<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1655471584469,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07c3-d172-a563-4feb224a0001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1655471584469,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000162-07c3-d172-a563-4feb224a0001","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_55471447", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1032720"} }); ","_id":"00000181-71cb-d082-a1ad-7bfba8ec0000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedCongress has a spending problem. They know it. The country knows it. And, perhaps most importantly, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) knows it. With rampant inflation plaguing the country, out-of-control gas prices, a potential recession on the horizon, and other economic woes hurting the public, Paul appears to be one of the only members of Congress even remotely concerned about fiscal responsibility.
Last week, he introduced the “Six Penny Plan” as a strategy to balance the budget. This week, Paul brought accountability to the Senate by forcing them to go on the record with a vote on his plan — a plan that would have balanced the budget within five years. Sadly, 67 senators went against Paul’s plan and voted to continue their reckless and irresponsible government spending.
“Washington’s addiction to spending is hurting our economy and depleting our currency. Inflation is stealing every American’s purchasing power and financial security. And yet, no Democrat or Republican has produced a federal budget; my Six Penny Plan is the only one,” he said. “My plan provides a commonsense solution for fiscal sanity. It puts our nation on track to balance the federal budget in the next five years, and it solves this inflationary and spending crisis that Congress created.”
Sixty-seven senators opted to keep spending recklessly and bring the country to the brink of impending financial mayhem. Even more concerning is that these senators don’t seem to care about it. Twenty-eight senators did wind up supporting the “Six Penny Plan.” While the vote results were disappointing, it was to be expected, sadly. We live in an era where fiscal sanity is an afterthought in government spending.
Incidentally, the crux of Paul’s plan mandates a return to 2019 government spending levels. If this happened, Paul estimated the government would have a $388 billion surplus. Instead, Washington insisted on trillion-dollar deficits threatening future generations’ financial security. Rather than plan for fiscal sanity and a better tomorrow, politicians opted for future chaos, economic uncertainty, and mayhem.
An old Benjamin Franklin quote says, “if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail,” and that is just what Congress is doing. Sooner rather than later, the chickens will “come home to roost” regarding this impetuous spending. And when that happens, our country could suffer another financial crisis that some experts predict will be worse than 2008.
“Instead of celebrating a balanced budget this year, and again allowing spending to grow at historic norms, we are faced with a weakened and teetering economy, a prescription for our ills that is six times more dramatic than it ever had to be,” Paul said in a press release. “Congress’s refusal to accept the responsibility to act as good stewards of American taxpayer dollars has caused our bleak financial position. Short-term political gains of the past, are in fact causing us harm now. Not to our children and grandchildren off in the future, but to us here today.”
