Rand Paul questions if US borrowing puts country on path to become Venezuela

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Sen. Rand Paul, one of the most outspoken Republicans about government spending, took to Twitter Sunday to ask if Congress’ borrowing is putting the U.S. economy on the same path as Venezuela's.

"New 1,000,000 bolivar note in Venezuela worth 53 cents," Paul tweeted, while linking to a Bloomberg report on hyperinflation in Caracas. "Will US be the next Venezuela with Congress borrowing over $6 trillion in one year?"

Paul’s comments came just a day after the Senate passed President Biden’s $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill in a 50-49 vote. Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, also expressed dismay over some of what he identified as wasteful spending in the bill, including providing billions in financial assistance to states that do not need it.

"We’re going to be asking the American people to allow us to borrow money from China and others, pass that on to our kids and grandkids so that we can send money to states like California and mine that don’t need the money," Romney said. "That doesn’t make any sense at all."

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Venezuela’s economy has deteriorated due to, oil prices, the coronavirus and years of hyperinflation, according to Reuters. Its central bank issued a new banknote worth 1 million bolivars that will be worth 52 cents. The report said that many Venezuelans use U.S. currency to complete transactions.