Kentucky’s junior senator, Republican Sen. Rand Paul joined today with many of his Senate Republican colleagues in calling for the Senate to come back to session this week to deal with the nation’s impending debt crisis.  He joined with Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) in a press conference to unveil the Republicans’ latest proposal for dealing with the debt crisis:  the Cut-Cap-Balance Act.

Sen. Paul, an original co-sponsor of the Cut-Cap-Balance Act, issued the following statement:

"Last week I joined my fellow concerned Republican Senators and demanded the Senate stay in session to work on solutions to the debt crisis. Instead, the Senate Democrat leadership offered unrelated legislation, wasted precious time, and declared no more votes for the remainder of the week."

"As opposed to those not serious about dealing with the debt, my GOP colleagues and I worked through recess and now have a real plan to end this precipitous spending.

"The Cut-Cap-Balance Act would increase the debt ceiling, but only upon passage of spending cuts, a structural cap on spending, and a balanced budget amendment. The Cut-Cap-Balance Act would restore trust in the American people that their Congress can balance a budget and return our nation on the path to prosperity."

Writing a special op-ed article in today’s Roll Call newspaper, Sen. Paul criticized Senate Democrats for putting forward S. 1323, a “Sense of the Senate” that states that the debt crisis can only be solved by raising taxes.  “This is not a serious proposal for many reasons,” wrote Sen. Paul, “mostly because I’m afraid Senate Democrats are not serious on this matter.”

Sen. Paul continued, “We have not had one minute of committee hearings or floor debate on the debt ceiling and budgets in my six months here. We have not seen any sort of budget proposal in two years, and it has been almost 800 days since the Senate has passed a budget under this Democratic leadership.”

Observing the fact that America is facing an astonishing fiscal crisis, and the Senate has not shown any signs of confronting it, Sen. Paul reminded readers, “Our nation is hovering around $14 trillion worth of debt, we borrow 40 cents of every dollar spent, and our unemployment rate is steadily increasing, yet what has the Democrat-led Senate done to tackle these signs of economic peril?”

Sen. Paul expressed consternation over the apparent Democratic intransigence:  “I am dumbfounded by this leadership; for here we are, weeks away from our debt limit deadline, and neither Obama nor the Democratic leadership has done anything other than provide empty promises.  Republicans have serious proposals. Many of us are supporting a Cut, Cap, and Balance Pledge in which we will agree to raise the debt limit if, and only if, short-term cuts, long-term spending caps and a balanced budget amendment are all passed first.”

Concluding that “time is short,” Sen. Paul pointed a clear finger of blame at the opposition party:  “But that is the fault of Senate Democrats who have done absolutely nothing on this matter all year. We can still avert this debt crisis, but only if the other side gets serious.”

Sen. Rand Paul on Bloomberg TV with Peter Cook regarding a Balanced Budget Amendment