Fellow Republicans owe Obama an apology for complaints about spending, Rand Paul says
Sen. Rand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, slammed the coronavirus relief package being negotiated, saying that his fellow Republicans should apologize to former President Barack Obama “for complaining that he was spending and borrowing too much.”
Senate Republicans introduced their $1 trillion second stimulus package, called Help, Economic Assistance, Liability Protection and Schools (HEALS) Act, last week, McClatchy News previously reported. President Donald Trump signed the $2.2 trillion coronavirus bill, called the CARES Act, into law in March.
Paul criticized his fellow Republicans for considering the bill Wednesday, saying he wouldn’t vote for it.
“Republicans and Democrats compromise every day of the year to spend money we don’t have,” Paul said in an interview with Fox News. “We were already running a trillion dollars short just with our normal budgetary expenses for the year. We added $3 trillion, now they’re talking about another $1 to $2 trillion. We’re going to borrow another $5 trillion in five months.”
“They might lose this election because they are acting like Democrats now. I am very upset with my colleagues,” Paul continued. “They went 8 years. They should apologize now to President Obama for complaining he was spending and borrowing too much. He was a piker compared to their borrowing and what they’re doing now.”
House Democrats passed their own $3 trillion coronavirus aid bill, called the Heroes Act, on May 15, but it never received a vote in the Senate.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Tuesday Democrats were willing to settle for a $3.4 trillion relief bill, Forbes reported.
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell said he estimated about a third of Republicans won’t vote for the HEALS Act.
“I think there are 15-20 of my guys that are not going to vote for anything. ... It’s a statement of the obvious that we will not have everybody on our side,” McConnell told WHAS.
How does spending under Trump compare to past administrations?
Under Trump’s administration, the U.S. added $2.07 trillion in debt between his inauguration on Jan. 20, 2017 and Feb. 2019, Business Insider reported. Obama added $3.46 trillion in debt in the comparable time period from Jan. 2009 to Feb. 2011, George W. Bush added $676 billion, and Bill Clinton added $617 billion.
Obama took over during the financial crisis while Trump added debt when the economy was strong, according to the publication.
Obama inherited a budget deficit of $1.186 trillion in 2009, and it decreased to $438 billion by 2015. By comparison, Trump came into office with a $585 billion budget deficit.
Since Trump took office, the deficit has gone up nearly 50 percent and reached $984 billion in 2019. From 2018 to 2019, the deficit increased $205 billion, or 26 percent.
Trump promised on his campaign trail to eliminate the deficit in eight years.
