Topic: GOP - Rand Paul's Presidential Highlight Reel w/ his Libertarian Twist - page 54. (Read 205829 times)

Rand Paul Proposes Boosting Defense Spending

His amendment would add $76.5 billion to the defense budget

Just weeks before announcing his 2016 presidential bid, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is completing an about-face on a longstanding pledge to curb the growth in defense spending.

In an olive branch to defense hawks hell-bent on curtailing his White House ambitions, the libertarian Senator introduced a budget amendment late Wednesday calling for a nearly $190 billion infusion to the defense budget over the next two years—a roughly 16 percent increase.

Paul’s amendment brings him in line with his likely presidential primary rivals, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who introduced a measure calling for nearly the same level of increases just days ago. The amendment was first noticed by TIME and later confirmed by Paul’s office.

The move completes a stunning reversal for Paul, who in May 2011, after just five months in office, released his own budget that would have eliminated four agencies—Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Energy and Education—while slashing the Pentagon, a sacred cow for many Republicans. Under Paul’s original proposal, defense spending would have dropped from $553 billion in the 2011 fiscal year to $542 billion in 2016. War funding would have plummeted from $159 billion to zero. He called it the “draw-down and restructuring of the Department of Defense.”

But under Paul’s new plan, the Pentagon will see its budget authority swell by $76.5 billion to $696,776,000,000 in fiscal year 2016.

The boost would be offset by a two-year combined $212 billion cut to funding for aid to foreign governments, climate change research and crippling reductions in to the budgets of the Environmental Protection Agency, and the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Commerce and Education.

Paul’s endorsement of increased defense spending represents a change in direction for the first-term lawmaker, who rose to prominence with his critiques of the size of the defense budget and foreign aid, drawing charges of advocating isolationism. Under pressure from fellow lawmakers and well-heeled donors, Paul in recent months has appeared to embrace the hawkish rhetoric that has defined the GOP in recent decades. At the Conservative Political Action Conference in February Paul warned of the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS). “Without question, we must now defend ourselves and American interests,” he said. Asked about federal spending, he added, “for me, the priority is always national defense.”

More...http://time.com/3759378/rand-paul-defense-spending/

Paul Courts Christian Conservatives
Presidential hopeful seeks support of religious voters


When he announced his candidacy for president this week, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, made a strenuous bid for support from Christian conservatives. But one of Cruz's rivals, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is taking a different route to court the same constituency – waging an aggressive behind-the-scenes campaign rather than emphasizing a dramatic public appeal, and his aides say it will eventually pay big dividends.

For many months, Paul has been quietly meeting with scores of leaders from the Christian right to gain support for his presidential campaign, which he is expected to officially announce April 7. Some of the meetings have been held during dinner in the Senate dining room; other sessions have been in Paul's Senate office, and still others have been conducted while he traveled outside Washington.

Paul met Tuesday in Washington with Kent Ingle, the president of Southeastern University; Brian Carroll, executive vice president of Southeastern; and other officials from the Christian-oriented school located in Lakeland, Florida.

Among others with whom Paul has talked in recent months were evangelist Rodney Howard-Browne; Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas; Jerry Johnson, president of the National Religious Broadcasters Association; Daniel Kolenda, president of Christ for All Nations; Banning Liebscher, founder of the Jesus Culture ministry; and singer and Christian activist Pat Boone.
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Doug Wead, a friend of Paul's who has strong ties to the Christian conservative community, has been helping the senator make these connections. Asked why Paul might appeal to Christian conservatives, Wead told me that the Kentucky senator is a born-again Christian and "is seen as a candidate who can win, and Christian conservatives have come to realize that this is important." Paul "is seen as the future," Wead added. "He has organic, real support from the young, Hispanic and now African-Americans as well as liberals who care about civil liberties."

Among other reasons for conservative Christian support, Wead said, Paul has made it a high priority to protect religious liberty, and he has the potential to raise large amounts of money so he is unlikely to have his political operation go broke at a crucial time. Christian leaders fear that a shortage of money could hamper other presidential candidates such as Cruz and potential candidates such as former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and former Gov. Rick Perry of Texas.
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More...http://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/ken-walshs-washington/2015/03/26/rand-paul-courts-christian-conservatives

Kelley Paul gets ready for her media blizzard

Kelley Ashby Paul was dressed for the weather as she trudged through the last storm of the Washington, D.C., winter to meet a reporter. Fuzzy woolen hat, complete with earflaps and pompom, on her head. Knee-high waterproof boots with faux fur trim on her feet. Puffy white parka zipped in between.

