Rick Scott announces Senate run, promises to push 'controversial' plan that forces the poor to pay more taxes

26 January 2023

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) announced that he is running for reelection, promising to push his tax-raising plan that has already received “bipartisan condemnation,” NBC reports.

The senator’s announcement came amid speculation that he was planning to run for president in 2024. But he insists that because he knows every Republican that is considering a presidential run, he is “going to focus” on the Senate race.

Now that Scott is all in on his senatorial campaign, he is committed to implementing his “controversial conservative” plan, also known as “Rescue America.”

NBC reported the “Rescue America” plan proposal, which was "panned by Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell" last Spring, as well by his Democratic colleagues, received major backlash due to the impact it would have on tax increases for the poor.

However, the former Florida governor decided he is not backing away from the plan as he campaigns for his second term.

“I’m going to continue to push it," Scott told NBC. “I tell people these are my ideas. Let’s start fighting over ideas. If Democrats have a better way of getting people back to work, it doesn’t seem to be working. Labor participation rates are down. We’re not creating full-time jobs. Look at the job market. All we’re doing for last few months is adding part-time jobs. That’s not a great economy. Inflation: 40-year high. If we did what I put in my plan, then it would be better for Americans, all Americans.”

According to NBC, the senator thinks that many “able-bodied” individuals are opting out of work, and that, perhaps, forcing more of them to work “would grow the workforce and expand the number of taxpayers.”

But regarding claims that he aims to raise taxes for poor people, Scott maintains that is not his intention. He said, “It’s the opposite of what I do. I’ve cut taxes and fees, and I’ve never voted for a tax or fee increase.”

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates told NBC that he isn’t buying Scott’s claims.

“We’ve seen this movie so many times,” he said, also mentioning the House GOP members who aim to cut taxes for the wealthy while intentionally cutting social services millions depend on.

Relatedly, a Palm Beach writer recently asserted that the “real problem facing Floridians” is the GOP’s persistent efforts to gut Social Security.

Bates said Scott is doing just that by "tripling down on his ultra MAGA agenda to raise taxes on middle class families and schedule Medicare and Social Security to expire,” which puts the senator “fundamentally at odds with the wishes of the American people."

The Biden administration staffer said President Biden “is firmly against” the plan.

“Instead of selling out working families to rich special interests, the President is fighting to build an economy that works from the bottom up and the middle out," Bates asserted.

Although Democratic lawmakers are expecting GOP officials to “echo similar arguments'' to Scott's around the current state of the economy, they are confident that inflation and gas prices will continue to decrease, and that "wages are higher now than in the summer."

Scott, who has “never won” his elections “by more than a percentage point” and spent a total of $149.5 million on previous races, contends that he’s “ready to do whatever it takes to win this time.”

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