Free Republic

Sarah Palin has chosen sides in the ongoing feud between the Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. “I’m on team Rand,” she said on Fox News Saturday. “Rand Paul understands. He gets the whole notion of don't-tread-on-me government. Whereas Chris Christie is for big government and trying to go-along-to-get-along in so many respects.”

Senator Rand Paul is one of a handful of members of the Congress that possesses a set of principles. He stands for the principles of the American Revolution -- put simply, human liberty. The result has been vicious attacks by leaders of the Republican side of the ruling cartel. Epic fail presidential candidate John McCain has referred to Senator Paul as a "whacko bird," and Senator Lindsey Graham, who has said he's "glad" that the NSA is spying on every American's calls and emails, has called Senator Paul's concerns for civil liberties "ridiculous." The latest attack has come from Governor...

Lovers of Big Government and apologists for debt like Paul Krugman have tried to paint Milton Friedman as a contradiction. They say that Friedman’s insight that more Fed intervention might have mitigated the Great Depression is inconsistent with his view that the Depression would have been less severe without the Fed. Krugman can typically be discounted because his partisanship diminishes his perceptiveness. It is, however, disappointing when National Review joins the fray and publishes opinion claiming that Friedman “would likely have supported a much more aggressive monetary response to our economic downturn.” Professor Ivan Pongracic of Hillsdale College explains that...

The Mainstream (Establishment) Media is trying to once again do the Republican vs Democrat thingy: that Obama has proposed some serious (cough, laugh) changes to the NSA spying program, and those wascally wepubs (Rep. McCaul and Peter King (R-GOP-e) are trying to thwart him. I never thought that I would see a recent liberal rally where hundreds marched (not reported by the MSM-e) where a person would be carrying a sign that said Snowden, patriot and Pelosi, traitor. And even the New York Times (Editorial Board, June 6th: Obama administration has lost all credibility on the issue of the NSA...

One word, my friends: RINOgeddon. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that Christie earns 21% support when Republican voters are asked whom they would vote for if the party’s primary in their state were held today. Florida Senator Marco Rubio runs a close second with 18% of the GOP vote, followed by former Florida Governor Jeb Bush at 16% and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul with 15% of the vote. Congressman Paul Ryan, the unsuccessful Republican vice presidential candidate in 2012, picks up 13% of the Republican vote, with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker dead last at six percent (6%)....

On Fox News Saturday morning, former Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, explained to host Eric Bolling that she would choose Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. over Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J. “I am on Team Rand,” Palin said. “Rand Paul understands, he gets the whole notion of ‘don’t tread on me’ government, whereas Chris Christie is for big government, you know, and trying to go along and get along in so many respects.” Palin said that Christie was mistakenly thought of as a governor that “goes rogue” but suggested that the New Jersey governor had created “a shtick” by setting up controversial moments...

The junior senator has the support of Republican colleagues Rand Paul and Sen. Ted Cruz on a measure to overhaul how the military handles sexual assault allegations. Her work has garnered praise from GOP members as a Democrat they’d like to work with and is helping her own set of issues in Washington.,/i> WASHINGTON — It was a head-turning sight on Capitol Hill. There was Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat, standing with firebrand Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to showcase their support of her measure to overhaul how the military handles sexual assault allegations....

When asked about the rift between Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) and Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ) on FOX News this morning, Sarah Palin said she is on "Team Rand." Palin said, "he gets the whole notion of 'Don’t Tread on Me' government, whereas Chris Christie is for big government."

Sarah Palin joined Eric Bolling on Fox News this morning to take a mini-victory lap over some Democrats suddenly embracing the idea she put forth years ago over health care “death panels.” Palin felt somewhat vindicated, but didn’t want to “condone them… for trying to jump off the Obama train wreck.” She told Bolling that rationing was in the health care law from the beginning, and the Democrats who didn’t notice it until now did not want to look like “buffoons.” Palin also took the media to task for wasting an opportunity at President Obama‘s big press conference to grill...

