Peak Porkulus: Rand Paul stands between us and Democrats' fiscal spendathon
Voters made their intentions clear in this past election that endless, bottomless, government spending has got to stop.
That means nothing to Democrats in Congress, who have put their foot on the accelerator of government spending ahead of their last day in office in the upcoming budget bills, stopgap and omnibus. They call it 'cramulus.'
Vote no on the #CRamnibus. https://t.co/sGwtEO9kEG pic.twitter.com/rmF38gjKEs
— Chip Roy (@chiproytx) December 18, 2024
Ever seen a bigger piece of pork? pic.twitter.com/ZesFCNSNKp
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024
Enter Sen. Rand Paul, the best, most Milei-like, fiscal libertarian in the Senate.
According to The Hill:
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is threatening to hold up a short-term funding package that needs to pass by the end of the day Friday to avoid a government shutdown unless leaders in Congress agree to vote on amendments to offset the cost of new spending in the proposal.
Paul has significant leverage to force colleagues to vote on spending cuts because congressional leaders are late in unveiling the continuing resolution, which is expected to fund the government until March 14.
The House may not even vote on the package until Wednesday or Thursday, which means Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) will need the cooperation of all 99 other senators to get it through the Senate by the end-of-week deadline.
But Paul says he won’t yield back time on the floor unless Schumer guarantees fiscal hawks a full debate and opportunity to vote on amendments to offset the cost of new spending in the proposal.
🚨 BREAKING: Senator Rand Paul has announced plans to DELAY the passage of a $1 trillion "Minibus" Omnibus CR spending bill, which must be approved by Friday to avoid a Govt shutdown.
— Publius (@OcrazioCornPop) December 17, 2024
Paul emphasizes that he will obstruct the bill unless it includes significant spending cuts,… pic.twitter.com/nk7YdrSNXy
Paul is demanding that the Senate start finding ways to 'pay for' (or find 'payfors') in its expansive spendathon.
He's not an axe-guy, however. He's forcing his fellow pols, who include characters like Mitch McConnell and John Thune, to prioritize what they want to spend federal cash on, such as genuine disaster relief (over green pork).
He told The Hill:
" ... We’ll probably put forward some pay-fors,” Paul told The Hill, flagging green-energy subsidies as spending that could be cut to offset the cost of disaster relief for North Carolina and other states hit hard by recent hurricanes. “There are some big existing pay-fors and I think they should be forced to decide: Do you want to help the people in Asheville or do you want to help green-energy companies, multimillion-dollar companies with subsidies for green energy? There’s about $4 billion out there in that,” he said.
Hard to find anything more corrupt and prone to losses and missing money than cash for green cronies, given the number of scandals.
He's also after the mother-of-all-hog wallows, useless, unaccountable defense spending, which comes into the hundreds of billions. The Pentagon has failed some seven audits with no one knowing where the money went. Those guys need a heavy hand, given what they have done.
And to his credit, he went after them even on the Republican side, given the number of pork enthusiasts who can be found in those quarters, calling House Speaker Mike Johnson "a weak, weak man." He gave no quarter to the swamp:
Rand Paul being a fucking Legend as always https://t.co/ynusQ9Nv6D pic.twitter.com/1s5dmA586c
— G.M (@GMfromny) December 18, 2024
It's what real lawmakers who believe in the future should do. Paul gets it. He's got his finger on the pulse of the voters. If Congress doesn't rally round to his leadership, then it's time to get ready for primary time. The Doge Duo, Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, have already pledged to fund these primaries for these Republican pork enthusiasts.
Call your elected representatives today to stop the steal of your tax dollars!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 18, 2024
pic.twitter.com/6suIuQMcO4
And this just in, they're getting results:
🚨BREAKING: Fox News reports that @ElonMusk’s posts vowing to fund primary challenges against Republicans who support the Continuing Resolution have effectively killed the bill.
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) December 18, 2024
𝕏 is the most powerful platform on the planet and is forcing the government to answer to the people. pic.twitter.com/gLs3jQ8mAm
JUST IN: Fox News reports that Elon Musk's posts on X sent shockwaves through the Capitol, forcing them to likely kill the spending bill.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 18, 2024
None of this would be possible without X 🔥
"A post on X by Elon Musk sent shockwaves through the Capitol. House Republicans were trying to… pic.twitter.com/7Am9HHLorW
Had Rand Paul not pulled the brake lever on this runaway train, Elon could not have moved in for the kill -- and they would have gotten away with it one more time.
This is the real leader of the Senate. Let's hope he becomes just that in reality, too.
Image: Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America // CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons