Topic: GOP - Rand Paul's Presidential Highlight Reel w/ his Libertarian Twist - page 59. (Read 205816 times)

COLORADO: Clinton 43 - Paul 41
IOWA: Clinton 45 - Paul 37
VIRGINIA: Clinton 44 - Paul 42

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton runs best overall against leading Republican White House contenders in three critical swing states, Colorado, Iowa and Virginia, but U.S. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is in a virtual tie with her in Colorado and Virginia, according to a Quinnipiac University Swing State Poll released today. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush ties her in Virginia, the largest of the three, and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is in a virtual tie in Colorado.

Secretary Clinton has a markedly better favorability rating than the Republicans in all three states, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University Poll finds. The Swing State Poll focuses on key states in the presidential election.

In this early look at possible 2016 presidential matchups, New Jersey Gov. Christopher Christie is the poorest performing Republican, trailing Clinton by margins of 5 to 10 percentage points, while each of the other Republicans is in the running in at least one state.

Walker has the lowest name recognition of any of the candidates.

In each state, Jeb Bush's family ties to the White House have more of a negative impact than Hillary Clinton's ties. Also in each state, 74 percent or more of voters say the fact that Clinton would be the first woman president would not affect their vote.

"Gov. Jeb Bush has a family problem. Many voters don't like him coming from a family of presidents," said Peter A. Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll. "If voters are still saying by 4-1 margins this makes them less likely to vote for him when the balloting begins, that will be trouble for him.

"Few voters, however, say they are put off by Mrs. Clinton being the wife of former President Bill Clinton."

"Several of the GOP contenders can take some solace from this poll, although Hillary Clinton remains queen of the public opinion hill at this point. The one GOPer for whom these numbers are a total drag is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie," Brown added.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker wins the 'fresh face' award, doing well against the Clinton standard, especially when he still remains an unknown to many voters. Gov. Mike Huckabee is within an average of five points of her in these three key states."

Colorado

Clinton gets 43 percent to Paul's 41 percent in the presidential race in Colorado. She tops or ties the other Republicans:

43 - 34 percent over Gov. Christie;
44 - 36 percent over Bush;
42 - 40 percent over Gov. Walker;
44 - 39 percent over former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

The Democrat's margin among women ranges from 8 to14 percentage points. Men are more closely divided, except for Paul's 8-point lead.

Her lead among independent voters ranges from too close to call against Paul or Walker to a 7 percentage point lead over either Bush or Christie.

Colorado voters don't think much of any of the candidates. They give Clinton a split 46 - 47 percent favorability rating. Favorability ratings for the Republicans are negative or split:

26 - 47 percent for Christie;
29 - 43 percent for Bush;
33 - 33 percent for Paul;
33 - 34 percent for Huckabee;
24 - 21 percent for Walker with 54 percent who don't know enough about him to form an opinion.

Because Jeb Bush is son to former President George H.W. Bush and brother to former President George W. Bush, 39 percent of Colorado voters are less likely to vote for him, while 8 percent are more likely and 52 percent say the family tie won't affect their vote.

Only 24 percent of voters are less likely to vote for Hillary Clinton because of President Bill Clinton, while 15 percent are more likely and 59 percent say it will make no difference.

The fact that Hillary Clinton would be the first woman president makes no difference in their vote, 74 percent of Colorado voters say.

"Today, at least, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky give former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton a run for her money in Colorado," said Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll.

"Neither gender nor spouse seem to raise red flags for Hillary Clinton."

Iowa

While she doesn't hit the all-important 50 percent mark, Clinton tops all the listed Republicans in Iowa:

45 - 38 percent over Huckabee;
45 - 37 percent over Paul;
44 - 34 percent over Christie;
45 - 35 percent over Bush;
45 - 35 percent over Walker.

The Democrat's lead among women ranges from 20 to 28 percentage points. Clinton trails among men by margins of 3 to 14 percentage points.