Vice President Joe Biden is calling Democrats to action to stop grassroots conservatives from electing more Republicans in the mold of Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and Ted Cruz (R-TX). In a fundraising letter for the Democratic National Committee, first reported by Ed Krayewski at Reason, Biden wrote told prospective donors that a “group of freshmen senators are running the show in the Republican Party” and played up the possibility of a government shutdown over ObamaCare.

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) recently expressed his concern about Sarah Palin someday becoming president and having control over the information gathered by the U.S government about Americans citizens. In an interview with Shark-Tank.net, Rep. Grayson said he has introduced a bill, 'The Mind Your Own Business Act,' that would ban the U.S. Department of Defense from gathering Internet, phone and other personal information about U.S. citizens without probable cause or evidence of a criminal offense, which is what the Fourth Amendment is supposed to do. Rep. Grayson explained how 'The Mind Your Own Business Act' was modeled "very closely after...

In an interview you will only see on The Brody File, influential Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, head of, “The Family Leader” organization says that Rand Paul could be a, “force to be reckoned with” in 2016 if he is able to fuse both the evangelical and liberty movements.” This weekend, Vander Plaats group hosts a big weekend conference that includes speakers Rick Santorum, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. Rand Paul will not be there. Vander Plaats, who is well liked and respected by Iowa’s evangelical community, played a huge role in helping determine Iowa’s Republican Caucus winner in...

Money line: “This is what I do for a living.” Didn’t he predict a Bush/Clinton race in 2016 just nine months ago? If he believes what he says here about the parties swinging like “pendulums” from moderate nominees to ideologues and then back again, why would he have named Jeb as a strong contender last November? In fact, the roots of the counterargument are in Matthews’s own shpiel here: Most of the time, they head to the center. This is what Republicans did most successfully in 1952 – when, after twenty years of Roosevelt and Harry Truman – they wanted...

Last year NewsBusters repeatedly made the case that members of the press – in particular ABC’s George Stephanopoulos – aided and abetted President Obama’s claim that the Republicans were engaging in a so-called War on Women. In a radio interview with Geraldo Rivera Wednesday, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said this might have been the case (video follows with transcript and commentary): GERALDO RIVERA: Reince Priebus, the RNC chair was on the Republican, top politician on the Republican side, just saying that if CNN and NBC don’t cancel their planned films about Hillary Clinton, that he’s not going to allow any...

MSNBC's Chris Matthews made a bold prediction on Wednesday's Hardball. "The hard-right is going to take over the Republican Party in 2016 and the nomination is going to Rand Paul" (video follows with transcript and commentary):CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO CHRIS MATTHEWS: Let me finish tonight with this. I’ve been offering a prediction of late. Let me nail it down now. I believe the Republican Party is going to go hard-right in 2016. It’s going to run someone from the growing hard-right wing of the Party, something it hasn't done since 1980. And here's the thinking which works equally...

Steve Stockman (Texas, 36th District) has responded to Ted Cruz’ challenge to House Republicans by filing a 19 point resolution to defund ObamaCare. Mr. Steve Stockman is not afraid of a fight. “I applaud the dozen Republican Senators who sent a letter to Majority Leader Reid explaining they will not vote for any continuing resolution that funds ObamaCare. But as Senators Ted Cruz and Mike Lee have said, ‘The House must refuse to fund Obamacare’ because every appropriations bill originates in the House and the House is the only chamber that Republicans control. My resolution includes 19 whereas statements that...

I just got back from a Central Kentucky Tea Party town hall meeting with Senator Rand Paul. The meeting lasted about an hour and hit topics ranging from the IRS scandal to drones over the US, and from Benghazi to the Fort Hood Massacre.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie conflated statistics when he claimed Sen. Rand Paul’s “pork-barrel spending” is the reason Kentucky receives more federal funds than New Jersey for every tax dollar it sends to Washington. The figures cited by Christie are affected very little by pork-barrel spending.Moreover, Senate Republicans have imposed a voluntary ban on earmarks — otherwise known as pork-barrel spending — since the Kentucky senator took office in 2011. So Paul hasn’t brought any of the traditional pork-barrel spending to Kentucky.Paul also added some confusion to the issue when he seemed to suggest that Kentucky’s ratio was the...

