On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released separate reports on the ten-year budget outlook and the financial outlook for major federal trust funds. The reports show the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, the failure of Congress to responsibly manage federal spending, and the cost of doing nothing to put federal entitlement programs on a sustainable financial path.

FreedomWorks is proud to honor Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) as our member of the month for September 2020. Senator Paul’s voting record has been 98 percent in alignment with FreedomWorks’ Congressional Scorecard over the ten years he has served as Kentucky’s junior U.S. Senator. During that time, he has consistently been a source and fearless champion of some of the best, limited-government legislation across a wide spectrum of issues.

In the third season of The West Wing, the personal aide to the President, Charlie Young, has a conversation with White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry about a stimulus payment he received. McGarry asks, “Did you spend it?” Charlie says, “I paid my VISA bill.” Leo replied, “We would have preferred it if you'd ate in a restaurant or traveled.” Later, when discussing the issue again, President Josiah Barlet jokingly asks Charlie, “A trip to Banana Republic would have killed you?”

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has become a hot button issue in 2020, one made far worse by the media’s reporting on the subject. The House of Representatives is expected to interrupt the August recess and return to Washington later this week to consider legislation to block changes the USPS had made to manage its long-standing financial woes.

On behalf of FreedomWorks’ activist community, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to cosponsor the Pandemic Pay-For Act, S. 4487. Introduced by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), the Pandemic Pay-For Act would pay for the $2.4 trillion of COVID-19 spending that Congress has passed by freezing federal spending at FY 2021 levels through FY 2024.

As the White House and congressional leadership begin bipartisan negotiations over another legislative response to COVID-19, fiscal conservatives both inside and outside of Congress are expressing concerns about the federal budget deficit.