Her lead among independent voters ranges from 9 to 16 percentage points.

Iowa voters give Clinton a 49 - 40 percent favorability rating. Favorability ratings for the Republicans are negative or divided:

28 - 38 percent for Christie;
25 - 37 percent for Bush;
28 - 31 percent for Paul;
35 - 33 percent for Huckabee;
21 - 23 percent for Walker with 55 percent who don't know enough about him to form an opinion.

WASHINGTON — Senator Rand Paul is eyeing April 7 as the day he will announce his plans to run for president, people close to him said, a step that would position him ahead of his potential Republican rivals as a declared candidate and allow him to begin raising money directly for his campaign 10 months before the Iowa caucuses.

Mr. Paul, the junior senator from Kentucky and the heir to the robust Ron Paul grass-roots network, will take the next month to continue talking with members of his family about whether they are comfortable moving forward with the exhausting and, at times, agonizing rigors of a modern presidential campaign.

Only his family’s doubts could change his mind at this point, said associates of the senator, who insisted on anonymity because Mr. Paul’s plans had not yet taken final shape.

An announcement in early April would afford Mr. Paul certain advantages with the Federal Election Commission calendar. April 1 is the beginning of a quarterly reporting period, and he would have almost that entire time to raise money toward what his advisers hope would be a strong initial total to demonstrate that he is a serious competitor. Once he announced, Mr. Paul would also be able to transfer into his presidential campaign any of the $2.9 million he had in his Senate campaign account at the end of 2014.

As metro Atlanta dithered in a nearly frozen state on Monday evening, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., gathered with some brave souls in Buckhead to lay the groundwork for what could become the skeleton of a presidential campaign here.

Right now, the project is called “Build America,” with local GOP activist Julianne Thompson and state Rep. John Pezold, R-Fortson, among the co-chairs. Former Hall County commissioner Ashley Bell is on the list of national co-chairs.

Before the event, Paul checked in by telephone for a quick interview. A partial transcription:

Insider: This “Build America” project of yours – should we consider this a shadow campaign, a preliminary campaign?

Paul: It’s an acknowledgement that people in Washington don’t build anything, and don’t really know much about what goes on in the rest of America. I live in fly-over America. I’m very conscious that people in Washington and many of the elites in our country have no idea what somebody in Georgia thinks would be good for business – someone who has a McDonald’s or runs a grocery store – what they do to stay in business and make a payroll.

This is a way to get me to bypass official Washington, bypass lobbyists and have people that I can meet in all the different states. Should we run, sure, they become people that can get me information and that can be a voice for reason outside of official Washington.

Insider: On Sunday, House Speaker John Boehner said he was “certainly” willing to shut off funding to the Department of Homeland Security over the House bill that also includes a repeal of President Barack Obama’s executive order forestalling deportation of millions of illegal immigrants. Senate Majority Mitch McConnell has said there won’t be a shutdown. Where are you on this?

Paul: It’s not so much being for or against. It’s deciding how you’re for or against something. For example, I think it is very important that the president not be able to write law and that he execute law written by Congress. And that he not execute action that contradicts what Congress wants. That doesn’t really indicate what my position is on immigration or on the shutdown, but it does mean that I’m very much worried about a president who thinks he can write the law….

I guess I don’t look at it as shutdown versus not shutdown. It would be better if government weren’t run this way. We lurch from deadline to deadline to deal with what’s called a continuing resolution, which means they glom all the spending together in one bill…

Insider: So would you be siding with McConnell on this?

Paul: It’s difficult to say exactly what that is. We just had a vote on whether or not to attach the instructions that we would not fund the executive order on immigration. I think every Republican but one, myself included, voted to say to the president that you can’t write the law….

The question is what ultimately happens. I guess it doesn’t really mean I’m for shutting down the Department of Homeland Security – just that I’m trying to send a message that we need to obey the Constitution. It’s really not easily done, because we have no power to make him do it. The president could even veto it if we passed it, and right now we have no Democrats on board. So really, we are truly at an impasse, and I really don’t know what the answer is — how we come out of the impasse.

