, state income and sales taxes, gas taxes, and other state and local levies. The people who don’t pay federal income taxes are mostly the disabled, working poor, retirees, and of course, the unemployed.
At the same time Scott is calling for a big tax hike on these Americans, he’s suggesting yet another big tax cut for tax cheats—the rich who can afford to hire accountants and lawyers to help them avoid their tax liabilities. He doesn’t say that explicitly, but it’s baked into his pledge to defund the IRS. “We will immediately cut the IRS funding and workforce by 50%,” he vowed. The IRS has been systematically defunded by Congress for years already, resulting in the wealthy getting away with cheating the Treasury out of billions. That’s just the way Republicans like it, but they don’t usually say it out loud in a policy manifesto.
The blowback to Scott’s plan to raise taxes on every American has caused him to do some serious backtracking.
Scott also insisted in a gobbledygook statement provided to the The Washington Post that it’s not a tax hike on the 99%, even though it clearly is. “What my plan tackles is the willing-to-work shortage caused by Joe Biden and the Democrats who decided to pay people more not to work. It talks about able-bodied people who are taking a paycheck rather than working, not those who already pay into the system. We need to get Americans back to work. Making sure every American has skin in the game is a way to do it and the American people agree.” It’s not a tax hike on everybody, but “every American” has to pay is not a particularly adept clarification of his message there.
This has just been harebrained foray from Scott, a gift to Democrats. Take this tweet from White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki: “@SenRickScott and Senate Republicans just released an economic plan that doesn’t include a single proposal to lower prices for the middle class. Instead he wants to raise taxes on half of Americans—including on seniors and working families.”
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee has already jumped on it, with a radio ad campaign exposing Scott’s plan.
That’s a layup right there. Even an Trumper says so. Stephen Moore, who served as an economic policy adviser to Trump, told the Post: “I’ve said for 30 years everybody should pay some income tax, if you’re going to vote and have government benefits. But is it the smartest time to be saying that right now? No.”
It’s an unforced error, one that has to be giving Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell ulcers. As Kerry Eleveld points out, McConnell has worked really hard to not provide Democrats any openings, making it very clear that he was going to make this election a referendum on President Joe Biden. So much for that. As Kerry writes, “releasing this appalling bit of drivel as a statement of GOP ideals certainly runs in direct defiance of McConnell’s decree.”
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