Sen. Rand Paul spoke out against the $484 billion spending package for small businesses, hospitals, and more testing that the Senate passed Tuesday, saying it will not help the economy so long as the U.S. is in a shutdown.
"No amount of money, not all the money in China, will save us from ourselves. Our only hope of rescuing this great country is to reopen the economy. If you print up billions of dollars and give it to people, they're unlikely to spend it until you end the quarantine," Paul said.
“The one choice that will get our economy growing again is reopening American commerce,” he explained, noting the amount of money the U.S. has already spent in pandemic-related bailouts.
The annual deficit this year is also quickly approaching $4 trillion, he added.
“We can’t continue on this course,” he said. “No amount of bailout dollars will stimulate an economy that is being strangled by quarantine.”
The only remedy is to reopen the economy, Paul said.
Sen. Rand Paul: "No amount of money -- not all the money in China -- will save us from ourselves. Our only hope of rescuing this great country is to reopen the economy." pic.twitter.com/dWKbLUwG6g
— The Hill (@thehill) April 21, 2020
The one thing that will get our economy going again: reopening! We can’t continue printing bailout money. It’s not a lack of money that plagues us. It’s lack of commerce. Until we reopen our economy, job losses will continue.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) April 21, 2020
Though he opposed the bill, the Kentucky senator voted for it.
President Trump and his coronavirus task force laid out a plan last week to gradually reopen the country.