Good Question: Why did Senator Rand Paul vote no in the shutdown vote?

(WKYT) — For todays’s good questin, Mark asks: Why did Senator Rand Paul vote no in the shutdown vote?

Like a majority of Senate Democrats, Republican Rand Paul has voted no on the continuing resolution that would fund the government.

For Democrats the issue is an extension of the enhanced Affordable Care Act tax credit.

But Paul says his biggest issue is spending.

Fiscal concerns drive opposition

Two days after the shutdown started, he told Fox Business the Republican spending package would add about two trillion dollars to the deficit. He said the Democratic plan would add even more.

He said, “Neither one of those choices are appealing if you’re a fiscal conservative.”

He has put forth his own plan, that he says would balance the budget in about five years. It would reduce the budget by six percent each year until we got to a balanced budget. But it did not get enough votes to move forward.

Hemp provision objection

And once some Democrats agreed to reopen the government, Paul voiced new objections. This time against a provision that would ban the unregulated sale of THC products from being sold online or at gas stations. Kentucky hemp farmers have called that provision a death sentence for their businesses.

Republican and Democratic leaders had to resolve that objection from Paul before the bill could be sent on to the House.

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