“No, no, it’s in the plan!” exclaimed his interviewer on Fox News on Sunday. “It’s in the plan!” Rick Scott, from Florida, is a former chief health officer whose company has pleaded guilty to 14 counts of fraudulent practices. As the South Florida Sun-Sentinel put it, “most of it was done under Scott.” According to the Guardian, when Scott was governor of Florida, “his government presided over the effective commitment of $ 70 million in federal funds available to fight the HIV crisis in the state.” Scott won an incumbent Democrat for a Senate seat in 2018 and is now chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee (NRSC) as the party looks forward to taking over the Senate in the midterm elections. Last month, Scott released an “11 Point Plan to Rescue America.” He suggests that more Americans pay federal income tax, and says Congress could “sunset” Social Security and Medicare within five years, which means it will allow them to retire. The plan immediately caught fire. The non-partisan Foundation for Taxation and Economic Policy (Itep) said Scott’s plan “would raise taxes by more than $ 1,000 on average for the poorest 40% of Americans.” Itep also noted the impact that Scott’s plan would have on Republican hotspots, saying the states most affected, “where more than 40 percent of residents will experience tax increases, are Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas, Louisiana.” Alabama, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Georgia, New Mexico, South Carolina and Florida. “ Senate Republican Mitch McConnell denounced the plan, saying: “We will not have a bill on our agenda that would raise taxes on half of the American people and cut Social Security and Medicare within five years.” . Dana Milbank, a Washington Post columnist, said Scott had given the Democrats a gift we needed for the election year. “All Democrats need to do,” he wrote of a plan that would also cut trade with China and reduce tax collection resources, “is to repeat Scott’s own words.” Fox News Sunday presenter John Roberts asked Scott, “Why would you suggest that in an election year?” Scott said Roberts was repeating “Democrat discussion points.” “No, no, it’s in the plan!” said Roberts. “It’s in the plan!” Scott said, “But here is the issue of reality for a second.” Roberts said: “But, senator, be patient. This is not a matter for the Democrats! It’s in the plan! “ Scott defended his plan, saying: “We have to talk every year about exactly how to fix Medicare and Social Security,” but “no one I know wants to go down.” “Here’s what is unfair,” he added in his tax plan. “We have people who… could go to work and find a way to pay the government. This is not right. They should have some skin in the game. I do not care if it is a dollar. We must all be together in this. “ Scott is said to be Donald Trump’s choice to replace McConnell as Senate leader – an effort that shows no signs of success. Scott was asked if, in a Wall Street Journal column entitled “Why I’m Defying Beltway Cowardice,” he called McConnell a coward. He avoided asking, saying he wanted to “do something”. Protesting the “left awakening” and democratic immigration and energy policies, he said: “We have to change that. You do not change it without having a plan “.
