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One of the fundamental problems in Washington is the attitude that the money that people make belongs to the government. Thats why you hear arguments about how much a tax cut costs, or big government advocates disingenuously and breathlessly complaining about the people who pay taxes getting a tax cut.

I believe it is the other way around. Our default position should be that the money you earn belongs to you, and government has to justify why it should take it from you.

Currently, there are at least 97 different federal taxes. The tax code that instructs people how they must hand over their hard-earned money to government spans some 74,000-plus pages.

This is absurd, and so is the fact that government will collect over $3 trillion from taxpayers next year but still is not satisfied.

The good news is we can do this every year. Want a bigger tax cut? Urge your legislators to do one every single year. Ill sponsor it. Want them to be permanent? Well, one good start is to keep extending them, every single year.

One of the main differences between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans, in general, favor less government and more tax cuts. Thats why Im pleased to see us moving forward on a plan for tax cuts, and why I hope to vote to pass such a cut in the coming weeks.

I spoke out all year against the GOP leaders initial plan to make their tax reform revenue neutral meaning not really a cut. Im pleased to see my point of view has prevailed, and the current tax plan calls for a $1.5 trillion cut over the next ten years. I would have liked to see more in fact, I offered an amendment to move it up to $2.5 trillion but Ive stated many times that as long as it is a real cut, Ill vote for it, even if it isnt as large as I would prefer.

Im also pleased to note that, in part by my urging, the Senate tax-plan writers have included repeal of the ObamaCare individual mandate in the tax plan. The mandate is clearly a tax, a fact that was established by the Supreme Court when it upheld ObamaCare. So including it in the tax bill only makes sense. In addition, with CBO scoring it as a $350 billion savings, repealing the mandate helped pave the way for increased middle-class tax cuts, like an expanded child tax credit.

I was pleased to work directly with President Trump to push this important change that lets us keep multiple promises in one bill cut taxes and repeal the ObamaCare mandate weve been fighting against for years.

This bill is not perfect. I would prefer a larger cut. I would prefer that the Senate bill match the House bill and keep some form of state and local deductions so that no one gets caught in the trap of losing too many deductions at once and failing to benefit from the tax cuts. Lastly, Id like to see more permanence on the individual side.

Some of that is still achievable. Some of it is due to the peculiarities of the budget and Senate rules and will have to wait for another day.

The good news is we can do this every year. Want a bigger tax cut? Urge your legislators to do one every single year. Ill sponsor it. Want them to be permanent? Well, one good start is to keep extending them, every single year.

This tax bill is a true test for my colleagues. Im not getting everything I want far from it. But Ive been immersed in this process. Ive fought for and received major changes for the better and I plan to vote for this bill as it stands right now.

I urge my colleagues to do the same. I urge you, their constituents, to make sure they hear from you.

The next few weeks in Washington will be important. Will we keep our word and cut taxes? Will we do what we campaigned on and repeal the ObamaCare mandate? I will fight for both, and I look forward to ending the year keeping these important promises to the American people.

Republican Rand Paul represents Kentucky in the United States Senate.

Originally posted here:
Sen. Rand Paul: Here's why I plan to vote for the Senate ...

When it comes to GOP bills, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R) is usually the guy standing athwart the legislation as it typically doesnt meet the standards or too often does the opposite of what Republicans had promised the American people.

But not with the upcoming GOP tax bill. For this, Paul is declaring himself a yes, and urging his fellow Republicans to join him.

Paul first expressed his approval in an op-ed for Fox News where he began by saying that the government is not entitled to your money, no matter how much it thinks it is:

One of the fundamental problems in Washington is the attitude that the money that people make belongs to the government. Thats why you hear arguments about how much a tax cut costs, or big government advocates disingenuously and breathlessly complaining about the people who pay taxes getting a tax cut.

I believe it is the other way around. Our default position should be that the money you earn belongs to you, and government has to justify why it should take it from you.

Paul said that while the bill isnt perfect, hes pleased with how its turned out.

This tax bill is a true test for my colleagues. Im not getting everything I want far from it. But Ive been immersed in this process. Ive fought for and received major changes for the better and I plan to vote for this bill as it stands right now.