Insider: You’re being squired around town by former Hall County commissioner Ashley Bell, who has worked with Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on bringing more minorities into the GOP. How is that working?

Paul: No. 1, it’s the right thing to do, but No. 2, I think it’s our route to electoral success for the presidency. I tell everybody, the party’s got to look like the rest of America – black, white, brown, rich, poor, with tattoos, without tattoos, with earrings, without earrings. We’ve got to look more like America.

I’m trying everything I can to broaden that reach. Part of that is admitting that there still is, in some ways, two Americas – liked Martin Luther King talked about in ’67. Then it was de jure, or by law, now it’s sort of de facto. But it still exists. Some of it actually is still a legal problem. Minorities tend to get caught up in the criminal justice system more than whites. I think some of it’s a disproportionate amount of poverty and lack of good representation.

If people are always in one neighborhood, more people of that color are going to get snatched up, even though white kids are doing the same thing. Police just don’t happen to be in their neighborhood as much. It adds up after a while.

Insider: Did you hear what FBI Director James Comey said on this topic last week?

Paul: Yes, but I’m not sure I completely agree with him. He was talking more about – and I think it’s important to talk about this – that people still make judgments based on the color of their skin. I think that’s probably true.

But I think in the war on drugs, it’s more to do with an inadvertent racial outcome, because many of the policemen in the big cities are black. And I don’t know that black policemen are prejudiced in their arrests. I think they just tend to go where crime is. And unfortunately there are a disproportionate amount of African-Americans among the poor, Hispanics among the poor. But if you look at whites according to income, you’d find that a disproportionate amount of poor whites are incarcerated, too.

So what I would say is that sentences needs to be fairer. Putting somebody in jail for 50 years for selling marijuana is ridiculous and ought to stop.

When people have served their time, they ought to get their right to vote back. I have a bill with [Senate Minority Leader] Harry Reid to restore federal voting rights after you’ve served your time….

Insider: How often are we going to be seeing you down here?

Paul: You know, Atlanta – I love coming back to Atlanta. I met my wife here. She worked for Sprint back in the ‘80s. We met about ’89. I was at Georgia Baptist Medical Center, which is now Atlanta Medical. I also did a couple months at Grady when I was in medical school in ’87. So I have fond memories of Atlanta.

I was a Braves fan when they lost a hundred games.

Insider: It’s about to be déjà vu.

Not all thank-you notes are created equal.

After lunching with Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Capitol Hill earlier this month, Republican super-donor Foster Freiss emailed the White House hopeful a personal note thanking him for his time and for hosting him in the Senate dining room, “my favorite D.C. place to be fed.” But Paul wasn’t the only senator on the other end of Friess’ correspondence, nor were the topics limited to the Senate bean soup.

In a copy of the email obtained by the Washington Examiner, Freiss, a highly successful investment manager known for his generous support of conservative and Christian causes, gently scolded Paul’s libertarian foreign policy, especially his reticence toward more active U.S. leadership in the Middle East. Freiss didn’t keep the criticism private, either, informing Paul that he had “BCC’d” four other Republican senators on the email. Among them: Ted Cruz of Texas, considered Paul’s chief rival for the anti-Establishment vote in the 2016 primary field.

A spokesman for Cruz declined to comment on the email. In the note, Friess, who was unavailable for comment, specifically urges Paul to support sending more U.S. aid to the Kurds in the battle against the Islamic State.

Sen. Rand Paul is drawing liberal fire from many left wing commentators, now including Prof. Paul Krugman. Many of the criticisms are badly off base. As noted in yesterday’s column there is so much simply factually incorrect about The New Republic‘s Danny Vinik recent Rand Paul Has the Most Dangerous Economic Views of Any 2016 Candidate — for example — that one hardly knows where to begin. So, to quote the composer John Cage, let’s “begin anywhere.”

