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Rick Scott shows why McConnell didn’t want to release GOP platform
Backlash to Scott's plan demonstrates why McConnell was smart not to say GOP positions out loud before election.
www.salon.com
2.24.22
This week the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee released a detailed plan of what the party plans to do if it retakes control of the Senate — and the ensuing backlash quickly showed why Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., refused to release a party platform at all ahead of the midterms. "I'll let you know when we take it back," McConnell told reporters last month, staying mum on what the GOP would do if it wins the Senate in November. So Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., who leads the Senate Republican campaign arm, released his own "11-point plan to rescue America" that calls to raise taxes on millions of poor families and other right-wing priorities. The plan also calls to sunset civil rights laws, eliminate the Education Department, declare that there are only two genders, and build former President Donald Trump's border wall. "I'll warn you," Scott wrote in the introduction to the plan. "This plan is not for the faint of heart." Democrats quickly seized on Scott's proposal to impose taxes on Americans who don't have any tax burden. "He wants working families and seniors to pay more," tweeted Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. Scott in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity insisted that his plan did not call to raise taxes. But Scott's plan explicitly calls to increase taxes on people who currently do not have to pay any.
"All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount," the proposal says. "Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax." White House press secretary Jen Psaki noted that Scott's plan "doesn't include a single proposal to lower prices for the middle class." The plan also calls to shrink the government by eliminating 25% of government workers and require all legislation to expire after five years, which would presumably apply to longstanding legislation like civil rights and voting rights reforms. Scott's plan also goes all-in on the Republican culture war, calling to eliminate the Education Department entirely, end teacher tenure at public schools, and require all children to say the Pledge of Allegiance and stand for the National Anthem while hitting out at "critical race theory."
Former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt said there is little support for Scott's plan beyond the party's rabid base and could be a gift to Democrats facing challenges in the midterms. "This document is just a laundry list of grievances and nonsense. "It's not a blueprint for anything other than to titillate Fox News viewers and to tickle their erogenous zones, their grievance zones on Fox & Friends."
Two unavoidable outcomes when Republicans take over Congress....
1) Tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations.
2) Incresed taxes for everyone else.