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Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky excoriated his colleagues in Congress over their efforts to provide relief to Americans while putting the country in debt instead of opening up the economy.

"If you print up billions of dollars and give it to people, they are unlikely to spend it until you end the quarantine," said Paul in his speech on the Senate floor on Tuesday after returning from his battle with coronavirus.

He went on to point out that there were some studies showing that experts' predictions of mortality rates from coronavirus could be inaccurate and overblown.

"The virus is still dangerous," he added, "and we shouldn't ignore the risks, but we should put those risks in perspective!"

Paul said that these randomized studies show that America can manage the coronavirus without continuing the "draconian" lockdown policies.

"So today I arise in opposition to spending $500 billion more. The virus bailouts have already cost over two trillion dollars. Our annual deficit this year will approach four trillion dollars!" he said.

"We can't continue on this course!" Paul added.

"No amount of bailout dollars will stimulate an economy that is being strangled by quarantine!" he exclaimed. "It is not a lack of money that plagues us, but a lack of commerce!"

Paul praised the numerous efforts from Americans to combat the coronavirus pandemic, then returned to the subject of the debt amassed by the relief bills.

"With the recent $2 trillion bailout we are borrowing faster than we have ever borrowed before!" he continued. "Had we practiced sound budgeting in the past, we would have been better, significantly better positioned to weather this storm."

He pointed out that the most recent statistics said more than 20 million Americans are unemployed.

"Make no mistake. The massive economic calamity we're experiencing right now is caused by government. Passing out $1,200 checks indiscriminately, to people who haven't lost their job, will do nothing to rescue the country!" he explained.

"Our recovery only comes when the quarantine is ended," Paul added.

Paul said that economists should also weigh in on what the balance should be between fighting a virus and causing harm to the entire economy.

"We need to get past a one-size-fits-all approach to infectious disease!" he said.

Paul also decried the passage of the massive relief bill without a recorded vote.

"I don't want to see this massive accumulation of debt destroy this great country," Paul concluded. "So my advice to the Senate and to the American people is, let's be aware of what we're doing by creating all this new debt and let's think before we jump to a terrible, terrible conclusion."

Rand Paul Delivers EXPLOSIVE Speech From Senate Floor After Recovering From Coronaviruswww.youtube.com

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Rand Paul returns to Congress after beating coronavirus and gives a fiery speech against 'draconian' lockdown - TheBlaze

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) called out the so-called public option advocated by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden during a Sunday appearance on the Trump campaigns War Room Weeklyshow.

Its like most other lies that we hear: if you like your plan, you can keep it, was the original promise but now this promise is if you like your plan you can keep it or you can get the government plan, its really not going to cost anything, I promise you, it wont cost anything, Paul told host Tim Murtaugh, the campaign communications director. But its just not true. These things turn out to be very expensive, so we have to put them in context.

Paul went on to critique the existing healthcare entitlement system to expose the risks of introducing socialized healthcare.

Right now, Medicare, as we know it for senior citizens, is $35 trillion in a hole, Paul said. Doctors and hospitals know this, because every year were forcing the prices that we pay doctors and nurses and hospitals down because theres not enough money.

If you ask a hospital, do you make money off Medicaid or Medicare, they say, oh yeah, well, we kinda break even, but if we dont have private insurance wed all lose money, Paul continued. So what really happens is rural hospitals are loaded up with Medicaid, they lose every patient, then they have Medicare, but if they lose private insurance they wont make any money at all and they will go bankrupt.

Healthcare has re-emerged as a major campaign issue in the wake of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, which has led to increased strain on hospitals. Democrats suggest the solution is a free, state-run public option, while Republicans prefer to leave the issue to the private sector.

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Rand Paul: Healthcare Public Option Is A "Lie" - The Liberty Conservative

President Donald Trump does not seem to be a fan of beards, according to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) during a Sunday appearance on the War Room Weekly show, hosted by campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh.

Sen. Paul noted that he had talked to the President two days ago, and Trump had commented on Pauls new beard, which Paul had grown while in quarantine after contracting coronavirus.

You look very distinguished with your beard you know my sons have those and I dont really approve of those Im not really sure what I think of that beard, Trump told Paul, in the latters account of the conversation.

Paul went on to dismiss Trumps skepticism during the interaction between the two men.

Alright, alright, Mr. President, Paul said that he replied.

