Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fl., said that the plan by congressional Democrats to pass a $1.9 trillion economic bailout bill, disguised as a coronavirus relief package, is a “payback to the radical left,” Fox News reported.
“Look at the state bailout,” Scott said. “There are states like California that have had dramatic increases in their budget, and they want more money? New York wants more money? This is just a payback to the radical left.”
Biden’s “American Rescue Plan” will send $350 billion to states to cover their declining tax revenues, Fox News reported.
Massive budget deficits in blue states like California, New York, and Illinois preceded the coronavirus lockdowns.
These states have overspent and mismanaged their pensions, taxes, and entitlement programs.
Now they want the rest of the nation to bail them out under the guise of the coronavirus.
Their tax revenues declined because of population drain, lockdowns that have crushed small businesses, and changes to the federal tax code that make high-tax states pay their own way.
Scott said the federal government does not need to spend “billions and billions and billions more” to open public schools.
Florida’s schools are operational, and the CDC recommends that schools open.
“There’s wonderful teachers out here that want to get back to work, but their union doesn’t want them to get back to work,” Scott said. “This is just a payback to the teachers union.”
The Democrats plan to push the bill through the Senate without Republican support, despite Joe Biden’s inaugural pledge to renew a spirit of unity and bipartisanship.
Ten establishment Republicans offered to meet with Biden to negotiate a bill that could pass the Senate with 60 votes, but that effort may have stalled.
“We’re ten days into the administration, now he’s already saying he doesn’t care to work with Republicans?” Scott said to Fox News host Mike Emanuel. “You know, he’s going to try to get this done with Bernie Sanders (I-Vt) with just 50 Democrat votes. That doesn’t make any sense.”
Sanders said Biden should force the massive spending bill through the budget reconciliation process, which does not require 60 votes for Senate passage.
Scott said Congress should “work with together to get something done.”
“We need to help the people who have lost their jobs, we need to help our small businesses, we need to get our schools open and get the vaccine out,” he said.
Despite Scott’s desire to pass a bailout package, he said Congress should reconsider the $1.9 trillion price tag.
Congress should “remember this is somebody’s money,” Scott said. “This is not free money. So let’s do it very targeted, let’s take care of the people who need the help, and…let’s do the right thing for the American citizen.”
One Republican proposal to decrease the bill’s cost is to reduce the eligibility for the $1,400 checks.
The current plan would give checks to American families earning less than $300,000 per year, but Republicans proposed that the money should go only to families earning less than $100,000 per year.
