Rand is Right on Spending

Rand Paul is absolutely right when he complains that Republicans missed the opportunity to control spending when they were in the majority. Republican spending has since been dwarfed by the Democrats' current binge, but still, Republicans must do better if given another chance to govern.

Paul didn't specify the excesses. Two that spring to mind are the Energy bill and the Transportation bill passed under the Bush administration. Both were rotten with pork. Those two pieces of legislation were pivotal; they caused many of us to think of ourselves as conservatives first, rather than Republicans.

Speaking last night in Bowling Green, according to the Daily Caller, Paul said

“We as Republicans have taken the easy way out a lot of times,” said Paul, a first-time candidate who portrays himself as a political outsider. “We vote to cut taxes but we don’t ever vote to cut any spending. Because as soon as you do, as soon as you bring up a program, it’s somebody’s program and they love it.

“You can’t have it both ways. You can’t tell me that you’re taxed enough already, and that you want constitutional government and then in the next breath say, ‘Bring me home some bacon.’ The pig has been picked clean.”