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Washington (CNN) - Kentucky’s Senator-elect Rand Paul says that if he were already in Congress he would lean against voting for the recently announced tax deal.

In an interview airing on CNN’s “The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer” Wednesday at 6 p.m ET, Paul expresses strong opinions about the deficit, spending, and the tax deal proposed by President Barack Obama.

“The most important thing government can do right now for the economy is to extend the Bush tax cuts. I would be for extending them permanently…If you’re going to extend and add new tax cuts, you should couple them with cuts in spending. Instead, we’re coupling them with increases in spending and I think that’s the wrong thing to do.

“So I’d be leaning against voting for it.”

Paul characterizes President Obama’s compromise with Republicans by comparing him to Bill Clinton, saying “I think the president will turn out to be someone who may, you know, take bill Clinton as his model.” He expects that Obama will be “fairly pragmatic” with the Republican majority that takes effect in January.

Paul also believes that a divided government works better, and hopes this will benefit a proposal that he plans to bring to the floor of Congress when he arrives, stating “But when I get there, I’m going to propose a bill that will have $500 billion worth of spending cuts, because you have to start doing it.

On his state-of-mind leading up to the day he’ll begin his term in January 2011 as the new senator from Kentucky, Paul says “…What’s great about never having held office before is that I’m new enough to think that we can change the world. And I’m not going to accept them simply saying, oh, it’s never been done that way and it can’t be done.”

Rand Paul was elected to the Senate in November of 2010. The Tea Party favorite will replace Republican Sen. Jim Bunning who elected not to seek a third term and retired.

From CNN

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