The Senate voted 73-20 on Thursday morning to defeat an amendment proposed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to cut federal spending by a measly one percent across the board in order to fund critical infrastructure programs.
This was another version of Paul’s “Penny Plan” that he has re-introduced in the Senate over and over again, each time to no avail. Even a paltry cut in spending is untenable in a Washington D.C. swamp dedicated to exacerbating the national debt crisis.
Here are Paul’s remarks in favor of his amendment:
Today I spoke on the floor about my Penny Plan. It would have focused on fixing our infrastructure, cut spending, and balanced the budget in 5 years. The vote results to kill my amendment are a sad example of Washington's spending addiction. pic.twitter.com/MZAljg7OXg
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) November 21, 2019
“It would pay for multiple big-ticket infrastructure projects that are currently stuck without funding,” Paul said.
“This amendment would improve our infrastructure, benefit our communities, eliminate government waste and help our economy,” he said. “So by cutting 1% of the current spending, we’ll force all of government to do a better job. There’s at least 1% waste. There’s probably 10% waste in government, but I’m asking to cut 1% waste.”
While Paul’s fiscally responsible legislation may die, he proves the point that federal lawmakers are in cahoots to bankrupt the country.
“An arbitrary, 1% across-the-board cut, although it sounds good, on top of this would be extremely harmful to our agencies, particularly our military,” Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Richard Shelby (R-AL) said on the Senate floor.
President Donald Trump ultimately signed the continuing resolution that will keep the astronomical spending going for another month. Trump’s promise to drain the swamp has been a hollow one, at least on the point of reigning in profligate government spending.
Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is very pleased about this move to strengthen the status quo.
“I’m optimistic that the passage of the continuing resolution today is something Congress can build from, a sign that appropriators from both sides of the aisle are ready to work together to settle government funding by the end of the calendar year,” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Despite the immense corruption he has to deal with every single day, Paul remains emboldened that the people of Kentucky and the rest of the country will see the value in his constant agitating against the federal beast.
“We’ll get maybe 25 percent of the congress but the message back home to people will be if they vote against my bill do they really care about the roads and bridges of Kentucky,” Paul said in an interview with WYMT Mountain News.
Paul remains a happy warrior for economic liberty in a party that has lost sight of its mandate to limit government and balance the budget.
