Republicans are up in arms over Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan. It’s too expensive, they say. But it wasn’t that long ago that these same penny-pinching politicians were absolutely cool with the Trump tax cuts, which allowed rich people to get even richer, all while adding plenty to the national debt. And on Sunday, Fox News’ resident free-thinker, Chris Wallace, did his best to grill one senator over his financial hypocrisy.
That person is Rick Scott, former Florida governor-turned-senator and patriotic song confuser, who went on Fox News Sunday to grouse about an ambitious bill that’s already been very watered down, thanks in part to Democratic senators Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin. Scott, like the vast majority of Republicans, is still against it, claiming that government spending is to blame for inflation and not wanting to add to an already large national debt. But Wallace wasn’t having it.
“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 said. “So should the Trump tax cuts be repealed?”
Scott, of course, dodged the question, talking instead about his belief in “lower taxes.”
“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 replied. “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?”
Again Scott dodged the question, talking instead about how the nations needs to “watch how we spend our money.”
Wallace, as ever, tried to expose the dodgy thinking of Republicans going on Fox News, where they’re rarely confronted over their questionable ideas. But others on social media picked up where he left off, dismantling Scott’s arguments.
Republicans like Rick Scott have been peddling the fantasy of trickle-down economics for 40 years now.
Reagan, Bush and Trump all cut taxes, and the deficit skyrocketed.
Clinton raised taxes, and the deficit shrank. https://t.co/MgdULxkyIb
— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) October 31, 2021
Republicans spend like drunken socialists, then call Democrats "Drunken Socialists", hopin' you won't notice.https://t.co/wPbDMRWElo
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) October 31, 2021
Oh now Sen Rick Scott is concerned about the debt, but he had no problem with Trump slashing taxes on the rich and big business. Not to mention the national debt raised $7.8 trillion under Trump. Fuck you Rick Scott.
— Amy Lynn🐇💀 (@AmyLynnStL) October 31, 2021
Scott also discussed how his mother is struggling to pay for bills due to rising inflation. That prompted people to wonder why he, a millionaire, isn’t helping out the woman who gave him life.
https://twitter.com/ReportsDaNews/status/1454848710366703618
https://twitter.com/SharonGibson3/status/1454819115185676292
You can watch Scott’s exchange with Wallace in the video above.
(Via The Daily Beast)