Rand Paul in March 2011:
Thursday, Paul outlined what he calls “some inconvenient truths” about the debt and federal deficit: military spending will have to be cut, he said, and entitlement programs reformed.
Paul said conservatives “have to overcome” the idea of military spending as a sacred cow that can’t be cut. It has increased by 120 percent since 2001 – so “there is savings that can be found there,” he said.
“If we say no, we won’t cut military spending, then we just have to acknowledge that we are not serious about balancing the budget and we aren’t serious about the debt,” he said.
Rand Paul in August 2011:
Rand Paul pledges to work to protect military funding
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul met Tuesday with state leaders of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, where he pledged to do all he can to preserve funding for the military and veterans — despite his tea party beliefs in smaller government and less spending.
“There are a few things the federal government should be doing, and one of them is national defense and the other is taking care of veterans,” said Paul, a freshman Republican from Bowling Green.
Meet your new senator. He’s the same as everybody else in Warshington.
3 responses so far ↓
1 TR SKEPTIC // Aug 19, 2011 at 4:35 pm
Look at the numbers…
A ten per cent increase in the Veterans Affairs budget is about 1/2 % of the DOD’s budget. In 2010 the DOD budget was 1.3 trillion dollars. And 106 billion was set aside for multi-year modernization projects requiring additional time to procure.
Since 1998 the GAO has not been able to audit the DOD.
The GAO cited as the principal obstacle to its audit opinion ” a serious financial management problems at the DOD that made its financial statements UNAUDITABLE.”
Eleven years without balancing your checkbook.
2 spinnikerca // Aug 20, 2011 at 2:43 am
He has always said that about the military being one of the few Constitutionally mandated things, but that doesn’t mean trying to keep military from being cut. Veterans is different.
I can’t post links, but if someone felt like googling Ron Paul pbs and clicked on the link saying ‘Freedom i s ayoung idea and we are throwing it away’ you’d hear his Dad’s plan for social security and medicare. Fact is, if he’s like his Dad on this, he may well think veterans benefits are a higher priority than preemptive wars.
3 Ronbo // Aug 22, 2011 at 2:24 pm
If he’s like his dad, then he’s a racist too (check out Ron Paul’s newsletter).
Just because he *says* he’s going to preserve the funding, when he’s in front of this group, doesn’t mean he actually will. The proof is in the vote.
Which comes back to whether he’s like his dad – because Ron Paul is the most ineffectual member of Congress. His unwillingness to compromise – an essential ingredient in making democracy work – means he never accomplishes anything. Never gets a bill passed, never makes allies who owe him a favor. The salary we pay him is a waste of tax dollars.
So let’s hope Rand isn’t like his dad.
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