"We can't wait any longer," Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) tweets. "We must address our deficit. Instead of spending money we don't have, Congress should pass my Penny Plan and balance the budget in less than 10 years." Sen. Paul shares, through illustration, that plan.
We can’t wait any longer. We MUST address our deficit.
— Rand Paul (@RandPaul) August 23, 2026
Instead of spending money we don’t have, Congress should pass my Penny Plan and balance the budget in less than 10 years. pic.twitter.com/lEYdcrCzDc
The illustration includes four items: One, "Cuts six cents off every dollar projected to be spent over the next five fiscal years." Two, "Cuts apply across-the-board. No agency is singled out." Three, "Balances the budget in the next 10 years." Four, " Reins in runaway spending and puts America back on a path to fiscal sanity."
Those seem like common-sense solutions. Six cents is six percent, which means 94 percent of those dollars remain. It is a way for the government to sacrifice on its incomes as every day Americans must do through taxes, albeit at a low rate of six percent. Government spending money it does not have equals arrogance and abuse. It is arrogant for the government to spend in a non-exemplary manner with reckless disregard for the future. It abuses power and the people when government spends money that will have to be back-paid at some point. But alas, we live in an age when some may not consider a tomorrow, when whiffs of unrestrained autonomy and invincibility choke prudence and forward-looking out of societal discourse. That place could not be a more dangerous one for our nation. Our national financial positions must reflect our national sensibility. The further reckless spending goes, the harder the journey to come back from it will be. Actual and meaningful cuts can make a difference. We can cut now. We should cut now.
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