BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Senator Rick Scott and Congresswoman Kat Cammack held their fire against Democrats during the Bradford GOP Patriot Dinner and instead focused their criticism on members of their own party.
The two Washington lawmakers spoke at the Saturday, June 22 fundraiser at the Starke Woman’s Club.
Scott unloaded on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, recalling that he attempted to unseat the Kentucky lawmaker from his leadership post in 2022 and reaffirming that he is now running to succeed McConnell to lead Republican senators now that the minority leader is stepping down.
Two dictatorships
But before Scott gave the audience his analysis of what is wrong in Washington, he emphasized the importance of elections and crowed about the state’s increase in registered Republicans.
“People forget how much this has changed,” he said. “In 2010, when I ran for governor the first time, there were 568,000 more Democrats than Republicans, and now, thanks to (State GOP Chair Evan (Powers) and our counties’ hard work, we have 950,000 more Rs than Ds, so that’s a big deal.”
After complimenting Cammack and Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith for their work, the senator then launched into a criticism of Washington and its leadership.
“Washington, D.C. is completely broken,” he said.
Scott added that, in addition to hyperpartisanism, the concentration of power in a few hands has strangled policymaking in the nation’s capital. He said a major tool for consolidating power in the nation’s capital is money.
“You can give me, or you can give Kat a maximum of $6,500,” he said of federal campaign contribution limits. “That’s a pittance to what Chuck Schumer or Mitch McConnell or Mike Johnson or whoever the minority leader in the House is can give, and here’s why. They each have $400 million to $500 million super PACs. In my race in 2018, Chuck Schumer spent $65 million out of his PAC against me.”
Scott added that Senate and House leaders use super PAC contributions as leverage over their members. He said the leaders’ control over which bills make it to floor votes and their control over committee assignments concentrate their power even more.
“You could have 99 senators that want something, and if Chuck Schumer, who’s the majority leader today, doesn’t want it, we don’t have it. And then if you vote differently than your, in McConnell’s case or Schumer’s case, if you vote against how they want you to vote, they’ll kick you off committees, and they won’t give you any money for your campaign.
“So, it is two dictatorships,” Scott continued, “and the House works the same way.”
Scott added that he was sickened when he realized how far Washington had drifted from the intent of the Constitution’s framers.
The senator said one example of how the system works is reflected in his attempt to get Florida its fair share of federal transportation funding, which he calculated should have been around six percent of the total, based on the nation’s population.
“You know how the money’s allocated?” he asked. “It’s allocated based on the population 35 years ago. Why would that be? Well, Kentucky hasn’t been growing a lot lately, and neither has New York.”
Scott told the audience he forced a vote to reallocate the funding according to the current population, in which 34 states would have gotten more money.
“So, logically, two senators a state, I should have gotten 68 votes, right? I got 14.”
Interest payments bigger than defense budget
“The reason why our federal government is screwed up is we’ve allowed people to have unbelievably concentrated power,” he concluded. “Concentrated power corrupts,”
Scott promised that if he is successful in getting the Republican leadership post, things will change.
“We have to change the way this place is run,” he insisted. “We’ll be at $35 trillion in debt within a month. We’re not adding full-time jobs. Don’t believe any of the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers. We’re adding part-time jobs with workers going into retail. There are no full-time jobs being added. Our interest expense is bigger than our defense budget.”
“Look at what we’ve done to our families,” he continued. “Grocery prices are probably up at least 30%. Gas prices were up 50%. Housing is up 50%. Name anything that you have to buy. It’s skyrocketed. We’ve had a 2% increase in our population and a 55% increase in (federal) spending in five years.”
Scott said he is encouraged because many Americans are just as fed up with Washington as he is.
“People are mad,” he said. “They’re furious. Seventy-five percent of Americans say we’re on the wrong track. Biden is a disaster.”
‘I take a lot of crap…’
U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack also griped about her party’s leaders by criticizing the practice of earmarks and complaining about how House rules are written and passed.