First, Rand Paul, unlike Ron Paul, nowhere appears on record as advocating the gold standard. Implication of such advocacy to Sen. Paul is, flatly, wrong. This is sloppy journalism.

Second, whatever Sen. Paul’s views may be, the current overwhelming opposition to the gold standard by academic economists is reminiscent of nothing so much as the Wizard of Oz’s movie peroration: “I, your Wizard, per ardua ad alta, am about to embark upon a hazardous and technically unexplainable journey into the outer stratosphere…to confer, converse, and otherwise hobnob with my brother wizards.” The pronouncements of such eminent economic wizards as those sampled by the Booth School are as unpersuasive as they are rotund. In the unvarnished language of Forbes.com contributor Nathan Lewis, a leading witness to the fact that the Emperor has no clothes, “Academic economists of every variety, along with high-fashion architects, are now generally regarded as deluded nincompoops….”

Rand Paul traveled to Des Moines, Iowa, recently and delivered a sure-fire applause line. “Anybody here want to audit the Fed?” the Kentucky senator asked. “Anybody feel that the Fed’s out to get us?”

He followed it up with an op-ed comparing the Federal Reserve to Lehman Brothers and calling it essentially bankrupt. The bash-the-Fed routine, perfected by Paul’s father, former Texas congressman Ron Paul, is political gold with libertarian voters suspicious of all federal authority, especially a central bank with a $4.5 trillion balance sheet.

But Paul could face a significant challenge if he emerges from Iowa with a legitimate shot at the Republican nomination. Because experts say he gets many of his arguments about the Fed flat wrong. And the establishment wing of the GOP — backed by piles of Wall Street money — views Paul’s approach to the Fed as dangerous and irresponsible.

The thinking in these circles is that should Paul emerge as a viable threat to get the nomination, an even larger outpouring of money and organizational muscle will be deployed to stop him, in large part out of fear of what a President Paul might do to the Fed.

“If he comes out of Iowa or begins to emerge with any kind of strength, I think you will see the GOP establishment go on red alert because they are going to view him as a dangerous person,” said one financial services industry executive who did not want to be quoted on record criticizing Paul. “The Fed is the pre-eminent central bank on the planet and no one wants to put that at risk.”

Fear of Paul emerging as a potential nominee is part of what is driving the gush of Wall Street money to Bush, and to some extent to Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin.

“He seems to be moving to the position of abolishing or severely limiting the actions of the Fed,” said Pethokoukis. “Every other advanced economy has a central bank. We are going to somehow do something different? That’s going to strike a lot of business people and people on Wall Street as a very extreme and not very responsible position to take.”

The GOP may have a crowded field of likely 2016 candidates all vying to become the next commander-in-chief, but Sen. Rand Paul has already secured the unofficial title as “troller-in-chief.”

That’s because the Kentucky Republican, who is openly exploring the possibility of a White House run, has taken to social media in recent months to make jabs and poke fun of other likely candidates -- even posting a “secret tape” of a fake phone call between Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton.

The man behind the provocative tweets, memes and hashtags is Vincent Harris, 26, the chief digital strategist for Paul. Harris sat down for an interview with “The Fine Print.” Harris previously worked for Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who is another prospective 2016 presidential candidate.

“Sen. Paul from the beginning has been very digitally savvy,” Harris said during an interview in Washington. “Even in my first interview with him, he mentioned that he wanted to run a cutting-edge digital campaign -- something new, something that was very different than what President Obama had run.”

But Harris said Paul’s digital strategy isn’t just about picking fights with possible 2016 rivals -- it’s also about differentiating Paul from the pack.

“The strategy and the number one problem that people have in politics is just getting their information across to somebody -- how do you reach somebody at all,” Harris said. “News and information has to be entertaining, it's got to be interesting and it's got to be different than how everyone else is communicating.”