Her husband, Rand, meanwhile, was home, still dry and warm, in the couple’s tiny Capitol Hill apartment. The junior senator from Kentucky and presumed presidential candidate had nowhere to be on this weekday morning because the federal government, in fact the entire city, was shut down. (No, not by the Tea Party; by the snow.) That Kelley was out in the storm made metaphorical sense, because she isn’t really “of” D.C., and unlike Rand, she doesn’t officially work for the government.

Home, for her, is still Bowling Green, Ky., where she was raising her three sons as a stay-at-home wife of a small-town ophthalmologist in the 20 years before Rand ran for office. Where she lived full-time until this year, when she finally took the next step in the transformation and enrolled her youngest in a D.C. private school. Now her tight circle of hometown friends takes care of her house — dealing, for instance, with the time a bird got inside and “pooped all over the bathroom” and picking her up at the airport when she manages to fly back once a month or so.

Politics, like the clergy and the military, is one of the few fields where it’s assumed that the spouse — particularly the wife — will take on part of the job. It is an anachronism from a time when all wives were defined by the work of their husbands, and it’s an increasingly tough role to navigate now that the political spotlight is brighter and the political pace is faster.

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More...https://www.yahoo.com/politics/kelley-paul-gets-ready-for-her-media-blizzard-114433745186.html

I used to really like him a lot but that has been steadily eroding as time has went by. The venue he announced at plus the mandatory attendance policy there of which required all students to show up seemed to be quite a shady deception tactic to make it look like he had all these people turn out to support him when they had no choice but to show up. Plus, it's starting to seem like the media is really trying to play up some feud between Cruz and Rand thus creating a ground war among the similar bases of supporters. He either knew it would come to this and is complicit in splitting the anti-establishment vote further or he's an opportunist that is merely trying to get his name out there which is what many of the long shots do to sell books or other related things.

Wow ted cruz sure knows how to speak. Most of the recent speeches (his one where he announced he was running for president) were not even using a teleprompter. REAL truth comes straight from the heart and you shouldn't have to have a teleprompter to stay. He will definitely be a good president who knows how to speak without a script.

Dinner with Rand Paul Miramar Beach, FL March 30th! (Northwest Florida)

Rand is having one fundraiser while he is on vacation with his family. If you can make it out to the beautiful Destin Florida area on March 30th you can support Rand Paul. Please call the number to RSVP for the event.

Rand Paul invites supporters to campaign announcement, rollout

Rand Paul appears to have finalized plans for his presidential campaign announcement and at least part of his subsequent rollout, according to invites posted by his political committee RAND PAC to the website Eventbrite.

As previously reported, the Kentucky senator plans to announce his bid for president April 7 at the Galt House Hotel in Louisville. The invitation posted online urges supporters to "join Senator Rand Paul for a very special rally."

"You won't want to miss this historic event," the invitation adds. The event, not billed explicitly as the official launch to Paul's campaign, is set to begin at 11:30 a.m.

Paul's committee has also posted invites to two events following his announcement in Louisville, likely part of Paul's official campaign rollout. The first, on April 9, will be a rally at the U.S.S. Yorktown in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. Paul will then travel April 10 to the University of Iowa in Iowa City for a rally in the student union ballroom.

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More...http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/rand-paul-invites-supporters-to-campaign-announcement-rollout/article/2561936

Media Running With Paul/Cruz Feud Narrative

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"Right now, I'm the only one that beats Hillary Clinton in certain purple states," Paul said on Fox News' "The Kelly File," talking about recent polls. "There will be a lot of conservatives. Ted Cruz is a conservative, but it also goes to winability. And people will have to make a decision: Which is the Republican that can not only excite the base but can also bring new people into the party without giving up principles?"

The Kentucky Republican, who's expected to announce his own presidential bid on April 7, said he was "glad" to see Liberty University students wearing t-shirts in support of his own all-but-declared candidacy, when Cruz made his announcement.

"I guess what makes us different is probably our approach to how we would make the party bigger," Paul said, referring to himself and Cruz. "I'm a big believer that you should stand on principle ... but I also think we should take those principles and try to bring in new people with them."
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More...http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/23/politics/rand-paul-ted-cruz-2016-election/

In New Hampshire, Rand Paul Reimagines Government Off the Top of His Head

ROCHESTER, N.H.—Eight questions into his meet-and-greet at the Pink Cadillac Diner Kentucky, Senator Rand Paul made his first accidental policy. One of the Stafford County Republicans who’d shown up for breakfast asked Paul about the heart-rending crises in the Veterans Affairs administration. Was it time, she asked, to “overhaul the VA and let it go to the private sector?”

