Sen. Rick Scott released an 11-point policy plan to “Rescue America” on Tuesday that could provide a blueprint for Republicans in 2022 as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell refuses to push a legislative agenda for what he plans to do if the chamber flips to GOP control.
The vision detailed by the Florida Republican builds on Trump-era policies and longtime Republican positions while leaning into “culture war” problems: a flag-saluting, police-funding, colorblind country that rewards nuclear families, promotes adoption over abortion, slashes government agencies and spending, and has a border wall named after former President Donald Trump.
But it also includes some surprises, such as suggesting more people pay income taxes and not addressing coronavirus vaccines or mandates at all.
Scott is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the GOP campaign arm focused on the Senate. But the policy plan was released by his personal campaign rather than the NRSC, even though he is not up for reelection until 2024. It is a way for Scott to take leadership on Republican midterm elections messaging without automatically assigning the policies to all Republicans seeking Senate office.
DRUNK DEMOCRATIC HOUSE HOPEFUL VERBALLY BERATED GIRLS AT PARTY, PARENT SAYS
“My plan will be ridiculed by the woke left, mocked by Washington insiders, and strike fear in the heart of some Republicans. Americans deserve to know what we will do when given the chance to govern,” Scott said in a statement.
That is a notable break with McConnell, who has reportedly told Republicans and donors that Republicans won’t release a legislative agenda for the 2022 elections. When asked in a press conference last month what the Republican agenda would be if the party takes control of the Senate, McConnell responded, “That’s a very good question. And I’ll let you know when we take it back.”
But Scott’s plan earned praise from former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, architect of House Republicans’ 1994 “Contract with America,” who is also working with today’s House Republicans on the 2022 policy platform.
“It will help win the election and also, even more importantly, serve as a blueprint for the new Republican majority to focus on solving problems and creating a dramatically better American future,” Gingrich said in a statement about Scott’s plan.
Republicans would need to net a single seat to win a majority in the Senate, which is evenly split. Vice President Kamala Harris’s tiebreaking vote gives Democrats a bare-bones majority.
Scott’s plan opposes immigration reform until the border is secure, enacts 12-year term limits for members of Congress as well as unelected bureaucrats, and pays for all costs for pregnant women who choose adoption instead of abortion. It would ban gender-altering procedures on children and biological males from competing in women’s sports. One in four federal government workers would be eliminated, including cutting IRS funding and its workforce by 50% and closing the federal Department of Education.
To “eliminate racial politics in America,” it proposes banning the government from asking about race or ethnicity on government forms, banning the military from engaging in diversity training, and revoking tax-exempt status for universities that “favor or discriminate against students based on race or ethnicity.”
There are plenty of surprises in the 30-page policy book outlining Scott’s plan.
Not included in the plan is a pledge to cut or reduce taxes, an action Republicans already took in 2017. While it suggests simplifying the tax code, the plan actually argues that some people pay more: “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 does not address vaccine mandates, which Republicans overwhelmingly oppose, or coronavirus-related problems.
Many of the positions are strong and uncompromising, the types of stances that Republicans in swing states and beyond might generally avoid or even oppose. It proposes prohibiting increasing the national debt ceiling unless there is a declaration of war. While Republican leaders have criticized the rising national debt, they maintain that the government must not be allowed to default.
“We will gradually end all imports from Communist China until a new regime honors basic human rights and freedoms,” the plan added. “No adversarial foreign government or corporation controlled by an adversarial foreign government can purchase American land.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Scott’s abridged 11-point plan is listed below and can be read in full here.
- Our kids will say the pledge of allegiance, salute the Flag, learn that America is a great country, and choose the school that best fits them.
- Government will never again ask American citizens to disclose their race, ethnicity, or skin color on any government forms.
- The soft-on-crime days of coddling criminal behavior will end. We will re-fund and respect the police because they, not the criminals, are the good guys.
- We will secure our border, finish building the wall, and name it after President Donald Trump.
- We will grow America’s economy, starve Washington’s economy, and stop Socialism.
- We will eliminate all federal programs that can be done locally, and enact term limits for federal bureaucrats and Congress.
- We will protect the integrity of American Democracy and stop left-wing efforts to rig elections.
- We will protect, defend, and promote the American Family at all costs.
- Men are men, women are women, and unborn babies are babies. We believe in science.
- Americans will be free to welcome God into all aspects of our lives, and we will stop all government efforts to deny our religious freedom and freedom of speech.
- We are Americans, not globalists. America will be dependent on NO other country.
