Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., on Sunday predicted the Democrats’ proposed Inflation Reduction Action will backfire, and wind up helping Republicans.
In an interview on CBS News’ “Face The Nation,” Scott, head of the Republican Senate Campaign Committee, tore into the bill that’s up for a vote that appears to have all Democrats in the chamber on board.
“This bill is not going to help Democrats, it's going to help Republicans,” he asserted. “Raising taxes $700 billion, cutting Medicare $280 billion, raising gas taxes, more IRS agents,” he recounted. “Do you know how happy people are to have more IRS agents out there? This is not going to be popular around the country.”
According to Scott, the last thing the government should do is raise taxes now.
“We shouldn't be raising taxes ever, but especially in a recession,” he said. “And why would we be raising the taxes on gas right now when it's $2 above what it was when [President] Joe Biden took office? This is going to continue to drive us into a bigger recession than we were.”
“Look at where we are right now,” he continued. “Labor participation rates slow, wages not staying up with inflation, two quarters [of] negative [Gross Domestic Product]. Joe Biden has pushed us — and these plans are pushing us — into a recession. I think we've got to stop raising taxes. We've got to make it easier for businesses to build their businesses, compete, and we'll get more jobs.”
Scott said the midterm elections will be a challenge, yet predicted GOP wins around the country.
“I believe we're going to win but it's going to be hard,” he conceded. “We have to raise our money, we have to work really hard, our candidates have to work really hard. Everybody has to help our candidates.”
Yet, he said, “I'm optimistic.”
“This election is going to be about all the bad things that have happened,” he said. “The fact that we're going into a recession, the fact that inflation is at 9%, that gas prices are up $2. All these things — that's what people are looking at.”
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