Rick Scott 11-Point Plan Failure Could Benefit GOP

In February, Florida senator Rick Scott launched his “11-Point Plan to Rescue America,” a rhetorical rocket that sputtered shortly after takeoff and then fell on his head like an 11-Point Plan to Do a Pretty Convincing Impersonation of Wile E. Coyote. He is still sitting in the smoking wreckage, stubbornly pulling on the pilot’s yoke and wondering why the damned thing won’t take off.

Conservatives and progressives found themselves in a rare moment of broad agreement that Scott’s proposal to impose a tax increase on the lower half of the income curve — one that would fall most heavily on low-income families with children — was suboptimal as a policy proposal. It is the case that about half of all households have no federal income-tax liability at the end of the year, but it is not the case that they do not pay any federal taxes, including taxes on their income: The so-called payroll tax is another income tax, one that the working poor and those of modest means do not avoid. Rick Scott has always presented himself as a numbers guy, but here he has been carried away on a flight of fancy, taken in by all that “skin in the game” talk. And if you are hitching your political future to that least influential of all caucuses — Republicans for Higher Income Taxes — then the political numbers get pretty ugly indeed.

About the Author

Kevin D. Williamson

Kevin D. Williamson is a former fellow at National Review Institute and a former roving correspondent for National Review.

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In February, Florida senator Rick Scott launched his “11-Point Plan to Rescue America,” a rhetorical rocket that sputtered shortly after takeoff and then fell on his head like an 11-Point Plan to Do a Pretty Convincing Impersonation of Wile E. Coyote. He is still sitting in the smoking wreckage, stubbornly pulling on the pilot’s yoke and wondering why the damned thing won’t take off.

Conservatives and progressives found themselves in a rare moment of broad agreement that Scott’s proposal to impose a tax increase on the lower half of the income curve — one that would fall most heavily on low-income families with children — was suboptimal as a policy proposal. It is the case that about half of all households have no federal income-tax liability at the end of the year, but it is not the case that they do not pay any federal taxes, including taxes on their income: The so-called payroll tax is another income tax, one that the working poor and those of modest means do not avoid. Rick Scott has always presented himself as a numbers guy, but here he has been carried away on a flight of fancy, taken in by all that “skin in the game” talk. And if you are hitching your political future to that least influential of all caucuses — Republicans for Higher Income Taxes — then the political numbers get pretty ugly indeed.