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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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6 Aug, 2015

GOP debate: Christie, Paul spar on NSA, hug

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Paul and Christie spar over the NSA’s use of phone records to catch terrorists:

PAUL: I want to collect more records from terrorists, but less records from innocent Americans. The Fourth Amendment was what we fought the Revolution over. I will continue to stand for the Bill of Rights.

CHRISTIE: That’s a completely ridiculous answer. How are you supposed to know [the difference]?

PAUL: Get a warrant!

CHRISTIE: Senator, when you’re sitting in a subcommittee just blowing hot air about this, you can say things like that. When you’re responsible for protecting the lives of American people, then what you need to do is make sure..

PAUL: Here’s the problem, governor. You fundamentally misunderstand the Bill of Rights…I don’t trust President Obama with our [phone] records. I know you gave him a big hug, and if you want to give him a big hug again, go right ahead.

CHRISTIE: And you know — you know, Senator Paul? Senator Paul, you know, the hugs that I remember are the hugs that I gave to the families who lost their people on September 11th. Those are the hugs I remember, and those had nothing to do — and those had nothing to do with politics, unlike what you’re doing by cutting speeches on the floor of the Senate, then putting them on the Internet within half an hour to raise money for your campaign…

Chris Christie, Rand Paul spar over NSA | Fox News Republican Debate

4 Aug, 2015

Chosen for GOP debate

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The candidates for the GOP Presidential debate are announced: Trump, Bush, Walker, Huckabee, Carson, Cruz, Rubio, Paul, Christie and Kasich will appear on stage on Aug 6 in Cleveland, OH. RNC chairman Priebus:

Our field is the biggest and most diverse of any party in history and I am glad to see that every one of those extremely qualified candidates will have the opportunity to participate on Thursday evening. Republicans across the country will be able to choose which candidate has earned their support after hearing them talk through the issues.

28 Jul, 2015

Defund Planned Parenthood bill

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As a result of the disclosures in videos about the donation fo fetal tissue from abortions, Senator Paul introduces legislation that Majority Leader McConnell aims to vote on that halts federal funding to Planned Parenthood. The organizations receives about $500 million annually in federal funding, although that money cannot be used for abortions. Spokesperson for McConnell:

The leader is working with his members to address this horrific issue and intends to have a vote before we leave for a five-week summer recess

20 May, 2015

Patriot Act filibuster

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Paul speaks for more than 10 hours on the Senate floor to filibuster a Patriot Act provision used to legally justify the bulk collection of telephone data. Congress must reauthorize or change the law by June 1, and its Memorial Day recess starting at week’s end.

I will not let the Patriot Act, the most unpatriotic of acts, go unchallenged. At the very least, we should debate. We should debate whether or not we are going to relinquish our rights, or whether or not we are going to have a full and able debate over whether or not we can live within the Constitution, or whether or not we have to go around the Constitution.

I think we’ve made the [collection] haystack so big, no one’s ever getting through the haystack to find the needle. What we really need to do is isolate the haystack into a group of suspicious people and spend enormous resources looking at suspicious people, people who we have probable cause.

You don’t know who the next group is that’s unpopular. The Bill of Rights isn’t for the prom queen. The Bill of Rights isn’t for the high school quarterback. The Bill of Rights is for the least among us. The bill of rights is for minorities. The bill of rights is for those who have minority opinions

 

13 May, 2015

Criticizes Bush’s Iraq remarks

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Paul criticizes Jeb Bush for his remarks on Iraq in an interview to Politico.

[Iraq] is an important question and [Bush gave] an incredibly fumbled answer…I don’t think it’s hypothetical whether or not it’s a good idea to topple secular dictators in the Middle East and hope to get a good outcome and hope that stability comes thereafter…I think every day we look at the mess of the chaos of the civil war in Iraq, I think every day people become more and more convinced that the war was a mistake. I think we have to learn from the mistakes of our past.

