Washington (CNN) – Freshman Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul stood firm today on his position against raising the debt ceiling. In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on “The Situation Room,” the libertarian-leaning senator said he would only consider voting “yes” if the bill came with a balanced budget amendment.
“If (Democrats) want to spend the money, they need to be honest with the American people and say ‘We’ve got to borrow $2 trillion because that’s what we want to spend,’ ” Paul said. “I don’t want to spend that much money.”
But Paul said he’s not concerned about the potential consequences of keeping the federal debt ceiling at its current limit.
“Our interest payment is about $20 billion a month,” he said. “Our tax revenue is about $200 billion a month, so we’re bringing in (nearly) $200 billion. We’ve got plenty of money to pay our interest.”
Paul said the country could also bring down the debt by bringing back its troops overseas. With growing unrest in Syria tempting the international community to intervene, he warned against any further involvements.
“We’re already involved in three wars, including the latest war in Libya, where we had no congressional vote,” Paul said. “That’s not what our founding fathers wanted.”
Turning to the 2012 GOP field, Paul said his father, Ron Paul, a Republican presidential candidate, has a better chance this time around than his previous White House bid.
“In 2007-2008, most people didn’t know his name,” the senator said, adding that he now believes 70 to 80% of Americans recognize the candidate. “He attracts a lot of people who are disgruntled with both parties, and so I think that would be his main advantage over the entire Republican field.”