Harris picked up his cellphone to explain his point further.

“People expect their politicians now to take serious messages, to take serious policy and to deliver it to them in a way they can read through this device -- through memes, through Web videos, through personal Facebook posts, through short, pithy tweets,” he said.

On the Internet, he said, creativity is key. Gone are the days of simply posting press releases on Facebook or linking to a speech on the floor of the Senate.

“I was reading a study about millennial moms and how they use their mobile device more than watch TV, more than go on their laptop,” Harris said. “How do you reach a millennial mom? You have to communicate on her mobile device. She's on Facebook, she's on Pinterest, she's on Instagram.”

Communicating through those mediums, Harris said, means that the media itself needs to more entertaining than straight news.

Members of Agudath Israel of America’s National Board of Trustees convened in the nation’s capital to meet with Congressional leaders to advocate on issues ranging from the security of Israel, Iran sanctions, the alarming rise of global anti-Semitism, funding for homeland security and the advancement of school choice.

The Mission opened with a private dinner in the U.S. Capitol with Senator Rand Paul (R- KY) member Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Ron Johnson (R- WI) Chairman Homeland Security Committee, and Senator Robert Menendez (D- NJ) ranking member Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Meetings on Capitol Hill were scheduled with key members of the Senate and House. Agudath Israel’s intense legislative advocacy effort comes at a particularly sensitive moment in Washington.

Agudath Israel Board Chairman, Shlomo Werdiger, and Mission Chairman, Leon Melohn, both explained why Agudath Israel trustees came to Washington from across the country. “Crucial decisions will be made at the highest levels of government that may impact the Jewish people for generations to come. It is imperative that we add our voice and relay our deep concern to government leaders.”

Of all the Democratic or Republican presidential aspirants for 2016, only U.S. Sen. Rand Paul can save us from ruination born of perpetual, purposeless, unfunded global wars and limitless presidential power.

Only the Kentucky senator grasps like President George Washington that entangling alliances are the fathers of danger and debt, not safety and security.

Only he salutes President Thomas Jefferson’s foreign policy of “[P]eace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”

Only Mr. Paul understands like James Madison, father of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, that war is the nurse of executive aggrandizement that cripples the Constitution’s checks and balances.

Only he grasps like then-Secretary of State John Quincy Adams that the glory of the United States is liberty, not the role of dictatress to the world, and, “It is not by the contrivance of agents of destruction that America wishes to commend her inventive genius to the admiration or the gratitude of after times.”

Sen. Rand Paul will likely get what he wants in Kentucky, a member of the state’s Republican Central Committee told TheBlaze: a way around state law preventing him from appearing on the ballot twice.

In a letter this week, Paul requested his party establish a Kentucky presidential caucus for March 2016 instead of a primary for May of next year. Under Kentucky law, a candidate cannot be on the ballot for two offices. That presents a problem for Paul who plans for run for reelection to the U.S. Senate and likely plans to run for president.

“Most of us will go with a caucus,” Kentucky state Sen. Albert Robinson told TheBlaze. Robinson is a member of the central committee that will decide on replacing the presidential primary with a caucus. “We would see it as a way of helping one of our own.”

...
Paul said he expects to announce in March or April whether he’s running for president.

President Barack Obama’s request last week for Congress to authorize military force against the Islamic State highlighted a contrast between Paul and many Republicans, particularly Rubio, on foreign policy.

Obama’s request sets a three-year time limit, but doesn’t put geographic boundaries on where the U.S. can use force.

On the Senate floor Wednesday, Rubio called the time restriction “quite unprecedented” and said: “I would say there is a pretty simple authorization he could ask for, and it would read one sentence. And that is: We authorize the President to defeat and destroy ISIL, period.”

