The United States Senate recently voted on a 2,741-page omnibus spending bill that totaled $1.5 trillion. In an op-ed for Fox News, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul revealed the bill “was released in the middle of the night, just hours before we were expected to vote on it.”
This is the way things work in DC. Gargantuan bills are instantly dropped on politicians who don’t even bother to read what’s inside, which is usually filed with a bunch of toxic, anti-freedom provisions.
Like any daring liberty conservative, Senator Paul will not let this stand. In the op-ed, Paul revealed that he has “legislation in the Senate to fix the issue, a resolution to give members ample time to read the bills before they vote.”
In addition, the bill would “increase transparency and incentivize legislation to be shorter.”
Paul detailed some of the insane spending projects included in the $1.5 trillion spending package:
Do you think $2.5 million for biking trails in Vermont is really a spending priority? What about $4.2 million for the U.S. Sheep Experiment Station or $1.6 million for the development of equitable growth of the shellfish aquaculture industry in Rhode Island? I’m not really sure what either of these things do, and why it would be deemed necessary to receive millions of taxpayer dollars.
The Kentucky Senator continued detailing the absurd spending projects tacked on to this bill:
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg. The spending bill included approximately 4,000 earmarks, worth between $8 and $10 billion. $569,000 for the removal of derelict lobster pots. $2 million to educate, digitally connect, and build roads for indigenous coffee producers in Columbia. $3 million for a fisherman co-op in Guam. $925,000 for a barn in Vermont. $750,000 for a sports complex in Las Vegas.
$10 million to demolish a hotel in Alaska. $1 million for workforce training related to clean energy and green building in Minneapolis. $2 million for reducing inequity in access to solar power. I could go on.
The national debt currently stands north of $30 trillion, a figure that will continue to grow given how fiscally derelict politicians in Washington DC are these days. Paul should be praised for standing up for fiscal responsibility. However, he will ultimately need help. Liberty conservatives will need to build up farm teams of candidates at the state level as well single-issue interest groups to build robust networks that get more Rand Paul, Thomas Massie-lite Republicans elected.
Ultimately, it’s a number game when it comes to changing public policy in DC. Liberty conservatives don’t necessarily have to be an outright majority, but they at least need to have a sizable caucus in both chambers of Congress to have a policy impact. One man can only do so much in Washington
