Rand Paul Reads the Omnibus Spending Bill (Because Someone Has To)

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who might be thinking of holding up the Senate's vote on the insane and mysterious omnibus spending bill, is publicly conducting some basic due diligence for a legislator: demonstrating that, unlike pretty much all his colleagues in House or Senate, he's actually trying to read the monstrous thing before voting. (Paul notes it took over two hours for his office printer to even print the thing.)

Rand Paul Twitter

He's giving the American people some insights, good and bad, in real time via his twitter feed.

Some highlights:

Page 226 of terrible, no good, rotten deficit spending bill.

I found a kernel of hope: "no funds in this act will be used to support or justify torture."

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018

Good news on the state-level marijuana rights front:

Page 240 good news for states rights:

no funds will be spent to prevent any state's medical marijuana initiatives.

Thank you Congr. Rohrbacher

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018

Some things Paul wonders if require this level of public (i.e. you and me) funding:

Here are a few more highlights:

o $1m for the Cultural Antiquities Task Force
o $6.25m for the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation
o $20m for Countering Foreign State Propaganda
o $12m for Countering State Disinformation and Pressure

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018

And more of that:

o $1m for the World Meteorological Organization
o $218m for Promoting Democracy Development in Europe (yep..the birthplace of democracy needs promoting)
o $25m for International Religious Freedom
o $10m for disadvantaged Egyptian Students

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018

Encouraging FISA news:

on page 355. NSA prohibited from targeting US persons with FISA 702 program.

sounds good —but — privacy advocates fear that NSA still does back-door targeting of US persons.

Courageous Senator Wyden has asked how many US persons caught up in supposedly foreign data base.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018

Paul wonders about the integrity of the often-ignored War Powers Act:

Page 348 of terrible, rotten, no-good budget busting bill, a nugget that I wish we obeyed

sec. 8103: none of the funds may be used in contravention of the War Powers Act

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018

And sheds light on our foreign policy apparatus' weird definition of "permanent":

eyes getting tired but really someone should read this beast.

Page 392 sec 9007: no $ shall be spent "for the permanent stationing of US forces in Afghanistan"

Wonder what they meant by permanent? Some might argue that after 16 years we approaching the definition of permanent.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018

Insight into how revenue no matter how high never seems to make overall debt shrink:

Page 430 of "crumni-bus:" Good news. The government is going to "earn" $350 million by selling oil from Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Bad news is the $ won't go to reduce the $21 trillion debt. The $ will be instead be spent elsewhere by the Federal government.

— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) March 22, 2018

Paul is continuing to put himself through this hell for the American people in real time on his twitter feed.

Reason's Eric Boehm also knows more about the omnibus than your average congress member.

Comments

[Crusty Juggler]

OMFG @ John Bolton.

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[Don't look at me.]

No money received by the government goes towards the deficit, it always finds new ways of spending. Always has, always will.

[Crusty Juggler]

Page 392 sec 9007: no $ shall be spent "for the permanent stationing of US forces in Afghanistan"

Wonder what they meant by permanent? Some might argue that after 16 years we approaching the definition of permanent.

We have to fight them over THERE so we don't have to fight them over HERE

[Episteme]

It's sort of how you might live in an apartment or condo for years, but it's technically a rental or lease so it's doesnt count as owning a home.

[Eman]

Rand Paul is kinda crushing it today, huh?

[Episteme]

I might be more of a classical liberal than a true libertarian (my senatorial spirit animal is more Ben Sasse, inasmuch as I'm more Natural Law than NAP at heart), but I'll also defend Rand Paul as exactly the sort of guy I want to bein the Senate to try to keep it honest and support a point of view that I deeply sympathize with even if I don't always agree *fully* with. Today, though, and on the question of this omnibus bill, I'm totally with Rand!

[Curt]

I support the principle, but he gets off to a bad start.

"Paul notes it took over two hours for his office printer to even print the thing."

First, I'm no environmentalist, but printing that shit out (particularly to make a point about the length) is just wasteful. Second, we've got some new technologies called computers. Insisting on printing stuff out makes you sounds like my parents.

[Bongo Supreme]

But then you wouldn't get the photo op.

[buddhastalin]

Rand Paul voted against this overspending bill, and he was one of two senators voting against FOSTA. He is clearly the least bad senator of the lot. Justin Amash in the House gets credit too for voting the same way.

[Hank Phillips]

Reagan made a big show of hoisting a budget, back when that could be done. Whatzisname the fatboy read the 9/11 Enabling Act. This is one of the best ideas Randal has had yet.

[CE]

Back when there was a budget, you mean.

[CE]

Nothing left to cut....

[nrob]

"We have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it"

[Brian]

If you pay me $1 billion, I promise to police Facebook.

[Chipper Morning Baculum]

Rand should filibuster by reading the whole bill aloud. I wonder how long that would take. At one page a minute, it would take about 33 hours.

[Jacks61]

As long as the Cloud Act is dropped from this Bill... This kind of thing should never be attached to "must pass" legislation.

[nrob]

I think the most telling thing would be to dig up an old translated omnibus spending bill from the Soviet Union, and compare. I think it would be more than fascinating how similar it would read.