When asked on Friday about Rubio’s approach, Paul said: “That could be a million American GIs in the Middle East. It’s a mistake not to put some conditions. … Right now there are 60 different groups in 30 different countries that have pledged allegiance to ISIS. The current resolution, and for those who want no restrictions on the resolution, would allow us to put 100,000 troops in Libya. I would think we would want to vote if we’re going to send 100,000 troops to Libya.”

Since Bush has emerged as the early Republican front runner, Paul has been a leading critic and suggested there’s little difference between Bush and Clinton.

On social media last month, Paul’s PAC put out a recording of a mock phone call between Bush and Clinton, with an actress playing Clinton telling the Bush character that “We both agree on so many issues: bigger government, Common Core and amnesty for illegal immigrants.”
...

SARASOTA
Conventional wisdom has it that Florida is Jeb Bush country in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio enjoys lots of conservative Sunshine State love as well.

But that didn’t stop Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul from courting Republicans in Bush/Rubio home turf this weekend. At a Valentine’s evening airport rally Saturday night he found plenty of Republicans receptive to his message.

“I like Jeb Bush. I’ve voted for him,” said Republican business broker Dale Tindall. “But whether it’s the Bushes or the Kennedys, or the Clintons, enough is enough.”

That sentiment was repeated over and over again in random interviews among the several hundred people gathered Saturday to see Paul, who told the Tampa Bay Times he is not intimidated by his rivals’ Florida advantage or by Bush’s expected overwhelming fundraising advantage.

“Most of the grass-roots of our party believes that we should have less centralization of education in Washington. Most of the people I meet are opposed to Common Core, as I am,” Paul, 52, said of the education standards championed by Bush and adopted by Florida and most other states. “I just think it’s going to be difficult (for Bush) to win over grass-roots conservatives.”

United States Senator (KY) and likely Republican Presidential candidate Rand Paul, chatted with us Friday while he was in town for the Orange County GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner.

By Jacob Engels

His stump speech brought Central Florida Republicans to their feet for a healthy standing ovation in the heart of the I-4 corridor, during the Orange County GOP's annual Lincoln Day Dinner fundraising event...proving that Senator Paul's libertarian brand of conservatism can engage the Republican base, as well as students on college campuses nationwide.

But beforehand...Paul, a leading presidential contender, dressed in blue jeans and a sport coat, kindly fielded our questions after being hounded by the local TV news outlets, who provided little more than "gotcha" style inquiries.

The son of former Texas Congressman and Republican presidential contender Ron Paul, was on point with his answers and focused on a theme of freedom and individual liberty. From his #AuditTheFed legislation to his favorite band, we present our exclusive interview with Rand Paul.


Was a pleasure to speak with Senator Paul.


What were the expectations growing up in the Paul household?

Do well in school...or else.

You have made a significant effort to broaden the appeal of the Republican Party to millenials and the younger generations. Why should the platform of the GOP interest these groups?

Kids are just innately part of this "leave me alone" coalition. They are leaving the house and tired of their parents and ready to make their own decisions. As adults move out of school and into the workforce, they are hungry for independence.

Young people are connected through their devices more so than any other generation and don't understand why the government should be looking at what you are doing on your phone or who you are talking to. Ideas of privacy, of reigning in the NSA...are very much ideas that resonate. I have taken this message to young conservatives and libertarians at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) and more liberal students/young people at Berkley, and it was received well in both places.

A lot of the youth who voted for President Obama are upset that he has not been a better defender of their privacy and that he has continued the perpetual nature of war.

Freedom and the power of the individual are two themes that are predominant in almost everything you do. Why are these concepts so important to you, and what is an example of something elected officials do to hinder these ideas?

When we started out, the whole battle of the constitution was not to restrain the people...but to restrain the government. When we finally booted the King and set up our own country, we wanted to constrain it...to make it hard to go to war, and listed rights important to us in the Bill of Rights. We also stated that those not listed are not to be disparaged, so individual freedom and rights really come out of our origin as a nation and people.

