Free Republic

Sen. Rand Paul blasted fellow GOP Sen. Ted Cruz’s frequent references to Ronald Reagan on Monday, deepening the rift between the two potential 2016 presidential candidates. In an op-ed for Breitbart News, Paul (R-Ky.) took several shots at Cruz for espousing a foreign policy framework in the mold of Reagan. He also criticized Cruz’s frequent bashing of the GOP for nominating insufficiently conservative presidential candidates like Bob Dole, John McCain and Mitt Romney. “I don’t claim to be the next Ronald Reagan nor do I attempt to disparage fellow Republicans as not being sufficiently Reaganesque,” Paul wrote. “I will remind...

Ames real estate broker A.J. Spiker has informed leaders of the Republican Party of Iowa that he is stepping down as the party’s chairman. Spiker announced that he was stepping down in a letter sent to members of the party's State Central Committee. He said his resignation would be effective upon the election of a new state chairman. In the letter mailed Friday, Spiker announced that the election of a new chairman would take place during the State Central Committee's quarterly business meeting March 29. Spiker served as a member of the GOP State Central Committee from April 2010 until...

Every Republican likes to think he or she is the next Ronald Reagan. Some who say this do so for lack of their own ideas and agenda. Reagan was a great leader and President. But too often people make him into something he wasn’t in order to serve their own political purposes.

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) wowed the beltway elite and even Democrats during Saturday's annual Gridiron event, showing why the Ivy Leaguer has confounded and been vilified by many with whom he shares the same intellectual pedigree. The annual D.C. roast is hosted by the exclusive Gridiron Club, which is composed of D.C.'s mainstream and "elite" journalists. Cruz has degrees from Princeton and Harvard, which those in the permanent political class covet, and he can do their social rituals better than they can. Yet Cruz refuses to be co-opted by them politically, instead choosing to be a staunch conservative who represents...

(NEW YORK) -- It may be the opening salvo of the 2016 Republican primary. During an exclusive interview with ABC News’ Jonathan Karl for This Week, Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, called Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a friend, but drew a distinction between himself and the Kentucky senator on foreign policy, saying the U.S. “has a responsibility to defend our values.� “I’m a big fan of Rand Paul. He and I are good friends. But I don’t agree with him on foreign policy,� Cruz said. “I think U.S. leadership is critical in the world. And I agree with him that...

Rand Paul is slightly ahead of Ted Cruz....and most of us know that Rand, through his endorsement of Mitch McConnell, has already sold us out. Go Ted!!!!!!

Come take the Poll...open to guests

Mike Huckabee - "These are the things that I know. I know there is a God, and I know this nation would not exist had he not been the midwife of its birth. And I know that this nation exists by the providence of his hand, and if this nation forgets our God, then God will have every right to forget us. I hope that we repent before we ever have to receive his fiery judgment."

Just a link to a poll currently running on the front page, center, of the Drudgereport.

#CPAC2014 reports 1st day results of straw poll (ongoing): Rand Paul 29%, Ted Cruz 17%, Ben Carson 10%, Marco Rubio 10%, Chris Christie 10%

Have you ever noticed that competitors open their stores next to each other? This seems crazy until you understand a principle called Hotelling’s model of spacial competition. And once you do, you’ll also understand how Ted Cruz is positioning himself to outmaneuver Rand Paul as the conservative candidate for the GOP nomination.

While the establishment hopes for a governor to emerge, he is quietly putting together a formidable operation.Republican strategists like to say the party's next nominee needs to hail from the GOP's gubernatorial ranks. It's a response to how unpopular Washington is—particularly the party's congressional wing—and a reflection of the party's strength in holding a majority of governorships. But another reason for the gubernatorial focus is to sidestep the one formidable candidate that gives the establishment heartburn: Sen. Rand Paul.

Many skeptics assert that Paul of Tarsus (the apostle Paul) hijacked the early Christian religion, changing the theology from what Jesus originally taught. Usually offered as proof for this claim are the doctrines found in Paul's great theological work, his letter to the Romans. Without a doubt, the book of Romans contains the most complete exposition of orthodox Christian doctrines. Are these doctrines contrary to what Jesus taught? Do they conflict with the teachings of the Old Testament from which they were purportedly derived? If Paul really "invented" Christianity, then one would expect that his teachings would be different from...

