Free Republic

On Thursday morning, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann questioned whether Internal Revenue Service could be trusted to oversee implementation of the health care law, suggesting it could inappropriately use records to deny people health care. Paul and Bachmann made the comments at a press conference with several members of Congress and members of tea party groups from across the country, “With the implementation of Obamacare at hand, and knowing that it is the IRS … that will be the enforcing mechanism for this new entitlement program of Obamacare, it’s very important to ask, and now it...

Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) told Breitbart News he thinks Attorney General Eric Holder needs a refresher course on the U.S. Constitution in the wake of reports that the Department of Justice secretly obtained two months of the Associated Press's phone records. Gosar expressed concerns that President Barack Obama’s “enemies list” continues to grow, especially in light of revelations that the IRS targeted conservative and Tea Party organizations. “On one hand, I am encouraged to hear that the Attorney General obtained warrants first. Score one for the Fourth Amendment,” Gosar said in an email. “But I remain concerned about the First...

Former Rep. Ron Paul said the law enforcement that swarmed around Boston in the days following the marathon bombings was scarier than the actual terrorist attack.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI — U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, is being pressured to stay out of the race for retiring Sen. Carl Levin's seat by libertarian power brokers Ron and Rand Paul. That's according to a National Journal article published Wednesday that examines the potential candidacies of Amash and fellow Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Howell. According to the article, rumors are flying that Amash — branded in several national media articles as the "next Ron Paul" — is being cautioned against a run by the elder Paul and Rand Paul, a Kentucky senator: But perhaps most illustrative of the tension...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was “surprised” by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s sworn testimony in a Senate hearing in which she claimed that she did not know whether the U.S. mission in Libya was procuring or transferring weapons to Turkey and other Arab countries. It was Paul who asked Clinton the question during the hearings. His inquiry focused on alleged weapons shipments out of Benghazi to arm the rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.

Whether or not you admire the bold individualistic leadership of Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on other issues, I know you will be disappointed and maybe even shocked by the immigration platform he outlined this morning before the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. KEY POINTS OF THE RAND PAUL AMNESTY •The 11-19 million illegal aliens would get to live permanently in the United States. •One year after passing the amnesty, illegal aliens can start getting work permits to compete directly in the legal job market with Americans. •New illegal aliens who are enticed by the amnesty will continue to have a relatively open...

Ron Paul made an impassioned plea for shuttering Guantanamo Bay Wednesday at a launch event for his new Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity. Just hours earlier, his son Rand Paul said he does not favor closing the prison. The generational split highlights the conflicting goals between a politician on the make and an ideologue riding off into the sunset. “I don’t talk to him in detail for the precise reason that I’m not looking to sort that all out,” Ron Paul said. “He has his opinions. You’ll have to ask him where he disagrees. Not me.” A background...

Rand Paul, Kentucky’s junior Senator and Tea Party favorite, announced today of his plans to pursue the Republican nomination for President in 2016. Paul announced early Wednesday at a breakfast hosted by the Christian Science Monitor, that he will be visiting the primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina this summer – the first major candidate to make such an announcement from either side.....

I like what Rand Paul has to say about the TSA: Groping and humiliation when travelling should not be part of our daily lives- not in America. I will re-introduce legislation that would implement private security and more protections for passengers. The TSA is out-of-control...

Top Kentucky and Tennessee officials rallied over the weekend to urge the Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District to halt plans to erect barricades to 10 dams along the Cumberland River because of hazardous conditions near the dam. Republican U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell joined up with Republican U.S. Rep. Ed Whitfield of Hopkinsville and Tennessee Republican U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander push back against the decision, which would prevent boaters from getting near the dams. The Army Corps of Engineers want to restrict access near the 10 dams along the Cumberland River because of powerful currents...

by John HillStand With ArizonaWebsite | Facebook | Twitter Sheriff Joe Arpaio is facing a campaign to recall him from office. They are collecting signatures, and already have more than half the required amount with two months to go. This follows a re-election campaign last year which saw unprecedented amounts spent on both sides, as George Soros committed $10 million to oust "America's Sheriff". Joe was forced to spend his entire 'war chest' of $8 million to (barely) hold onto office - the closest race of his career. Why?Why is the Left in America so focused on a single county's...

