Rand Paul’s Poverty Plunders

Rand Paul’s Rhetoric Differs From The Reality Of His Policies

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is expected to announce that he is running for president tomorrow. Paul has spent the past few years carefully cultivating an image of a DC outsider with libertarian values, who has a unique connection with American communities whose values are not often in line with those of the Republicans. But Rand Paul is not a libertarian (Think Progress uncovers this in detail). He is a hard-line conservative in fiscal and social issues alike. And while his rhetoric, like that of some of his Republican colleagues, attempts to shift the GOP away from being, in his words, “the party of fat cats, rich people, and Wall Street,” many of the policies he supports would continue to benefit the wealthiest and hurt working families.

Here is a short look at Rand Paul’s poverty plunders:

Rhetoric: Senator Paul has claimed that he is concerned with “policies that allow the poor to get poorer and the rich to get richer.”

Reality:

• His tax plan would increase inequality: his flat tax proposal would give a massive tax break to the rich, while even conservatives admit it would raise taxes on the poor.
• He would cut even more taxes for the wealthy, such as repealing the estate tax and the capital gains tax.
• While cutting taxes on the rich, Paul proposed plans that would hurt working families, like slashing Medicaid and SNAP benefits and not raising the minimum wage.

Rhetoric: Senator Paul plans to end the “cycle of poverty.”

Reality:

• Paul opposes raising the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) as a wasteful program
• He even actually claimed that the poor are actually getting richer faster than the wealthy, despite the fact that income inequality has been increasing for the past 35 years and middle class wages have stagnated.

In his time in the Senate, Rand Paul has supported privatizing Medicare, raising the retirement age, and even voted to shut the government down despite calling it a “dumb idea.”

BOTTOM LINE: Given his rhetoric about helping ordinary Americans get ahead and making changes in his party, one might expect Paul’s policies on issues like poverty to have more of a positive impact. But instead of helping create an economy that works for everyone, the impact of his policies would have the opposite effect. In fact, they would benefit the same “fat cats, rich people and Wall Street” that he claims to be trying to move his party away from.

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