Florida Democrats are hoping that a bruising Republican primary will drag the candidates too far to the right on Social Security and taxes to stand a chance in the retiree-heavy state to unseat Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL).
George Lemieux, who previously held FL’s other seat as an interim appointee, recently put up a plan to shore up the program’s finances by raising the retirement age to 69 and means testing benefits. In addition, he proposes cutting corporate income tax from 35% to 25%. But an e-mail from state Democratic party on Thursday indicated they see the real potential in his rivals’ reactions, all of whom attacked him from the right.
“George LeMieux isn’t saying anything new or interesting – in fact, a lot of these policies seemed borrowed from the 10 principles Adam announced on the first day of his campaign,” a spokesman for State Rep. Adam Hasner told the AP.
Another campaign opponent, retired Army Col. Mike McCalister, also ripped the plan for being too timid: “George wants to tweak the tax code,” he said. “I think we would be better off with a fair tax that abolishes all federal personal and corporate income taxes and replaces them with one, simple, federal retail sales tax administered by the states.”
A variation of the fair tax is part of Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan, which is drawing increased scrutiny in recent days for its significant tax increases on middle income and lower income Americans. Democrats are hoping the eventual winner will have to keep moving right from there to secure their victory.
