Name: Rand Paul plays Christmas Grinch, derides COVID-19 relief aid Mitch McConnell negotiated
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Rand Paul plays Christmas Grinch, derides COVID-19 relief aid Mitch McConnell negotiated

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Louisville Courier JournalView CommentsCasting himself in the role of Christmas Grinch, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is chastising Democrats and Republicans alike who support a roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief package that officials argue is sorely needed to help the staggering economy.Paul is opposing the new relief package and deriding Congress for handing out "free money" as the federal government's national debt keeps climbing."This bill is free money for everyone," he said in a speech on the Senate floor Monday afternoon. "And yet, if free money were the answer, if money really grew on trees, why not give more free money? Why not give it out all the time?"Why stop at $600 a person? Why not $1,000? Why not $2,000?&nbsp;If we can print up money with impunity, why not do it?"The newly proposed COVID-19 relief package includes a second set of&nbsp;stimulus payments the federal government plans to send to most Americans, totaling $600 per person.The House passed the measure 359-53, and it next heads to the Senate, which is expected to approve it late Monday night.Kentucky's other senator, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, supports the relief package, negotiating it with fellow congressional leaders of both parties over the weekend.The proposal is linked to an approximately&nbsp;$1.4 trillion government spending bill that is needed to fund federal agencies and initiatives."Yesterday, leaders in the Senate, in the House, and the Secretary of the Treasury reached the major agreement that struggling Americans have needed for months," McConnell said Monday. "We are going to pass another historic rescue package to help American families through this pandemic."This&nbsp;deal&nbsp;comes after top Democrats and Republicans in Congress, including McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi,&nbsp;failed for months to compromise on a new round&nbsp;of aid for Americans still struggling through the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.&nbsp;But Paul warned Republicans they would "lose their soul" by supporting the massive bill.&nbsp;"To so-called conservatives who are quick to identify the socialism of Democrats: If you vote for this spending monstrosity, you are no better," Paul said. "When you vote to pass out free money, you lose your soul and you abandon forever any semblance of moral or fiscal integrity."Those $600 relief checks are in the works&nbsp;more than eight months after Congress approved an initial round of&nbsp;stimulus payments worth up to $1,200 per adult and $500 per child, which&nbsp;people received nationwide as part of March's roughly $2 trillion&nbsp;Coronavirus Aid, Relief and&nbsp;Economic Security, or CARES, Act.&nbsp;The new bill would (among other things):McConnell emphasized Monday the $900 billion price tag for this proposal includes money Congress already approved earlier this year that hadn't been spent."The net new cost is less than roughly $350 billion," Kentucky's longtime senator said.&nbsp;"We are recovering more than half a trillion dollars in unspent money that Congress had already set aside and channeling it to these urgent needs."Republican U.S. Rep. James Comer of Kentucky similarly&nbsp; this week the new proposal is "targeted relief.""Unlike what the Democrats were wanting, just to spend more money recklessly … Republicans were disciplined and made sure that the taxpayers got their money's worth," he said. "And I think it is enough, and I think you're going to see a positive reaction on Wall Street and Main Street."U.S. Rep. Andy Barr, a fellow Kentucky Republican, tweeted&nbsp;Monday afternoon: "For months, I’ve led calls in Congress to deliver COVID-19 relief for small businesses, families and workers. … I am reviewing legislation now designed to boost resources for the American people to defeat this virus and strengthen our economy."More:As for Paul, his opposition to spending hundreds of billions of extra dollars on coronavirus relief is nothing new.This summer, the senator&nbsp; about the federal government's mounting national debt,&nbsp;which now has surpassed $27 trillion.And in September, he was the a $300 billion coronavirus relief bill McConnell introduced. Senate Democrats also opposed the proposal, which they said wouldn't do enough to help people struggling during the pandemic, and .&nbsp;Paul once again sounded the alarm over U.S. debt in his Senate speech Monday.&nbsp;He not only criticized the latest proposal for coronavirus relief but also the U.S. government's overall spending, not only this year but in past decades."If you're looking for more COVID bailout money, we don't have any. The coffers are bare," he said. "Congress has spent all the money long ago."COVID-19 relief package:"There is no free money that can get us out of this situation," he said. "The only thing that can save us is to open the economy. … We can choose to let our economies open with guidance and precautions, but not obstruction."However, Paul recently has&nbsp;baselessly and publicly cast doubt on a key precaution public health experts widely and consistently have recommended: wearing masks.The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as countless other public health agencies, consistently have advised people to wear masks in public to limit the spread of the coronavirus.And research the CDC recently released counties in Kansas that decided to enforce a statewide mask mandate did see a decrease in COVID-19 cases earlier this year.Also:Despite the recommendations of&nbsp;myriad public health experts, Paul criticized mask mandates and falsely claimed in an interview with Breitbart News Saturday: "The masks aren’t working at all."He admitted N95 masks can be effective but said "there's no value to the cloth mask, at all," despite plenty of experts' consistent statements throughout this year that cloth masks do help limit the virus' spread.&nbsp;"You might as well cut your underwear up and wear your underwear as protection," Paul said.He also criticized&nbsp;Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases."If Fauci has his way, you’ll never give up on the mask," he said. "It’s all about submission. They want you to submit to their will, whether there’s any science."There is, in fact, a scientific basis for the recommendations Fauci and many other public health experts have made concerning why people should wear masks in public to combat COVID-19, which has been linked to the deaths of more than 300,000 Americans so far.Related:That's the highest death toll of any country in the world.Gov. Andy Beshear pushed back against Paul's latest comments about masks during a press conference he held on the coronavirus pandemic Monday afternoon."Every health care professional that deals with this virus says to wear a mask," Beshear said. "I believe that Sen. Paul has attacked Dr. Fauci. … It's just baffling&nbsp;really because these are issues of life and death, and&nbsp;when you serve in a position like being a U.S.&nbsp;senator you serve the people, not yourself."Dr. Steven Stack, Kentucky's public health commissioner, stressed Monday that all credible public health and medical experts have said masks help prevent COVID-19 from spreading. And Stack said they actually provide some level of protection for the person wearing a mask, too."There's no doubt about this: You need to wear a mask," he said. "And I'll just add to this: The whole concept of letting the disease run its natural course and get 'herd immunity' naturally is a path towards mass death."Reach reporter Morgan Watkins: 502-582-4502; mwatkins@courierjournal.com; Twitter:&nbsp;@morganwatkins26.&nbsp;View Comments

Louisville Courier JournalView CommentsCasting himself in the role of Christmas Grinch, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is chastising Democrats and Republicans alike who support a roughly $900 billion coronavirus relief package that officials argue is sorely needed to help the staggering economy.Paul is opposing the new relief package and deriding Congress for handing out "free money" as the federal government's national debt keeps climbing."This bill is free money for everyone," he said in a speech on the Senate floor Monday afternoon. "And yet, if free money were the answer, if money really grew on...

Rand Paul plays Christmas Grinch, derides COVID-19 relief aid Mitch McConnell negotiated

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