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Rand Paul’s disaster relief letter to Biden is hypocritical



“As the sun rises this morning, we will begin to understand the true extent of the devastation, but we already know of the loss of lives and serious property damage.” The Kentucky Republican Senator has written to President Joe Biden. “The Governor of the Commonwealth requested federal assistance this morning and will no doubt have further requests as the situation is assessed. I fully support those requests and ask you to urgently approve them. the right resources for our state.”

That makes sense. Disaster relief is where the federal government can make a real difference – especially in the early stages of the aftermath when residents (and even state governments) may be struggling to cope. stand firm again.

Problem? Well, Paul has made a career out of protesting disaster relief in places other than Kentucky.

In 2013, he opposed a disaster relief measure for the Northeast following the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy. “I’ll give them 9 billion and I’ll take 9 billion from somewhere else,” Paul explained at the time, citing the price tag for the measure. “I would take it from foreign aid and say, ‘You know what, we don’t have money for Egypt or Pakistan this year because we have to help the Northeast.”
Four years later, Paul voted against a relief fund for the victims of Hurricane Harvey, which hit Louisiana and Texas. Senate vote against an amendment proposed by Paul that would have financed Harvey relief efforts with money previously allocated to foreign aid.

As you may have noticed, Paul’s request for federal assistance from Biden over the weekend doesn’t come with the stipulation that any federal dollars allocated to the state will have to come from an equivalent offset. equivalent to another portion of the federal budget. He just wants help – and understandably so.

This is what happens when you conduct your political career like a political class ideological experiment in college. Sure, it’s easy to stick to your principles when some other state needs disaster relief money from Congress. It’s not that you object to them taking money to help them recover, it’s just that you believe in your bones that money can’t make a budget deficit. So the government has to find somewhere else to take it if it wants to supply a country that is hurting after a natural disaster.

Except when it happens to YOUR state, those same principles go out the window. Because those are the communities you know are struggling – and need help right away. They don’t care where the money comes from, they just want and need it to help them in a time of absolute crisis.

That is the reality that Paul is facing. And why his past opposition to disaster relief packages makes his current request for federal help meaningless.

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