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Politico…
Rookie Rand Paul
tackles budget head-on
By Manu Raju
AP Photo
President Barack Obama will soon lay out his vision for federal
spending when he releases his annual budget, setting in motion months
of debate over the size and scope of government.
Rand Paul is doing the same thing.
The tea party hero is at the bottom of the Senate in seniority and was
sworn in as Kentucky’s junior Republican senator only two weeks ago,
but he’s about to unveil his own sweeping budget plan that would result
in a $500 billion cut in just one year — about five times more than
what the House GOP has promised to do.
It’s an unusual move — a rookie senator releasing his own version of
the federal budget — but it says a lot about how Paul is trying to
carve an unconventional identity in the stodgy Senate. As he tries to
navigate Senate politics, Paul faces a key question: Will he use his
national profile to paint himself as a conservative firebrand and
perennial outsider, or will he work within the system and with senators
across the ideological spectrum to settle for less ambitious deals?
So far, he’s showing signs he’ll do a little of both.
Paul’s version of the federal budget — which he’ll unveil as early as
next week — would target programs at virtually every federal agency,
including the Defense Department, and would eliminate the Education
Department. He plans to follow up with a five-year budget with even
deeper spending cuts, a move likely to prompt backlash from groups that
would be affected by his proposal.
Like other Republicans, Paul is pushing a constitutional amendment to
force Congress to balance its books, calling for a two-thirds-majority
vote to increase taxes. And he plans to float bills that would kill
certain federal regulations. Breaking from most lawmakers, he also
wants to force a debate over instituting a limit of two terms for
senators. And he’ll propose establishing a waiting period before
lawmakers cast major votes and forcing them to read legislation.
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