PrintJanuary 27, 2011
Rand Paul gets serious about the deficit
The President pretends to cut spending and the Republicans offer serious proposals, but Rand Paul has raised the bar on reducing the size of government.
Politico reports that Senator Paul (R-Kent.) has introduced a bill that would cut spending by $500 billion in one year:
...he clearly goes much further, folding the Energy Department into the Department of Defense and wiping out most of the Education Department but for Pell Grants to low income college students.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is a third casualty, together with seven independent agencies including the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and national endowments for the humanities and arts.
Senator Paul's legislation would reduce spending across a wide range of federal departments, as detailed in an overview of the bill.
As an example, The EPA's quixotic quest to save the world from carbon dioxide is made possible by an EPA budget of $11.2 billion, which the Paul legislation would reduce by $3.2 billion, or 29%.
Departments targeted for larger reductions include Agriculture, Defense, HHS, Homeland Security and State. The general idea is to roll spending back to 2008 levels and eliminate wasteful programs.
Mr. Paul, the tea party stalwart, has posted his view on the stakes in this game, a game that is not for the faint of heart, nor, apparently, for this President.
The President's plan to "freeze" discretionary spending for five years would merely lock these bloated bureaucracies in place, where they can continue pillaging economic prosperity in perpetuity.
Rand Paul has set the bar beyond the reach of liberal minds, but it ultimately must be raised higher still if we are to tame the government beast.