To call growing concerns about the size, depth, history, ways and operations of our now-huge national-security operation "esoteric" or merely abstract is, simply, absurd. Our federal government is involved in massive data collection that apparently includes a database of almost every phone call made in the U.S. The adequacy of oversight for this system is at best unclear. The courts involved are shadowed in secrecy and controversy. Is it really wrong or foolhardy or unacceptably thoughtful to wonder if the surveillance apparatus is excessive, or will be abused, or will erode, or perhaps in time end, any expectation of communications...

Way back in 1975, a Republican agitator named Ronald Reagan had this to say about an esoteric young movement that was roiling politics: “If you analyze it, I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism.” Neither the GOP old guard nor the rowdy libertarians ever quite bought that argument. They both lay claim to the same conservative economic philosophy. But libertarians are more isolationist and antiwar than Republican orthodoxy allows on foreign policy and more permissive on social issues. Still, in the nearly four decades since Reagan made those comments, the two have managed — at least...

Jake Tapper: Remember when Rand Paul asked Hillary about gun running in Libya?Posted at 8:05 pm on August 1, 2013 by Twitchy Staff Recall H Clinton answer when Sen Paul asked about gun-running: "you’ll have to direct that question to the agency that ran the annex."— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 01, 2013 Nearly a year out from the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans, CNN’s Jake Tapper unveiled what looks like an enormous puzzle piece that’s been missing from the “phony scandal.� On today’s episode of “The Lead,� sources told CNN...

In a recent poll of Alaska voters, George Zimmerman -- who was recently acquitted in the shooting death of Florida teen Trayvon Martin -- got a surprising 2 percent support as a hypothetical Republican presidential candidate. The newest Alaska survey from Public Policy Polling shows Hillary Clinton's only chance of winning the state in 2016 would be in a matchup against Republican Sarah Palin, where Clinton would lead 49/40 percent. Clinton trails all other Republican candidates in the survey. Out in front, Chris Christie leads her by 8 points at 46/38, Jeb Bush leads at 49/42, Rand Paul is up...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said he agrees with those that say there is pushback from the Republican establishment when the party faces heat from factions such as the libertarian wing. Newt Gingrich said Thursday that he thinks the establishment is growing “more hysterical” as Paul and fellow Republican Sen. Ted Cruz rise in prominence. Paul said Friday on “The Laura Ingraham Show” that he thinks the establishment needs to welcome new ideas. I think there’s some truth to that and I think the other thing about it is that the old guard needs to realize they’re the ones that have...

Rand Paul talks some sense that all his fellow Republicans should face on the bugaboo of "amnesty" for those lawbreaking illegal immigrants already in the United States, reported via Mediaite: Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) may have voted against the Senate’s “Gang of Eight” immigration reform bill last week, but he seemingly does not count himself among the conservative critics of the bill who oppose any and all forms of “amnesty” for illegal immigrants currently living inside the United States.In an interview with WNDtv, Sen. Paul took on the critics of so-called “amnesty” who oppose efforts to “normalize” illegal immigrants and...

Whose approach to national security is likely to win the internal debate in the GOP? DEMOCRATS (88 VOTES)Chris Christie's: 68%Rand Paul's: 32%Chris Christie's"Ted Cruz is at war with Tom Coburn on Obamacare. Christie and Paul are going at each other like they're only a month out from the 2014 Iowa caucuses. As a Democrat, I love it.""Paul's strategy would lose the GOP more votes in the long term.""This isn't like abortion—the elites control the security debate, and the elites are not isolationists.""In GOP-land, Big Military always trumps civil liberties.""As a Democrat, it is going to be great theater and fun...