Over the last 100 years, government has grown bigger while freedom and individual liberty have grown smaller...in times of war it's even more dangerous. In the past, some civil liberties would be lost and then come back after war. The problem now is that we are in a perpetual state of war and fear, and because of that there is a great deal of danger that our civil liberties face...as we lose them through the Patriot Act and the new NSA surveillance program. The mandates of backdoor searches through Google and Facebook mean we could never get that freedom back.

What would a Rand Paul presidency look like? What role would women, minorities and citizens have in helping shape policy and governance?

I would look at the law and find out how the law was treating people unfairly. For example, the war on drugs has had a disproportionately negative effect on African Americans, Hispanics and those that live in poverty.

In my administration, I would do everything in my power to make sure that the law was treating everyone equally and that it was more just. Putting someone in jail for 50 years for selling marijuana is obscene, and it should stop.

In Florida, you have two prominent people who might run for President who can't even come to support medical marijuana. I know a man whose daughter has 200 seizures every day, so many that it can stunt the growth of his daughter’s brain. He wants to use cannabis oil, in addition to traditional medicine. Those in Florida who are against medical marijuana would actually put him in prison if he did that in your state. As Republicans, we need to show a little bit more compassion for people.

Where does your legislation on auditing the Federal Reserve stand?

Audit The Fed is very popular. It passed in the House last time with every Republican and about 100 Democrats. In the Senate, we have a little bit more of an uphill battle, but we have 30 co-sponsors right now and are hoping for a vote sometime this spring.

A lot of people think that a bank connected to the government like the Federal Reserve ought to reveal whose stuff they buy and what they own. If you are the Chairman of the Federal Reserve...should you let people know that you bought your brother’s bank? There should be more transparency.

Lightning round - Favorite band, film and Austrian economist.

Rush. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and F.A. Hayek.

...
"I didn't allege there is a connection," Paul said on Thursday. "I said I have heard of people who have said there is a connection."

Aside from briefly playing Gaffe Police, Arrington stuck to the techno-libertarian talking points of the conference, including the USA Patriot Act, net neutrality, and bitcoin.

Arrington, a libertarian, asked Paul what he thought about the idea of replacing the U.S. welfare program with a basic income policy that would give a sum of money to every American—an idea that has tantalized both libertarian and left-leaning economists. Paul brushed off the idea.

"I think that we sort of limit ourselves if we're talking about the minimum we want people to have," Paul said. "We should minimize what the government does—that's the nonproductive sector—and we should maximize the productive sector."

On net neutrality, Paul said the government should not regulate Internet service providers as utilities because it stifles innovation. Paul noted that the tunnels in New York City could likely accommodate "hundreds" of cables from different ISPs, which could spur competition.

"The way to fix this and to correct this is to open up competition within those monopolies," Paul said. "Why grant monopoly licenses?"

When asked how rural conservatives can find common ground with urban liberals, Paul noted that last year, he gave virtually the same speech about privacy at the Conservative Political Action Conference and the University of California (Berkeley). He held that fact up as evidence of a "leave me alone" coalition between Democrats and Republicans.
...

Speaking at the American Spectator Gala in Washington D.C. last night, Sen. Rand Paul delighted the crowd with a strong anti-government speech.


He began with a defense of the government shutdown in 2013, pointing out that many Americans in “fly-over country” didn’t really care, and only a third of government was shut down at the time.


Paul blamed Obama for shutting down national parks and national monuments to raise public concern, praising World War II veterans for ignoring the barriers placed in front of their monument in Washington D.C.


“I tell people who don’t understand America, don’t understand that we need to shut the damn thing down, I tell people the image you need to remember is when the World War II veterans got off their bus, took their wire cutters, cut the barricades, and threw them on the lawn,” he said.


Paul and his wife Kelly attended the annual gala, seated at the same table as David Koch, one of the two billionaire brothers who serve as philanthropists for conservative ideas.


After highlighting more incidents of mismanaged government spending, Paul pointed out that leaders in Washington D.C. can not be trusted to properly run the country.


