WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Republicans called for drastic spending cuts Sunday in the new Congress to get the debt under control.
Speaking on ABC's "This Week," Sen.-elect Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, said all programs must be on the table.
Host Christiane Amanpour asked: "Would you cut the military?" Paul replied: "Yes. Yes."
David Stockman, budget director under President Ronald Reagan, warned: "We're now becoming the banana republic of finance. … These mad men who are out of control at the Fed, are printing new money, equal to 100 percent of the debt that we're issuing each month.
"We are ... at the ... sundown as an imperialist power," he added. "And we can't have credit card imperialism."
Stockman called for immediate means-testing of Social Security and severe Medicare cuts.
Paul also advocated changing the Social Security system for workers 55 and under.
Stockman said tax increases are essential, but Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., staunchly disagreed, saying: "I think raising taxes in the worst economy in 25 years is a profoundly bad idea."
