Rand Paul Won't Back Debt Ceiling Deal.
Rand Paul won't back debt deal
Written by James R. Carroll
WASHINGTON — The 11th-hour debt ceiling deal won’t get the support of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
Kentucky’s junior senator issued an open letter Monday on the agreement, crafted during negotiations between the White House and congressional leaders.
“The current deal to raise the debt ceiling doesn’t stop us from going over the fiscal cliff,” Paul charged. “At best, it slows us from going over it at 80 mph to going over it at 60 mph.”
Paul, who has advocated deep spending cuts, a much smaller federal government and a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, said the plan to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending “never balances.”
“This deal does nothing to fix the overreaches of both parties over the past few years: Obamacare, TARP, trillion-dollar wars, runaway entitlement spending,” Paul said. “They are all cemented into place with this deal, and their legacy will be trillions of dollars in new debt.”
Paul’s position contrasts with that of his Kentucky Republican colleague, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who helped negotiate the final deal.
In Senate remarks Sunday night, McConnell said the agreement would “cut spending more than the president's requested debt ceiling increase, prevent a national default, and protect the economy from tax increases.”
Paul said the debt deal “adds at least $7 trillion to our debt over the next 10 years” and creates no clear path to real savings.
Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., also announced his opposition to the deal.
The package contained “steps in the right direction,” Coats said, but added that “it falls significantly short of what is needed to address the severity of this financial crisis.”
“For months, I have been saying that a credible plan must include at least $4 trillion in spending reductions over a decade and a commitment to restructure entitlement programs and the tax code,” the senator said in a statement.
Written by James R. Carroll
WASHINGTON — The 11th-hour debt ceiling deal won’t get the support of Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.
Kentucky’s junior senator issued an open letter Monday on the agreement, crafted during negotiations between the White House and congressional leaders.
“The current deal to raise the debt ceiling doesn’t stop us from going over the fiscal cliff,” Paul charged. “At best, it slows us from going over it at 80 mph to going over it at 60 mph.”
Paul, who has advocated deep spending cuts, a much smaller federal government and a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget, said the plan to raise the debt ceiling and cut spending “never balances.”
“This deal does nothing to fix the overreaches of both parties over the past few years: Obamacare, TARP, trillion-dollar wars, runaway entitlement spending,” Paul said. “They are all cemented into place with this deal, and their legacy will be trillions of dollars in new debt.”
Paul’s position contrasts with that of his Kentucky Republican colleague, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who helped negotiate the final deal.
In Senate remarks Sunday night, McConnell said the agreement would “cut spending more than the president's requested debt ceiling increase, prevent a national default, and protect the economy from tax increases.”
Paul said the debt deal “adds at least $7 trillion to our debt over the next 10 years” and creates no clear path to real savings.
Sen. Dan Coats, R-Ind., also announced his opposition to the deal.
The package contained “steps in the right direction,” Coats said, but added that “it falls significantly short of what is needed to address the severity of this financial crisis.”
“For months, I have been saying that a credible plan must include at least $4 trillion in spending reductions over a decade and a commitment to restructure entitlement programs and the tax code,” the senator said in a statement.
Labels: Rand Paul
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 8:19 PM
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