Congress is getting very close to debating comprehensive immigration reform. I am firmly committed to being part of reforming our nation’s immigration laws. Conservatives and liberals agree that our complex immigration system is broken and in need of repair. Although the two sides disagree on solutions, I have three important ideas that should be part of the debate and that should please most Americans. My “Trust but Verify” plan has three elements: secure the border, secure the vote and secure the taxpayer’s dollar. If these three elements are met, I think, Congress can move forward on a comprehensive plan to...

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When confronted with the Republican Party’s poor standing among minority communities, GOP politicians have usually taken one of two approaches: claim these communities constitute “natural conservative constituencies” or advocate a broad change in policy or ideology to attract minority voters. Neither one of these tactics has been effective, for various reasons–chief among those reasons is that the communities under consideration are usually not “natural conservative constituencies.” Take Hispanics, for example. It is often noted by GOP politicians that Hispanic immigrants are hard-working, family-oriented strivers who tend to be religious. That may be true, but polls showed that while Mitt Romney...

The Honorable* (Your Senator) (Address) "I was disappointed to see that 68 Senators did not support the Paul-Cruz-Lee filibuster. Now that the Senate has moved to proceed to S. 649, several gun control issues will be coming up - including the universal registry bill, the Feinstein gun ban, and the magazine ban. As for the Toomey-Manchin-Schumer universal registry bill, don't believe the press' efforts to sugar-coat it. If you have ever had an "Internet ... posting" on (or related to) your gun, you can sell it only by going to a dealer and filling out a 4473 and getting the...

In what was probably the most reported on tweet in political history since the Anthony Weiner scandal, actress Ashley Judd’s run against U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell was put on hold in 140 characters. The brief media frenzy that ensued before she ended speculation could all come back to the commonwealth. Jonathan Miller, the former two-term state treasurer and one-time gubernatorial and congressional candidate, told Pure Politics that Judd might move back to her old Kentucky home. “I do really think she’s thinking about moving back to Kentucky permanently,” Miller said in an in-studio interview with Pure Politics. Miller said Judd...

Howard University student to Sen. Rand Paul: ".... You say you want to provide a government that leaves us alone. Quite frankly, I don’t want that. I want a government that is going to help me. I want a government that is going to help me fund my college education. I want a government that won’t define me by my FAFSA or by my family’s income. I’m a dollar sign with a heartbeat in this nation. This society is a mirror image of Capitol Hill. Do you, Senator Rand Paul, have a solution to come up with new American values...

What was Rand Paul, a white Republican senator from Kentucky, doing at Howard University, a mostly black campus in Washington DC? Asking black Americans to give conservatism a second look. Paul acknowledged that some people thought he was crazy to speak to a largely democratic group, who were probably part of the 93% of blacks who re-elected President Barack Obama in 2012. He joked: "My response is that my trip will be a success if the Hilltop [the campus newspaper] will simply print that a Republican came to Howard, but he came in peace." The rest of his speech wasn't...

Former Texas congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has announced plans for a K–12 curriculum for home-school students that will offer them “an education in liberty like no other.” The first phase set to launch in September, and all subjects will be taught, but the curriculum will put an emphasis on primary-source documents that focus on the “basics of Western Civilization and Western liberty — how it was won, how it is being lost, and how it will be restored” rather than textbooks.

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul will attempt to sell the Republican Party to the students of Howard University Wednesday, making his first visit to a historically black university as part of an effort to reach out to youth and minority voters. As we reported last week, Paul's speech will focus on the history of African Americans within the Republican Party, as well as economic opportunity, school choice, civil liberties, and reforming drug laws — issues that Paul believes will resonate with his audience of young, predominantly black students. "Some of the speech ... will be about economic opportunity, how I think...

