肯塔基州参议员兰德·保罗正面临批评，因为他要求为自己的家乡州提供联邦援助，尽管他长期以来一直反对为其他从灾难中恢复的地区提供援助。

肯塔基州是上周末遭受龙卷风袭击的中西部几个州之一。暴风雨摧毁了大部分城镇，据信在肯塔基州西部有多达70人丧生。

共和党人保罗分享了他给拜登政府的一封信的照片，信中要求“迅速批准”肯塔基州州长安迪·贝希尔提出的联邦援助请求。在受自然灾害影响的州，参议员提出这样的请求是很常见的，但保罗正面临反弹，因为他在整个参议员生涯中一直反对联邦政府对几个受灾地区的救灾。

保罗是一个赤字鹰派，他反对增加联邦赤字来资助各种立法。他反对援助受灾难影响的州，通常是因为他认为灾难开支应该通过削减联邦预算来抵消。

例如，2013年，保罗投票反对向遭受飓风桑迪袭击的东北各州提供援助。

“我会给他们90亿美元，我会从其他地方拿走90亿美元，”保罗当时在接受当地媒体采访时说。“我会从外援那里拿过来说，‘你知道吗，我们今年没有钱给埃及或巴基斯坦，因为我们必须帮助东北地区。’"

他用类似的逻辑来证明他在哈维飓风后对德克萨斯州和路易斯安那州的灾难救援投反对票的合理性。2017年，他在《国会山》的一篇专栏文章中解释说，他将反对在玛丽亚飓风后向波多黎各和得克萨斯州提供援助，因为该国应该“提前计划”必要的救灾。

格雷姆·斯隆/美国西帕经美联社

参议员兰德·保罗在华盛顿州美国国会大厦穿过参议院地铁...

“他们说我们没钱支付飓风救济。因此，他们不是在预算的其他地方找到这笔钱，而是想提高我们信用卡的限额，”保罗写道。“这必须停止。我们花的太多了。我们欠太多了。我们不能继续花我们没有的钱。”

但是现在肯塔基州发现自己需要联邦援助，保罗似乎引起了不同的共鸣。他在给乔·拜登总统的信中写道，他“完全支持”州长在评估对该州的损害时提出的援助请求和随后的任何请求。

批评家说他很虚伪。

“我们应该尽全力帮助我们的肯塔基州邻居。愿上帝与他们同在——他们正在受伤。但是千万不要忘记@RandPaul投票反对在大多数美国人最需要的时候帮助他们，”加州民主党众议员Eric Swalwell周六在推特上写道。

进步团体也加入了批评。

保罗在给美国广播公司新闻的一份声明中驳斥了他前后矛盾的说法。

“事实是，在我任职的11年里，我一直在为肯塔基州联邦应急管理局的灾难资金进行宣传，宣传了几十次。当寻求超过每年预算的额外灾难补充资金时，我要求额外的资金来自预算中其他地方的减少浪费，”保罗说。

目前还不清楚保罗是否会坚持通过削减预算来抵消对肯塔基州和中西部其他州的援助。

拜登政府的语气与前总统唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)不同，特朗普敦促参议院共和党人阻止向受灾地区提供191亿美元的额外救灾援助，当时民主党人包括了给波多黎各的资金。保罗投票反对这项援助，尽管它最终获得了两党的支持。

拜登已经承诺帮助肯塔基州和其他受影响的州从悲剧中恢复过来。

拜登周六在特拉华州威尔明顿发表讲话时说:“联邦政府不会走开。“这是我们不是民主党人或共和党人的时候。听起来像夸张，但这是真的。我们都是美国人。我们作为美利坚合众国站在一起。”

Sen. Rand Paul's aid request for tornado damage faces backlash

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is facing criticism for requesting federal aid for his home state despite his long track record of opposing aid for other regions recovering from disasters.

Kentucky was one of several Midwestern states rocked by tornadoes over the weekend. The storms decimated large portions of towns, and as many as 70 people are believed to have been killed in Western Kentucky.

Paul, a Republican, shared a photo of a letter he sent to the Biden administration requesting "expeditious approval" of a request for federal aid made by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear. Requests like these by senators in states affected by a natural disaster are quite common, but Paul is facing blowback because he has opposed federal disaster relief for several affected regions throughout his Senate career.

Paul is a deficit hawk, who has battled against hikes to the federal deficit to fund all sorts of legislation. His opposition to aid for states impacted by disaster has often been based in his belief that disaster expenses should be offset by cuts elsewhere in the federal budget.

In 2013, for example, Paul voted against aid for Northeast states hit by Hurricane Sandy.

"I would have given them ($)9 billion and I would've taken the ($)9 billion from somewhere else," Paul said in an interview with a local outlet at the time. "I would have taken it from foreign aid and said, 'you know what, we don't have money for Egypt or Pakistan this year because we have to help the Northeast.'"

He used similar logic to justify his "no" vote on disaster relief for Texas and Louisiana after Hurricane Harvey. And in 2017, he explained in an op-ed for The Hill that he would oppose aid for Puerto Rico and Texas after Hurricane Maria because the nation should "plan ahead" for necessary disaster relief.

"They say we are out of money to pay for hurricane relief. So instead of finding that money somewhere else in the budget, they simply want to raise the limit on our credit card," Paul wrote. "This has to stop. We spend too much. We owe too much. We cannot keep spending money we do not have."

But now that Kentucky finds itself in need of federal aid, Paul seems to be striking a different chord. He wrote in his letter to President Joe Biden that he "fully supports" the request made for aid and any subsequent ones made by the governor as damage to the state is assessed.

Critics say he's being hypocritical.

"We should do all we can to help our Kentucky neighbors. God be with them — they are hurting. But do not for one second forget that @RandPaul has voted against helping most Americans most times they're in need," California Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell tweeted on Saturday.

Progressive groups have joined in criticism.

Paul, in a statement to ABC News, refuted claims that he's been inconsistent.

"The truth is that I've consistently advocated for FEMA disaster money for Kentucky over my 11 years in office, dozens of times. When additional supplemental disaster funds above that budgeted each year have been sought, I have asked that the additional money come from cutting waste elsewhere in the budget," Paul said.

It's unclear if Paul will insist that aid for Kentucky and other midwestern states be offset by budget cuts.

The Biden administration is striking a different tone than that of former President Donald Trump, who urged Senate Republicans to block a $19.1 billion in additional disaster aid for impacted areas when Democrats included funds for Puerto Rico. Paul voted against that aid, though it ultimately passed with bipartisan support.

Biden has already pledged to help Kentucky and other impacted states recover from the tragedy.

"The federal government is not going to walk away," Biden said during remarks in Wilmington, Delaware, on Saturday. "This is one of those times when we aren't Democrats or Republicans. Sounds like hyperbole, but it's real. We're all Americans. We stand together as the United States of America."