Free Republic

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) admitted Friday it’s “difficult to turn the clock back” on ObamaCare, but proposed making the law voluntary as a possible fix for consumers. “I think it’s going to be difficult to turn the clock back. People get assumed and accustomed to receiving things, particularly things that they get for free,” he told a crowd of students at Harvard’s Institute of Politics on Friday. Paul’s comments echo those of other Republicans who have admitted it will be difficult to fully repeal the law after some of its more popular provisions took effect. The potential 2016 presidential candidate...

Republican Sen. Rand Paul says President Barack Obama’s health care law probably can't be defeated or gotten rid of. And he’s suggesting there is little he and other congressional Republicans can do to stop the law from taking effect. …

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. (AP) — Republican Sen. Rand Paul says President Barack Obama's health care law probably can't be defeated or gotten rid of. And he's suggesting there are few ways and little time for him and other congressional Republicans to stop it. Speaking to reporters Saturday at a gathering of Michigan Republicans, the presidential prospect said Republicans in Congress could use votes on measures in the House and in the Senate to come up with compromise legislation that could make the law more palatable. Some provisions, Paul said, include removing caps on health savings account contributions or deductibles for...

Sen. Rand Paul conceded Saturday that congressional Republicans have little chance of stopping Obamacare. “We probably can’t defeat or get rid of Obamacare,” the Kentucky senator told reporters at a gathering of Michigan Republicans, according to the Associated Press. Paul acknowledged that time is running out for Congress to pass a government funding bill, however he said House Republicans’ efforts to defund Obamacare in its government funding bill could lead to a compromise. ~~snip~~ Reid has said any bill defunding Obamacare would be dead on arrival, and Sen. John McCain said Thursday that it was “not rational” to think the...

Via MFP, an eyebrow-raiser from yesterday’s chat with David Axelrod(!) at the University of Chicago. David Corn and Mother Jones are out with another gotcha piece on Paul this morning citing his (mild) criticism of Reagan in the past for not cutting spending more as president, but this clip is more interesting, I think. Knocking the Gipper for not doing enough to shrink government is Libertarianism 101; even mainstream conservatives who venerate him will grudgingly concede that they wish he’d done better before quickly adding that he did what he could with a liberal Congress. And needless to say, no...

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul said the Republican Party has to embrace a message of optimism and “look like the rest of America” to win again. “If we want to win again, if we want to be a bigger party, not only do we have to be a party that looks like the rest of America—black, white, brown, with tattoos, without tattoos, earrings, without earrings—we have to look like the rest of America but we also have to have a party that has the message of optimism,” said Paul in his keynote address at the American Principles Project gala on...

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul is warning Republicans that if they expect to be relevant in the future and grow the party they will have to soften on social issues. In an interview with vocativ.com, Paul said he had "sort of a Jeffersonian belief in unity, peace and commerce with all" and that the best way to build the GOP for the future is to include people with whom they don't agree on every issue. "I think that the Republican Party, in order to get bigger, will have to agree to disagree on social issues," Paul advised. "The Republican Party is...

Republican Sens. Rand Paul and Dean Heller on Thursday both denounced as “offensive” and “racist” Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s recent comments about African-Americans. “His remarks on race are offensive and I wholeheartedly disagree with him,” Paul said in a statement, according to Business Insider.

Sen. Rand Paul distanced himself Thursday from Cliven Bundy’s recent remarks on race, roughly a week after the likely 2016 presidential contender knocked the way the federal government has handled the land dispute with the defiant rancher. “Cliven Bundy’s remarks on race are offensive and I wholeheartedly disagree with him,” Mr. Paul, Kentucky Republican, said via Twitter.

Via WaPo and RCP, another nugget mined from yesterday’s chat with Axelrod in Chicago. As with abortion, Paul’s “different kind of Republican” brand requires a compromise here. He knows that most voters, including those in his own party, support voter-ID laws; he also knows that those laws are easily demagogued as racist by lefties, which means that toeing the GOP line too closely could jeopardize Paul’s effort to connect with black voters. What’s a different kind of Republican to do? He insists that ID is a good idea — “I don’t think dead people should vote” — but concedes to...

Ron Paul blasts Texas Governor Rick Perry in a new TV ad that refers to Perry as a “Cheerleader” for Al Gore in 1988. The Paul ad then refers to him as “the one who stood with Reagan.” AUSTIN – Rep. Ron Paul’s newly released attack ad refers to the congressman as, “the one who stood with Reagan.” But his 1987 letter announcing his resignation from the Republican Party indicates Reagan drove him from the party. “Ronald Reagan was one of the most significant presidents of our generation, and a proven fiscal conservative,” Perry spokesman Mark Miner said. “Like President...

