Free Republic

With his outspoken views against foreign aid and a muscular foreign policy, Kentucky Republican Senator Rand Paul was less-than-enthused by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech on the Iranian nuclear threat.

The New Republic, in its February 8th issue, carries an article by Danny Vinik entitled Rand Paul Has the Most Dangerous Economic Views of Any 2016 Candidate. It appears that TNR’s fact checkers decamped along with its top journalists. Vinik: Speaking in front of more than 150 Iowa activists, Paul ripped into the Federal Reserve and promoted his “Audit the Fed” bill, which he introduced earlier this week. “I think there needs to be some sunshine,” he said, according to reports of the event. …Paul’s bill …would significantly damage the Fed’s independence, which exists so that politicians cannot influence the...

Obama dares Rand Paul to show up on the South Side of Chicago now - as he mocks GOP contender's claim that Republicans are 'the party of jobs and opportunity' As President Barack Obama hit out at Republicans who have criticized his economic policies, he singled out Republican Senator Rand Paul - who previously said income inequality has worsened under Obama's administration. During the Democratic National Committee's winter meeting today, Obama remarked on Paul's 2013 comment that the Republican party needs to show up on the South Side of Chicago and shout: 'We are the party of jobs and opportunity'....

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.

Sen. Rand Paul isn't happy that the Federal Reserve is mobilizing against his legislation that would subject the central bank's monetary policy decisions to an audit. "It is alarming that the Federal Reserve, which was granted Monopoly money-making power, is now specifically trying to stop my legislation," the Kentucky Republican wrote in a column published by the conservative publication Breitbart Tuesday. "The Fed, with unlimited ability to print money, now prints that money to lobby against congressional oversight," Paul added. "It is a disgrace and every citizen in the land should rise up and say: We the people are in...

There’s a lot of attention given to the art of explicating the motivations of Rand Paul, and the disparate coalition he’s attempting to bring together in his fledgling 2016 campaign. The latest is from the New York Times, which adopts the classic understanding of Paul, the politician: “As he works to build a broad national following, Mr. Paul is trying to stitch together very disparate worlds. There are those who are young, more affluent and likely to vote Democratic. There are the establishment, center-right elements of the Republican Party. And there are his most ardent libertarian fans who are...

Over the years– in part due to his refusal to appear on the Savage Nation– Rand Paul has been the subject of many a Savage burn: Michael Savage: Rand Paul is “the amazing shrinking candidate” (SNIP) Obama, they look the other way for years…now, all of a sudden, this fine man Paul– who is an ophthalmologist…that’s no good to the psycho sissies at the New York Times!

Sarah Palin rocked the Iowa Freedom Summit 2015 in full force. The speech came hot off the heels of Palin's reveal to the media that she is seriously considering a presidential run in 2016. Palin's speech featured personal stories about experiences in the Hawk Eye State as well as harsh words for Obama and the anti military left. Palin also trolled Hillary Clinton towards the end of her speech. After watching that speech I say, screw the GOP's 2016 deep bench--we want Palin! How do we end up with the GOP baseball team and possibly 20-25 candidates on a debate...

Rand Paul does a lot of interviews -- a lot. This, from time to time, has gotten him in trouble. Rarely, though, has it gone as poorly as this. Speaking Monday afternoon with CNBC, Paul: 1) Reiterated his contention that vaccines should be voluntary. 2) Said this: "I have heard of many tragic cases of walking, talking, normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines." (Michele Bachmann said something similar during the 2012 presidential campaign. It didn't go over well.) 3) Actually shushed the anchor when he thought she wasn't allowing him to answer her questions.

Apparently anything Rand Paul says is “controversial� these days, and that was certainly the case during a recent interview he did on Closing Bell this week. The subject at hand was the exhausting topic of vaccinations, (which the media can’t get enough of) but during the discussion, the Kentucky Senator said something which deserves more attention, and not just regarding vaccinations. Why this is controversial I don’t know. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) doubled down on his position that most vaccines should be voluntary, suggesting Monday that mandated immunization is an example of government overreach.“The state doesn’t own your children,�...

