You could say that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is not a fan of Sen. Rick Scott’s (R-FL) “11-Point Plan to Rescue America” that would, among many other things, sunset all federal legislation in 5 years with the reasoning being that, “If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.”
McConnell railed against Sen. Scott’s plan during a Senate GOP leadership news conference on Tuesday afternoon, addressing a question about it this way should the GOP retake the Senate after this fall’s midterm election:
“We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half of the American people, and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within 5 years.”
Mitch McConnell
“If we’re fortunate enough to have the majority next year, I’ll be the majority leader. I’ll decide in consultation with my members what to put on the floor,” McConnell said. “Let me tell you what would not be a part of our agenda. We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half of the American people, and sunsets Social Security and Medicare within 5 years. That will not be part of the Republican Senate majority agenda. We will focus instead on what the American people are concerned about: inflation, defense, energy, the border and crime.”
Sen. Scott was walking away from the press conference as McConnell spoke.
Scott, who is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and is thought to be contemplating a 2024 run for the White House, released his controversial plan purporting to represent the Republican Party—irking several prominent Republicans including McConnell.
McConnell has said the Republican Party does not need to and should not issue a new platform in advance of the midterm election, saying the GOP only needs to reveal its plans for running Congress “when we take it back”—a somewhat controversial stance as well.
Scott doubled down on his plan in a statement Tuesday, insisting that Republicans should have a plan.
“I agree with Senator McConnell that this election will primarily be about Joe Biden and the Democrats’ failures, but have been clear that I also believe Republicans should talk about a plan for turning this country around,” Scott said. “I’m a business guy and I’ve always believed in making plans in order to get things done. Republicans, and really all Americans outside of Washington, are demanding it.”
The 5th point in Scott’s plan calls for all Americans to pay some income tax “to have skin in the game, even if a small amount. Currently over half of Americans pay no income tax.”
As an article on Florida Politics points out, Scott’s “skin in the game” plan would by definition target retirees whose only income is Social Security. The Social Security Administration estimates 21% of married couples and 45% of single persons rely on Social Security for 90% or more of their income.
In a statement to FactCheck.org, Chris Hartline, communications director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which Scott heads, said the Senator actually wants to focus on only a subset of U.S. residents who don’t pay federal income taxes nor payroll taxes for Social Security and Medicare.
“Senator Scott believes that everyone should pay their fair share, and everyone should have skin in the game,” Hartline told FactCheck.org. “There are too many people who are benefiting from government services without contributing to the system. That obviously would not include retirees who have paid plenty in taxes or working Americans who are paying into the system through either income tax or payroll tax. He believes there are too many able-bodied Americans who are choosing not to work, partly due to policies from Joe Biden and the Democrats, that have expanded the welfare state and paid people more to not work than to work. That should change.”
More from the 11-point plan
Here are a few other relevant statements from Scott’s proposal. The 6th point in the plan also would, “Force Congress to issue a report every year telling the public what they plan to do when Social Security and Medicare go bankrupt.”
In Point #6 on government reform and debt, Scott says, “We will immediately cut the IRS funding and workforce by 50%.”
That builds on something mentioned back in the 5th point in the plan, about the economy and growth: “We will shrink the federal government, reduce the government work force by 25% in 5 years, sell government buildings and assets, and get rid of the old, slow, closed, top-down, government-run-everything system we have today.”
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