Two of Trumps sons, Eric and Donald Jr., grew beards in 2019. The bearded look was also adopted by Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in 2018, whom Rand later joked about on Twitter.

Congress has now decided to shut down the government because they arent spending enough money. I got suspicious when Ted Cruz came back from Thanksgiving break with that beard. pic.twitter.com/y0r3dpFbbG

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Trump on Rand's New Beard: "My Sons Have Those And I'm Not Sure I Approve" - The Liberty Conservative

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Congress has finished making April showers showers of money to the tune of trillions. Now theyre on recess for a week. For what made and didnt make the latest stimulus bill and a look ahead, Bloomberg Government editorial director Loren Duggan joinedFederal Drive with Tom Temin.

Tom Temin:And Loren, I guess you can maybe rundown whats not in the bill, which might give a clue to whether and if there will be a stimulus bill five, six and seven?

Loren Duggan:Well, theres certainly talks about the next round of stimulus bills and the numbering could be interesting, too, because while we had three phases going into the bill considered last week, that bill wasnt necessarily phase four. Some people called it the interim bill. So the numbering of these, perhaps historically is gonna be a little harder to figure out. But the House and the Senate passed that bill last week, are gone for at least another week, but are already talking about what may be needed in the future to continue to stimulate the economy and help people affected by the coronavirus. The big thing that wasnt in this package that could be at the heart of the next one is aid to state and local governments. Now there have been some programs that have gone out to state and local governments and theyre obviously getting money through a lot of the other different programs that are going through government agencies. But this is about direct aid, which many of the governors say they need because their states are hurting. They have a revenue issue. They have additional expenses, obviously, from dealing with the coronavirus and have had to pay a lot of bills here and are going to have a hard time meeting their budgets, especially if theyre in states, for example, that have balanced budget amendments that may make it harder to operate here. So thats going to be, I think, the centerpiece of the next bill. But hardly the only thing that members are going to seek because there were other things left on the cutting room floor here. In particular, additional SNAP benefits or food stamp benefits. While there has been additional money that went to the program in the previous bills, Democrats would like to see a percentage increase in the benefit that actually reaches families on that program. And then theres also calls for things like election aid either fixing money that already went out so it can be spent in the way that some members of Congress would like to see it or a lot of additional funds to handle voting by mail or other adjustments, that they maybe needed this fall, when Americans elect the president and the Congress and their state and local officials as well.

Tom Temin:And have you heard hints that some of the oversight mechanisms are going to kick in anytime soon and besides the legally created oversight bodies from the CARES Act, are members going to start looking into the stuff? I know that was one letter to the Small Business Administration over a data breach, and that letter noted theyd gotten almost $3 billion for the operation of the agency. Whats your sense on that point?

Loren Duggan:Oversight is definitely going to kick in. And there were some official mechanisms put into place by the CARES Act. Theres a commission that has nominees from the four leaders in Congress and a chairman jointly selected by Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell that has I believe the four congressional members. And that should be up and running soon. Theres the panel of inspectors general that was created by that law. And then theres also a Special Inspector General created by that law. Separately, last week, we saw the house create a new select subcommittee, which will be led by Jim Clyburn, whos the number three Democrat in the house. And that should be getting up and running soon as well. Now, Republicans were not on board with the creation of that new select subcommittee saying that there were the mechanisms created and cares. And of course, all the other committees in Congress have oversight roles to have the agencies that got funding. We know the chairman, the ranking members on the house in the senate side have raised questions when theyve seen things that theyre not comfortable with. hearings have not really been a factor because the House and Senate havent been in session, or at least not doing that when they are in town. But we probably see well see more letters, well see more phone calls. And we will see hearings restart eventually, where people will look into how agencies operate. form, what steps they didnt take. And theres going to be competing calls for different aspects to be looked into. Im sure well see more calls to investigate the World Health Organization and its operations, given what the administration has said and many Republicans have said there. So I think we will have a number of investigations going forward or oversight hearings. Thats gonna be a factor here for sure.

Tom Temin:Were speaking with Loren Duggan, editorial director of Bloomberg Government. Give us a sense of what its like from an observational standpoint with all of those members with well too bad they werent muzzles in some cases, but masks on, talking to one another. Its kind of surreal, isnt it?

