Free Republic

President Barack Obama has announced that he intends to visit Cuba on his next international trip in March. The announcement has elicited expected a harsh reaction from Cuban Americans, including presidential candidates Sen. Ted Cruz and Sen. Marco Rubio. The prospect of an American president clinking glasses with the Castro brothers while the machinery of the Cuban police state continues unabated, filling prisons with political dissidents, is proving to be unedifying to many Americans who love freedom. But that disquiet is part of the reason Obama is going. He revels in i

COVINGTON, Ky. (Joe Webb) - Kentucky's registered Republicans will have to do a little extra work this election season, thanks to U.S. Senator Rand Paul. The Republican Party of Kentucky took the presidential primary off the May ballot so Senator Paul could legally run for both president and United States Senator. In March 2016, Kentucky Republicans will caucus to determine how candidates split up the 46 delegates to the Republican National Convention. "The caucuses are being held on March 5th which is a Saturday," said Kenton County Republican Chairman Greg Shumate. "They are being held statewide from 10 a.m. to...

Given their small numbers, occasional libertarian pandering to the “inside job” morons yields no theoretical benefit greater than a few additional comments on a YouTube video. Worse, they’ve actually made intelligent discussion more difficult. Questions about the government’s lack of readiness for 9/11, for example, now carry the unmistakable whiff of fringe kookiness. So do demands for basic government transparency, like calling for more of the 9/11 Commission report to be declassified. Mention this idea and some people will move away before you start ranting about the moon landing being fake. That’s too bad, because some accountability has been lost...

Echoing the recent sentiments of Steve Forbes, this week Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz told a group in New Hampshire: "Money is ... a unit of measurement. So, the reason why we see these rapid oscillations in commodities markets, it's because of unstable currencies. And it's why I think we should look at going toward rules-based money supply, ideally tied to gold, so you have stability." Perhaps this will trigger another flood of disagreement in the mainstream press, such as the recent New York Times item which reported that 40 out of 40 "leading economists" said that a gold standard...

The biggest problem with Rep. Paul's (R-Texas) latest comments on immigration is that they are NOT just some ad hoc thoughts tossed off carelessly at some speaking event. These are engraved in a brand new book. Until the release of the book, Liberty Defined, Dr. Paul had a mixed record in Congress and the fact that he had taken the NumbersUSA "No Amnesty" pledge at the end of his Presidential campaign in 2008. That had earned him a C-minus on our 2012 Presidential Hopefuls Immigration Stances Report Card. Not impressive, but the third best (behind Rep. Bachman with a B-minus...

This has been the most dramatic week in US/Iranian relations since 1979. Last weekend ten US Navy personnel were caught in Iranian waters, as the Pentagon kept changing its story on how they got there. It could have been a disaster for President Obama's big gamble on diplomacy over conflict with Iran. But after several rounds of telephone diplomacy between Secretary of State John Kerry and his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif, the Iranian leadership - which we are told by the neocons is too irrational to even talk to - did a most rational thing: weighing the costs and...

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has picked up endorsements from six New Hampshire lawmakers who previously supported Sen. Rand Paul's (R-KY) presidential bid. From The New Hampshire Union Leader: The six state lawmakers endorsing Cruz are: Rep. Max Abramson of Seabrook, Rep. Eric Eastman of Nashua, Rep. Harold French of Franklin, Rep. Larry Gagne of Manchester, Rep. JR Hoell of Dunbarton, and Rep. Mark McLean of Manchester.

I think this is another underlooked aspect of what just happened. I suppose the RINO Governors would have been on stage anyway. I wonder if FIORINO was on the stage if less time would have been allowed for big boy pants and bubble boy to attack eachother?

Now that Rand Paul is out of the race for the White House his father Ron Paul, who ran in 2008 and 2012, isn't impressed by Ted Cruz's attempts to pick up the "free market" libertarian banner. "You take a guy like Cruz, people are liking the Cruz - they think he's for the free market, and [in reality] he's owned by Goldman Sachs. I mean, he and Hillary have more in common than we would have with either Cruz or Trump or any of them so I just don't think there is much picking," Paul said of the Texas...

