Fox News host John Roberts laid into Sen. Rick Scott, who tried to claim his tax hike was a Democratic talking point. Scott’s word salad in response failed.
Fox News got this one right.
I had to do a double-take as I watched Fox News. John Roberts had a newsworthy interview with middle-class-tax-hiking Florida Senator Rick Scott. The most critical point of the discussion came when Roberts challenged Scott for lying about his 11-point tax-hike plan.
“You recently put out an 11-point plan to rescue America,” said John Roberts. “Two of the big points of which are, quote, All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game, even if a small amount. Currently, over half of Americans pay no income tax. It also says all federal legislation sunsets in five years. If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again. So that would raise taxes on half of Americans and potentially sunset programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. Why would you propose something like that in an election year?”
That was a powerful question coming from a Fox News host. More importantly, he identified that Republicans typically lie to the American people by not putting out their true beliefs and desired policies during elections. After all, Americans may notice the Republicans do not have their interests at hand.
Rick Scott attempted to lie to the audience by claiming that Roberts was putting out a Democratic talking point. Roberts would have none of it.
“But Senator Scott,” Roberts shot back. “It’s not a Democratic talking point. It’s in the plan.”
Rick Scott immediately went into bloviating mode. He claimed everyone should pay income taxes, even if a dollar. He implied that people not paying federal income taxes are ripping off those who pay. The man is simply living in another world.
Every American who shops pays all kinds of taxes. They pay property taxes directly or indirectly. All pay sales taxes, gasoline taxes, and taxes in just about every aspect of their spending. It is a lie to believe the 50%+ of Americans who do not pay federal income tax are skimming the system. Unlike Rick Scott, who stole money from the government for part of his wealth through scamming Medicare, most Americans have to work hard for their pittance.
Here is a message to Scott. 50% of Americans are not paying federal income taxes because corporations are not paying them enough. Our Republican and Neo-liberal politicians are not forcing the business class to pay a living wage as a worker’s right. Instead, we are subsidizing the wealth of the corporate executives and owners by financing their employees so they can survive to serve their corporate masters.
The most ominous part of the Republican 11-point tax-hike plan is the sunsetting of programs like Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and more. We should remember that while Scott may claim some of the programs would not be sunsetted, Republicans proved they were willing to screw most Americans. They came one “John McCain vote” away from killing the Affordable Care Act, which would hurt not only their constituents but all Americans. They are planning for the revival of an Ayn Rand-type society. Funny, Ayn Rand was on Social Security before she died.