Republican elected officials are trotting out all-too-familiar deficit concerns to diminish support for President Joe Biden's and the Democrats' infrastructure bills, which are still being negotiated by lawmakers.
Republican Senator Rick Scott of Florida is one such Republican.
Scott joined Fox News' Chris Wallace for an interview, where he falsely claimed the infrastructure bills—which formerly included widely popular policies like paid family leave—would target poor and working class Americans, rather than the rich. He also excoriated Democrats for supposedly refusing to live within the government's means and contributing to inflation.
Wallace countered by asking whether Scott believes the Tax and Jobs Act of 2017—known colloquially as the Trump Tax Cuts—should be repealed, despite enjoying near-unanimous support from Republican lawmakers.
Watch below.
After Rick Scott cites debt concerns as the reason he won't support infrastructure legislation, Chris Wallace asks him if the Trump tax cuts should be repealed, since they will increase the deficit by $2t. Scott says no, he wants lower taxes and spending should be cut instead.pic.twitter.com/eo2kWDSUeC— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1635691004
Wallace asked:
"You talk about living within your means, you talk about debt, you talk about deficits, the Trump tax cuts—which were passed in 2017, the year before you were elected to the Senate—was estimated by the Congressional Budget Office that it will increase the budget deficit by over $2 trillion over 11 years," Wallace shot back. "So should the Trump tax cuts be repealed?"
Scott deflected to his time as Governor of Florida, saying:
"I cut taxes and fees a hundred times, over $10 billion and I actually balanced a budget and paid off a third of the state debt. You can do both ... I am not gonna waste anybody's money. We have got to do better at the federal level."
Wallace countered:
"Sir, respectfully, when Donald Trump was president, you had a tax cut which added $2 trillion to the deficit according to the CBO and you didn't have the commensurate spending cuts," Wallace pushed back. "So the question is if you are not going to have the spending cuts, should you repeal the tax cuts if that debt and deficit are so vital?"
Scott then assured that he wanted "lower taxes" but failed to directly answer whether he believed the Trump tax cuts should be repealed.
Twitter users called out his hypocrisy.
Criminal Rick Scott says:\n\nSpending on programs directly benefiting Americans most in need\u2026 No.\nToo expensive.\n\nCost of tax cuts on the rich, a larger deficit than proposed programs\u2026 are okay.\n\nIn fact, we PAY for that but providing LESS funding for Americans.\n\n[vote for him?] https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1454819635040243712\u00a0\u2026pic.twitter.com/UCe80yFh5L— W\u1d36E\u1d3cB\u1d31B \u270c\ud83c\udffc (@W\u1d36E\u1d3cB\u1d31B \u270c\ud83c\udffc) 1635700238
Voldemort's geeky kid brother is intellectually inconsistent and a gigantic hypocrite - and supported overturning an American election.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1454819635040243712\u00a0\u2026— Jeff Timmer (@Jeff Timmer) 1635694589
Republican politicians think we should spend trillions on tax breaks for their super-rich donors, but refuse to invest in the infrastructure that working people and small businesses need.\n\nWe're not falling for this scam. #ncpolhttps://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1454819635040243712\u00a0\u2026— Scott Huffman for NC \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f (@Scott Huffman for NC \ud83c\udff4\u200d\u2620\ufe0f) 1635698806
What Scott essentially implies here is that larger deficits are acceptable when they\u2019re the product of corporate tax cuts.\n\nBut they\u2019re not when it\u2019s the result of federal spending on popular things like fixing roads, bridges, providing access to childcare, etchttps://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1454819635040243712\u00a0\u2026— Joseph Zeballos-Roig (@Joseph Zeballos-Roig) 1635695276
These craven morons just want to avoid taxes for themselves and their wealthy friends. Dude doesn\u2019t even skip a beat.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1454819635040243712\u00a0\u2026— Bad Faith \u271d\ufe0f\ud83d\udc34\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2 (@Bad Faith \u271d\ufe0f\ud83d\udc34\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2) 1635698559
.@SenRickScott doesn't support #BuildBackBetter b/c he'd have to pay more taxes on the profits he makes off constituents.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1454819635040243712\u00a0\u2026— Old School SciFi (@Old School SciFi) 1635694010
They proceeded to poke holes in his argument and in the perception of Trump as a fiscally responsible President.
In just the *pre-covid* portion of his presidency, Trump signed $4.7T of new debt into law. Roughly half of that new debt was from tax cuts; other half, from spending increases.\n(Even more spending was later signed into law as a result of covid, of course)\nhttps://www.crfb.org/blogs/president-trump-has-signed-4-7-trillion-debt-law\u00a0\u2026https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1454819635040243712\u00a0\u2026— Catherine Rampell (@Catherine Rampell) 1635691505
Republicans like Rick Scott have been peddling the fantasy of trickle-down economics for 40 years now.\n\nReagan, Bush and Trump all cut taxes, and the deficit skyrocketed.\n\nClinton raised taxes, and the deficit shrank.https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1454819635040243712\u00a0\u2026— Keith Boykin (@Keith Boykin) 1635695846
This is the guy who wanted drug tests for all SNAP recipients. The estimated fraud in that program is 3%. Testing cost taxpayers millions more than it saved. Oh, wait, he also owned that drug testing company. #gophypocrisyhttps://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1454819635040243712\u00a0\u2026— She Sounds Hideous (@She Sounds Hideous) 1635691475
Spending concerns from both Republicans and conservative Democrats continue to hinder the passage of the infrastructure bills.