Former Republican congressman and three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul has launched his own K-12 home-school curriculum to provide an “education in liberty like no other.” The curriculum, which includes courses on “the economics of the Austrian school,” provides its K-5 program for free, meaning that students and families will be able to learn under Ron Paul for six years “without spending a dime,” according to one of the curriculum’s high school teachers, Ludwig von Mises Institute senior fellow Tom Woods. “Here, students learn the basics of Western Civilization and Western liberty — how it was won, how it is being...

Sen. John McCain (R-Sunday Shows) expressed bewilderment on CBS' "Face the Nation" that GOP Sens. Cruz, Lee and Paul would filibuster gun control legislation. “I don’t understand it,” McCain said. “The purpose of the United States Senate is to debate and to vote and to let the people know where we stand.” With all due respect to Sen. McCain, that is almost completely backward. The purpose of the US Senate is not to be some federal debating society. It is not tasked with taking the great issues of the day and giving its "august" members a platform for their musings...

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has emerged as the key advocate for secure borders, keeping to the rules and an organized handling of the millions of illegal aliens now inside the United States says there is a clear goal that Americans should have for the newcomers: Make them taxpayers. “What I’m saying is let’s get them work visas, normalize them, tax them, make them taxpayers,” the senator said in an exclusive interview with WND reporter Taylor Rose. ... “You can’t have open borders and be a welfare state,” he warned. The solution is a secure border – and a process...

Come on in...it's all free, courtesy of the American taxpayer!- by John HillStand With ArizonaJoe Wilson is right....again.Remember Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and his outburst at Obama's 2010 State of the Union address? Here's a refresher: Obama said his healthcare plan would not cover illegal aliens - twice. Wilson shouted "You lie!" to the outrage of many, and for which he was later censured by Pelosi & Co. Democrats said it was ridiculous to suggest that illegal aliens would EVER be able to receive Obama Care benefits. Wilson was right, of course, as SWA pointed out and way back in...

Republican Senator Rand Paul boldly declared last week when he introduced the Life at Conception Act that “human life begins at the moment of conception, and therefore is entitled to legal protection.” However, during an interview on Tuesday with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, the Kentucky senator seemed to soften his tone when asked about abortion in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is at risk. “Just to be precise, if you believe life begins at conception, which I suspect you do, you would have no exceptions for rape, incest, the life of the mother. Is that...

WASHINGTON — On Tuesday Sen. Rand Paul will urge conservatives to abandon their long standing opposition to a pathway to citizenship for the millions of undocumented workers in the United States, bluntly warning to not do so Republicans "will need to resign ourselves to permanent minority status," according to excerpts of a Tuesday speech obtained by BuzzFeed. In a speech to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Legislative Summit, Paul will lay out his case for a conservative, and Republican, embrace of comprehensive reform. "The Republican Party has insisted for years that we stand for freedom and family values. I...

Looking to the Jewish Passover to Understand American Dependency, Gun Control and Senator Rand Paul’s Filibuster From time to time events - current, past, and those of daily life will converge to shine light on something oft neglected but in frequent need of attention - FEAR. Sen. Rand Paul’s recent filibuster enthralling millions was such an event. It was David versus Goliath and Mr. Smith goes to Washington all rolled up, reminding us that uncontrolled government is a danger to our freedom. Sen. Ryan gently stirred our fears of being bullied and feeling helpless to do anything about it. However,...

The NYT's, that bastion of unbiased reporting...cough, has a story today entitled "Divisions in G.O.P. Are Laid Bare on First Day of Conservative Conference". The largest annual gathering of Republican activists began here Thursday with appearances by rival presidential hopefuls offering their party starkly different paths back to prominence — and diagnoses of what ails it — after last fall’s demoralizing losses. “We don’t need any new ideas,” Senator Marco Rubio of Florida told a room packed with cheering grass-roots activists, anticipating what he predicted would be liberal critiques of his remarks. “The idea is called America, and it still...

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky speaks at the 2013 Conservative Political Action Conference hosted by the American Conservative Union on March 14, 2013.

