Rand Paul Opposes Budget Deal

Freshman Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul, a founding member of the Senate Tea Party Caucus, says he will vote against last week’s budget compromise and urges his colleagues to do the same, The Hill reports.

The $38 billion in spending cuts agreed upon by Congress and the president amount to a drop in the bucket, Paul says. He wants up to $500 billion in cuts for the rest of fiscal 2011, which ends Sept. 30.

“The much-ballyhooed 2011 continuing resolution will leave the federal government spending $1.6 trillion more than it takes in,” Paul wrote in a letter to Congress. “Despite descriptions of cuts, the 2011 Congress will spend more than it did in 2010 and with a larger annual deficit. It is the third year in a row with a record deficit.”