Rand Paul & ObamaCare

Rand Paul announced he is running for President, but didn’t mention ObamaCare. What cuts would Rand Paul make to the safety net and federal programs?

This must-watch video does a great job explaining what cuts Rand might make to safety net programs like the Affordable Care Act:

Rand Paul has perhaps the most extensively documented national policy positions of any 2016 contender. He is the only candidate in the race to have prepared his own detailed federal budget — three times, in fact, in fiscal years 2012, 2013, and 2014. The budgets, put together, represent the most radical vision of limited government ever presented by a major American presidential candidate (apart, perhaps, from Paul’s father, Ron Paul). – Vox

If we judge Rand Paul based on his past claims we can assume the following programs will see cuts or elimination (Content below is from Vox. Read more at Vox):

• CDC Center of Disease Control is cut by 20 percent
• National Institutes of Health is cut by 20 percent (“much of the research and development undertaken by the NIH provides direct subsidies to the pharmaceutical industry”).
• Food and Drug Administration is cut by 20 percent (“new FDA powers granted by the recent Food Safety Modernization Act grant the government further intrusion into the nation’s food supply”).
• NASA is cut by 25 percent (“with the presence of private industries involved in space exploration and space tourism, it is time for NASA to look at ways to reduce spending … since President Obama has determined to realign the goals of NASA away from human space exploration to science and ‘global warming’ research, there is also a need to realign the agency’s funding”).
• US Geological Survey is cut by 20 percent (“though these are important activities, they can be given to state researchers at our colleges and universities”).
• Bureau of Reclamation is eliminated (“owning a majority block of energy and water resources is not the business of the federal government”).
• Bureau of Indian Affairs is eliminated (“swindled and mismanaged billions of dollars in Indian trust funds”).
• National Parks are cut by 30 percent (“returning these public lands back to the states and or the private sector would allow an increase in quality, safety and a reduction in government spending each year”).
• Indian Health Services is cut by 20 percent (“notoriously wrought with fraud”).
• Government Printing Office is eliminated (“every government office and agency should budget for their own printing costs”).

All told, CRFB finds that the FY2012 Paul budget massively reduces the budgets of numerous Cabinet departments:

• National Science Foundation is cut by 62 percent.
• State Department is cut by 71 percent.
• Interior Department cut by 78 percent.
• Department of Energy is eliminated (except for nuclear energy programs, which are transferred to the Defense Department).
• General Services Administration is cut by 85 percent.
• Transportation Department is cut by 49 percent.
• Department of Agriculture is cut by 49 percent.
• Department of Health and Human Services is cut by 26 percent.
• Justice Department is cut by 28 percent.
• Environmental Protection Agency is cut by 29 percent.

The list goes on. Paul’s budget is heavy on massive cuts to discretionary spending and departmental functions. Some of them are mentioned only in early budgets (like the CDC and NIH cuts), but many — including the NASA, US Geological Survey, and National Parks cuts — are also in the FY2014 budget.

Other changes include:

• A flat tax (the implications of this are vast. It could lead to the elimination or privatization of most government programs (including Medicare, Social Security), stifle the middle class, and widen the gap in income inequality. Learn all about the pros and cons of a flat tax from investopedia)
• Eliminating section 8 housing vouchers
• Eliminating K-12 Education funding
• Eliminating earned income tax credit
• Eliminating child tax credit
• Cutting foreign aid, including Israel
• Cutting defense budgets
• A ban on cats being cute (kidding, everything else though is very true)

While the above may seem like a jab at Rand Paul, we are simply gleaning information from a Vox article. That article was responded to by Rand’s team and the above has been updated to reflect the comments of Paul spokesperson Jillian Lane to Vox.

So Does ObamaCare Survive President Rand?

There is little chance that the ACA doesn’t get gutted under Rand.

There is this idea that “Libertarian” means third non-Conservative, non-Liberal, party of freedom, and smart-small Government in-line with the Constitution. But, in reality Rand is kind of like an extreme right-wing guy from all we can tell. And not in a way you expect, in a sort of renegade tea party way that may disappoint even his fellow right wingers.

Any fuzzy ideas you have of Jello Biafra, Punk Rock, and Ron Paul are best left in the scrapbook if you are the type of person who thinks that dismantling the safety net, cutting healthcare, education, and defense spending, cutting back taxes on the 1%, and eliminating non-discrimination laws sound like awful ideas to you.

The concepts of liberty and freedom are awesome. Unfortunately Conservative-Libertarians might not mean liberty and freedom in the same way you understand them. Or maybe they do? Do you stand with Rand? Do you want to take our country back, or do you want to move our country forward? Voice your opinions below.