‘Shameful insanity’: Paul’s spending gap with McConnell is large, but is it healthy?
Martha’s Vineyard is a tony Massachusetts island well-known as a haven for celebrities and vacation getaway for Democratic presidents.
That reputation as an elite summer dwelling provided a picturesque target for Rand Paul, who loudly voted against the government’s $1.2 trillion spending package that cleared Congress late last month.
Kentucky’s junior senator identified a $1 million stipend to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital as among the 16 “shameful” earmarks he flagged in this year’s appropriations bill.
“Did you know YOUR hard-earned money is funding this type of insanity….in one of the richest parts of the country?,” Paul wrote with heightened incredulity in an email asking for campaign funds.
Paul has long been a vocal critic of the growth in government spending, particularly as the nation accumulates more debt and inflationary pressures on everyday items linger. He designed a “March Madness” bracket of earmarks to highlight a list of projects he found particularly objectionable. But while he’s focused his rhetorical flourish on the money heading to Maine, New York and Massachusetts, Paul hasn’t uttered a word about the more $1 billion allocation coming to Kentucky.
That’s left to the commonwealth’s other senator, who is more than happy to tout his role as master appropriator.
“The appropriations bill has a lot of money in it for Kentucky,” Mitch McConnell said Wednesday during an event in Shelbyville. “I was proud to be a part of that. And I think in a state like ours, what we can get out of the federal government we need to get.”
Whereas Paul sees “waste,” McConnell lists millions of dollars in wins. The pot includes money for the state’s opioid response program, rural housing for those struggling with substance abuse and preventative measures to halt the spread of infectious diseases, which have increased around the spike in opioid use.
The administration of Gov. Andy Beshear has applied for these funds since 2017, disseminating the money to over 200 initiatives ranging from prevention to treatment and recovery support.
In 2023, Kentucky’s Opioid Response Effort helped distribute 58,316 overdose reversal medication kits, treated 11,879 individuals and supported recovery for 13,919 individuals, according to an adviser to the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
Tom Stephens, president and CEO of Kentucky Association of Health Plans said McConnell’s “seniority and influence continue to yield strong results for the commonwealth, especially in the fight against the substance use epidemic.”
Tim Robinson, the founder and CEO of Louisa-based Addiction Recovery Care, described the federal funding secured by McConnell as “life-saving” and “life-changing.”
Officials at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, unsurprisingly, view their $1 million for new medical equipment similarly transformative.
Claire Seguin, chief Nurse and vice president of operations, told the local newspaper the funding will support 10 telemetry heart units in the hospital’s acute care wing, which will allow real-time patient monitoring. They plan on purchasing a nitrous oxide sedation system for the hospital’s emergency department and a fiber-optic surgical system that will help surgeons better navigate imaging during procedures.
But Paul’s critique isn’t about what the money will be used for; it’s that such a wealthy enclave is receiving funds at all. Paul believes the Constitution’s mandate is limited to spending federal money for the “general welfare,” not a parochial interest that could be funded locally.
“I’m all for wealthy people, I love that they have all these beautiful homes… But the thing is, pay for your own hospital,” Paul said during his Senate floor speech, citing rural hospitals in his own state that are barely breaking even. “Nobody makes a debate over whether Martha’s Vineyard needs it more than Harlan, Kentucky; they just stick an earmark in there and they get it.”
Yet Paul also did not vote for the CARES Act, which Congress overwhelmingly cleared at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic in March of 2020. McConnell claimed that bill eventually distributed $52 million to 131 Kentucky healthcare providers. Paul was one of four Republicans who chose not to vote on the measure.
A healthy split for Kentucky?
Paul and McConnell are hardly the only same-state pair of Republicans with a deep ideological fissure on the role of government. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz of Texas and Sens. Mitt Romney and Mike Lee of Utah are often at odds on big spending measures.
And some conservatives even see the tension as a healthy sign of democracy.
“Adherence to specific ideas — limited government in Paul’s case — has a definite attraction to some voters,” said Eli Lehrer, president of the R Street Institute, a Washington-based think tank that emphasizes pragmatism.
“But nearly all voters, even those most committed to limited government, also want the government to do things that provide benefits for them,which is what McConnell is emphasizing.”
Whereas northern Kentucky holds a more libertarian view of government, the southeastern part of the state – which sits in the heart of Appalachia – is more dependent on Washington’s largesse.
Lehrer notes that McConnell and Paul’s unique political profiles provides each of them with room to run afoul within some section of their party.
“In this case, the ‘big government’ of the two, McConnell, is generally demonized by Democrats since, as the long serving Republican leader, he’s often responsible for getting conservative priorities across the finish line,” Lehrer said. “On the other hand, Paul’s positions on civil liberties, frequent across the aisle partnerships with [Democratic Sen.] Ron Wyden and others, and opposition to the drug war makes him popular with at least some Democratic Party interest groups.”
“American Democracy would be a lot healthier if there was more tension within parties and less between them.”
Tessa Duvall contributed reporting from Shelbyville.