“Everything in Washington is broken, nothing works here,” he said. “We can’t run the post office, we are not to be trusted with money. Congress is not good with money, we shouldn’t be trusted with almost any responsibility up here. Most of government should be shut down and devolved and sent back to the states.”

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Thursday that lawmakers should "scrap" the tax code.

Paul was responding to a question during a Facebook question-and-answer session in which he was asked if Congress should abolish the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

"The IRS is too big, too powerful, and we absolutely should scrap the code," Paul, a prospective 2016 presidential candidate, answered. "Look for my tax plan later this spring."

Paul was touting his "Audit the Fed" proposal, which has 30 co-sponsors and would allow the comptroller general to audit the Federal Reserve. Fed officials oppose the policy, saying that it'd politicize monetary policy.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Wednesday morning that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton deserves a lot of blame for instability in the Middle East and the rising numbers of Islamic State (ISIS) recruits.

Paul said that Clinton’s intervention in Libya and the assassination of Muammar Gaddafi created space for ISIS jihadists to flourish and grow.

“The disaster that is Libya is now a breeding ground for terrorists and is a breeding ground for armaments. So I really do blame Hillary Clinton’s war in Libya for creating a lot of the chaos that is spreading throughout the Middle East,” he said.

Michael Gerson, who boasts the résumé bullet point of chief speechwriter under George W. Bush, recently began a column bashing Rand Paul by arguing that the Kentucky senator’s actions had fallen into a pattern.

Let me humbly suggest that the pattern is on the other side of the table. Nearly every hawkish opinion columnist has written at least one think piece about Paul, and at this point they’ve become a tad predictable—almost like they’re working off a template.

Now, for the first time, and after much rigorous research, I’ve distilled that template into four handy steps.

Not every anti-Paul manifesto follows these rules to a T, but if you’re planning to write such a piece, this is about as comprehensive a style guide as you’ll find.

As always, I exist only to serve.

First, begin by expressing curiosity about Paul

You might concede that Paul is “interesting” or “thoughtful,” “an alternative,” someone who is starting a “necessary” or “inevitable” foreign policy debate on the right. Bonus points are awarded if you mention the “war-weary” American public, whose sentiments Paul is channeling.

This establishes you as a neutral arbiter of the conversation, rather than a zealous ideologue who winces every time a fistfight breaks out in the Middle East without an American response. Your tone is prodding, curious, willing to consider Paul even if you’re secretly pining for his electoral annihilation.

Second, denounce as crazy one or two genuinely concerning statements Paul has made

The most common and effective examples here are Paul’s equivocating on mandatory vaccinations and his implication that Dick Cheney invaded Iraq to enrich Halliburton, the first of which is controversial and the second of which simply isn’t borne out by the facts.

These are statements that worry even his supporters. Questions about them are absolutely fair game, and Paul will have to put them to bed if he wants to win the presidency.

Third, denounce as crazy one or two entirely normal foreign policy statements Paul has made without skipping a breath

Kurt Wallace: This is Kurt Wallace and our guest today on Rare is Doug Stafford, Executive Director at Rand PAC. You can find Rand PAC at RandPaul2016.com, and Doug thanks for being with us today.

Doug Stafford: Thanks, Kurt. Pleasure to be with you.

Kurt Wallace: Purpose of this discussion is to talk about the Fed. Sen. Paul has introduced Audit the Fed legislation. The Hill newspaper which covers Congress, puts in this week is that the Fed is “lashing out” at Mr. Paul’s plan.

Forbes has conjectured that “The club of U.S. central bankers appears jittery, but it’s not because of interest rates, unemployment, or mortgage-backed securities. It’s because of Congress.” What’s going on here?

Doug Stafford: Yeah Kurt, Sen. Paul has reintroduced Audit the Fed and I’m going to take issue with “jittery” I don’t think it’s jittery…

It seems downright scared, doesn’t it?