Loren Duggan:It has been. Ive not been up on the Hill during any of this. Ill say that for the record, but I have watched proceedings virtually as many have and on the House floor. You had a dias full of members and staff with masks on which is just unusual to see and people spread out in the chamber. The Rules Committee, which has a very tight meeting room up in the Capitol usually, when they met last Wednesday they met in a bigger committee room so they could spread out. So instead of being, you know, inches or feet from each other, they had space and they were in masks and it was very spread out. So its a very unusual way to see Congress. The House when it voted, took a very long time because they went in groups of members to the floor to vote and then to get out to try and limit exposure. And so a vote that normally could take 15 minutes or even five minutes, if its a sequence of votes, took well over an hour, an hour and a half to handle just because of the steps that were being taken. So Congress can meet in this very kind of unusual, stretched out socially distant fashion, but its a lot less efficient then because, you know, sometimes theyll stack 10, 20 votes in a row. You cant do that if its gonna take at 90 minutes to get through everyone voting, so a very unusual Congress to be sure.

Tom Temin:And I wonder if partisan lines might be drawn a little bit more sharply when it comes to aid to the states because that would be a big ticket item and Mitch McConnell hinted at it. And a few people have raised a small voice on this matter. But the fact is all of this money is being printed. Its trillions in excess of what the revenues are coming into the government this year. Therefore, the debt is going to be three, four, perhaps five times what it would have been otherwise. Is that at all factor from what you can tell in anybodys thinking?

Loren Duggan:It is. And you heard members voice that in the Senate session when they met for not a very long time and ended up passing the bill by voice vote. You did have a dissent from Rand Paul, who sometimes is the only vote on the other side of all his colleagues on things, but hes very worried about the amount of money thats been spent here so far, the debt that we will incur to pay for this. There are partisan differences in what goes in this bill and doesnt. If you listen to the debate, Republicans said we were ready to go a long time ago with the aid to replenish this paycheck Protection Program, the SBA program, but Democrats wanted more and that slowed it down. And Democrats would say that, well, we only got what we wanted because we slowed you down. And we still dont have everything we still need more. So partisanship was very much part of the discussion and the debate that was had on this bill, even though in the House the eventual vote was 388-to-5 on passing this interim package. But when it comes to things like state aid, there will be partisan differences. And I think partisan differences will be part of the oversight mechanisms that they kick in and what people choose to look at, not look at, the questions that they ask of witnesses when they come up. So that will be part of the factor here going forward. Once members get back into town and even before then on Twitter, social media and the mechanisms people are using to stay in touch with their constituents.

Tom Temin:What fun. Loren Duggan is editorial director of Bloomberg Government, as always, thanks so much for joining me.

Loren Duggan:Thank you.

Tom Temin:Well post this interview at http://www.FederalNewsNetwork.com/FederalDrive. Subscribe to the Federal Drive at Apple Podcasts or Podcastone.

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More Congressional money on the way - Federal News Network

Everyone in Kentucky knows what five oclock means. It means its time for Andy.

Andy, of course, is Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a mild mannered Democrat who defeated incumbent Matt Bevin in November by only 5,000 votes in a heavily red state. At the time, I wrote in The Spectator why that happened, but it certainly didnt hurt that his father was the two-term governor before Bevin.

Likely no governor in the nation has thrived the way Andy Beshear has during this time of pandemic lockdowns. Every day, seven days a week, Beshear speaks to Kentuckians from the state Capitol at 5 oclock. His presentations have been compared to fireside chats and he to Mister Rogers. Salon even did an article about Andy as sex symbol in a riff on a Reddit post in which an enamored Kentuckian wrote of Beshear, Govern me, daddy.

You can buy a Govern me, daddy t-shirt, of course. And also a 5 OClock Beers With Beshear t-shirt (with matching koozie). There are mugs and a wide array of other merch.

Like any successful TV series, the Daily Andy Show has a popular supporting cast. Theres Virginia, who translates Andys briefing into sign language. She has her own ice cream flavor called Virginia SMoore. Theres also Kenneth the Slide Guy, a mystery figure, off-camera but omnipresent. He also has a t-shirt and an ice cream flavor. And dont miss the Andy-themed donuts.

Andy has his own catch phrases, too. You cant be doing that, is his most famous, an avuncular scold used for flea markets and bingo halls that operated in defiance of his executive order to shut down. Yes, theres a t-shirt for that, too.

