
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) has to be disappointed by the response to his plan for balancing the federal budget in five years. For its part, the media briefly noted that it called for the elimination of entire functions of government and then they chucked it onto the “weird news” stack.
Paul's colleagues reacted to it like he suggested putting cholera on the Senate Dining Room menu. Ninety of them voted “nay” and rumor has it several voted “Hell nay.”
About the only attention it did get was from Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). McConnell was so impressed with Paul's budgeting prowess that he gave the Senate Budget Committee seat Paul wanted to the only person in the Senate with less seniority than Paul.
As Kentuckians we bear a... well, you know. We hired him. We did this. Rand Paul is our special responsibility. If his work isn't reflecting well on our state...
Kidding aside, as it turns out the budget plan Senator Paul put out provides a level of insight into his thought processes and philosophies that could never be gleaned from campaign ads (for or against him) or the pablum of sound bites that pass for news these days. It is a rather amazing document.
For example, in the opening of the budget plan before he tackles any real specific policies, Paul spends some time discussing government spending as it relates to Gross Domestic Product [GDP]. Then he says this.
...without significantly reducing deficits, debt, and spending, crowding out will reduce the standard-of-living, resulting in a decrease in gross national product per person by 8 percent by 2025 and by 21 percent in 2035.
Believe it or not, this little sentence fragment contains really critical insights into Paul's understanding of economics, the degree to which ideology colors his creative thought process, and his integrity!
To Be Continued...
In the meantime, anybody who can divine Rand Paul's thoughts about illegal immigration in the above snippet gets three Rouda Points.