The Republican party is split, but it should promote debate, not despair. By Charles Krauthammer A combination of early presidential maneuvering and internal policy debate is feeding yet another iteration of that media perennial: the great Republican crackup. This time it’s tea-party insurgents versus get-along establishment fogies fighting principally over two things: (a) national security and (b) Obamacare.

Via Mediaite, he’s making a point about inexperience. I’m … just not sure which point. It’s true, Obama had little experience as a federal legislator (and zippo as an executive) before running for president, and look how little he’s accomplished. But is that a function of “inexperience� or a function of other variables, like greater partisan polarization and Obama’s disdain for doing the sort of congressional outreach needed to pass bills? Rubio and Paul will each have served a few years more than Obama did in the Senate by election day 2016. They each also have some cred in working...

A look at the 2016 Republican field By Ramesh Ponnuru The next Republican presidential nominee is already planning his campaign. If it is not too early for him to think about 2016, why should it be for the rest of us? We don’t know, of course, what issues will be uppermost in the public mind that year, or what the economy will be like. Republicans can take comfort, though, in the fact that only twice in the last century has a two-term president been succeeded by someone else from the same party. They should also be encouraged that the leading...

So, I guess that means that Ron Paul isn’t a ‘real’ libertarian either? Huh. Who knew?CLICK ABOVE LINK FOR THE VIDEO It’s fascinating to watch this. First of all, lesson number one, for Rand Paul, who is, by the way, not a libertarian. If you believe you ought to be able to tell women what to do with their reproductive rights you are not a libertarian. Lesson number one for Rand Paul, do not take on a guy from Jersey. Obviously this guy does not watch HBO, and, you know, you’re not going to win a fight like this with...

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) turned down an offer by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) to get a beer and end a nearly week-long feud. "I’m running for re-election in New Jersey. I don’t really have time for that at the moment," Christie said to Eric Scott on 101.5 FM's "Ask The Governor" program on Wednesday, according to the Asbury Park Press. "You know, if I find myself down in Washington, I'll certainly look him up. I don't suspect I'll be there anytime soon. I've got work to do here."  A few hours earlier, Paul said he would like to...

In one fell swoop, Howard Dean has managed to expose his ignorance of libertarianism while making a stale and insulting joke about New Jerseyites. Discussing on today's Morning Joe the dust-up between Rand Paul and Chris Christie and the broader issue of the philosophical rifts within the GOP, Dean declared that "Rand Paul is not a libertarian" because he is pro-life. Dean is apparently unaware of the lively debate over abortion within libertarian circles, with a reported 30% of libertarians being pro-life. Dean also warned Paul: "do not take on a guy from Jersey. Obviously this guy does not watch...

I got a real bad feeling the 2nd Civil War may be coming soon. While the (1% millionaires and billionaires) continue to print Trillions of dollars and run off at the mouth on the radio and television while continuing to run the world by establishing themselves as the “FEW WHO CONTROL THE MASSES) it has all the elements for a bad outcome. As a conservative who has given much thought to what all is going on, it has become abundantly all too clear that the objective of the 1% Democrats and Republicans who are OWNED and DIRECTED by HUGE CORPORATIONS...

Rand Paul has a quite a few warts, but I'd rather be in his corner than any commie leftist, or Democrat (but I repeat myself) all day EVERY day.So when John McCain says that Hillary vs. Rand is a "tough choice," I look at that statement, then I look at his daughter Meghan, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that stupidity is hereditary.I've never been a fan of McCain...NEVER. The man was and is everything...EVERYTHING that's wrong with the Republican Party today, and it's time he be flushed down his namesake.

I’d love to write a post here explaining why I think Maverick’s likely to cross the aisle in this scenario. Problem is, I’ve already written it. Click that last link if you missed it the first time through.