I urge my colleagues to do the same. I urge you, their constituents, to make sure they hear from you.

He echoed the same sentiment in an update that he posted via Twitter, saying that while he wishes he could have secured an even larger tax cut for Americans, the current tax cut he helped managed to create is still good enough to earn his nod. As hes previously demonstrated, its not an easy nod to earn.

Both Ivanka and Donald Trump have gotten behind Pauls support of the bill, hoping Republicans follow the Kentucky Senators lead.

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Rand Paul Says GOP Tax Bill Isnt Perfect, but Its Earned ...

It is an absolute honor to represent the people of Kentucky in the United States Senate. Please use the following form to contact me with your comments and concerns regarding legislation. Include your full name, address, phone and email to receive a written response.

If you are requesting help with a federal agency, please visit theHelp with Federal Agenciespage for timely assistance with your request. Submitting your request for assistance on this comment page will cause a delay in processing, as your request must be forwarded to my State Office in Bowling Green.

If you would like to invite Sen. Paul to an event or schedule a meeting, please visit theMeet with Randpage or emailpaul_schedule@paul.senate.gov. For media requests, please contactpress@paul.senate.govor call the Washington D.C. Office. Submitting your meeting or press request on this comment page will cause a delay in processing.

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Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is just as shocked as you are.

I had thought that it was completely dead, gone, buried, and there wasnt going to be any more attempts," the senator told reporters in his office Monday afternoon, referring to Senate Republicans efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. Im kind of surprised that this has been resurrected cause I dont think its been fully thought through.

Paul said that two weeks ago, he would have given the Graham-Cassidy bill a zero percent chance of passing the Senate, but now hes worried. He doesnt even have to go back two weeks. He told me last Tuesday that he gave it a zero percent chance. That seemed like an accurate assessment at the time, before the Republicans' rousing pep rally during last Thursdays caucus lunch.

But the pep talk has not moved Paul. And from the sound of him Monday afternoon, it wont. If that holds, it could spell Graham-Cassidys end.

Paul describes the bill, which replaces Obamacare's subsidies and Medicaid expansion with block grants to states for their own experimentation, as one that keeps 90 percent of Obamacare and redistributes the proceeds. He calls it just a game of Republicans sticking it to Democrats.

It just looks like the Republicans are taking the money from the Democrat states and giving it to the Republican states, he said Monday. He observed, too, that if Graham-Cassidy were to become law, Democrats could later adjust the formula used to determine block grant amounts to favor blue states. So were going to go through year after year of Republicans fighting Democrats over the formula?

Paul represents a mostly red state, but a relatively unique one in the health care wars, which could explain his thinking. During Obamacares implementation, Kentucky happened to have a term-limited Democratic governor who embraced all that the Affordable Care Act had to offer, and many Kentuckians gained coverage. Its not just blue states that would lose money under Graham-Cassidys block grant formula. Kentucky would, too.

If you didnt expand [Medicaid], you get a ton of money, Paul said about changes that would come under Graham-Cassidy. Mississippis going up 900 percent, North Dakota 600 percent. So theres a ton of money out there for non-expansion red states.

Paul is definitely one of the most difficult votes for Repulican leaders to secure here. The other two are Maine Sen. Susan Collins and Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski. One of the three of them will need to support Graham-Cassidy for it to pass. (In addition to the other 49 senators, all of whom cant be considered sure things just yet.) But Collins and Murkowski have each objected to every single Republican repeal attempt so far, and this approach is arguably worse in both rushed process and policy. That would seem to put the pressure on Paul to get on board from the conservative end of the spectrum.

If so, he's not feeling that yet. Ive been a loud advocate for repeal of Obamacare, something that looks like repeal, he said. This does not look, smell, or even sound like repeal. This is a keep. This is Obamacare Lite.

Link:
Rand Paul could kill Graham-Cassidy. - slate.com

President Donald Trump and Senate GOP leaders are desperate for a show of legislative unity on tax reform after the collapse of Obamacare repeal.

But theyre unlikely to get it thanks to Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky. The frequent GOP contrarian is digging in against the budget as written an ominous start to Republicans tax push at a time when leaders would like to soothe jittery donors and voters.

