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Screen capture courtesy Sen. Rick Scott/Facebook
If Rick Scott knows the Bible as well as the average Republican claims to, then he definitely knows that a snake pushed Adam and Eve toward the knowledge of good and evil. So, it's fitting that our most serpentine politician is the one pulling back the veil on the evil of Republican policies.
Scott's recently released "
Rescue America Plan" is a greatest hits compilation of some of the most evil, callous and harmful policies popular in GOP circles. But rather than dressing it up in the language of choice, or funhouse mirror takes on progressive phrasing, Scott comes right out with a PowerPoint for theocratic fascists.
Scott warned in sibilant syllables that his plan released earlier this week was "not for the faint of heart," and he backed that up with a series of proposals to punish the poor, indoctrinate children into unquestioning support of the United States, and push a Judeo-Christian ideology above all other religions.
On the first, Scott hopes to rewrite the tax code so that even the poorest Americans are forced to pay some form of income tax. Before we even get to the fact that Scott's (and our) own state has no income tax, this is a ludicrous suggestion. The poorest working Americans don't need "skin in the game," as Scott says. They hold up the functions of society so that that
top-level Medicare fraudsters like Scott can play games with funny money at the top. The impossibly rich Scott casting aspersions about what other people pay in taxes is a dangerous gambit.
Beyond that, he hopes to starve federal programs that
help the poorest and most marginalized, cutting the federal government by as much as a quarter. (This, of course, will not apply to the largest sector of the federal government: the United States military and the Department of Defense that oversees it.)
As for the pro-American indoctrination, Scott envisions a future where children are forced to say the Pledge of Allegiance and Founding Fathers are only spoken of in reverent tones. Similar to moves
already underway in Florida, Scott wants to block any teaching of the messy facts of history, particularly the parts where white people were awful to Black people (read: most of it). He also hopes to finish Donald Trump's quagmire of a border wall and name it after the former president. Cutting down on federal spending doesn't seem to apply here.
The advancement of Judaism and Christianity above all other religions is peppered throughout, with Scott claiming persecution of Christians in America and basing many of his opinions on theology. While he hopes to pull aid from other nations, he
singles out Israel as a country that will still be flush with U.S. cash. Israel has received more U.S. aid dollars than
any other country since World War II, beating its nearest competitor by $100 billion.
Scott goes on to say that his party "believes the science" in year three of global pandemic that has been largely exacerbated by Republican politicians' stubborn refusal to do anything to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. What he means by believing in science is the scientifically
disproven stance of gender essentialism and the
viability of unborn fetuses well before the second trimester. To back up his scientific reasoning, he quotes an English translation of the Book of Genesis.
If you're looking for comfort after the head of the Republican Party's Senate Committee laid out a path toward Gilead, there's some to be taken in the clowning Scott has received from both sides of the aisle.
Politico reports that Republican Party insiders are ruthlessly mocking Scott's
ill-thought-out plan. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki
dragged the plan for raising taxes while cutting support for Americans.
In the end, the spread of knowledge might end the same way for Scott as it did for Adam and Eve: a sudden and brutal fall from grace.
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