Rand Paul: Most vaccines should be ‘voluntary’ By ADAM B. LERNER 2/2/15 2:42 PM EST Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) waded into the debate over vaccinations Monday, telling conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham that he thinks most vaccines should be “voluntary.” Paul, an ophthamologist and likely 2016 White House hopeful, expressed particular concern over mandatory vaccinations for sexually transmitted diseases. He criticized former Texas Gov. Rick Perry for his executive order mandating that Texas children receive the HPV vaccine. “I’m not anti-vaccine at all,” Paul said, but “I think that’s a personal decision.” Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/02/rand-paul-vaccines-114834.html#ixzz3QhA3J7zr

Dr. Ben Carson, a likely 2016 GOP presidential contenders, believes there should be no “philosophical” or “religious” exemptions for vaccinations. “Although I strongly believe in individual rights and the rights of parents to raise their children as they see fit, I also recognize that public health and public safety are extremely important in our society,” Carson told The Hill.

Some of the most influential players in big-money conservative politics gathered late last month to discuss government’s role in society, but their focus kept shifting to a less weighty topic: Rand Paul’s outfit. The Kentucky senator and prospective GOP presidential candidate — whose libertarian politics mesh with those of the billionaire megadonor brothers Charles and David Koch — appeared at the annual winter meeting of the Koch donor network wearing a boxy blue blazer, faded jeans and cowboy boots.

Sen. Rand Paul yesterday introduced S. 2644, the FAIR (Fifth Amendment Integrity Restoration) Act, which would protect the rights of citizens and restore the Fifth Amendment’s role in seizing property without due process of law. Under current law, law enforcement agencies may take property suspected of involvement in crime without ever charging, let alone convicting, the property owner. In addition, state agencies routinely use federal asset forfeiture laws; ignoring state regulations to confiscate and receive financial proceeds from forfeited property.

Sir Paul McCartney and wife Nancy Shevell, who attended Yom Kippur services prior to their wedding in deference to Shevell’s Jewish faith, might well be bentsching gommel (a thanksgiving prayer for escaping a dangerous situation) on their next visit to the synagogue after the couple narrowly escaped a crash when two helicopter pilots missed danger signals, as reported by the Daily Mail. The terrifying ordeal occurred when the two were flying back from London, where they attended a celebration of the release of a vegetarian cookbook by McCartney’s daughter Mary, to their home in East Sussex. The pilots were attempting...

Republican state lawmakers should listen to their governor and drop plans for “right-to-work” legislation. Don’t repeat Wisconsin’s tumultuous past. Gov. Scott Walker just urged the Legislature not to take up a bill placing restrictions on private-sector unions similar to those that Act 10 applied to public-sector unions in 2011. “The right-to-work legislation right now, as well as reopening Act 10 to make any other adjustments, would be a distraction from the work that we are trying to do,” Walker said. He’s right. Wisconsin should focus instead on improving our schools and economy, fixing a state budget deficit and building more...

The war of words between two likely 2016 contenders over President Obama’s sweeping changes to Cuba policy heated up further on Saturday, with Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) repeatedly blasting remarks from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) as “rude.” “I never start a fight but I'm happy to finish a fight,” Paul told Fox News Channel’s “The Kelly File on Friday.” “You know, I think the remarks were a little bit rude and intemperate.” In an interview on the same show one night prior, Rubio said that Paul — who supports President Obama’s move to roll back trade and travel restrictions and...

Washington (CNN) -- The New York officer involved in the death of Eric Garner should no longer be on the police force, Sen. Rand Paul argued Monday. The Kentucky Republican said Daniel Pantaleo lacked "discretion" when he placed Garner in a chokehold for allegedly selling untaxed cigarettes.

Senator Rand Paul To Headline Mississippi Republican Party Victory Event ON:5 December 2014 BY:Admin IN: Media Advisory WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) will join Governor Phil Bryant and the Mississippi Republican Party in Jackson, Mississippi on Monday, December 8 for a fundraising event benefiting the state party. MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 WHAT: Mississippi Republican Party Victory Lunch TIME: 11:30 am (CST) WHO: Senator Rand Paul & Governor Phil Bryant WHERE: The Old Capitol Inn 226 North State Street, Jackson MS 39201

Reasonable people can disagree on whether racism was involved in the tragic death of Eric Garner. My own suspicion is that this misfortune could have transpired just as easily with a white man resisting arrest and/or a black cop choking him. And even though lots of people don't want to hear it, reasonable can disagree on whether illegally excessive force was to blame. Personally, watching the ubiquitous video of Garner's arrest, it looks like excessive force to me. But the simple fact is that a Staten Island grand jury saw evidence that led it to conclude otherwise. People should at...

