If I knew Oneironut was flying my plane I'd take the bus.
~Alexandrite

"I wouldn't take either. He might crash the plane into the bus."
~LauraMohr

(Unrecognized Funny Flag!)
Thank God I wasn't drinking coffee!

My guess, for history:

Rand Paul has access to classified information Fauci has been associated with GoF experiments in the past. Frankly, America's leaders would be bereft if we didn't.

Paul asks Fauci a question he knows Fauci can't legally answer truthfully, without violating his (Higher) loyalty to Top Secrets.

Conclusion: Rand Paul's an asshole, whose ego is larger than his concern for the safety of America or Americans.

"Because he was lied to and didn't know it"

What a moron.

He was explained the science, and recounted to the country they should consider UV lights up their arsenal.

"How was Trump supposed to know how much he was lying?"

Let's say. for argument's sake, America was doing some (still Top Secret) GoF?

What do you, new American, want Fauci to answer?

"The creation of SS and Medicare is why the debt is so large"

Admit you don't understand math, without using those specific words.

"SS, Medicare, and Medicaid are 41% of the budget, not 2/3."

Ah, the easy DEMONCRAT mistake. According to Republican Math, 2/3rds IS 41%. Prove Me Wrong, My Supreme Court!

(Narrator: Clearance Thomas wrote the majority opinion: "YES, 2/3rds IS 41%". It was their final, most essential command.)

"entitlements are 2/3rd of the US budget."

And how much of the revenues?

The only real effect is the gap between income and outgo. That's why nobody complained between the time Reagan raised rates to over-collect, until the time the equation went South around 2011...something we'd seen coming for roughly half a century.

Right now. an additional point for both the worker and the employer would put the SS equation into a stable position for the next 75 years...aka "perpetuity" in the actuarial world. It's costly (a 16% increase), but the alternatives are reduced payouts. We'll probably go to a means-test for it as well.

BTW, anyone who uses the term "Ponzi scheme" when referring to SS doesn't understand the definition. Or the math.

"The creation of SS and Medicare is why the debt is so large"

Nonsense. The spending of the payments which should've gone into the funds is why the debt is so large. That, and Republican-authored tax cuts.

Basic math question: If you're running deficit budgets, and you extend otherwise expiring tax cuts...does that represent 100% NEW borrowing?

Yes or No?