The “Ron Paul Revolution,” as it is sometimes called, is a self-described Libertarian movement that preaches individual liberty, limited government, and – above all else – personal freedoms. Such freedoms include, apparently, racial segregation at private institutions (they call this property rights) and recreational narcotics usage. Ron Paul is proud of his friendship with the late Murray Rothbard, an economist of the “Austrian” school (which dates back to Carl Menger, and was developed fully by Ludwig von Mises, both Austrian). Paul and Rothbard shared an affinity for sound money (i.e., gold) and a disdain for the Federal Reserve System, which...

I read the following (italicized) from the New York Young Republican Club this afternoon on another Thread here on Free Republic. Ron Paul is proud of his friendship with the late Murray Rothbard, an economist of the “Austrian” school.... Paul and Rothbard shared an affinity for sound money (i.e., gold) and a disdain for the Federal Reserve System.... Rothbard, among conservatives, is mostly known for two things: 1) His authoring of a hate piece against Ronald Reagan, entitled “Ronald Reagan: Warmonger,” published in 1983, in which he roundly criticized Reagan’s policies for fighting the Cold War in South America (specifically...

Rand Paul has a piece at Breitbart which Drew at Ace views as a slam against Ted Cruz. The dispute is once again over what Reagan would have done. Reagan clearly believed in a strong national defense and in “Peace through Strength.” He stood up to the Soviet Union, and he led a world that pushed back against Communism. But Reagan also believed in diplomacy and demonstrated a reasoned approach to our nuclear negotiations with the Soviets. Reagan’s shrewd diplomacy would eventually lessen the nuclear arsenals of both countries. Perhaps Rand Paul can explain what the point of lessening the...

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) is out with another clarification of his foreign policy positions, saying unequivocally in a Washington Post op-ed that he is against a strategy of containment when it comes to Iran.Asked Sunday about his 2012 vote against a bill that would have prevented a policy of containment -- that is, allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons or nuclear weapons programs but keeping tabs on them -- Paul said all options should be left on the table. (Paul was the lone vote against the legislation.)That led some to say that the potential 2016 presidential candidate was open to...

A fiendishly clever theory from Peter Beinart. Remember “Operation Chaos”? That was Rush Limbaugh’s plan to have GOP voters wreak havoc on the Democratic nominating process in 2008. With McCain’s nomination already all but assured and Obama clinging to an apparently insurmountable lead over Hillary, Rush encouraged Republicans in states with open primaries (i.e. states where you don’t have to be registered as a party member to vote in that party’s primary) to cross over and vote for Hillary in the Democratic primary instead. The idea was to drag the primary process out for Democrats as long as possible, forcing...

The oil-services company Halliburton is an old obsession of the anti-Bush Left, and evidently of Kentucky senator Rand Paul. The libertarian standard-bearer and almost-certain Republican presidential candidate suggested to audiences a few years ago that Vice President Dick Cheney’s views on the Iraq War were influenced by his time as CEO at Halliburton. Cheney had opposed going into Iraq during the Persian Gulf War under the first President George Bush; then, after a stint at Halliburton, he supported going into Iraq under the second President Bush. Q.E.D. Asked about the Halliburton charge on ABC’s This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Paul...

Wednesday on Fox News Channel's "Your World" with Neil Cavuto former Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) discussed the IRS targeting his organization when Cavuto asked, "Well, i don't want to be cynical Congressman, do you think any of this might have a thing or two to do with your son possibly running for president? "

Rand Paul will do his best to charm a group Mitt Romney’s top donors next week at an event facilitated by Romney finance director Spencer Zwick. The Friday luncheon will take place in Boston at the offices of Zwick’s private-equity firm, Solamere Capital, according to a source familiar with the event. Romney’s eldest son Tagg is also a managing partner at the firm, and Romney is the executive chairman. The event is yet another signal that Paul is preparing a for a serious presidential bid in 2016. Two years before the GOP primary, Paul is attempting to branch out beyond...

Registered users of the Internet’s largest white supremacist forum – dubbed “a magnet for the deadly and deranged” -- have carried out nearly 100 murders in the past five years, a group that tracks “hate groups” reported Thursday. The report by the Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center found users of Stormfront.org, which advocates “white power,” have been disproportionately responsible for some of the most deadly hate crimes and mass killings since the site’s founding in 1995. “Stormfront is the murder capital of the racist Internet,” said Heidi Beirich, report author and Intelligence Project director. “It has been a magnet for...