“I’m very upset with my colleagues,” Paul said. “They should apologize now to President Obama for complaining that he was spending and borrowing too much. He was a piker compared to their borrowing that they’re doing now.”
“They should have to apologize, and they should, by law, be forbidden from ever saying that they’re fiscally conservative,” Paul added.
“Look at gold. Gold’s over $2,000 an ounce,” Paul said of the precious metal. “People are worried. The politicians are out here saying, oh, no, we just have to buy more voters by flooding the economy with money.”
“It’s funny that people say, well, Washington, Republicans and Democrats never compromise and can’t get along. That’s actually the opposite of the truth. Republicans and Democrats compromise every day of the year to spend money we don’t have,” he said.
Paul said Republicans in Congress are making Obama look like a conservative in their attempt to “institutionalize unemployment” by extending benefits.
“They’re once again making President Obama look conservative,” the Senator said. “What did they do in 2008? They simply extended the benefits, but they didn’t ramp up the benefits. When you increase the benefits and you pay people, the government pays them more for not working than they were getting for working, you institutionalize unemployment.”
“Even President Obama didn’t do that,” Paul said. “They extended unemployment, which is actually something I would vote for, to extend unemployment at the level that it is, has always been decided to be, not adding to it at the level that the states have decided they can afford. That, as a temporary measure, would have been OK.”
“But you can’t keep doing this,” he continued. “We can’t keep borrowing another trillion dollars every couple of months. The only way to fix this government-mandated depression is get rid of the government mandates and let the economy function as it did normally.”
“We had a great economy, until the government mandated this depression,” Paul finished.
NEIL CAVUTO, FOX NEWS: I know you have very strong feelings on this spending that’s going on here, and the fact the two sides are getting closer together on writing off on what will be, at the very least, Senator, I’m sure, a trillion-dollar-plus stimulus measure, on top of the $10 trillion we have already spent between congressional relief and Federal Reserve rescues to just keep everything humming.
If they are close to a deal that has a package cost of a trillion dollars or better, are you — are you going to vote for it?
SENATOR RAND PAUL (R-KY): Absolutely not.
It’s funny that people say, well, Washington, Republicans and Democrats never compromise and can’t get along. That’s actually the opposite of the truth. Republicans and Democrats compromise every day of the year to spend money we don’t have.
So, 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 trillion to $2 trillion. We’re going to borrow $5 trillion in five months.
I remember when conservatives complained about George W. Bush borrowing $5 trillion in eight years. We’re going to borrow $5 trillion in five months?
Look at gold. Gold’s over $2,000 an ounce. People are worried. The politicians are out here saying, oh, no, we just have to buy more voters by flooding the economy with money.
Well, guess what? What if conservatives or libertarians that vote Republican decide, the hell with it, you’re acting like Democrats, we’re either staying home or voting for a third party? You know what? They might just lose this election because they’re acting like Democrats now.
And so I’m very upset with my colleagues. They went eight years. They should apologize now to President Obama for complaining that he was spending and borrowing too much. He was a piker compared to their borrowing that they’re doing now.
So, yes, these Republicans, they should have to apologize, and they should, by law, be forbidden from ever saying that they’re fiscally conservative. That’s just tongue in cheek.
(CROSSTALK)
CAVUTO: Well, part of that cowing to the spending, whatever — whatever you want to call it, is this new plan that calls for extending the federal unemployment benefit, right now at about $600 a week.
A lot of your colleagues are apparently closer to letting that continue. The only issue is for how long. What do you think of that?
PAUL: Well, here’s the thing.
They’re once again making President Obama look conservative. What did they do in 2008? They simply extended the benefits, but they didn’t ramp up the benefits. When you increase the benefits and you pay people, the government pays them more for not working than they were getting for working, you institutionalize unemployment.
Even President Obama didn’t do that. They extended unemployment, which is actually something I would vote for, to extend unemployment at the level that it is, has always been decided to be, not adding to it at the level that the states have decided they can afford. That, as a temporary measure, would have been OK.
But you can’t keep doing this. We can’t keep borrowing another trillion dollars every couple of months. The only way to fix this government-mandated depression is get rid of the government mandates and let the economy function as it did normally.
We had a great economy, until the government mandated this depression.
