It was yesterday morning when Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida unveiled a far-right policy blueprint, which included, among other things, a call for higher income taxes on millions of Americans. It apparently took less than a day for Democrats to turn this into an ad.
Politico reported this morning:
The DSCC is launching a five-figure radio and podcast ad buy knocking the Sen. Rick Scott-created GOP agenda unveiled Tuesday, specifically his call for new income taxes on millions of Americans. The ad’s last sentence? “If Senate Republicans win, we pay the price.”
According to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s press statement, the spot will reach “targeted voters” as early as today.
The 15-second ad itself is pretty straightforward: “This just in, Republicans have released their plan if they win the Senate," the script reads. "It’s to raise taxes on over 50 percent of Americans, including many seniors and working families. If Republicans win, we’ll pay the price.”
Fact-checkers will likely take issue with the use of the word “Republicans” — Rick Scott, the current chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said he was speaking only for himself when he unveiled his far-right agenda — but it’s worth noting for context that Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel was quick to offer public support for the senator’s rollout yesterday.
Indeed, pointing to the Floridian’s blueprint, McDaniel boasted, “Republicans are offering a clear plan to protect and reinvigorate the America we know and love.”
Given this, it’s tough to suggest that Scott is alone on a political island: His plan, warts and all, has already received at least some party backing.
What’s more, it seems like a safe bet that this won’t be the last Democratic ad on the subject.
For his part, the Republican leader is clearly aware of the political problem he created, which is why he went on Fox News last night to deny that his plan would raise taxes — despite the fact that his plan would raise taxes.
Scott went on to try to push back against his critics via Twitter this morning, saying Democrats are “out of touch,” because Americans “want everyone to pay their fair share.”
If he’s counting on his plan being popular with the electorate, Scott is likely to be disappointed. Millions of Americans don’t make enough money to qualify for a federal income tax bill, and under the GOP senator’s plan, their taxes would, by definition, have to go up.
We can say this with confidence because Scott said so, in writing. Here, again, is the literal wording of the Republican’s plan: “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.”
If those who aren’t paying federal income taxes have to start paying federal income taxes, then, by definition, the new system would impose tax increases on millions of people.
If Scott wants to start filling in the gaps with details about how his plan would work in practice — how much he’d expect lower-income households to pay, for example — that’d be great. But in the meantime, the political problem will persist.