U.S. Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) is the former governor of Florida who squeaked through to a win over the former incumbent, Democrat Bill Nelson, by around 10,000 votes in a narrow and hotly contested election last fall that was marred by charges of voter suppression and mangled vote counting.
He is also the former CEO of Columbia/HCA, a health care company that was found to have defrauded Medicare while on his watch and was fined $1.7 billion for its crimes in a settlement with the Department of Justice that also resulted in Scott’s resignation from the company.
While Scott himself was never actually charged with a crime, one would think that being involved with such massive criminal fraud would have prevented him from being seen as a viable political candidate. Instead, Scott went on to become Florida governor and, now, one of its senators where he has become one of Trump’s more reliable conservative allies.
Despite being governor during one of the worst school shootings in Florida’s and the nation’s history — the Valentines day shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland that resulted in 17 deaths — Scott has ignored the sentiments of his constituents who wish to have sensible gun regulations to prevent the reoccurrence of such horrible preventable tragedies.
In a tweet today, Senator Scott attacked Democrats for attempting to address the problem of rampant gun violence through a federal registry of all guns — a concept that he seems to feel is somehow insidious compared to the same requirement already applied to motor vehicles.
His primary target with his tweet was Senator Corey Booker (D-NJ), one of the myriad candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination and one of the advocates for a national gun registry.
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He also, however, expanded his attack on Democrats and what he considers their proposals for government overreach by concocting a wild right-wing fantasy about the possible regulatory repercussions if Congress were to pass the Green New Deal legislation sponsored by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
What's next? Will we have to register sharp knives? Maybe @AOC will make us register every time we buy meat as part of her #GreenNewDeal.
The Democrats are officially the @BernieSanders Party. They want America to be less prosperous and less free. (2/2)
— Rick Scott (@ScottforFlorida) May 6, 2019
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Scott’s preposterous fear-mongering over the potential for civil rights limitations surrounding the signature environmental initiative of progressive Democrats is a blatant political attack capped by his lies about the aims of the party diametrically opposed to his failed Republican propaganda.
He betrays his constituents in a state that more than any other stands to find a good portion of its territory under water if the causes of the rapidly arriving catastrophic climate collapse are not reversed quickly, as the Green New Deal attempts to address.
Never one to back down from a battle to defend her defining policy proposal, Representative Ocasio-Cortez replied to Senator Scott’s tweet with one of the most scathing tweets she’s ever sent.
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That a sitting US Senator can say something lacking so much critical thinking + honesty is embarrassing to the institution.
If you were a female candidate, maybe you’d be called “unlikeable,” “crazy,” or “uninformed.”
But since you’re not, this inadequacy is accepted as normal. https://t.co/KLkaYxfT6K
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 6, 2019
Ocasio-Cortez’s comments are an honest and accurate reflection of the sorry state of GOP rhetoric.
Devoid of solutions for the problems facing the nation, Republicans like Senator Scott spend their time spreading lies and misinformation while stoking fears that they hope will hurt Democratic electoral chances as the GOP gerrymanders and voter suppresses their way into retaining power and keeping the unsustainable status quo for their billionaire corporate donors.
Hopefully, the tireless efforts of people like Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez to monitor and correct the problem of the steaming loads of manure that Republicans are trying to pass off as fact will succeed in reducing the effectiveness of their lies and help drive them from the obstructive offices that they currently occupy.
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