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) reacted to a grand jury's decision to not indict a New York City Police Officer in the death of Eric Garner by saying he was "horrified" by the video and blasting politicians for passing "bad laws" that "put our police in a difficult situation" in an interview broadcast on Wednesday's "Hardball" on MSNBC.

On Monday, Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul announced his intention to run for a second term in the United States Senate. Paul was elected to the Senate in 2010, but his meteoric rise to national prominence turned the first term Senator into a prospective 2016 presidential candidate as soon as Mitt Romney lost to President Obama in 2012. There is just one slight problem for Paul – Kentucky law does not allow for one person to be on the ballot twice, meaning that he would have to pick between running for President in 2016 or running for a second term...

Trying to strike a balance between shedding his isolationist label and defending his nontraditional GOP views on foreign policy, Sen. Rand Paul took another jab Tuesday at his more hawkish colleague, Sen. John McCain. In a discussion hosted by Paul Gigot, editorial page editor at The Wall Street Journal, Paul argued he's not in favor of a total abandonment of U.S. intervention overseas but was unapologetic in saying he's "one of the least reluctant to go to war." (SNIP) "But I do believe less. I believe we've been everywhere all the time. We're about to bankrupt our country and there...

Rand considers himself a new messiah to black voters. Does he have any black friends or did he have any in college? Bill Cassidy for instance isn't as hip as Rand but I know he has a black friend because I saw a picture of his rock band. The same thing with Hispanics. Rand says he knows of no hispanics on welfare which is why he supports amnesty. How many hispanics did he deal as a doctor in Kentucky? Im sure he has hispanic consultant friends.

Reverend Al Sharpton ✔ @TheRevAl I am in Senate Dining Room having breakfast meeting with Sen. Rand Paul. We don't agree on much but he is an interesting guy.

(CNN) -- Vincent Harris, Ted Cruz's top digital operative, is leaving the Texas senator's team to work for Sen. Rand Paul's political operation, as the jostling for staff ramps up ahead of the 2016 GOP presidential primary contest. Harris will join Rand Paul's political action committee and his 2016 team as a chief digital strategist, according to Doug Stafford, executive director of RAND PAC. Stafford said Harris will sit at the "top of the leadership team," as Paul and his inner circle carry out what's expected to be a dizzying political schedule. Paul will likely announce his Senate re-election bid...

Over steak and ravioli at The Liaison hotel on Capitol Hill on Wednesday night, about 50 aides, advisers and supporters of Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) got pumped up for a presidential campaign they now believe is a 95 percent certainty. The senator introduced his wife, Kelley, and we’re told a final check-in with his family is his last hoop before settling on a presidential campaign. Paul is still saying he’ll decide this spring, with April the target for a fly-around announcement in the early states.

Veterans Day was initially called Armistice Day to celebrate the end of World War I and recognize the soldiers who died. Today it’s a day in the United States to recognize all veterans in all wars—not just those who died or were wounded or even served in a war at all. It’s designed to heap praise and adulation on all things military. In doing so, in the name of patriotism, it therefore endorses all of our war policies, right or wrong. Every veteran becomes a hero and no questions are to be asked of the wisdom, morality, or constitutionality of...

One thing's for sure: Don't expect a repeat of their 2013 alliance. An aide to Paul said that if Cruz launches another crusade against Obamacare next year, Paul will want little to do with it. "He won't be in the middle of that fight," the Paul aide told me last week. "I don't think he's going to get all wrapped around the axle. He's supportive of the idea of repealing Obamacare, but he's not going to be the tip of the spear."

Retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness is joining forces with Rep. Bill Cassidy in an effort to seal a win for Republicans over Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu. Maness will formally endorse Cassidy during a star-studded Republican rally in Baton Rouge on Monday that will feature presumed presidential candidates Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Gov. Bobby Jindal. U.S. Sen. David Vitter, state Sen. Elbert Guillory, state Rep. Paul Hollis, 6th Congressional District candidate Garret Graves, former U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry, and LAGOP chairman Roger Villere will also attend the "Unity Rally." Maness finished third behind Landrieu and Cassidy in Tuesday's primary. He...