It has been difficult to follow politics over the past several months without sensing the presence of a new John McCain. (Again.) He was a crucial player in the passage of immigration reform through the Senate, he has helped Democrats carve out a deal allowing several of President Obama’s appointments to win confirmation, and he has even teamed up with Elizabeth Warren on a bill to regulate the banking industry. The politician who could once barely hide his disdain for the president has suddenly become one of his most valuable partners in Congress. (This makeover hasn’t extended to foreign policy,...

(CNN) – Choosing who to vote for in a potential 2016 matchup between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Rand Paul would be hard for Sen. John McCain, the Arizona Republican joked in an interview published Wednesday. "It's gonna be a tough choice," McCain, laughing, told "The New Republic."The 2008 Republican presidential nominee hasn't hidden his opposition to some of Paul's positions in the past, including the libertarian-minded senator from Kentucky's stance on drones and U.S. intervention in foreign conflicts. Condemning Paul's 13-hour filibuster over the use of drones, McCain called his colleague, along with fellow Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, "wacko...

Commenting on the current dust-up between Rand Paul and Chris Christie over pork-barrel spending, Joe Scarborough has managed to insult both combatants. On today's Morning Joe, Scarborough called Rand Paul a "daddy's boy." And in warning Paul not to pick a fight with Christie, Scarborough cited a saying by his grandmother to the effect that you should never fight with a "pig," because "you both get dirty and the pig likes it." Scarborough was careful to suggest that in comparing Christie to a "pig" he wasn't alluding to the Jersey governor's girth. OK. View the video here.

The Republican Party is divided—and the small-government conservatives, who want to reduce government’s size but preserve its institutions, are losing. Jon Favreau on the ruinous ideology that’s ascendant.Nine months after a decisive loss in the 2012 elections, the battle for the soul of the Republican Party—or whatever’s left of it—has begun. I’m not talking about a battle between moderates and conservatives. The conservatives won that fight a long time ago. Our children may never believe that moderate Republicans once roamed the Earth, advocating policies that would limit carbon pollution and invest in scientific research, reform our schools and build new...

The way this feud is progressing, I half-expect Christie to reply, “And you’re the queen.�Ostensibly Paul means “bacon� in terms of “pork,� i.e. wasteful federal spending. Which I guess means he’ll be referring to Christie as “Porky� before the week’s out. “This is the king of bacon talking about bacon,� Paul said about Christie. Both are considered potential 2016 contenders for the Republican presidential nomination…“What does he want to do, shut down military bases in Kentucky?� he said.Fort Campbell and Fort Knox, both Army bases, are located in Kentucky. New Jersey itself is home to a large joint military base...

Paul needled him last night on Hannity’s show for taking a “gimme, gimme, gimme” attitude towards federal spending on Sandy relief. Here’s Christie needling him back by accusing Paul and his home state of Kentucky of being a couple of deadbeats: “I find it interesting that Sen. Paul is accusing us of having a ‘gimme, gimme, gimme’ attitude towards federal spending when in fact New Jersey is a donor state and we get 61 cents back on every dollar we send to Washington,” Christie said. “And interestingly, Kentucky gets $1.51 on every dollar they send to Washington. So if Sen....

Rand Paul needled him last night on Hannity’s show for taking a “gimme, gimme, gimme� attitude towards federal spending on Sandy relief. Here’s Christie needling him back by accusing Paul and his home state of Kentucky of being a couple of deadbeats: “I find it interesting that Sen. Paul is accusing us of having a ‘gimme, gimme, gimme’ attitude towards federal spending when in fact New Jersey is a donor state and we get 61 cents back on every dollar we send to Washington,” Christie said. “And interestingly, Kentucky gets $1.51 on every dollar they send to Washington. So if...

Drone surveillance in the United States does not require a warrant, but the practice remains limited, the FBI told Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., in a letter after he placed a hold on James Comey’s nomination to be the new FBI director. “[T]he FBI does not, and has no plans to use [unmanned aerial vehicles] to conduct general surveillance not related to a specific investigation or assessment,” Stephan Kelly, the assistant director at the FBI’s Office of Congressional Affairs, wrote Paul. Kelly said that UAVs, or drones, have only been used for surveillance in the United States 10 times since 2006,...

