Rand Paul Exposes Media’s Doomsday Talk On Debt Ceiling

(HorizonPost.com) – Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul last week called the Biden administration’s fearmongering over the debt ceiling “completely dishonest,” arguing that there is plenty of money to pay the interest on the federal debt.

In mid-January, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified Congress that the federal government would reach the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling on January 19.

House Republicans are demanding that any increase in the debt ceiling be accompanied by spending cuts. However, the White House is refusing to negotiate with Republican lawmakers.

In an appearance on MSNBC on January 20, White House economic advisor Jared Bernstein accused Republicans of holding the US economy hostage and threatening Social Security. He said a default on the US dollar would increase interest rates and “undermine the kind of progress we’ve made thus far.”

But during an interview with Fox Business host Larry Kudlow last Wednesday, Senator Paul said Biden administration officials are being “completely dishonest” in their framing of the debt ceiling and default, arguing that there is no reason the country will default if the debt ceiling is not raised.

Paul explained that the federal government’s interest payments are around $400 billion, and since the government brings in about $5 trillion, there is “plenty of money.” He told Kudlow that not only can the government pay the interest on the debt, but it can also afford to “pay our soldiers,” and pay for Social Security and Medicare.

Paul also told Kudlow that he is proposing a five-year plan to cut baseline spending to bring down the debt.

He said the government is “about a third overdrawn, so there’s an enormous amount of government we’d have to trim.” He said cutting the baseline by $100 billion now and then freezing spending for between four and five years, “you can actually achieve balance through growth.”

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