Rand Paul presidential campaign, 2016/Budgets
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 Rand Paul |
U.S. Senator (Assumed office: 2011) |
2028 • 2024 • 2020 • 2016 |
This page was current as of the 2016 election.
- Rand Paul introduced two bills that “he says could help scale back spending,” The Hill reported January 20, 2016. One of the bills “would limit authorizations to four years, though lawmakers could request a longer authorization for a specific program” and “add hurdles before Congress can authorize a new program, including identifying the objective, any areas of potential duplication with existing programs and what potential alternatives were studied.” The other bill “would require the Obama administration find $10 billion in savings by eliminating and consolidating government programs within 150 days of the legislation being signed into law.” Paul commented on the legislation, saying, "My bill will lead to real savings right away by cutting wasteful duplicate spending, which is something everyone should agree on."[2]
- Paul released a new edition of “The Waste Report” on January 19, 2016, highlighting the nearly $500,000 spent on the wine industry in Moldova by the U.S. Agency for International Development. “Despite the already absurd idea of spending U.S. tax dollars on a foreign country’s wine industry, this grant will not even go to produce one drop of wine. Instead, the funding will go to the Moldovan National Agency for Rural Development to help identify and get grape grower [sic] signed up with the ‘Wine and Vine Registry,’” Paul wrote.[3]
- In a “special Christmas edition” of “The Waste Report” released on December 21, 2015, Paul highlighted money spent on a government program to promote the sale of Christmas trees.[4]
- In a radio interview on December 20, 2015, Paul condemned the way the omnibus budget bill was passed December 18, 2015. “I voted against it because I won’t vote for these enormous bills that no one has a chance to read. We were given it...the day before the bill came forward, and so this is not a way to run government. It’s a part of the reason why government is broke,” he said.[5]
- On November 3, 2015, Paul criticized Speaker of the House Paul Ryan for voting in favor of the bipartisan budget deal. Paul said, "I think overall, Republicans want us to hold the line on spending and increasing the debt. That's why I start out disappointed because increasing the spending and increasing spending caps is the wrong way to go. I haven't met a Republican outside the beltway who is for raising the debt ceiling and raising the spending caps. So I think we've started out on a bad foot." The deal, signed into law by President Obama November 2, 2015, raised the limit on the government's debt through March 2017, pushing reconsideration of what in recent years has become a contentious issue until after the elections for the White House and Congress in November 2016, according to the Associated Press. The measure also set federal spending through the 2016 and 2017 fiscal years and eased strict caps on spending by providing an additional $80 billion, split evenly between military and domestic programs.[6] [7]
- Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), a conservative advocacy anti-tax group, endorsed two of Rand Paul’s recent bills: the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2015 and the Default Prevention Act. “Together, the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act and the Default Prevention Act will protect the nation from defaulting on its obligations in the event the debt ceiling is increase [sic] while setting the nation on a pathway toward fiscally [sic] responsibility and balanced budgets,” a representative for ATR wrote.[8]
- On October 15, 2015, Paul introduced The Cut, Cap and Balance Act of 2015. The bill “aims to slice $207 billion in cuts for the year, while protecting Medicare, Social Security, military pay and veterans benefits from losing any funds,” according to the Washington Examiner.[9]
- In October 2015, Paul promoted his “Cut Their Card” campaign using a series of web videos to encourage voters to call on Congress to stop federal overspending. [10]
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- In a statement released on September 25, 2015, Paul defended his vote against the short-term continuing budget resolution in the Senate. “Since coming to Washington, I have voted against every spending bill that continues to add to our nation’s mountain of debt. Spending at the levels in this bill will add $400 billion more new debt this year. Time and time again, the President and Congress fail to do one of their most basic jobs, which is to review and adjust federal spending and fund the government. While I support all efforts to stop federal funding of Planned Parenthood, this bill is a clear representation of business as usual in Washington - too much spending and too much debt. The American people deserve better,” said Paul.[11]
- In an August 2015 “Waste Report" published on his Senate page, Paul called out a $250,000 program funded by the State Department to bring 24 Pakistani children to the United States to visit Space Camp. “Why is the federal taxpayer financing a trip around the world for Pakistani kids to play astronaut?” Paul asked.[12]
- During Paul's candidacy announcement on April 7, 2015, Paul advocated for amending the Constitution to require Congress to produce a balanced budget. Paul explained, "Congress will never balance the budget unless you force them to do so. Congress has an abysmal record with balancing anything. Our only recourse is to force Congress to balance the budget with a constitutional amendment."[13] On Paul's campaign website, he reiterated his support for a federal version of the Balanced Budget Amendment that exists in 46 states.[14]
- Paul voted against Paul Ryan's 2013 budget proposal. Paul explained, "Undoing tens of billions of this modest spending restraint is shameful and must be opposed. I cannot support a budget that raises taxes and never balances, nor can I support a deal that does nothing to reduce our nation's $17.3 trillion debt."[15][16]