He’s light on specifics here about the pros and cons of the NSA program as he sees them, but any time three serious contenders for 2016 are in a scrum over national security and civil liberties, it’s blogworthy. More than that, it’s blogworthy because the Paul/Cruz Senate partnership is to some extent a proxy for the tea-party/libertarian partnership generally. It won’t go on forever, but it’s fascinating while it lasts. I won’t bore you with rehashing why I think Cruz is more a tea partier than a true blue libertarian; read these two posts if you care, or read Nick...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) took another swipe Sunday at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) in the two Republicans' growing feud over national security, slamming the governor over spending on Hurricane Sandy relief funds. Paul told reporters outside a Nashville fundraiser that the spending priorities of Christie and Rep. Peter King (R-NY) following Hurricane Sandy diverted vital resources from national security, according to the Associated Press. "They’re precisely the same people who are unwilling to cut the spending, and their ‘Gimme, gimme, gimme — give me all my Sandy money now,” Paul said, as quoted by the AP. “Those are...

<p>Sen. Rand Paul’s criticism of the National Security Agency’s spying programs puts him in the same category as the late George McGovern, the anti-war 1972 Democratic presidential nominee, Rep. Peter King, R-New York, said Sunday.</p> <p>Echoing remarks last week from New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, King sharply chastised Paul for suggesting admitted NSA leaker Edward Snowden was performing an act of civil disobedience when he revealed the massive snooping programs.</p>

Last month, the FBI admitted it had used surveillance drones in domestic airspace but refused to disclose specific details. Now, after pressure from Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the bureau has been forced to come clean. In a recent letter to Paul, published on the senator’s website Thursday, the FBI acknowledges that it has used drones domestically in 10 cases in response to a “specific, operational need.” The bureau says that, since late 2006, it has used unmanned planes for surveillance to support missions related to kidnappings, search and rescue operations, drug interdictions, and fugitive investigations. On eight occasions the drones...

As they have from the start, the Free Syrian Army was rolling out the welcome mat for al-Qaeda. “They are welcome to help us fight the regime,” explained Colonel Abdel Rahman Suweis, a member of the FSA’s Supreme Military Council. This is not ancient history. The report from Al Jazeera (which Bill Roggio excerpts at the invaluable Long War Journal) has the FSA commander making these remarks less than two weeks ago. Just a couple of days later came another nugget from the al-Qaeda side of the “rebel” equation: A top leader of one of the terror network’s two major...

In the last month, conservatives looking for a possible 2016 presidential candidate with a serious approach to defense and foreign policy were starting to wonder if they would be stuck with outliers rather than frontrunners. The only reason why people like former United Nations Ambassador John Bolton and Rep. Peter King—men who are respected voices on these issues but not likely to have a chance at the nomination—were getting even minimal attention for their presidential trial balloons was the fact that all of the likely contenders have been ignoring the question of America’s need to maintain a forward position in...

Republican rivals Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky are escalating their feud over national security policy and liberty. In comments at a forum of Republican governors in Aspen, Col. Thursday, Mr. Christie said the libertarian strain championed by Mr. Paul currently coursing through the veins of political parties — as evidenced by broad, although ultimately unsuccessful, lobbying in the House of Representatives against NSA surveillance programs this week — is dangerous. “This strain of libertarianism that’s going through parties right now and making big headlines I think is a very dangerous thought,” Mr. Christie...

In a preview of the debate to come within the Republican Party ahead of the 2016 presidential election, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie denounced Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and other libertarians as having "dangerous" views on foreign policy. At a Republican governors forum in Aspen, Colo., Christie railed against opposition to the National Security Agency surveillance programs. On Wednesday, the House narrowly voted to defeat an amendment that would have curtailed the NSA's ability to collect data on telephone calls. Lumping Paul in with those House members, Christie suggested that Paul and other libertarians should explain their positions to widows...