The first-term House member and former chief of staff for Congressman Ted Yoho said she is only two of Florida’s 20 Republican House members who refuse to request funds for specific projects within their districts. The other is Rep. Aaron Bean, who represents Clay and Nassau counties, in addition to western Duval.
“I take a lot of crap for not doing earmarks,” she said. “I think that was a really dumb thing that we, as Republicans, did in bringing earmarks back.”
“I think that earmarks are abused,” she continued. “I think that they’re used to deepen the swamp in Washington D.C., and they’re held over your head for political leverage.”
She then criticized one Republican colleague who told her that while earmarks should be utilized when a Democrat is in the White House, they would not be necessary when a Republican occupies the nation’s highest office.
“The problem is that it is always a matter of convenience,” she said. “You’re either a constitutional conservative or you’re not. You don’t get to pick and choose what you uphold from one day to the next. It’s the flip-flopping and the hypocrisy that has everyone so mad, and rightfully so.”
Cammack said she was appalled when, after a $61 billion aid package to Ukraine was approved, a measure she voted against, House members broke out Ukraine flags and waved them on the House floor.
Cammack said she intends to prohibit displaying foreign flags on the House floor into the body’s official rules package.
“The rules package is the most important, yet least understood or talked about piece of legislation in Congress,” she explained. “It dictates how we operate and effectively govern, but many people don’t know about it. It dictates how many hours we get to read a bill, how many subjects can be included, whether earmarks are allowed, whether you can raise taxes, whether you can vote by proxy. It’s a very important document, but no one wants to talk about it. It’s the dirty little secret in Washington.”
The third-generation commercial sandblaster then blasted the rules package itself.
“They want to be able to slip all this stuff into the rules package and make it so that you cannot be the best, most effective representative for your district,” she said. “Why? Because they want to consolidate power.”
Cammack declared that she had spent much of her time in Washington trying to dismantle the concentration of power in the House at a time when her own party was in control.
Like Scott, she pledged that things would be different in Washington if she got her way.
“We are going to make sure that no foreign nations flags will be flown in the United States Capitol,” she said. “We will make sure that we have single-issue bills. We will make sure that you cannot increase taxes, and every bill that you have that spends money has to be offset.”
The law-and-order state
State Rep. Chuck Brannan introduced Scott to the audience.
However, before bringing up the senator, Brannan spent a few minutes summarizing what he characterized as the legislature’s successes in the 2024 term.
He called Florida a law-and-order state and pointed out House Bill 3, which prevents children under age 14 from becoming account holders on social media platforms. He declared that with the new law, he and his colleagues told Silicon Valley that Florida children do not belong to them; they belong to parents.
“We expanded mental health services here in Florida,” Brannan added, summarizing the session, “we stood up for our ally Israel and, in a unified Florida voice, declared never again. We put aside historic reserves.”
Brannan then reviewed his own bill, HB 453, which eliminated the requirement to carry a concealed weapons permit.
He also contrasted Florida’s policies with those of other states, like California, Illinois, and New York, which he claimed robbed citizens of freedom and grew government to unsustainable levels.
“Florida, I think, has chosen the brighter path, and I’m honored to be a part of the Florida House of Representatives,” he said.
Brannan then expanded the scope of what he said were his and his colleague’s achievements, reaching back to last year’s parental rights and education bill, what he called anti-riot legislation, voting and election reforms, and last year’s pay raise for correctional officers.
The Macclenny lawmaker, who represents Baker, Bradford, Columbia, Union, and northern Alachua counties, then focused on state funding he helped direct to Bradford County, including money for public safety communications, funding for fire trucks and a fire station in Brooker, and water resources in Hampton and Starke.
Brannan also highlighted Tallahassee’s response to the culture wars, emphasizing the state’s bans on critical race theory, sanctuary cities, and diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.
“We even kicked men out of women’s sports, if you can believe that one,” he said.