The Beshear Moment has been helped by the contrast to his predecessor Matt Bevin, a brusque businessman whose diplomatic skills make Trump seem like Metternich. Bevin tweeted of the early pandemic response on March 11, Chicken Little has just confirmed that the sky IS indeed falling. It was like a scripted setup for the Mayberry-like concern of Beshear, who repeats a mantra at the beginning of each briefing (and insists we repeat it with him), We will get through this. We will get through this together.

But despite the rave reviews and sky-high ratings, not all is perfect in Governor Andys Neighborhood. Not everyone was thrilled when Beshear told Kentuckians not to visit Tennessee, a state with a nearly 400-mile shared border with Kentucky. Beshear took some veiled shots at Tennessees shutdown not being up to Kentuckys standards. And if you visit another state the governor has ordered a 14-day quarantine upon your return. (The Tennessee take has not aged well as Kentuckys COVID-19 deaths have now surpassed Tennessee.)

Beshear has worked hard to craft a non-political, non-partisan image. But the reality is he is managing a red state with a decidedly blue state approach, and it is starting to catch up with him.

Beshear won election by a razor thin margin where every other state-wide elected official from Sens. Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul to Attorney General Daniel Cameron and Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles is a Republican. The now-out of session legislature is heavily Republican. Trump is wildly popular and will easily win Kentucky by double digits.

Beshears non-partisan bona fides are also pretty thin and newly embraced. Former Gov. Matt Bevin and the Beshears ran a red hot four-year political feud. Bevin clearly hated his predecessor, and Andy Beshears father, Gov. Steve Beshear. Bevin consistently held up Steve Beshear as an emblem of Kentuckys version of swamp-style politics. Then-Attorney General Andy Beshear sued Governor Bevin seemingly twice a day before breakfast during their co-extensive terms, challenging the Bevin agenda every step of the way. Beshear the Younger essentially maintained a government in waiting in the Attorney Generals office, and his campaign to challenge Bevin was a foregone conclusion.

Beshear also is actively pro-choice in a heavily pro-life state, and has kept open Kentuckys abortion clinic while closing all other non-essential medical procedures. On the way out the door of the legislative session, the GOP legislature sent a Born Alive bill to Beshear, which he predictably vetoed, but that the legislature could not overturn. (Beshear had openly, and conveniently, complained that the legislature shouldnt even be meeting during the lockdown and just let him handle it.)

Like other governors, Beshear closed down churches along with any other mass gatherings. Closing churches is a big deal in Kentucky where church attendance is high, and church loyalty higher. But it was a particular focus of Beshear because multiple coronavirus cases were traced to church meetings in March. You cant be doing that, Daddy Andy intoned.

As Easter approached, some Kentucky churches made rumblings of having in-person services. Beshear responded by threatening to send in the police to record license plates of attendees then have them served with 14-day quarantine orders. It was a story that exploded nationally, and one that was a blow to his non-partisan image. Having the police prowl a church parking lot to record license plates on Easter morning certainly raised the hackles of many Kentuckians who otherwise were complying with Beshears healthy at home order.

Beshear clearly wasnt prepared for the protests that hit the Capitol three days later. During his five oclock briefing approximately 100 protesters showed up, shouting outside the windows to the Capitol, audible during Beshears television stream. The next day soundproofing was installed in the windows. Protesters were told they could only protest in their cars at a parking deck that happened to be outside of earshot. It was for their own coronavirus safety, of course. But many recalled a megaphone toting then-Attorney General Andy Beshear leading protesting teachers against Bevin inside the Capitol rotunda only months before.

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Sensing the political winds finally were shifting, the Republican state constitutional officers issued a joint statement that defended the legislatures right to meet and exercise their constitutional duty, a response to Beshears grumblings about their interference during an emergency. It was a mild statement, and clearly meant to test the waters. It also served a warning to Beshear that there were limits.

Beshear has now begun a slow-walk process of opening up the Commonwealth, a process he indicates will last at least into June. Other states can rush this. Were going to do it smart, Beshear jabbed in Mondays briefing. Things are going to look different until we get a vaccine, Beshear added as he issued a new requirement for the public wearing of masks starting May 11.

Kentuckians are starting to wonder how long that different will last, and what Beshear will do if that vaccine never comes. When will Andy time end?

Alan Cornett is a writer in Lexington, Kentucky

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Coronavirus Kentucky-style with Andy Beshear - The Spectator USA