Tayna Fogle sat just behind Sen. Rand Paul, nodding her head and listening as he pressed the case with Kentucky state senators to restore felon voting rights.

full headline (too long for the title): Bevin offers different explanations of his signature on 2008 report; Responds to Paul's credibility comment FRANKFORT — Dogged for a week about a 2008 report he signed that praised the bank bailout, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Matt Bevin offered reporters at the state capitol Tuesday different explanations about how his signature got on the report. Since the news broke last week Bevin has struggled explaining why he signed off on the company report — and those explanations continued on Tuesday. Bevin told CNHI reporter Ronnie Ellis that his signature was digitally placed on...

Submitted by Ron Paul of the Ron Paul Institute, President Obama’s state of the union pledge to “act with or without Congress” marks a milestone in presidential usurpation of Congressional authority. Most modern presidents have used executive orders to change and even create laws without Congressional approval. However President Obama is unusually brazen, in that most Presidents do not brag about their plans to rule by executive order in state of the union speeches. Sadly, his pledge to use his pen to implement laws and polices without the consent of Congress not only received thunderous applause from representatives of the...

Sen. Rand Paul, who represents Kentucky, said his home state of Texas could easily switch from a Republican stronghold to a Democratic voting block if the GOP doesn’t open its arms and take in more working class and more minorities. “Texas will be a Democratic state within 10 years if you don’t change,” he said at a Houston dinner with Sen. John Cornyn, CNN reported. “That doesn’t mean we give up on what we believe in, but it means we have to be a more welcoming party. We have to welcome people of all races. We need to welcome people...

Promoting Republican outreach to Hispanics, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said this week that the GOP must expand its appeal if it expects to remain politically relevant. "The party has to be bigger across the country, not only appealing to people of various ethnic background but various economic backgrounds," Paul said Friday during a sweep through Texas, CNN reported. The remarks came following a meeting with George P. Bush, the 37-year-old son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who's vying to become the next Texas Land Commissioner. Paul, a conservative firebrand who's long-been critical of establishment Republicans like the Bush family,...

A few months ago Ron Paul touched off a media flap by agreeing to give the keynote address, on September 11, to a conference of the Fatima Center in Niagara Falls, Canada. The American Jewish Committee said it was “appalled” and “dismayed” and called on Paul to reconsider. Of course, he did not take the advice.The Fatima Center is a Catholic fringe group whose leader, Father Nicholas Gruner, was suspended by the Vatican in 1996.As a Huffington Post blogger noted at the time, the center,has in the past published writing suggesting that Jews should be stripped of certain civil...

It seems that the A&E Duck Dynasty controversy has come to a conclusion. In the aftermath of this dispute, after all the words exchanged have been reviewed, what can we learn? I believe that the public responses surrounding this recent chain of events reveal several observable trends and ideologies about us as a society. Thus, the following theses presented below are based upon what I believe is the trending American ideology and ethos towards scripture, ethics, and what it values. Thesis #1: Society is unable to apply the simple rules of grammar to scripture. In the debated GQ Interview, it...

The Talk Shows January 5th, 2014 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Mitt Romney; Mark Rienzi, a lawyer for an organization of Catholic nuns challenging a requirement that some religion-affiliated groups provide health insurance that includes birth control; Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Former Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano; Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md.; Gene Sperling, director of the White House's National Economic Council; Dr. John Noseworthy, CEO of the Mayo Clinic; Dr. Delos Cosgrove, CEO of the Cleveland Clinic.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Senate Majority Leader Harry...

In homosexuality's assault on the beliefs of churches that once unanimously identified it as sexual perversion—sodomy being "the abominable and detestable crime against nature"—its most potent weapon has been the counter-accusation that identification of homosexuality as sinful is a detestable offense against charity. By these presents, all who hold to the ancient interdict as God's word may be numbered among the crowing yahoos of Westboro Baptist Church with its "God Hates Fags" placards. The churches, thus accused, have divided into those that hold to the Judeo-Christian teaching and those converted to regarding homosexuality as no sin at all, for where...

