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Rand Paul

Rand Paul49 posts

Randal Howard “Rand” Paul (born January 7, 1963) is the junior United States Senator for Kentucky. He describes himself as a “constitutional conservative” and a libertarian. He is the son of Congressman and 2012 Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas. Paul first received national attention in 2008 when making political speeches on behalf of his father. Rand Paul is the first United States Senator in history to serve simultaneously with a parent in the United States House of Representatives.

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7 Apr, 2009

Accuses Cheney of Iraq profit

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In a speech to students at Western Kentucky University, Paul accuses Cheney of manipulating the Iraq war for his own benefit. He also warns the students to be fearful of large companies that may influence politics. Paul recalls an interview of Cheney in 1995

He’s being interviewed, I think, by the American Enterprise Institute, and he says it would be a disaster, it would be vastly expensive, it’d be civil war, we would have no exit strategy. He goes on and on for five minutes. Dick Cheney saying it would be a bad idea. And that’s why the first Bush didn’t go into Baghdad. Dick Cheney then goes to work for Halliburton. Makes hundreds of millions of dollars as their CEO. Next thing you know, he’s back in government and it’s a good idea to go into Iraq.

Rand Paul speaks at WKU Part 2 of 5, 4-7-09

3 Nov, 2010

Elected as Kentucky senator

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Paul defeats Conway to be elected as United State senator from Kentucky. He received 55.7 % of the total votes polled.

I have a message from the people of Kentucky, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words: We’ve come to take our government back.

20 Jan, 2013

GOP must ‘evolve and adapt’

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Paul says that GOP must evolve and adapt to ensure that the party has a bright future. He also says that he would make a decision on running for president within 2 years.

Whether or not I am going to run for president, that decision will come probably in two years, and [we] will in the meantime try to be part of the national debate…We think the Republican Party needs to evolve and adapt, or we are going to become a permanent minority party.

19 May, 2014

Wins campaign manager poll

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In a Politico survey of over 25 GOP campaign managers, Paul is the top pick as GOP congressional candidate. The runner up choice is New Jersey’s Chris Christie. The survey does not reflect a large majority, however it gives a glimpse into a possible outcome of the Republican presidential primary.

20 May, 2014

Speaks at UC Berkley

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In an event at UC Berkley, Paul speaks about his lawsuit against the Obama Administration and his concern over the National Security Agency’s telephone policies.

I don’t know about you, but I’m worried. If the CIA is spying on Congress, who exactly can or will stop them?

Senator Rand Paul Speaks at Berkeley Forum

27 May, 2014

Performs free eye surgeries

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Paul goes back to his opthamology roots and performs eye surgeries at his home. Paul has 17 years experience in opthamology and plans to one day return to the medical field. As a member of Congress, he is not allowed to perform surgeries in exchange for money, but can do them for free. This allows him to continue to keep up his skills. Most of his patients are elderly and cannot afford health care.

I think that we need to have people who are willing to reclaim their place in regular life after politics and not just say, ‘You go into politics and that’s what you’re going to do forever.’

4 Jun, 2014

Supports drone use

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In an interview with Fox News, Paul makes statements that support the use of drones. Critics say his statements contradict earlier statements against using drones as part of U.S. national security policy. When asked his thoughts on whether he would support killing the released Guantanemo Bay prisoners if they threaten a terroist attack:

I would say there would be drones with their name on it.

6 Jun, 2014

Mocks Taliban trade

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At a GOP convention, Paul criticizes the Obama Administration’s trade for Bowe Bergdahl and jokes that Democrats should have been traded. He goes on to name a few he would trade, including Hillary Clinton.

I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve been a little bit annoyed with the president…Releasing five Taliban senior officials is not only against the law, it’s illegal and wrong and he should never have done it.

9 Jun, 2014

Not impressed with Hillary’s book

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Paul tells the press that Clinton’s book, Hard Choices, is not impressive and not worth plagiarizing. He makes no positive statements about any part of the book, and references Harry Potter as a better read. Paul finds it unlikely that he will read another Clinton publication and calls it a waste of time.

I read a lot of books, and it’s rare that I don’t find a passage or two to lift here or there.

10 Jun, 2014

Will appear in immigration TV series

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Paul will join with Bloomberg, for a monthly TV series about immigration reform. On the series, Paul will discuss his reasons for opposing the Senate bill on reform and his views on amnesty. Paul does not support amnesty and believes immigration requirements should be enforced and updated.

I realize that subsidizing something creates more of it, and do not think the taxpayer should be forced to pay for welfare, medical care and other expenses for illegal immigrants.

14 Jun, 2014

Supports Labrador bid

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Paul supports Labrador’s bid for House majority leader, replacing Eric Cantor. At the Republican Convention:

I think Raul would be a great leader.

