Brunswick Beacon, 09.08.22
If you want to siphon off money from the poorest Americans to the richest 1%, you need a pro. So, when Republicans picked Florida Senator Rick Scott to head their Senate Campaign Committee, his history overseeing the largest Medicare/Medicaid fraud in history wasn’t a bug, it was a feature.
In 1994, Scott was CEO of the world’s largest healthcare company. Under his leadership, it falsified patient records and inflated Medicare/Medicaid billings. When the Justice Department uncovered the fraud, Columbia/HCA pleaded guilty to 14 felonies, coughed up $1.7 billion (the largest fine ever paid until then) and forced Scott to resign.
Scott brought his particular set of skills to his new assignment and created what I call Republicans’ “Skin-and-Bones Plan.” Unless they pass it, Scott wrote, “Republicans don’t deserve to govern.”
The “Skin” part hikes taxes on working families’ income and seniors’ currently exempt Social Security benefits. Scott says even combat soldiers need more “skin in the game” so he wants to tax what we pay them to fight and die for us! Seriously?
The “Bones” part defunds police, firefighters and teachers by ending federal support for state and local governments. It sunsets every federal program in five years unless Congress restores them. You can kiss Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid goodbye if Republicans win after campaigning on Scott’s plan to end them.
Because Republicans are campaigning on it. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel and Senators Marco Rubio, Ron Johnson, Joni Ernst, Mike Braun, and Tommy Tuberville endorsed it. So did North Carolina Republican senate candidate Ted Budd. Are you paying attention, North Carolina? Don’t say you weren’t warned.
Democrats brought us Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. and the Affordable Care Act. Republicans have wanted to end them for years. If they win in November, they’ll do what they’ve always done: give rich donors more tax breaks, and leave the rest of us “Skin-and-Bones.”
Michael P. Rush
Leland