Posted on 06/03/2025 8:15:14 PM PDT by RandFan
Paul said he refuses to support "maintaining Biden spending levels," and Musk said the Trump-backed tax bill is "a disgusting abomination."
The intra-Republican fight over the future of a major tax and borrowing bill intensified on Tuesday, as President Donald Trump lashed out and former White House favorite Elon Musk offered a sharp criticism of the proposal.
The whole thing played out, as today's political dramas so often do, in a series of posts on social media.
Trump slammed Sen. Rand Paul (R–Ky.) in a Tuesday morning post on Truth Social that accused the senator of having "very little understanding" of the so-called Big Beautiful Bill (BBB), which the House passed last week. The bill would extend the 2017 personal income tax cuts and includes a number of new tax and spending provisions.
Trump wrote that the bill is a big "WINNER." He may see it that way, but every independent assessment of the package says it will add at least $3 trillion to the long-term deficit (and potentially as much as $5 trillion). That means the bill is doing the opposite of what Trump vowed to do in March during his speech to Congress, when he promised to balance the budget.
The prospect of that increased borrowing is at the root of Paul's objections. In a post on X, Paul seemingly responded to Trump's criticism by showing that he understands exactly what the BBB would do.
"The math doesn't add up," Paul wrote. "I'm not supporting a bill that increases the debt by $5 [trillion]. I refuse to support maintaining Biden spending levels."
(Excerpt) Read more at reason.com ...
Since I have no idea what’s in the bill I don’t know how to respond as to whether or not I support it. Elon Musk has uncovered tons of gov. waste and apparently has had a good look at the bill. Since I have a lot of respect for him, I’m thinking he has some ideas on how to make the bill more affordable, and Pres. Trump is favorable to that, cutting more spending. Seems to me the article is trying to produce a divide between the two men.
The BBB sucks and filled with BS like everything that comes out of Congress.
Here’s what’s really going on:
https://www.axios.com/2025/06/03/elon-musk-trump-white-house-relationship
That is congresses answer to everything.
Spend more is all they know
This is an imaginary conflict. Truemp would most certainly like to give Paul and Musk most of what they want (nobody in politics will agree 100%), but he may not have the votes.
Elon is wrong...they are codifying DOGE cuts. Sometimes Elon is impatient...
I agree that PDJT should reach out to RP and CR and TM. His true targets walk on the left side of the aisle. His big guns should be upon them, not on his own troops. PDJT loses credibility with me when he attempts to kill his troops with friendly fire, and when he fails to terminate them he starts maiming them. Bad practice. The main thing is the main thing. His focus should be on extending the 2017 Tax Reduction Act instead of making it possible that his sharp tongue will deliver the most massive tax increase ever, since the 2017 law will expire on 1/1/2026.
Gwjack
Republican’ts only control the Supreme Court, the White House, the House of Representatives, the Senate, one of the largest social media platforms, the biggest podcasts and the momentum....
Now is not the time to be trying to decrease spending by even a penny. We need to save that for a more opportune time.
“Can Rand and conservative allies defeat the bill or get substantial changes? Who wins? Who are you rooting for?”
Rand Paul would have more weight to his argument if he would support codifying DOGE cuts (with more wasteful spending cuts) and factor in growth. The idiot thinks every dollar in the spending bill will increase the deficit. That is not true and/or that important. The idiot doesn’t recognize this.
It doesn’t matter if the deficit grows in number as long as GDP outpaces it. A 60% Debt to GDP ratio is perfectly fine and actually ideal.
So, if you cut government spending and grow the economy at a fast rate the deficit spending is not an issue at all. Sure Rand is right, if no economic growth (sorry, the economy is going to expand greatly thanks to Trump) and no cuts, than he is right. But the idiot does not factor any of this into his equations.
Rand wants nothing to be done.
Unnamed sources from Axios.
Elon was not angry at Trump. But the left wants them to be.
Just wait until Lindsay pushes his Big Veto Proof Ukraine funding bill.
The taxpayers will be able to use the money saved by not passing the BBB and fund the Ukraine war instead.
They keep putting off the DOGE cuts.
From what I understand, DOGE cuts have to be done in separate rescisson Bills, because the BBB isn't an annual budget Bill and doesn't fund the departments of the government.
But I did find that there was a bill introduced a few hours ago that keeps the door open for doge cuts in the future. In other words, beyond this administration.
Elon's brain is a whirlwind...don't even try to figure him out.
Wow!! That's reassuring!!
/sarcasm
Elon Musk to Rand Paul: If I sent you an email asking what you have accomplished in the last week, how would you respond?
Rand Paul:
Musk just shut up the guy who never shuts up.
Thanks for the link. I’ll believe it when I see it, and since I’ve seen little from Congress over the past 50+ years, I’m taking this with a grain of salt.
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