Posted on 01/09/2013 3:45:57 PM PST by JohnPDuncan
The U.S. Senator (R-Ky.), who is already being touted as a 2016 Republican presidential candidate, was recently appointed to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and is showing some strong Woodrow Wilson-style isolationist tendencies.
The role of the committee, according to its own website, is to “develop and influence United States foreign policy,” and in the past has “helped shape foreign policy of broad significance.” In other words, the actions of the committee matter just a bit, and the membership of a Senator like Rand Paul, who’s primary policy goal seems to be deficit reduction and budget balancing to the exclusion and possible detriment of all other policies, is a worrying prospect to many, particularly in the pro-Israel community.
Upon his appointment to the committee, the National Jewish Democratic Committee released a statement condemning Paul’s new membership, particularly as it pertains to U.S.-Israel relations. NJDC President David Harris said that the existence of Paul on the committee “should be raising red flags and provoking severe concern across the pro-Israel community.”
During the 2012 presidential campaign, Paul broke party ranks to criticize Republican nominee Mitt Romney’s foreign policy plan as being too costly, and called for a “less aggressive foreign policy” in a CNN column.
“A less aggressive foreign policy along with an audit of the Pentagon could save tens of billions of dollars each year without sacrificing our defense,” Paul wrote.
“To dismiss either idea is to miss the very compromise that will enable us to balance our budget. That compromise would be for conservatives to admit that not every dollar spent on the military is sacred or well spent, and for liberals to admit that not every dollar spent on domestic entitlements and welfare is necessary.”
(Excerpt) Read more at ibtimes.com ...
Yes let’s most foreign aid, esp. that going to nations of the pieceful type. Let’s keep giving aid to our key allies, like Israel. My future, home sweet home!
there will be a time to discontinue aid to Israel. That will be when revenues from the big natural gas fields off their coasts start flowing into Israeli government coffers.
That point is not more than five years off.
When Israel changes from an oil importer to an oil exporter—then US aid should be cut off. They really really won’t need US aid at that point.
Of course there will still be plenty of money for government to government joint R&D programs.
From http://www.njdc.org/site/page/bio_of_david_harris
"Mr. Harris began his career in electoral politics working as a campaign manager during the 1992 congressional campaign cycle, going on to work with the late Senator Paul Simon."
Why am I not surprised?
Most of the aid to Israel isn’t handing over cash. It is giving them preferred purchases on defense equipment. I can’t remember the source, but it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 to 90 percent of ‘aid’ was actually Israel buying arms.
Wilson originally campaigned on an isolationist platform then immediately jumped into a literal empire building platform. He had a famous statement regarding forcing trade through the barrel of a gun. He wasn’t an isolationist, he just played one during the campaign.
I like Rand Paul and think he's a smarter and more practical man than his father is. I'd love to see him run for the nomination and, at this time, I believe he'd be a good candidate and a very good president.
I think he could make a good president too.
He’ll never get elected in today’s America.
No, it is handing over cash, with the stipulation that about 80% of the cash goes to U.S. arms manufacturers. It's welfare for a foreign nation and the military industrial complex.
Best part is we borrow the money we give them, so we can hand the interest expense on that borrowed money to nations like China forever.
Actually, it gets better, because Israel has been selling military equipment and technology to China. China loans the U.S. money, the Israeli's take some of it and 'buy' our military hardware, and then Israel transfers that tech to China while China collects the interest.
And people on Free Republic support this nonsense, or turn a blind eye to it.
I dont think it’s a hit piece. If you read the article it contains plenty of the senator’s statements alongside an opposing statement from the Jewish Democrat organization.
Maybe the wording of the article is slightly biased against him but otherwise it’s not bad and explains Rand Paul’s position of wanting to help Israel from a position of strength rather than weakness which is where the US is headed with its budget problems.
Sen. Paul points out that Egypt under control of the Muslim Brotherhood is buying 200 Abrams tanks from America this year and is worried that those tanks along with F-15’s maybe used against Israel.
Rand Paul: Less Aid to Israel Would Increase Its Sovereignty
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2975892/posts
To me, Paul is being a realist and our foreign policy looks reckless and out of control. Calling him a Wilsonian style isolationist is flagrant, imo.
No matter. As long as Rand Paul is putting ideas out there worth talking about, much of what he's actually saying will get through the one stream media filters, as you pointed out.
Maybe so, maybe not. We'll have to wait and see.
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