Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) demanded on Thursday what many Americans were thinking about in regard to sending aid to Ukraine: fiscal accountability.

“We cannot save Ukraine by dooming the United States economy,” Paul reasoned. “This bill under consideration would spend $40 billion. This is the second spending bill for Ukraine in two months, and this bill is three times larger than the first,” he said.

Paul is not against sending aid to Ukraine just because he wanted to make sure the money was being used appropriately. He insisted on having an inspector general oversee the distribution of the aid. Other senators did not agree.

Senator Rand Paul wants to monitor any more funds handed to Ukraine

But Paul’s demand makes a lot of sense. It is not a bad idea to have someone ensure accountability. All one must do is look through the recent omnibus bill to observe how the country wastes money on excess programs that are of little importance to how the country functions. Not wanting to replicate such an issue with billions of dollars allocated to Ukraine is a good thing. The fact that there was such resistance to Paul’s request should worry every taxpayer. Their objections raise the question of what exactly the Senate wants to hide about how the funds are spent.

Additionally, as part of his concerns, he noted that one of the main reasons the Soviet Union fell apart was not its defeat on the battlefield but reckless spending. He warned of a potentially similar fate and highlighted the excessive expenditures of the United States over the past few years.

“We should not forget that the Soviet Union collapsed in large part, not because it was defeated militarily, but because it ran out of money,” Paul said.

With the country enduring record inflation, the government should be more mindful of its financial commitments and, more importantly, where these funds are going. All things considered, Paul’s request was not in any way unreasonable.

“In an attempt to save Ukraine, will we doom the United States to such a future?” Paul asked. “In the past two years, the U.S. has borrowed more money than at any time in our history. We are already experiencing the greatest rate of inflation in over four decades. The assault on monetary discipline is untenable, and it cannot go on forever. Unless we put an end to this fiscal insanity, a day of reckoning awaits us.”

Paul also highlighted how the U.S. would get the money necessary to send to Ukraine. It is the elephant in the room that politicians frequently ignore or try to sweep under the rug.

“And it’s not as if we have that money lying around,” Paul emphasized. “We will borrow that money from China to send it to Ukraine.”

The war in Ukraine is a worldwide emergency, and many innocent Ukrainians are dying because of the whims of a totalitarian madman. The U.S. recognizes this and provides more financial aid than any other country. However, taxpayers deserve to know how this $40 billion is spent. While much attention has been placed on Paul holding up the aid legislation, the more important issue is why are so many senators against ensuring that billions of taxpayer dollars aren’t being misused? – Washington Examiner