Above: Illegal aliens made out like banditos thanks to Harry Reid and Senate Democrats. Disabled vets? Not so much.- They actually did it. They are on the record. Senate Democrats, led by their filibuster-slaying dictator Harry Reid, actually put the interests of illegal aliens above those of our disabled military veterans.Let that sink in for a moment. Now the details: The two-year budget deal brokered by Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, would cut military pensions by $6 billion over ten years. Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama, joined by several others in his party, tried...

In the opening pages of Ray Bradbury’s famous novel Fahrenheit 451, protagonist Guy Montag asks: Wasn’t there a time when firemen used to put out fires? They laugh at him, rebuke him and say: Everybody knows firemen start fires.

In a surprising win on Tuesday night, the White House and top Senate Democrats successfully defended provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would loosen restrictions on transferring detainees out of Guantánamo Bay, advancing President Obama’s goal of closing the facility by a margin of 55-43. . . . . . . As recently as early November, Democratic Senate aides participating in the fight to loosen the transfer rules described the politics of the vote as “difficult” but “not impossible” and said those whipping the vote were five or six votes short of the bare majority they needed...

President Barack Obama is portrayed as Dracula, former congressman Ron Paul plays the role of Professor Van Helsing, and Vice President Joe Biden appears as Renfield. The administration’s scary scandals are lampooned in classic horror fashion, including Fast and Furious, Benghazi, the IRS’ targeting of political opponents, the government shutdown, and more!

In light of a recent report, Senator Rand Paul (R., Ky.) fears the National Security Agency may be spying on President Barack Obama. “They could well be spying on the president, for all I know,” Paul says, in an interview with National Review Online. “He has a cell phone, and, in fact, my guess is that they have collected data on the president’s phone.” Paul also believes the federal government may be tracking Pope Francis. “The most important question we need to ask the NSA is, ‘Are you telling us you’re collecting no data on the pope?’ And, ‘Did you...

Former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, a tea party and libertarian hero, will campaign for Virginia Attorney General Kenneth T. Cuccinelli II on Monday — a day before voters go to the polls to choose Virginia’s next governor. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida Republican, will also make appearances on behalf of Mr. Cuccinelli in the days leading up to Election Day. Mr. Walker is scheduled to campaign with Mr. Cuccinelli in Prince William and Spotsylvania counties Saturday, and Mr. Rubio is scheduled to appear in Warrenton and Culpeper Monday. News of the appearances was first reported by...

Rand Paul Targets 'Nanny' Bloomberg & McAuliffe at Cuccinelli Rally in Fairfax VA - YouTube

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took a page out of Sarah Palin’s book on Monday when he brought a 7-Eleven Big Gulp on the campaign trail while stumping for Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli. At an event in Fairfax, the third and final Paul-Cuccinelli campaign event that day, the Kentucky Senator took the stage with giant plastic cup in hand — but it was simply filled with water, according to reports from Twitter. The gesture was an intentional shot at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has unsuccessfully attempted to ban large sugary drinks in his city. Bloomberg has spent...

Today in Fairfax, Virginia, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli rallied the crowd eight days before the statewide gubernatorial election. During Cuccinelli's speech, a woman near the front of the room became lightheaded and appeared like she was about to faint. Supporters around her were trying to cool her off by using 'Cuccinelli for Governor' signs as fans. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was at the rally campaigning for the attorney general. Noticing the woman's discomfort Paul, who also happens to be a doctor, ran through the confused crowd to help her to her feet before yelling, "Somebody bring a chair!" His orders...