- When asked about breaching the debt ceiling in a 2013 interview on CNN, Paul responded, "I'm promising to the American people and to the markets to Wall Street that we will always pay the interest on the debt as a priority. Do you know how we do that? We bring in $250 billion in tax revenue every month. The debt payment is about 30 billion. We just promise we will always pay it. What's going on is interestingly the Democrats are scaring people and saying, we might not pay it because Republicans don't want to raise the debt ceiling. If you don't raise the debt ceiling, what that means is you have a balanced budget. It doesn't mean you wouldn't pay your bills. We should pay the interest and we should never scare the markets. So, if I were in-charge, I would say, absolutely, we will never default. I would pass a law saying that the first revenue every month, the first revenue, has to go to pay interest."[17]
- On May 5, 2011, Paul released a video regarding his concerns with raising the debt ceiling. "We need to get control of federal spending before we consider raising the debt limit. What good is it to set a debt limit that we ignore time after time? How much higher can we raise the debt limit without instituting any spending restraints whatsoever?"[18]
| Video released by Paul on May 5, 2011, on raising the debt ceiling. |
- Paul opposed a bailout of Detroit in July 2013. Paul said, "You don’t set up an implicit promise from the federal government that everybody is getting bailed out. It’s sort of like too big to fail for banks. If you have too big to fail for cities or for states and they believe they’ll be bailed out they’ll continue to make unwise decisions.”[19]
- According to the Huffington Post, Paul's 2010 U.S. Senate campaign website revealed an early opposition to federal bailouts. The site said "any bailout of private industry is in direct violation of the constitution. It is a transfer of wealth from those who have earned to those who have squandered."[20]
- In 2011, Paul put forward a plan that would have cut $500 billion from the federal budget.[21] Paul's plan would have balanced the budget in five years and would have significantly reduced the size of the Departments of Education, Energy, Commerce, and Housing and Urban Development.[22]
- Paul released an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal regarding his plan on February 7, 2011. Paul described his plan as "a modest proposal when measured against the size of our mounting debt. It would keep 85% of our government funding in place and not touch Social Security or Medicare. But by reducing wasteful spending and shuttering departments that are beyond the constitutional role of the federal government, such as the Department of Education, we can cut nearly 40% of our projected deficit and at the same time remove thousands of big-government bureaucrats who stand in the way of efficiency."[23]
- In a 2010 interview with The Wall Street Journal, Paul said that government earmarks "are a really small percentage of the budget but I think they symbolize a lot of the waste and I think we shouldn't do it." Paul added he would fight for earmarks if there was evidence they were necessary, explaining, "But I will advocate in the committee process. And I think that's the way it should be done. Roads, highways, bridges, things that we need as far as infrastructure, let's go through the committee process, find out, when was this bridge last repaired? How much of a problem is it? Are there fatalities on this road that's not wide enough? Let's use objective evidence to figure out, you know, where the money should be spent. But not put it on in the dead of night, have some clerk in your office stick it on because you're powerful and you stick it on, and you attach your name to it."[24]
Recent news
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Politico, "Rand Paul dropping out of White House race," February 3, 2016
- ↑ The Hill, "Paul looks to rein in government programs," January 20, 2016
- ↑ Rand Paul U.S. Senator for Kentucky, "Sen. Rand Paul Uncovers USAID Spending $500,000 on Moldova’s Wine Industry," accessed January 20, 2016
- ↑ Rand Paul, U.S. Senator for Kentucky, "Sen. Rand Paul Releases Special Christmas Edition of ‘The Waste Report,’" December 21, 2015
- ↑ The Hill, "Paul: Nobody read the $1.1 trillion omnibus bill," December 20, 2015
- ↑ CNN Politics, "Paul blasts Ryan for budget vote, says starts relationship 'on bad foot,'" November 3, 2015
- ↑ Yahoo News, "Obama signs 2-year budget, debt deal before default deadline," November 2, 2015
- ↑ Americans for Tax Reform website, "ATR Supports Sen. Rand Paul’s Legislation to Prevent Default and Cut, Cap, and Balance," accessed October 20, 2015
- ↑ Washington Examiner, "Paul shows how he'll cut $207b in spending, balance budget," October 17, 2015
- ↑ ABC News, "Rand Paul Wants to Cut Nation's Credit Card," October 8, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Senator for Kentucky, Rand Paul, "Sen. Rand Paul Votes Against Continuing Resolution," September 25, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Senator for Kentucky, Rand Paul, "Sen. Rand Paul Exposes $250K Taxpayer Funded Trip to Space Camp & Dollywood for Foreign Kids in Latest ‘The Waste Report,’" August 10, 2015
- ↑ Time, "Transcript: Read Full Text of Sen. Rand Paul’s Campaign Launch," April 7, 2015
- ↑ Rand Paul, "Spending and Debt," accessed May 20, 2015
- ↑ The Hill, “Rand Paul rips 'shameful' budget plan," December 11, 2013
- ↑ Congress.gov, "H.J.Res.59 - Continuing Appropriations Resolution, 2014," accessed May 21, 2015
- ↑ Real Clear Politics, "Sen. Rand Paul: U.S. Won't Default If Debt Ceiling Is Not Raised," October 3, 2013
- ↑ Senator Rand Paul, "Sen. Rand Paul's Concern with Raising the Debt Ceiling," May 5, 2011
- ↑ Politico, "Rand Paul: No government bailout for Detroit," July 19, 2013
- ↑ The Huffington Post, "Rand Paul Flip Flops On Bank Bailout Vow, Seeks Fundraising Help From GOP Senators Who Voted For It," June 22, 2010
- ↑ Courier Press, “Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul rolls out budget ax," January 27, 2011
- ↑ ABC News, "Sen. Paul Unveils 5-Year Budget Plan: Eliminates Four Federal Agencies," March 17, 2011
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "A Modest $500 Billion Proposal," February 7, 2011
- ↑ The Wall Street Journal, "Rand Paul and Earmarks," November 10, 2010
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