The 11-point GOP plan to raise taxes on roughly 100 million low- and moderate-income Americans isn't super popular, according to new polling from the progressive polling consortium Navigator Research.
The "Rescue America" platform, released last month by Senate GOP campaign chief Rick Scott, garners just 27% support from registered voters with 59% opposed, while 14% say they aren't sure.
Here's the key features of Sen. Scott's plan the survey asked about: As you may know, Republicans released a campaign plan called the "Rescue America" plan that would raise taxes on about 100 million working-class Americans and require Congress to re-authorize all laws every five years, which means programs like Social Security and Medicare could be eliminated if there is gridlock in Congress. Knowing this, do you support or oppose this plan?
Knowing that, Scott’s plan isn't just unpopular with Democrats, 57% of independents also oppose it and it's 16 points underwater with Republicans—basically a stone-cold loser.
Daily Kos senior writer Joan McCarter did a deep dive on the GOP platform, but the fact that Scott plans to raise about $1 trillion in revenue over a decade on the backs of working Americans while leaving GOP tax cuts for the wealthy in place seems especially noteworthy.
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Scott, who is heading the GOP effort to retake the Senate this fall, released the plan without consent from Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who quickly tried to distance himself from the strategic disaster of telling voters what Republicans stand for.
"If we're fortunate enough to have the majority next year, I'll be the majority leader, I'll decide in consultation with my members what to put on the floor," said McConnell. "And let me tell you what would not be part of our agenda. We will not have as part of our agenda a bill that raises taxes on half the American people, and sunsets social security and Medicare within five years."
But the truth is, McConnell's grip on the GOP caucus isn't exactly ironclad so long as Donald Trump is still controlling the party. And Scott may, in fact, be eyeing McConnell's job.
But the bottom line is, Scott is the only Republican Senator who has put pen to paper to lay out a vision for the caucus if the GOP prevails in November. That makes Scott's plan the GOP platform by default. If McConnell has a different vision, it's on him to actually communicate it.
