In an interview with Fox Business, Republican Senator Rand Paul (KY) said Republicans are “emasculated” by going along with the Democrats’ fiscal plans but still claiming to be Conservative. “We have completely and totally abdicated the power of the purse,” said Paul. “Republicans are emasculated. They have no power, and they are unwilling to gain that power back.”
From American Military News:
“We’d have to do the budget the way it’s supposed to be: … 12 appropriation bills, and then try to attach some policy, like removing the 87,000 IRS agents from the IRS budget,” he said. “When we try to do it in one bill, the Republicans don’t have the intestinal fortitude. They always collapse. And they fear shutting the government down, so no policy objectives ever get added.” Paul also said Republicans aren’t doing all they can to address the national debt. While Republicans often make the national debt a campaign issue, chronic overspending by both political parties over decades has seen the national debt balloon to around $31.4 trillion. Last month, the U.S. government spent $249 million more than it earned in tax revenue. ... “Forty-one votes would stop the big spending,” Paul said. “If 41 of us said no and held our ground until there was a compromise, we could force Democrats to reduce spending.”
