Sen. Rick Scott Is Mad That Biden Attacked His Plan To Put Social Security At Risk
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Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) apparently isn’t happy that Joe Biden, in his State of the Union address Tuesday, accurately quoted his proposal to let Social Security and Medicare expire.
During the speech, Biden mentioned that “some Republicans” have a plan to “sunset” all federal laws every five years so that Congress would have to repeatedly reauthorize funding for everything ― including Social Security and Medicare.
Biden didn’t mention Scott by name, but on Wednesday the Florida Republican griped on Twitter that Biden “rambled for a while, but it seems he forgot to share the facts.”
He then jumped into a lengthy thread in which he minimized what he actually proposed, mainly because it isn’t even popular with his fellow Republicans.
Scott claims his plan is to simply make all federal legislation sunset, or face extinction if not reapproved, in five years and added, disingenuously, “If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again.”
The senator said the plan is “aimed at dealing with ALL the crazy new laws our Congress has been passing of late” and claims ”to suggest that this means I want to cut Social Security or Medicare is a lie, & is a dishonest move…from a very confused President.”
This is clearly & obviously an idea aimed at dealing with ALL the crazy new laws our Congress has been passing of late.
@JoeBiden is confused…to suggest that this means I want to cut Social Security or Medicare is a lie, & is a dishonest move…from a very confused President.— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) February 8, 2023
Does he think I also intend to get rid of the U.S. Navy? Or the border patrol? Or air traffic control, maybe?
This is the kind of fake, gotcha BS that people hate about Washington.
I’ve never advocated cutting Social Security or Medicare and never would.— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) February 8, 2023
Despite his tweeted denials, Scott has advocated cutting Social Security and Medicare in the past, as this exchange from May with Fox News anchor John Roberts demonstrates.
"It's in the plan! It's in the plan. But Senator, hang on, it's not a Democratic talking point. It's in the plan" -- even Fox News's John Roberts can't believe it when Rick Scott lies about his own policy plan, which calls for a tax increase on a majority of Americans pic.twitter.com/sa4WgUBgyJ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 27, 2022
Scott did get some praise for his Twitter thread, but it was from people who appreciated his saying the quiet part out loud about Republican plans to destroy the safety net.
Biden: "some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to SUNSET."
You: "I suggest the following: All federal legislation SUNSETS in 5 yrs."
• You are republican
• Medicare & SS are federal legislation
• You want them to "sunset"
The ONLY conclusion is: BIDEN IS RIGHT— P. D. White (@whitepatrick) February 8, 2023
Thank you @SenRickScott for acknowledging the truth: MAGA Republicans want to eliminate Social Security in 5 years.
And as you know, getting any new law passed in Congress can be stopped by a filibuster, a Committee Chair, or any number of other obstacles. Joe Biden is right. https://t.co/YObJiX3mwg— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) February 8, 2023
This may be the single most depraved idea I have ever heard from a party leader, not ideologically but just practically. Does Rick Scott have even a vague idea of how many federal laws there are? https://t.co/0Y8VTx7pQj
— Christopher Orr (@OrrChris) February 8, 2023
Rick Scott is the gift that keeps on giving. If the Democrats could stream his deep thoughts on the DNC website, they should do it. https://t.co/zq7LnfJCtw
— Matt Bennett (@ThirdWayMattB) February 8, 2023
Senator Scott pipes up to clarify that, yes, he wants to routinely sunset Social Security and Medicare (and the Civil Rights Act and the Clean Air Act etc etc) https://t.co/P73gAL1o4Z
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) February 8, 2023
Sir, I hate to be the one to tell you this but explaining why your idea is dumb doesn’t make it less dumb.
— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) February 8, 2023
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