Tea party hero Rand Paul warned scientific advancements could lead to eugenics during a Monday visit at Liberty University, looking to boost the political fortunes of fellow Republican Ken Cuccinelli's bid for governor. During a visit to the Christian school founded by Jerry Falwell, Paul looked to energize conservative supporters by warning that people who are short, overweight or less intelligent could be eliminated through abortion. With one week remaining, Cuccinelli is hoping the joint appearance with the U.S. senator from Kentucky will encourage the far-right flank of his party to abandon third-party libertarian spoiler Robert Sarvis. "In your lifetime,...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Thursday urged Virginia Republicans supporting Robert C. Sarvis, the Libertarian candidate for governor, to come home to the GOP and vote for Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, the party’s nominee. “I consider myself to be a libertarian conservative, a libertarian Republican,” Paul said in a phone interview Thursday. “A lot of things (Cuccinelli) talks about are free-market, limited-government, leave-me-alone government. I think there is a lot to like there. “What I’m excited about in Ken Cuccinelli is that he is smart, he is articulate, and he has a keen sense of justice,” Paul said. Cuccinelli’s attempt...

Forget the Vitter amendment. Rand Paul wants to make sure that Congress can’t ever again write laws with provisions specific to lawmakers. The Kentucky freshman Republican has introduced a constitutional amendment that would preclude senators and representatives from passing laws that don’t apply equally to U.S. citizens and Congress, the executive branch and the Supreme Court. The amendment is aimed squarely at Obamacare provisions specific to members of Congress and their staffs that became a central point of contention during the government shutdown.

The debt deal simply hastens the day of reckoning The conventional wisdom is wrong. The mainstream media — and their parrots in the Republican establishment — are claiming that President Obama decisively won the government shutdown battle. In fact, the narrative being peddled is that the GOP brand has been badly damaged, paving the way for a possible Democratic Party takeover of the House of Representatives in the 2014 elections. This is puerile nonsense. Tea Party Republicans, led by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, may have lost the battle, but they are poised for a major victory in the larger Obamacare...

Ron Paul has endorsed Republican Ken Cuccinelli for Virginia governor, turning away from Libertarian Robert Sarvis, who many feel could bleed away GOP votes. Paul, a former Republican Texas congressman with libertarian leanings who ran for the presidency three times, did not mention Sarvis in his letter supporting Cuccinelli, reports Politico. Instead, he praised Cuccinelli as someone who will "stand up to the politicians of both parties in Washington." Polls show Cuccinelli trailing Democrat Terry McAuliffe, however the GOP candidate questioned the survey which showed the biggest gap — nine points behind his opponent. Sarvis is seen as a potential...

Recently a Community Column writer for a local paper wrote an opinion piece denouncing conservative politicians for not complying with the "Red-Letter" teachings of Jesus. Among other things, he was referring more specifically to Ted Cruz's call for evangelical Christians to help his political bloc to defund Obamacare. This claim is worthy of careful examination. Emphasizing the authority of one portion of scripture while ignoring all others isn't a principle of historical normative Christian theology. As the Bible declares of itself "...All scripture is given by inspiration of God..." Red-lettering was first conceived in 1899, and it first appeared in...

Okay everybody: just sit down and shut up! WeÂ’ve got a Government to shut down here, and it WILL hurt! You! ThatÂ’s an order. As you know, the Barrycades at the World War II Memorial went up immediately following the announcement of the the painful government shutdown. The stated reason for the closure was to ensure that none of our cherished WWII Veterans were endangered by government drones - now forced to fly unguided during this painful government shutdown. You can tell that your government was really concerned about this potential hazard as War Memorials have never been closed during...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) narrowly leads the pack of potential GOP contenders in 2016, according to a new poll. If the GOP presidential primary were held today, 17 percent of GOP voters would elect Paul, according to a new Quinnipiac Poll released Wednesday. He leads among Tea Party Republicans as well, with 22 percent. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie rates second with 13 percent, followed by Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) with 12 percent and Jeb Bush with 11 percent. Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.) garner 10 percent. Nineteen percent of Republicans are undecided. Rubio’s numbers have...

Sen. Rand Paul blasted the federal government for trying to block World War II vets from visiting their memorial, saying “some idiot in government sent goons out there to set up barricades.” “If Harry Reid and the President want to keep the parks closed — I mean did you read the story today? Some idiot in government sent goons out there to set up barricades, so they couldn’t see the monument. People had to spend hours setting up barricades where there are never barricades to prevent people from seeing the World War II monument because they’re trying to play a...

Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Rand Paul have become the two most important voices in DC politics. They worked together during Rand’s filibuster earlier this year and during Ted’s filibuster this last week. But the most important thing we’ve seen is personal responsibility and good character from them both. Rand Paul gave $600,000 BACK to the federal government from his office. He’s in it to cut spending in any manner possible, even his own office’s budget. And now, Sen. Ted Cruz has made a similar announcement, saying that he will donate his salary to charity for every day the government...

Laity and clergy should reject, respectfully, the liberalism of Pope Francis. In St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, he wrote that he rebuked the first pope, St. Peter, “to his face because he clearly was wrong.” The issue was St. Peter’s capitulation to Jewish culture in his approach to the Gentiles. St. Paul moved swiftly to correct him for the sake of the early Church’s unity and doctrinal fidelity to Jesus Christ.

Earlier this week, in an effort led by Sen. Ted Cruz, some of my Republican colleagues and I took to the Senate floor with the intent of making Washington listen. The American people have made it abundantly clear that they do not want Obamacare. In fact, a majority of elected officials, the same officials that voted to implement this health care mandate, do not want it, either. I have a proposal. I have offered an amendment that would outlaw any special exemptions for government employees. This amendment requires all federal workers to purchase health insurance from the new Obamacare exchanges,...

One of the common misconceptions about the divine command to evangelize is that it only applies to those who are given the gift of evangelism (Mat. 28:18-20). Consequently there are many in the body of Christ who never enjoy the privilege of being an ambassador for the King of Kings. There is no higher honor than to represent King Jesus as an ambassador by proclaiming His message of salvation to a world that is perishing in sin. Paul informs us that every Christian is given this divine privilege and responsibility. He wrote: "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he...

Today Rand Paul went on Hannity, and Hannity did a great job grilling him. He continually asked why the Republicans can't stand as strong as the Democrats, and Paul just kept saying that the Republicans are not united enough and don't have the leverage. He said he didn't agree with Cruz's strategy and that a government shutdown would be hurtful to the Republican party. It really could have been Mitch McConnell talking...who by the way Rand Paul has already endorsed. Hannity practically hung up on Rand Paul, and that really surprised me because you never hear Hannity treat Republicans that...

The Republican Party has a new heart, says Matt Drudge—or perhaps at least two. As Texas Senator Ted Cruz was into his filibuster-like maneuver to bring attention to defunding Obamacare, Drudge took to Twitter to proclaim that the "heart" of the party has shifted.

Arguing federal workers should not get special treatment, Rand Paul says he does not want taxpayers subsidizing the personal health care plans of any federal employee — including Chief Justice John Roberts — anymore. With some in Congress arguing lawmakers and their staff should not get subsidies to cover their health insurance as President Obama’s health care law goes into effect, the Republican senator from Kentucky told The Daily Caller on Sunday that he’s going to start pushing a constitutional amendment that goes even further. Paul’s proposal — outlawing any special exemptions for government employees — would mean all federal...

Washington (CNN) - Sen. Rand Paul said Wednesday he's not ready to vote on the immigration reform package as it now stands in the Senate, adding the measure needs tougher provisions on border security in order to have a chance in the GOP-controlled House of Representatives. On a personal note, the senator also said he's come to realize there's an important distinction between the terms "illegal" and "undocumented" when referring to immigrants. The Republican senator from Kentucky, who's considering a potential 2016 presidential bid, argued the House and Senate are "still pretty far apart" on the issue but that he...

Several theological issues are addressed in the canonical Epistle of Paul to Titus. Since the Book is relatively short, let's review the whole thing -- chapter by chapter. In the first 4 verses of chapter 1, Paul gives a simple salutation. And in verses 5-9, he begins to describe desirable traits in Christian leaders. He says in Titus 1:10-14: "For there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of sordid gain. One of themselves, a...

Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul told community leaders in West Louisville on Monday that he will be stepping his call for federal reforms to criminal sentencing and pledging to support a state effort to restore felon voting rights. Paul has been talking about the concept of reforms to mandatory minimums for several months, saying someone should not have to lose their rights for life for a youthful mistake. But while appearing at a town-hall-like event at the Plymouth Community Renewal Center in West Louisville, Paul added a new layer to his argument saying that felon voting rights should be restored....