Now that disgraced former health care executive Rick Scott has officially won his Republican gubernatorial primary in Florida, he is turning his attention to his general election campaign against the Democratic nominee, Florida CFO Alex Sink. And part of that campaign is evidently leaving no doubt as to where he stands regarding the Bush tax cuts, which are scheduled to expire at the end of the year — Scott very clearly wants them all extended, even for the richest two percent of Americans, per his campaign spokesperson:

Floridians want an answer: Will Alex Sink stand with Obama and let the Bush tax cuts expire, thereby increasing Floridians’ taxes, or will she stand with taxpayers and demand Obama work to extend the Bush tax cuts?

Scott has also touted his opposition to the Bush tax cuts on both national and local television. Watch it:

This tactic is puzzling because, as governor, Scott wouldn’t have any say over whether or not the Bush tax cuts get extended. Neither would Alex Sink. Sure, he could advise Florida’s congressional delegation, but at the end of the day, federal tax policy is not within the purview of the nation’s governors.

However, Scott would be able to influence Florida’s tax system, which at the moment is one of the nation’s most regressive, with no personal income tax and a high reliance on sales taxes. Florida’s poorest 20 percent currently pay 13.5 percent of their income in taxes, while the richest one percent of Floridians pay just 2.6 percent. In fact, Washington is the only state in the nation where a poor family can expect to pay higher taxes than in Florida, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.

So what does Scott propose to do about this? He wants to completely eliminate the state’s corporate income tax, reduce property taxes, and leave the rest of the tax code as it is. Of course, he’ll then have to balance the budget with less revenue coming in, cutting services to the same poor families who are bearing the brunt of the tax burden and to whom he won’t even pay lip service.

Clearly, Scott thinks tying himself to an anti-Obama stance will pay off, but his state has some serious tax problems of its own that he doesn’t deign to mention, and which his economic plan will only make worse.

One of the favorite Republican talking points regarding the economy is that small businesses aren’t hiring because they’re paralyzed by “uncertainty” when it comes to tax and budget policy. “America’s employers are afraid to invest in an economy stalled by ‘stimulus’ spending and hamstrung by uncertainty,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) last week. “The prospect of higher taxes, stricter rules, and more regulations has employers sitting on their hands.”

According to the latest small business survey from the National Federation of Independent Business (which is a very conservative organization), about half of small businesses cite economic conditions or lack of sales prospects as their reason for not hiring, while just 12 percent say “political conditions.” However, business owners are holding back while Congress endlessly debates a small business lending bill, as USA Today reported:

“I’m still waiting for Congress to sign off on the bill,” says Amarjit Kaur, who runs a convenience store and gas station in Wood Village, Ore. She leases her property but has a chance to buy it. With the waived-fee provision, Kaur says she could save about $35,000 on her pending loan. Kaur’s is among about 1,000 other small businesses that “have their bank papers all done and will be funded in the days — moments — after the bill passes,” says U.S. Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mills.. [...]

Many other businesses have paused expansion as they wait for the outcome of the bill, says Bob Coleman, publisher of the Coleman Report, which provides information on small-business lending.

“Some businesses can save thousands of dollars on the waived loan-fee provision alone, and they are thinking, ‘I might as well hold off and save the money,’” Coleman said.

And it’s Republicans who have refused to allow the small business bill to go forward, first bogging it down in committee by threatening to attach an unrelated tax cut for multi-millionaires to it, and then filibustering it on the Senate floor. In fact, Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) referred to the bill as simply “another expensive and bureaucratic government program.”

The credit crunch affecting small businesses is very real and this bill could help alleviate it, getting those businesses loans to expand and hire. But Republicans have been tying it up in procedural knots for months, while simultaneously complaining that the Obama administration is not doing enough to aid small businesses. That’s a convenient political game to play, but it leaves actual small businesses out to dry.