7 May, 2015

Lauds federal appeals court’s NSA ruling

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Paul lauds the federal appeals court’s ruling on NSA for illegal spying.

This is a big deal. We’ve been waiting for this for over a year now. I sued the NSA last year because I think that the whole program really is not consistent with the Fourth Amendment and what we find out today is that the appeals court thinks it’s not even consistent with the statute, the Patriot Act, which also goes on to mention that many people in congress had no idea this program was going on, and most of us don’t think that this program is consistent with what the Patriot Act actually said.

28 Apr, 2015

‘Baltimore violence is about lack of morals’

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Paul reacts to the riots in Baltimore during an interview with radio host, Ingraham.

The police have to do what they have to do, and I am very sympathetic to the plight of the police in this…There are so many things [root causes] we can talk about. The breakdown of the family structure, the lack of fathers, the lack of a moral code in our society.

https://soundcloud.com/user61228343/ingraham-rand-paul-april-28

18 Apr, 2015

Favors Iran negotiations over war

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Paul says he is skeptical about Iran deal, but would favor negotiating with them over war.

I’m going to keep an open mind and look at the agreement — I do believe that negotiation is better than war. I’ve been a big proponent of negotiation…I think we should do everything we can to stop them. I’ve voted for sanctions to try to stop them. I’m somewhat skeptical of the president’s agreement; however, I am in favor [of] negotiations over war, and I think I’ve been one of the reasonable people in our party who has not been beating the drums for war.

8 Apr, 2015

New Hampshire campaign rally

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Paul addresses his first presidential candidate campaign rally in Milford, New Hampshire. He talks about promoting personal freedom, repealing Obamacare and cutting back on defense spending and foreign aid.

It angers me to see mobs burning our flag and chanting, ‘Death to America’ in countries that receive millions of dollars of our foreign aid.

New Hampshire Rally - April 8, 2015

7 Apr, 2015

Welcomes Paul to 2016 Race

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Cruz welcomes fellow Republican Paul to 2016 presidential race.

I am glad to welcome my friend Rand Paul into the 2016 GOP primary. Rand is a good friend, and we have worked side by side on many issues. I respect his talent, his passion, and the work he has done for Kentuckians and Americans in the U.S. Senate. His entry into the race will no doubt raise the bar of competition, help make us all stronger, and ultimately ensure that the GOP nominee is equipped to beat Hillary Clinton and to take back the White House for Republicans in 2016.

Launches presidential campaign

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Paul officially launches his 2016 presidential election campaign on the Republican ticket in Louisville, Kentucky.

Today begins the journey to take America back…The Washington machine that gobbles up our freedoms and invades every nook and cranny of our lives must be stopped…I am running for president to return our country to the principles of liberty and limited government.

Senator Rand Paul Presidential Announcement Full Speech (C-SPAN)

27 Mar, 2015

Constitutional Champion award

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Paul wins the Constitutional Champion award given out by The Constitution Project, a bipartisan legal watchdog group. Group’s president:

Sen. Paul has been a vocal critic of NSA spying. He introduced legislation declaring that the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution shall not be construed to allow any U.S. government agency to search the phone records of Americans without a warrant based on probable cause, and has made it clear that he will vote against any extension of the Patriot Act provisions expiring in June.

11 Mar, 2015

No regrets on Iran letter

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Paul says that he has no regrets on sending open letter to Iran regarding the negations on nuclear deal in an interview with Beck on his radio show.

I don’t want just any old agreement, I want the agreement to mean something. Most of the sanctions [against Iran] were passed by Congress. The president can’t undo legislation on his own. This is this constant war we have with him that he thinks he can write or un-write law.

Rand Paul on Why He Signed Iran Letter | "Glenn Beck Radio Program"

28 Feb, 2015

Wins 2015 CPAC straw poll

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Paul wins the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference straw poll for potential GOP presidential candidates, with 26% of votes.

Our party is filled with constitutional conservatives who have chosen to stand with me for a third consecutive straw poll victory.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.