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Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., called out the “enormous disconnect” between Congress’ priorities and those of their constituents, as billions of taxpayer dollars have gone to foreign aid while people in his own state have little to no help with deadly flood recovery.
On “The Ingraham Angle,” host Laura Ingraham said much of Democratic officeholders’ collective platform is counter to the most pressing issues and crises facing Americans.
Paul appeared to agree, but added that in many cases, Republicans in his own party have legislated in a tone-deaf way themselves.
“There’s an enormous disconnect between those in Washington and those on the ground like in Kentucky. We lost 40 people to severe flooding recently in eastern Kentucky. Hundreds of homes were lost,” he said, as rural areas like Letcher County and further up the KY-15 corridor to Hazard were ravaged in July.
“I was just out there. Not one person said, ‘Can you please send more money to Ukraine?’ They said, ‘How come we’re a rich country and we’re having trouble digging our ditches, repairing our roads and all of the basic functions of government?'” Paul continued.
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U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) questions Dr. Anthony Fauci.
(Greg Nash-Pool/Getty Images)
He contrasted the roughly $50 billion dollars sent to Kyiv with the fact Kentucky and much of Appalachia has struggled with serious infrastructure issues for decades.
Aerial view of homes submerged under floodwaters from the North Fork Kentucky River in Jackson, Kentucky, on July 28, 2022.
(LEANDRO LOZADA/AFP via Getty Images)
Paul suggested the foreign aid could be better spent at home on such infrastructure or helping Americans struggling with compounding inflation and energy crises.
“I find nobody in Kentucky coming up to say, ‘Please send more of our money overseas.’ And yet in Washington, it’s not just Democrats. You’ve got Democrats and all the Republican leadership lining up saying, ‘Please send more of our money to Ukraine,’ but I’m not hearing it at home at all.”
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Joe Biden (R) eats a pizza as he meets with service members contributing alongside Polish Allies to deterrence on the Alliances Eastern Flank, in the city of Rzeszow, around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the border with Ukraine.
(BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
For his part, Paul is locked in a midterm election battle with progressive former state Rep. Charles Booker, D-Louisville.
The senator said he is different than many lawmakers in that he understands his office’s resources come from the American people, telling Ingraham he has returned $5 million in taxpayer funds to the U.S. Treasury during his tenure.
“We’re $30 trillion in the hole and it’s inflationary. You borrow more money to buy weapons. It also causes inflation. And so really what I hear still around Kentucky and around the U.S. is, ‘My gas costs so much. We can’t go on vacation this year. The groceries cost so much… ‘”
“And they all instinctively know this is from the massive debts, the massive borrowing, and the huge COVID lockdowns and all the mistakes that were foisted upon us by Democrats, by Biden, by the Democrat Congress. And so I think there’s a huge wave building. I really still think there’s a huge wave,” Paul added.
