Rand Paul budget amendment: Use Foreign Aid Funds to Pay for Bridges

[pampango]

Sen. Rand Paul: Use Foreign Aid Funds to Pay for Bridges

U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is proposing an amendment to the budget that would cut back on the nation's foreign assistance in order to fund construction and repair of the country's bridges.

Echoing President Obama's warning in his State of the Union address about the nation's failing infrastructure, Sen. Paul is calling on the Senate to provide more funding to fix structures like the Brent Spence Bridge in Northern Kentucky.

"While we are trying in vain to nation-build across the globe, our nation is crumbling here at home," Paul said.

To fund the projects, however, Paul is proposing a 50 percent cut in foreign aid - about $15 billion -and an additional $1 billion cut from the Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee Budget.

http://www.wfpl.org/post/sen-rand-paul-use-foreign-aid-funds-pay-bridges

Paul and Cruz — from Kentucky and Texas, respectively — offered amendments during last week’s budget “vote-a-rama” with the aim of reducing foreign aid, a position that has begun to split their party. The amendment votes were tough by design, in part because they mixed popular sounding items with poison pills.

Every Democrat present voted against Paul’s symbolic effort in the wee hours of Saturday morning to allocate $16 billion for repair and replacement of structurally-deficient bridges and other domestic infrastructure projects through cuts to Energy Department loan guarantees and foreign aid spending.

McCain was one of 19 Republicans to vote against that amendment. He was joined by South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and another frequent foreign aid defender, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte. All three senators also voted against an amendment offered by Cruz...

Paul has shown he is not afraid to criticize his political opponents on foreign assistance spending. He went so far as to run campaign ads last year through his RAND PAC against Democrats who opposed his bid to restrict foreign aid to Libya, Pakistan and Egypt.

http://www.globalproblems-globalsolutions.org/site/R?i=_svLLkfgXl_C2Nxu2FmqBA

[MotherPetrie]

1. Fuck that. Make rich people and corporarations pay their fair share of taxes to pay for it!

[ProSense]

2. Wait

Echoing President Obama's warning in his State of the Union address about the nation's failing infrastructure, Sen. Paul is calling on the Senate to provide more funding to fix structures like the Brent Spence Bridge in Northern Kentucky...To fund the projects, however, Paul is proposing a 50 percent cut in foreign aid - about $15 billion -and an additional $1 billion cut from the Department of Energy's Loan Guarantee Budget.

...someone is actually trying to spin anything in Paul's budget as worthwhile?

Senate: Rand Paul's lunatic budget gets 18 Republican votes
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10022563868

"Every Democrat present voted against Paul’s symbolic effort"

Thank you Democrats. LOL!

BTW, the Democratic budget allocates $100 billion for infrastructure and raises $975 billion in part by closing loopholes and ending offshore tax havens.

[FSogol]

3. Fuck Rand Paul...and his supporters.

[olddots]

4. yeah Ayn great idea

How this putz made it this far is a mystery .

[baldguy]

5. Rand Paul is a fucking idiot. Has anyone mentioned that yet?

[Initech]

9. I have! I have!

[and-justice-for-all]

6. We actually need to stop handing out cash...

at the least it needs to be cut back significantly and that money used here.

[NaturalHigh]

8. How much of our foreign aid goes to corrupt dictators?

Yes, if used correctly, it would be much better left here.

[pampango]

10. "Foreign Aid – We oppose foreign aid except in cases of national defense or catastrophic disasters,

with Congressional approval."

http://s3.amazonaws.com/texasgop_pre/assets/original/2012Platform_Final.pdf

[Dr Fate]

7. He would be right if he was not lying.

Even if he was serious and thought it would pass, the money would probably just go to subsidies for someone who may or may not get around to building a bridge.