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Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have been quietly working to get all Republicans on board with the GOP budget. Unanimity would give the party critical momentum after a brutal few months of intraparty fighting and send a clear message that all 52 members are in play on tax reform.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), whose defection along with Pauls helped doom the GOPs Obamacare repeal bill, was also wavering on the budget until Tuesday. But hes now willing to fall in line, soothed sufficiently that there will be a future boost in defense spending.

However, in part for those hawkish promises, Paul may be the sole GOP no vote on the budget just as he was on the GOPs January budget that led to the failure on Obamacare. And his fellow Republican senators are already slamming Paul for shattering any hoped-for harmony on tax reform.

This vote is about whether or not were going to lay the groundwork to cutting taxes to revive a stagnant economy. Its about the future of the Republican Party, griped Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) about Pauls potential no vote. How many times do you have to see this movie before you figure out whats going on here?

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Graham added, President Trump says Rand Pauls his friend. I dont think you can be a friend of the president or the conservative cause and vote against this budget resolution.

Paul offered his party an olive branch on Tuesday, voting to start debate on the budget even though GOP leaders expected a no vote, according to one Republican senator. Paul said Trump was influential in getting him to vote for the motion to proceed to the plan; the two spoke ahead of the vote.

And Paul says he can still be persuaded to get to yes, though leaders fear agreeing to his request to cut $43 billion in defense spending would lose the votes of military hawks like Graham and McCain.

The president wants a yes vote on the budget, said Paul, who golfed with Trump over the weekend one day after Graham did. I talked to him this morning. And I told him: Ill be a yes vote but youve got to tell the swamp up here that they cant just keep spending money left and right.

The budget should be relatively easy for the entire GOP to support, particularly with so much pressure to produce after the health care debacle. The budget is nonbinding and unlikely to affect later spending bills; instead it is essentially a procedural vote to trigger a tax reform attempt that can evade the Senates 60-vote threshold.

So the thinking goes in McConnells office and the White House that if the party really wants to do tax reform, everyone will vote to kick off the process.

I hope we can get everybody. But Rand may be a lost cause, said John Thune of South Dakota, No. 3 in the Senate GOP leadership. You would like to have everybody on board.

But if its just a symbolic vote, Paul asks, then why wont so-called Republican conservatives throw him a bone?

Every one of these people says it doesnt matter whats in the budget. But when push comes to shove and somebody wants to have something in the budget to make it mean something, then theyre opposed to it, Paul fumed.

Instead of solidarity, Paul is descending into a brutal fight with Graham and McCain over defense spending supplied by the budgets overseas contingency funds. He says McCain and Graham basically are not fiscally conservative and is accusing his party of increasing the debt a debate thats already clouding tax reform negotiations.

Graham traded barbs with Paul on Twitter, warning him: Dont screw up #TaxReform now. You already saved #Obamacare.

Paul responded by calling a media conference phone call and on-camera news conference in which he accused McCain and Graham of wanting unlimited defense spending. The message was clear: Barring a massive about-face, Paul is dead set against the bill as proposed.

McCain had to be convinced that a boost to defense spending will happen later this year to go along with the budget. Asked about Paul trying to roll that back, McCain dismissed his colleague entirely.

Ive had to worry about a lot of senators. Rand Pauls not one of them, McCain said with a chuckle.

But its less of a laughing matter for Senate leaders. Pauls influence over Trump is real; they speak frequently and play golf together. On health care, Pauls communications with Trump forced GOP leaders to abandon initial plans to repeal Obamacare with no replacement, setting the stage for a months-long comedy of errors that culminated in failure to repeal the law.

And Paul said he wants Trump to weigh in on the budget and get McConnell, McCain and Graham to back down on the $43 billion at issue.

The president would do it, but leadership here appears unwilling to do it, Paul said. We are trying to get the White House to put pressure on the Senate leadership to not be absolutely profligate spenders.

Despite his potential opposition to the budget, Paul says hes all in on tax cuts. But GOP leaders arent so sure. As Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn of Texas put it: A vote against the budget is a vote against tax reform.

I would love to get everybody together, said Cornyn, the partys chief vote counter. But that may or may not be possible.

Connor OBrien contributed to this report.

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Rand Paul wrecks GOP unity again - POLITICO