Principled limited government constitutional conservative Ken Cuccinelli has issued an appeal to Rand Paul supporters to vote for Ted Cruz now that Senator Paul is out of the race for president, and it is an appeal that we wholeheartedly endorse and invite our liberty-minded friends to accept. As Cuccinelli noted in a letter to Senator Paul’s supporters, “Rand has been the most passionate defender of civil liberties and personal privacy – not just in the U.S. Senate, but anywhere in government today.” Ted Cruz and Rand PaulWe agree. Cuccinelli went on to respectfully suggest that when it comes to protecting...

Rand Paul's loss looks to be Ted Cruz's gain in New Hampshire. With polling averages in the low single digits, Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul dropped out of the presidential primary on Wednesday morning. And analysis of recent polling data suggests his libertarian-leaning supporters will move toward Cruz, the brash U.S. senator from Texas. "Cruz has a libertarian streak as well," said Dante Scala, an associate professor of political science at University of New Hampshire. “His big concern is to build a bridge between...

A top staffer for Sen. Rand Paul’s campaign said Wednesday that Donald Trump was a key reason for Paul’s failed presidential bid. Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul announced Wednesday morning that he was dropping out of the race for the White House after a poor performance at the Iowa Caucuses. Paul’s Chief Strategist Doug Stafford led a conference call with reporters Wednesday morning where he said Trump sucked the “oxygen out of the room,” making it nearly impossible for Paul to get his message out.

A top donor to Sen. Rand Paul’s presidential campaign announced he is now backing Ted Cruz for President. Scott Banister is an American entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder of IronPort and a board member of PayPal. In 2015 he donated $3 million to a Super PAC supporting Rand Paul. - See more at: https://www.conservativereview.com

I've knocked around Rand Paul quite a lot over the last year-plus, and I think most or all if it was well-deserved (I've also, it should be noted, praised him a few times as well, when he deserved it). But Paul's decision to drop out of the race today (before New Hampshire) in order to help unify the party to defeat Trump, shows that he, like Scott Walker, is a true Republican who believes in conservative principles, and for that he should be commended. See, there are two types of people who call themselves Republicans. The first are those who...

2016 candidate Rand Paul explains why he thinks the polls are wrong on FNC's 'The Kelly File' and MSNBC's 'Morning Joe.' JOE SCARBOROUGH, MSNBC: Senator, if there is a surprise tonight as far as somebody doing much better, I think it's you. I think -- You've talked about it, your supporters don't seem to be as represented in the polls as others. SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: One of the interesting thing is when you look at the polls, sometimes there is nobody under 30 in the poll, often there are very few people under 40 in the poll,...

Tech entrepreneur Scott Banister has long been an ally to the liberty movement. The angel investor, IronPort founder, and PayPal board member donated $3 million to a Rand Paul supporting Super PAC, and has been a vocal supporter of the libertarian Republican. Now that Rand Paul is out of the presidential race, Banister has thrown his support behind Ted Cruz. Cruz is a self-described constitutional conservative who earned the endorsements of both Rand and Ron Paul in his 2012 Texas Senate race. Scott Banister Our best chance for a constitutional presidency is now @tedcruz. #LibertariansForCruz Cruz's relationship with the Pauls...

After years of running up against unconstitutional federal education mandates imposed on states using bribes and bludgeoning from Washington, D.C., a group of parents and grassroots education activists from across America is launching a fresh effort to shut down the U.S. Department of Education once and for all. The mission: "Stop Fed Ed." In the crosshairs is everything from dumbed-down "standards" such as the Obama-backed Common Core nationalization of schooling and associated federal testing regimes, to the deeply controversial federal data gathering and data mining encouraged and financed largely by the feds. The group hopes to pressure Congress into ending...

 Follow John King Verified account  ‏@JohnKingCNN Another GOP departure: CNN has learned @RickSantorum will exit race tonight. Plans endorsement.

Sources told CNN Wednesday that Rick Santorum is dropping out of the 2016 presidential race. "Another GOP departure: CNN has learned @RickSantorum will exit race tonight. Plans endorsement." -- John King (@JohnKingCNN) February 3, 2016 The former Pennsylvania senator's exit comes close on the heels of Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul 's Wednesday announcement.

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum is dropping out of the race for the White House, sources told CNN Wednesday....Earlier Wednesday, libertarian-minded Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul also announced that he was ending his presidential bid.