“Yes,” said Paul. Three dozen Republicans put down their coffee and applauded. Then the senator explained himself. “In Kentucky, we’re building an $800 million new VA hospital,” he said. “That would buy a lot of insurance just to go to the doctor, any doctor… I think the care is for the most part good, but the distribution’s bad. When you think VA, think single payer system.”

That seemed clear enough. Ninety minutes later, after another Q&A, in Exeter, I asked Paul if he’d thought more about what privatizing the VA would look like.

“No, I don’t really have a big plan or anything,” he said. “I’m not even sure I’d use the word privatize.” He did want vouchers—a policy endorsed by Concerned Veterans for America, which is connected to the libertarian Koch network—but he was not ready to throw the whole system into the Hayekian laboratory. “I’m not for eliminating the VA, or getting rid of the VA hospitals. In fact, a lot of veterans like the VA hospitals even better than the other hospitals. I’d tend more toward getting insurance vouchers to go to the community.”

In two and a half weeks, Paul is expected to launch a presidential campaign. Texas Senator Ted Cruz beat him to the starting line with a Monday morning speech at Liberty University; the two men will speak within an hour of each other in Monday night Fox News interviews. Paul’s network is all but ready for him, and the Republicans who attended many of his events this past weekend were given flyers advertising a “Stand with Rand rally” in New Hampshire on April 8.

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/features/2015-03-24/in-new-hampshire-rand-paul-reimagines-government-off-the-top-of-his-head

This writer claims to be a libertarian and you'll note that this is a hitpiece. He's been nipping at Rand for years now.

Rand really didn't attack him per se, he just set himself apart in how his campaigning will be different and to a broader audience. If you watched what Cruz said in his opening speech, it could be taken in that he thinks he can just try and turn out more evangelicals and social conservatives and then win which most pundits don't think is gonna happen. Plus, Cruz has made so many enemies in his own party that it's past the point of some of them grinning and bearing him. I like his style at times but I'm of the mind that he's in this race as someone feeding from potential Rand voters. Knowing this, that's why Rand is going after younger folks and minorities to pinch away democratic support thus showing his electability in the eyes of the party officials and donors.

Cruz and Paul together did great work on the drone issue.

But Cruz is too rigid on things like Cuba.  He gives off a bit of Fundy 'do what I say or I'll hurt you' bully vibe, and looks like an derpy jingoistic idiot advocating continuation of an isolationist Cold War policy that has backfired for 50 years.

As a fellow accomplished policy debater, I know he knows better.  So the disingenuousness of such posturing and pandering is a turn-off to my 'principled libertarian' side.

I'm also sick of Ivy League lawyers running everything.  Washington needs a doctor with experience in private enterprise, not another shyster from the ABA.

But I'm not worried; Cruz has, in accordance with the Peter Principle, reached his level of incompetence in the Senate.  If Perry doesn't crush him, Jeb will.  And at the very moment he announced, Cruz witnessed firsthand the incomparable ground game of Rand's shock troops.   

Ted cruz and rand paul should stop bashing eachother, they are both great president material and only making eachother look worse hurting their chances of a republican winning the election. Those 2 look very good and both have some very good ideas.

Rand Paul on The Kelly File  3-23-15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_kLSs9MDmc

Rand did a great job talking about Cruz's Prez announcement today while referring to himself as polling best against Hillary during the whole thing. That's the takeaway value plus his 6 mins footage on Fox tonight - the highest viewed show on the air.

Two New Books by Rand and Kelley Paul

Kelley - True and Constant Friends: Love and Inspiration from Our Grandmothers, Mothers, and Friends

When Kelley Paul arrived on the Rhodes College campus in 1981, she immediately bonded with six women. Three decades of intimate friendship later, Kelley celebrates these relationships and the women who inspired them all. She tells their stories and those of their grandmothers, mothers and sisters, providing a microcosm of women raising families and building lives in 20th- and 21st-century America. The extraordinary lives of Kelley's and her friends' role models-from the Southern matriarch to the poor Irish immigrant-are honored in this lovely book which offers oral history along with classic poetry, art, and photography. Throughout, Kelley explores the universal themes of hardship, determination, commitment, family, independence, optimism, friendship and love-and illuminates the power of the female bond that enriches all our lives."

Rand - Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America

In his four years since joining the Senate, Rand Paul has risen to the forefront of the national discussion. He's being called "the most interesting man in politics" by TIME Magazine. When Senator Paul believes in an issue he reaches across the aisle to collaborate with his colleagues. He's worked with Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on an anti-war bill, a financial assistance for childcare bill, and a protection for women in the military bill. He's also working with Senator Cory Booker to reform the nation's criminal justice system. He's received standing ovations from conservatives when he spoke at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) and standing ovations from students when he spoke at University of California at Berkley, known to be a liberal institution."

