We can’t afford Scott’s proposal

To the Editor:

Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, chair of the Senate Republican Coordinating Committee who is responsible for electing Republican senators in 2022, came up with a Plan to Rescue America which seems to have a varying number of points. The presumption is that newly elected Republican senators will embrace and support his plan. His plan contains most of the MAGA talking points, a few I want to mention here.

On the one hand he wants to cut taxes on the people who are paying them, i.e. those making more than the standard deduction, which is a common Republican means to increase the debt. But his initial companion (since rescinded) proposal was to tax all those Americans making less than the standard deduction. That was somewhat watered down to encourage all Americans under 60 to work and pay taxes. Another one of his callous proposals is to put all laws on the chopping block every five years, including Social Security and Medicare, as a way to do away with them, another MAGA dream.

This would also put the Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act and numerous other important statues at risk. In addition, he links conservative religious doctrine and science in a rather bizarre way. He would have children recite the Pledge of Allegiance, salute the flag, and learn that America is a great county, despite SCOTUS decisions that do not force these requirements. The Senator would eliminate diversity training and any recognition/acknowledgment of past wrongs based on race or other characteristics. All in all, a MAGA wish list.

I don’t know that Ted Budd has officially adopted or endorsed this plan, but the Senate Republican Coordinating Committee is expecting newly elected Republican senators to support it. We can’t afford this plan in North Carolina and the only way to stop it is to elect Cheri Beasley (D) as North Carolina’s next senator on Nov. 8.

Eric Myers, Sylva

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