Libertarian Sen. Rand Paul stole the show from under Sen. Marco Rubio’s nose at the opening session of the Conservative Political Action Conference, criticizing a “stale and moss-covered” GOP and calling for a new focus on liberty. The back-to-back pairing of Rubio and Rand was seen as the most significant matchup of the annual conference, pitting two likely 2016 Republican contenders before the party’s conservative base. The result pointed to the growing schism in the Republican Party between resurgent libertarians and more traditional Republicans. The two men -Paul age 50, Rubio just 41- laid out divergent visions of an inclusive...

Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Wednesday that Republicans must “evolve” on immigration while preventing America from becoming a magnet for immigrants to come and get benefits. We cannot just be a beacon for everyone to come here on benefits,” Paul said on conservative commentator Bryan Fischer’s radio program Wednesday. “You can’t have open borders in a welfare state. We’ve got a pretty significant welfare state, so it’s not just about normalizing the 11 or 12 million here, it’s whether or not while you’re doing that another 11 or 12 million come in, and I think that will bankrupt the country,” Paul...

The old guard....that old guard that gave us McCain and Romney to sacrifice at the altar of Obama, knowing full well they would lose....is at it again pulling out the knives and placing them into the backs of the new guard. The guard that has actual idea's, that actually has courage, that is willing to take on the old crony's. Here's Bill Kristol, that champion of the old guard: Was it, as Seth Lipsky suggested in a column in the New York Post, “wonderful,” signifying both that “our country is in a constitutional moment” and “the rise of a new...

Rep. Paul Ryan said that a Thursday lunch with President Obama at the White House was the first conversation between the two men that lasted more than a few minutes. “This is the first time I’ve ever had a conversation with the president lasting more than, say, two minutes or televised exchanges,” Mr. Ryan, Wisconsin Republican and chairman of the House Budget Committee, said on “Fox News Sunday.” “So I’ve never really had a conversation with him on these issues before. I’m excited that we had this conversation — we had a very frank exchange. We come from different perspectives;...

Last week, Rand Paul, the junior U.S. Senator from Kentucky, managed to squeeze an answer out of the nation’s highest ups. In constipated Washington, it sure wasn’t easy. Only via a 13-hour filibuster could Senator Paul capture the attention of the nation’s press corps, and thus, the American people . . . and in so doing, even reach the Obama Administration. Rising to the floor of what once was billed, straight-faced, as the world’s greatest deliberative body, Sen. Paul stated, “I will speak as long as it takes, until the alarm is sounded from coast to coast that our Constitution...

As of this writing, Senator Rand Paul is still on his feet filibustering the nomination of John Brennan to be director of the CIA. But as he eventually made clear, his goal is not so much to actually stop Brennan, as it is to make a meal of the comments made this morning by Attorney General Eric Holder when he was pressed about U.S. policies on drone strikes on terrorists during an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee. When asked whether the government considered it had the right to use an armed drone on an American citizen within the borders...

If I had planned to speak for 13 hours when I took the Senate floor Wednesday, I would’ve worn more comfortable shoes. I started my filibuster with the words, “I rise today to begin to filibuster John Brennan’s nomination for the CIA. I will speak until I can no longer speak” — and I meant it.(snip) The Senate has the power to restrain the executive branch — and my filibuster was the beginning of the fight to restore a healthy balance of powers. The president still needs to definitively say that the United States will not kill American noncombatants. The...

Jeb Bush is a Decoy to Protect Establishment's "Tea Party" Poseur Rubio... (Video)

Rand Paul took the rare and risky measure of filibustering in an effort to illicit an answer from the Administration on a critical stray from the Constitution - drone strikes on American citizens in America.  In a show of solidarity with Paul's historically lengthy (almost 9 hours), and audacious move, twelve Republican Senators went to dinner with President Obama.   Alright, so there may be another term more appropriate than "solidarity" to describe their exit stage left - still, surely they must have wished him well while out dining and pretending to be negotiating spending cuts with Obama.  Or, perhaps they...

