Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) recently shared his thoughts on a significant piece of legislation during an appearance on Breitbart News Daily. He referred to the bill as the “big, not yet beautiful bill,” highlighting its potential while expressing concerns about its current form.
Paul believes the bill has valuable components, particularly the proposed tax cuts, which he strongly supports. He emphasized the importance of making these tax cuts permanent, recalling his support for similar measures in 2017. However, he disagrees with the Congressional Budget Office’s assessment that these cuts would increase the deficit, calling it incorrect.
Despite his support for the tax cuts, Paul raised several issues with the bill. He pointed out that the country already faces a $2 trillion annual deficit and argued that the bill does not address this problem effectively. He criticized the spending cuts included in the legislation, describing them as weak and in some cases, misleading. For example, he noted that the bill claims to cut student loan forgiveness, which was already blocked by the courts, meaning it was never going to be spent in the first place.
Paul also outlined concerns about the overall spending in the bill. He highlighted that the legislation would add approximately $300 billion in new spending, split between military and border security, along with another $100 billion for various purposes. He argued that while the bill claims to cut $1.5 trillion in spending over ten years, the immediate increase in spending could negate those cuts.
One of Paul’s biggest concerns is the proposal to raise the debt ceiling by $5 trillion. He likened this to giving a teenager a credit card and then increasing the limit after they quickly max it out. He believes Congress should be more responsible with spending and suggested limiting the debt increase to three or four months’ worth of expenses, which he estimates would amount to over $500 billion.
In conclusion, while Paul acknowledges the bill’s potential benefits, he insists that more substantial spending cuts are necessary. He advocates for bringing spending levels back to pre-pandemic amounts and using the debt ceiling as a tool to encourage responsible fiscal behavior.