^ Ted Cruz is a fucking asshole!

These Students 'Stand with Rand' at Ted Cruz's 2016 Announcement

LYNCHBURG, Va.—Sen. Ted Cruz took the stage to declare his presidential candidacy at Liberty University Monday, surrounded by upwards of 10,000 cheering students. They weren't all here by choice.

Attendance at convocation at Liberty is mandatory, and a group of students clad in "Stand With Rand" shirts sat center stage—directly in view of the cameras—to log their displeasure with having to be here.

"Of course, you want it to appear as if you have a large audience," said Eli McGowan, who organized the not-so-subtle protest. "We felt like if we didn't wear shirts showing our true political preference then the media might think we all supported Cruz."

"They make you come. If you don't come, you get punished," said Ana Delgado, a sophomore, who said students face a $10 fine for not showing up at convocation. Delgado wasn't among those wearing Paul gear. She is undecided about who she'll support in 2016, but she didn't like being forced to be part of Cruz's announcement.

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More...http://www.nationaljournal.com/2016-elections/students-stand-with-rand-cruz-20150323

Hey, libertarians: Don't give up on Rand Paul!

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And on the whole, Rand Paul seems to be inching the party in the right direction, if slowly and against much headwind. Paul often offers rhetorical hostility instead of sanctions, sanctions instead of conflict, and limited constitutionally authorized conflict instead of open-ended war. He is working to improve bad policies in the face of his party's lousy instincts, not to mention fickle but generally bellicose public opinion.

But precisely because he has credibility with his caucus, Paul's filibusterer against unlimited drone warfare was not a one-man show. It drew support from other members of his party. It was an educative and energizing act. His votes on the authorization of military force in Iraq, and on other surveillance issues, are more libertarian than anything in the record of realists and Israel-skeptics like Chuck Hagel. Taken as a whole, Paul leads the libertarian way on foreign policy and national security, and there is more room to run. And when his protest would be useless or very antagonizing, his "support" consists almost entirely in the form of setting limits, conditions, and constitutionality on American policy.

Instead of saying “I'm done" and walking away forever, libertarians should take as much good policy as they can get. They should welcome limits on bad policies, even if these limits are incremental. And when they disagree, say so. Then grant yourself the liberty to support Rand Paul again later.

More...http://theweek.com/articles/545539/hey-libertarians-dont-give-rand-paul

The 'Live And Let Live' Philosophy That Informs The Policies Of Rand Paul

Libertarianism no longer seriously can be considered marginal. It has emerged as an important part of our public discourse.

Sen. Rand Paul writes, “They say the libertarian moment has arrived. If you want to understand and be part of that moment, read David Boaz’s The Libertarian Mind where you’ll be drawn into the ‘eternal struggle of liberty vs. power,’ where you’ll learn that libertarianism presumes that you were born free and not a subject of the state.”

There remains a great deal of confusion in the public consciousness. As (then) Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri said to Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker, “[Rand] Paul should stop calling himself a libertarian. ‘I know he just means that he likes to protect individual freedoms, but that’s not what it means down here,’ he said, referring to Texas. ‘They think it means you’re going to legalize heroin.’

More...http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2015/03/23/the-live-and-let-live-philosophy-that-informs-the-policies-of-rand-paul/

They're all the same person, it doesn't really matter.  This is the illusion of American democracy, which is nothing more really than a corporate run system now.  Make the people believe they still have a choice and that their choice matters and the system will continue to pump out the same garbage it has for decades.  Garbage in, garbage out.

Rand Paul to kick off 2016 bid April 7 with ambitious five-state tour
Kentucky senator shows organization muscle with debut
Rand Paul will formally declare his candidacy for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination with a five-state, five-day announcement tour next month, Republicans knowledgeable about the Kentucky senator’s plans told The Washington Times.

Mr. Paul will make his announcement first in Louisville at noon on April 7, then head to New Hampshire on April 8, Charleston, S.C., on April 9, Iowa City on April 10 and Las Vegas on April 11.

Traditionally, presidential candidates enter the race by declaring in their home state and then flying to at least two of the first four states that hold presidential preference contests the following year.

“It takes a significant campaign war chest and logistical planning and know-how to design and execute a three-state announcement tour,” said Michael Karem, whose experience in doing national campaign advancement extends back to Ronald Reagan’s first presidential nomination run in 1975.

Five-state inaugural swings take even more money and advance-work skills, veterans of national campaigns say.


More...http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/mar/22/paul-kick-2016-bid-april-7-ambitious-five-state-to/