Senate Republicans joined Democrats to vote down Rand Paul's balanced budget plan time after time while the national debt doubled.
Now the debt just crossed $40 trillion – and Paul is back with the same question.
But this time Paul put the exact number on what it costs to save the country – and what Washington, DC said in response tells you everything.
Six Cents. That's All He's Asking.
Paul's Six Penny Plan is almost insultingly simple.
Cut six cents from every dollar the federal government spends.
Do it for five years.
Balance the budget.
No 2,000-page omnibus.
No bipartisan commission that meets for three years and produces a strongly worded report nobody reads.
Just cut six percent annually until Washington lives within its means.
https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/2091591299036242109?s=20
Paul introduced the plan formally in September 2025, and the math behind it exposes exactly how badly things have deteriorated.
Before he introduced his first Penny Plan in 2018, a spending freeze – not even a cut, just a freeze – was enough to balance the budget within five years.
Eight years later, it takes six cents per dollar just to get back to zero.
"The math doesn't lie," Paul said. "Either we take responsibility now, or we condemn our children and grandchildren to economic ruin."
Sen. Mike Lee of Utah backed him, calling the Six Penny Plan exactly what the country needs – while blasting the "Uniparty" for killing it anyway.
Forty Trillion Dollars and Your Grocery Bill
The Treasury Department confirmed the debt crossed $40.09 trillion as of August 25 – months ahead of what the Congressional Budget Office projected.
In just the first nine months of fiscal year 2026, interest payments alone hit $827 billion.
That's more than the entire defense budget.
Your government is spending more paying interest on its credit card than it spends protecting the country.
Publicly held debt already surpassed 100% of GDP in July – the first time since 1946 that federal debt exceeded the entire size of the American economy.
And economist Peter Schiff cut straight to what it means for you: when the Federal Reserve prints money to cover the gap, consumer prices go higher.
https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/2094923255111110883?s=20
The $40 trillion isn't just a number on a clock in Times Square.
It's your grocery bill. Your gas pump.
Your retirement account.
The Bipartisan Policy Center warned the country will hit its new $41.1 trillion debt ceiling as early as late winter 2027.
Which means Congress will be back demanding to raise it again.
They always do.
The Pattern Both Parties Hope You Forget
Paul has put a version of this plan in front of the Senate every few years going back to 2011.
The very first one didn't even cut spending.
It just froze it.
The Senate killed it.
The Six Penny Plan Paul pushed in 2022 went down 29 to 67 – with Republicans helping Democrats bury it.
Each time the Senate killed Paul's plan, the next version required deeper cuts – because the debt kept growing while they stalled.
Penny plan became two-penny plan became five-penny plan became six-penny plan.
https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/2092995048824865215?s=20
The only thing both parties have managed to accomplish together in fifty years is spending money they don't have.
Paul has been sounding this alarm since 2011, and the Senate – Republican and Democrat alike – has voted him down every time.
Now they want you to act surprised that the number hit $40 trillion.
Rand Paul asked for six cents back.
The Uniparty said no.
Write that down the next time your senator tells you he's a fiscal conservative.
Sources:
- Rand Paul Senate Office, "Dr. Rand Paul Introduces Six Penny Plan to Balance the Federal Budget in Five Years," paul.senate.gov, September 16, 2025.
- Fox35 Orlando, "US National Debt Surpasses Record $40 Trillion," fox35orlando.com, August 20, 2026.
- Bernama/Xinhua, "US National Debt Tops $40 Trillion For First Time," bernama.com, August 20, 2026.
- Julia Benbrook, "Rand Paul Presents Budget Resolution on Senate Floor," Spectrum News, June 16, 2022.