Senator Rick Scott Holds a Roundtable Discussion in Pensacola

 

Senator Rick Scott, third from right, speaks with a business roundtable audience in Pensacola 5-31-2022

Senator Rick Scott held a business leader roundtable yesterday afternoon in Pensacola.  Pete Doyle, owner of Engineered Cooling Services, facilitated the meeting at his business's office.

About 75 local business leaders, nonprofit executives, political candidates, elected officials, and others were invited to the event.  Senator Scott walked all around the room and shook every attendee's hand as he arrived in the conference room

After a brief welcome and some remarks by Senator Scott, Mr. Doyle, and former Mayor Ashton Hayward--the group began bouncing ideas and questions off of Senator Scott.

The war in Ukraine, Inflation, the Supply Chain Issues, Immigration, the Budget, DC Dysfunction, and many other hot-button issues were discussed.

Senator Scott took time to solicit questions and ideas, and he even took notes.  He seemed genuinely interested in solutions and solving problems.  He also handed out copies of his 11-Point Plan to Rescue America and went through his plan with the group.

(Read Senator Rick Scott's 11-Point Plan to Rescue America here)

When I had the opportunity to do so, I asked him about Social Security, and the fact that many Americans have blown through their 401K's during the recession and COVID--and some worry that Social Security won't be there for them once they reach retirment age.  I asked him his thoughts on that.  "The Senate does not discuss Social Security.  A budget number is plugged in every year, same as the year before, but it is not discussed.  We know Medicare runs out of money if 4 years, Social Security in 12 years.  We know it, but it doesn't get discussed.  Once Social Security runs out of money, it will mean an immediate 25% reduction.  It is a problem, but nobody is talking about it--I want to talk about it!" he said emphatically.

After the senator fielded several other topics including the opening of the Naval Aviation Museum, The absence of the Federal Workforce (while they are still collecting paychecks), the unsecured southern border, the need for energy independence, and the idea of keeping all large DoD contract award monies

 local in our area (describing a nifty trick DC area bureaucrats have allowed for Huntsville Alabama to keep all subcontracts from large prime contracts confined to a 30 mile radius around Huntsville)--after he worked through those loaded topics topics and issues I was able to ask another important question.  

I asked the Senator about inflation and if the Senate could mandate that the truth be told about inflation--given the known fact that the 8.3% rate of inflation we're fed from Washington is grossly underestimated and does not include staples like gas and groceries.  "Well, I wouldn't trust any numbers coming out of Washington." he said flatly.  "I'm not sure but possibly-I'll ask about that" was his response.  (I wanted to ask him about term limits but didn't get the chance--plus it is one of the tenets of his plan so to ask his thoughts on that wasn't necessary)

Conspicuously absent from the assembled group of community leaders was anyone from the Escambia County Public School District.  At least I did not see anyone from ECSD.  I'm not sure the reason but their presence would have been good as Senator Scott did discuss education briefly when asked by an attendee "What the Senate could do to make education in America better?"  Senator Scott's answer to that question was akin to a "stuff" in a Volleyball Match. "We should get out of education, that would make it better, and leave it to the local districts and the states." was his immediate response.  He then continued.  "We should take the money from the Federal Department of Education and give it to parents and let them choose which school to send their kids to."  Lots of heads were nodding in the room at those statements, including mine (as a former 10 year school board member I have always supported vouchers, school choice, and "backpack funding" even when I was the only one of five that did).  So, maybe it was better that nobody showed up from the school district after all?--they wouldn't have liked that position.  😉

Senator Scott next discussed the fact that President Biden recently attacked his (Scott's) 11-point plan--which actually helped more people learn about the plan.  "He attacks me by name and that brings more people to the site-which is good" he quipped.  He also detailed the numerous op-eds he writes weekly and the media and podcasts he appears on frequently.  He asked for the group to get more involved in spreading the word about his plan and also about issues of governance and political candidates.  He practically pleaded with the group. "Look, we elect Johnny because he gives a good speech, but you would never hire Johnny in your business because he hasn't accomplished anything....but he gives a good speech!" the sentor quipped. "These statewide elections are won by margins in the thousands and that needs to change, and it takes you getting involved and getting behind good people" he implored to the group.

One theme throughout:  Exasperation and frustration.

An attendee who was a former elected official pointed this out when he said "When you were Governor you were much more relaxed and focused and now I see a Senator who seems frustrated and exasperated."  To which the Senator responded by detailing the difficulty in working through the gridlock in Washington DC.  "Nobody cares, nobody wants to fix anything" He described his ability to solve issues when describing the work he did fixing the FRS pension deficit in his first term when he was Florida's Governor. "It was underfunded so we fixed it, it wasn't popular, but we got it done and we fixed it.  We also created 700,000 Florida jobs in 7 years when people said it couldn't be done after we had lost 800,000 jobs in the recession--In Washington DC it is totally dysfunctional and nobody wants to fix anything."

When asked about the recent $40 Billion Dollar expenditure to send arms to Ukraine--juxtaposed with the open U.S. Southern border and the need for only 1 tenth of this amount (4 Billion) to finish the Border Wall--the Senator gave a longer explanation of his support.  "Look, if we are going to honor our NATO commitments then we should give Ukraine the money--otherwise if the issue boils over we will have to fight Russia defending NATO countries.  And as a Senator, we do not get to add amendments to these bills, which is helpful sometimes, and other times it hurts"

After about an hour of discussion, the Senator had to end the session.  He thanked the attendees and Mr. Doyle for hosting and spoke with several attendees after the roundtable-before he left for his next event.