Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul says he’s not endorsing any of the presidential candidates on any of their positions. Paul, who dropped out of the GOP presidential race just a few weeks ago, held a town hall meeting at Eastern Kentucky University Friday.
“No, I’m gonna stay out of it. I’ve sort of said my piece. I was very clear on what I thought were strong suits, weak suits of all of them. But, I think, in the end the republican nominee will be a lot better than the democratic nominee," Paul says.
Paul says major tax cuts could provide significant economic gains for the state’s poorest counties. He says he supports establishing economic development zones in counties with high unemployment. “I would take the corporate income tax to five percent, the federal income tax. I would take the personal income tax to five percent. I would lower the payroll tax on the employer and the employee and I’d do that for ten years.”
Paul says cutting taxes could generate between 60 and 100 million dollars for disadvantaged counties, but he adds that would necessitate more tough funding decisions. The GOP senator said he’s proud of Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin for trying to fix the state’s fiscal issues.
He also said when it comes to budget decisions, most lawmakers don’t want to break from tradition. “People believe that nothing’s possible. They believe that the only thing that is possible is what we’ve always done, what we did yesterday and the day before and people at home don’t believe that at all. So, there’s a real disconnect. So, they think people at home would get mad at me if I balance the budget, it’s the opposite.”
The Bowling Green physician dropped out of the GOP presidential race just over a month ago.