<p>Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is continuing to criticize his fellow Republicans for their filibuster of incoming CIA Director John O. Brennan over drone policy. In an interview with the Huffington Post, McCain referred to Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) as “wackos.”</p>

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) blasted fellow GOP Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Thursday, saying the two “think the whole world is a battlefield.”

Elder Sen. John McCain, who this week engaged in friendly fire when he launched his "maverick" missiles at fellow Republicans seeking clarification on the administration's drone policies, has upped the ante, deriding Tea Party-backed GOP lawmakers as "wacko birds."

Earlier today, I noted that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) were on opposite sides of a generational divide in the GOP that goes beyond ideology. That flared into an open spat as McCain, along with his closest amigo, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), openly slammed Paul, calling him “uninformed.” Graham pronounced that Paul didn’t deserve an answer. McCain hissed: “The country needs more senators who care about liberty, but if Mr. Paul wants to be taken seriously, he needs to do more than pull political stunts that fire up impressionable libertarian kids in their college dorms. He...

The Amnesty Twins disgrace themselves yet again.- by John HillStand With ArizonaWebsite | Facebook | Twitter I am disgusted. John McCain and Lindsey Graham are despicable, and must be run out of office. Here's why. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) led a 13-hour filibuster against the confirmation of CIA nominee John Brennan yesterday, in response to a merely to try and get an answer to a single question for Barack Obama and Eric Holder: “Does the president have the authority to use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on an American soil?” This followed a stunning comment from...

I know its a crazy day when I agree with Van Jones! Wow: If a GOP prez implied he could kill US citizens on US soil without due process, we liberals would be marching down street #ConsistencyCounts— Van Jones (@VanJones68) March 7, 2013 The point is not whether OBAMA would abuse that kind of authority. The NEXT prez might. So we must be vigilant now & #consistent. #NoDrones— Van Jones (@VanJones68) March 7, 2013 And John Cusack too @cenkuygur: Great credit to Ron Wyden so far for being the only principled Democrat to join Rand Paul in arguing for the constitution.”— John Cusack (@johncusack) March 07, 2013The Huffington Post: Sen. Jeff Merkley...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Okay, folks, what we have here is a fascinating object lesson. What we have here is a golden opportunity. What is happening in the aftermath of the Rand Paul filibuster is very useful. This is extremely eye opening. The filibuster itself was eye opening and has its own educational aspects. But what's happening in the aftermath is almost as intriguing to me. The way I would put it is, the establishment decided to go out to dinner last night. Obama took McCain and Lindsey Graham and some others, went out to dinner. By the way, Obama's motorcade...

In no particular order: Exposing, Once Again, the Old Failed Republican Guard and hastening their political demise. Harvard students during… College Republicans to GOP – It’s Still the Economy, Stupid The many and varied Rand Paul filibuster accomplishments Comments Permalink Posted by William A. Jacobson Thursday, March 7, 2013 at 2:48pm 0 1 In no particular order: Exposing, Once Again, the Old Failed Republican Guard and hastening their political demise. Exposing, Once Again, the Old Failed Democratic Guard The Guardian: Guardian Rand Paul Filibuster Democrats Shamefully Silent on Obama Administration’s Assertion of Right to Assassinate Americans on U.S. Soil Rand...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) joined Megyn Kelly this afternoon on America Live in an interview to discuss his nearly 13-hour filibuster yesterday on the Senate floor. Paul decided to undertake the tiring task in order to hold up the confirmation of CIA Director nominee John Brennan over the Obama administration’s use of drones.(snip) Kelly then brought to Paul’s attention a letter from Attorney General Eric Holder, making clear that the president does not have the authority to “use a weaponized drone to kill an American not engaged in combat on American soil.” The letter was released just minutes before the...

The anti-Rand Pauls, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, took to the Senate floor this morning to defend killing American citizens at presidential discretion. Graham is doing so live on C-SPAN2 right now, saying that everything you do is a danger to America no matter who or where you are, as long as the U.S. government has decided you have "joined al-Queda," whatever the hell that means....The Republican Party is at war, folks, and let's hope Rand Paul and his troops win.