Democrats Obliterate Rand Paul For Holding Government Hostage Over Phony Deficit Concerns

Democrats obliterated Republican Sen. Rand Paul on Thursday for standing in the way of a bipartisan plan to keep the government open. The GOP senator cited phony concerns over the deficit as the reason for his stunt.

Democrats were quick to pounce, reminding Paul that at the end of last year, he cast a vote in favor of a massive, $1.5 trillion tax giveaway to the nation’s wealthiest individuals and corporations.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) slammed Paul and other Republicans who are now using the budget deal to fuel their complaints about the debt – weeks after supporting the expensive tax plan.

Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz took direct aim at his colleague from Kentucky, reminding him that he, indeed, votes in favor of “a top heavy, unpaid for, 1.5 trillion dollar tax giveaway.”

As The Hill noted on Thursday, “Paul took to the Senate floor to demand 15 minutes of debate and a vote on an amendment to keep budget ceilings in place before a full vote on the funding bill.”

As his Democratic colleagues pointed out, the same Paul that whined about government spending on Thursday didn’t say boo about the deficit when Republicans were ramming their costly tax bill through Congress.

What’s obvious is that Republicans don’t truly care about the deficit – they never have. Instead, they use it as a political football to get cable news coverage or boost their poll numbers in an election year. That’s no exception in the case of Paul, who cherry picks when to play the deficit card.

When it comes to advancing budget-busting policy that helps their wealthy donors or hurts those who need the most help – whether it’s authorizing unnecessary wars, repealing the Affordable Care Act or pushing for massive handouts to individuals who don’t need it – they have no problem using the country’s credit card to pay for it.

Sean Colarossi

Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.