Yesterday voters in the blue State of Oregon rescinded a state law giving illegal aliens access to driver cards by voting down Ballot Measure 88. The citizens veto referendum, which was placed on the ballot by an issue committee called Protect Oregon Drivers Licenses (PODL), gave voters an opportunity to decide whether the 2013 law (SB 833) should be implemented. Voters said “No” by a 68-32 margin. The measure’s demise is a major defeat for illegal-alien advocates. Earlier, they failed to get the state legislature and the courts to re-write the referendum title in a manner favorable to keeping the...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) argued that Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) decisive victory over Alison Grimes was a referendum on Hillary Clinton as well on Tuesday.

<p>Republicans need to run a presidential candidate in 2016 like a Ted Cruz or a Rand Paul, not a Jeb Bush or a Chris Christie, management guru Jack Welch told CNBC on Monday.</p> <p>Bush and Christie are "too middle of the road" to win the country, the conservative-leaning Welch said in a "Squawk Box" interview—a day before the 2014 midterm election in which Republicans hope to take control of the Senate.</p>

Republicans need to run a presidential candidate in 2016 like a Ted Cruz or a Rand Paul, not a Jeb Bush or a Chris Christie, management guru Jack Welch told CNBC on Monday. Bush and Christie are "too middle of the road" to win the country, the conservative-leaning Welch said in a "Squawk Box" interview—a day before the 2014 midterm election in which Republicans hope to take control of the Senate.

PORTLAND – The Campaign for Maine, the political action committee supporting Eliot Cutler, received $50,000 in contributions from major, out-of-state Republican donors in its most recent campaign finance report. The donors, James and Marilyn Hebenstreit of Kansas, also contributed the maximum amount to Eliot Cutler’s campaign in September. (SNIP) Conservative radio pundit Howie Carr also told GOP supporters to talk up Eliot Cutler to their "moonbat friends" to help re-elect Gov. LePage.

In a week that saw two jihadist attacks in Canada and one in New York, one would expect a trenchant and forthright handling of the threat that has shaped our age. Instead Paul gave us this: The world does not have an Islam problem, the world has a dignity problem, with millions of men and women across the Middle East being treated as chattel by their own governments. Sorry? A dignity problem? Who denied Osama bin Laden or Major Nidal Hasan, the Fort Hood shooter, their dignity? Perhaps the Boston bombers were denied their dignity, but not because they lived...

In addition to superheroes, it seems as if the latest Hollywood trend of trying to make the old new again applies to just about every property. By now, everyone knows all about the slew of big tentpoles coming out next summer (Jurassic World, Star Wars: Episode VII, etc.) looking to bring back established franchises, but this strategy goes beyond the genre films – bringing some smaller movies along for the ride. This November, the comedy sequel Dumb and Dumber To will hit theaters 20 years after the original was a hit, but Harry and Lloyd may not be alone for...

hether you enjoyed your weekend or sheltered in place wearing personal protective equipment, you may have missed the news that officials are preparing to clear four dozen people who had direct or indirect contact with Dallas Ebola patient Thomas Eric Duncan after he’d begun shedding the virus, but before he was finally admitted to Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital. The 21 days since doctors belatedly diagnosed Duncan marks the end of Ebola’s incubation period, and none of these contacts—including family members who’d been caring for him in very close quarters after he’d become gravely ill—has developed any symptoms of the disease....

Katy Conrad is a booker and producer with CBS This Morning, but conservatives quickly made fun of her on Twitter when she mocked Rand Paul's medical opinion, as if he was a doctor. (Oops, he is -- an opthalmologist, to be precise.) Via Nick Dyer:

John McCain bursts out of the cloakroom and onto the Senate floor. His face red, he rips off his glasses and gets ready to pound a table. Senator Hothead is mad. Again. "He just comes out and blows up every once in a while," says a congressional correspondent, who didn't want to be named. "You can almost see the steam coming out of his ears." (SNIP) STROM THURMOND In January 1995, McCain was midway through an opening statement at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing when chairman Strom Thurmond asked, "Is the senator about through?" McCain glared at Thurmond, thanked...

Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) daughter said on Wednesday that her father and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) "hate each other." Meghan McCain appeared on Howard Stern’s SiriusXM radio show to promote her “TakePart Live” talk show on Pivot TV. When Stern asked the 29-year-old what her father thinks of the Tea Party favorite, she quickly replied, “They hate each other.” She repeated the sentiment before wondering aloud if it had previously been publicly disclosed. “In a fistfight, I’m pretty sure your dad can kick [Paul’s] ass,” Stern quipped to McCain. “Yeah,” the Vietnam War veteran’s daughter said, “My father’s 76 years...

Conservative stars appeal to voters in radically different ways. The most attention-grabbing conservatives in the emerging 2016 Republican presidential nomination race are two freshmen U.S. senators who had never held elective office before. Though nearly equal in their fanfare, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Ted Cruz of Texas are romancing Republican and independent voters in radically different ways. The outcome of their fierce competition could influence the direction of their party. Win or lose, both men have an opportunity to influence a new generation of conservatives in tactics, policy and coalition-building while readjusting the movement’s planks of fiscal restraint, free...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a licensed physician and a possible presidential candidate in 2016, is warning that handling Ebola in a politically correct manner will rebound.In an interview with radio talk show host Laura Ingraham, he said decisions such as keeping travel open from Africa and sending soldiers to fight Ebola “have been dominated by political correctness.� “Because of political correctness, we’re not making sound, rational, scientific decisions on this,� he said.Joinging the program by telephone from the campaign trail for Republicans, he started with a quip.“I can’t believe that you don’t think it’s enough of a plan to prevent...

On November 30th, voters in Switzerland will head to the polls to vote in a referendum on gold. On the ballot is a measure to prohibit the Swiss National Bank (SNB) from further gold sales, to repatriate Swiss-owned gold to Switzerland, and to mandate that gold make up at least 20 percent of the SNB's assets. Arising from popular sentiment similar to movements in the United States, Germany, and the Netherlands, this referendum is an attempt to bring more oversight and accountability to the SNB, Switzerland's central bank. The Swiss referendum is driven by an undercurrent of dissatisfaction with the...

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin will speak at the Values Voters Summit next week in Washington, D.C. http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/09/19/Sarah-Palin-to-Speak-at-Values-Voter-Summit

John McCain’s slip of the tongue won’t help him quell Internet accusations that he once met and took pictures with members of the terrorist group the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

And while my predisposition is to less intervention, I do support intervention when our vital interests are threatened. If I had been in President Obama’s shoes, I would have acted more decisively and strongly against ISIS. I would have called Congress back into session—even during recess. This is what President Obama should have done. He should have been prepared with a strategic vision, a plan for victory and extricating ourselves. He should have asked for authorization for military action and would have, no doubt, received it. Once we have decided that we have an enemy that requires destruction, we must...

Jesse Benton, the GOP political strategist spearheading Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s reelection campaign, resigned from his post Friday amid new details about an ongoing federal investigation into an endorsement-pay-scheme involving a 2012 presidential campaign he oversaw. In a statement issued Friday evening, Benton cited “inaccurate press accounts and unsubstantiated media rumors about me and my role in past campaigns that are politically motivated, unfair and, most importantly, untrue.” “The press accounts and rumors are particularly hurtful because they are false,” Benton wrote. “However, what is most troubling to me is that they risk unfairly undermining and becoming a distraction...

DES MOINES, Iowa — A former state lawmaker accused of accepting payments to change his support to a different presidential candidate in the 2012 election cycle has pleaded guilty to two federal charges. The Department of Justice says Kent Sorenson, a former Republican state senator, admitted to receiving “under-the-table” payments from Ron Paul’s campaign committee in return for switching his support and services from candidate Michele Bachmann. The payments totaled about $73,000 and were made monthly in the amount of around $8,000. They were concealed by first sending the money to a film production company, then through another company —...

Just as Hillary's "What difference at this point does it make" remark about Benghazi during a Congressional hearing will come back to haunt her, Rand Paul's politically correct spasm over Ferguson (his August 14 essay in Time Magazine) should preclude the possibility of Son of Ron getting anywhere near the GOP nomination in 2016. When the left starts swooning over a Republican, it's a dead-giveaway. A posting on the Washington Post's politics blog gushes, "Rand Paul's (Time) op-ed on Ferguson shows why he is the most interesting voice in the GOP right now." In this context, translate "interesting voice" as...