16 Jun, 2014

Against racist drug laws

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At the Iowa State Republican Party Convention Paul speaks out against racial biases in the war on drugs. He informs the party that three out of four prisoners are black or brown, when whites are reported to use drugs just as much. Those arrested are mostly of low economic class and cannot afford a good attorney, which makes them easy to arrest. Paul believes that although marijuana is a problem, people should not be locked up for years for mistakes made when they were young. He also supports giving ex-cons the right to vote again.

If the GOP is going to be the party of family values, it should bother Republicans that in 1980 there were 200,000 kids with a dad in prison and now there are two million.

21 Jun, 2014

Road To Majority conference

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In the Road To Majority Conference, Paul accuses the government of funding Islamic rebels to kill Christians. He also believes tax payers will eventually be used to provide financial aid to Palestine Authority, Hamas relations.

USA: Destruction of Israel? We pay for it! - Rand Paul

27 Aug, 2014

‘Interventionism created ISIS’

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Paul criticizes Clinton’s foreign policy in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, saying that interventionism led to the rise of ISIS:

To interventionists like former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, we would caution that arming the Islamic rebels in Syria created a haven for the Islamic State. We are lucky Mrs. Clinton didn’t get her way and the Obama administration did not bring about regime change in Syria. That new regime might well be ISIS.

He adds:

[…] Those who say we should have done more to arm the Syrian rebel groups have it backward. This is not to say the U.S. should ally with Assad. But we should recognize how regime change in Syria could have helped and emboldened the Islamic State, and recognize that those now calling for war against ISIS are still calling for arms to factions allied with ISIS in the Syrian civil war.

3 Oct, 2014

CNN interview

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Paul discusses his views on same sex marriage in an interview with Peter Hamby of CNN during an appearance at the College of Charleston.

I don’t want my guns registered in Washington or my marriage. Founding Fathers all got married by going down to the local courthouse. It is a local issue and always has been. Society’s changing, I mean, people change their minds all the time on this issue, and even within the Republican Party, there are people whose child turns out to be gay and they’re like, oh well maybe I want to rethink this issue. So it’s been rethought. The President’s rethought the issue. So I mean, a lot of people have rethought the issue. The bottom line is, I’m old fashioned, I’m a traditionalist. I believe in old-fashioned traditional marriage. But, I don’t really think the government needs to be too involved with this, and I think that the Republican Party can have people on both sides of the issue.

15 Oct, 2014

Obama ‘downplaying Ebola risk’

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Paul accuses Barack Obama of downplaying the possible threat of Ebola in an interview with Talk Radio 1210 WPHT.

It adds to just a litany of things that the President has let us down on and failed to show leadership. So, I think it’s one thing after another, it’s not just one issue. The lack of leadership on Ebola, the equivocating, the downplaying, the underplaying, the, sort of, trying to calm everyone with really not being completely frank about the transmissibility of the disease, I think, doesn’t help any of them at the polls.

17 Oct, 2014

Ebola is not like AIDs

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Paul says White House officials are downplaying the seriousness of Ebola in an interview with CNN.

[The Obama administration] has downplayed how transmissible it is. They say it’s the exchange of bodily of fluids. Which makes people think, ‘Oh, it’s like AIDS. It’s very difficult to catch. If someone has Ebola at a cocktail party they’re contagious and you can catch it from them.[The administration] should be honest about that. They say all it takes is direct contact to get this. If you listen carefully, they say being three feet from someone is direct contact. That’s not what most Americans think is direct contact. You start to wonder about a basic level of competence.

23 Oct, 2014

Center for National Interest speech

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Paul addresses the issue of foreign policy in a speech at the Center for National Interest in New York.

We need a foreign policy that recognized our limits, preserves our might and a common sense conservative realism of strength and action. America shouldn’t fight wars where the best outcome is stalemate. America shouldn’t fight wars when there is no plan for victory. America shouldn’t fight wars that aren’t authorized by the American people. America should and will fight wars when the consequences — intended and unintended — are worth the sacrifice. The war on terror is not over, and America cannot disengage from the world.

10 Nov, 2014

Calls the war against ISIS ‘illegal’

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Paul calls the war against ISIS ‘illegal’ in an op-ed piece published by the Daily Beast.

This war is now illegal. It must be declared and made valid, or it must be ended.

25 Nov, 2014

Blames politicians for Ferguson tragedy

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Paul blames politicians and the war on drugs for the Ferguson tragedy in an op-ed for Time. Rand writes:

In the search for culpability for the tragedy in Ferguson, I mostly blame politicians. Michael Brown’s death and the suffocation of Eric Garner in New York for selling untaxed cigarettes indicate something is wrong with criminal justice in America. The War on Drugs has created a culture of violence and put police in a nearly impossible situation. In Ferguson, the precipitating crime was not drugs, but theft. But the War on Drugs has created a tension in some communities that too often results in tragedy.