Rand Paul to Christie: 'That wasn't very nice'

TRENTON — Republican presidential hopeful U.S. Sen. Rand Paul on Tuesday said Gov. Chris Christie's recent verbal jab at him "wasn't very nice."

Paul, who's no stranger to engaging in public spats with New Jersey's governor, responded during a TV interview over their differing opinions about the Patriot Act. Christie, without calling them out by name, recently criticized federal lawmakers who oppose the Patriot Act, a group that includes Paul. Christie said such opposition is "misguided."

Christie made the comment during a speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference on Friday. It mirrored a similar statement Christie released on Saturday when the governor slammed "misguided ideologues" with "no real world experience in fighting terrorism" for "putting their beliefs above the safety and security of our citizens" after the U.S. Senate failed to extend certain provisions of the Patriot Act.

In an interview on FOX & Friends, Paul was asked to respond.

"That just wasn't very nice, I'll put it that way," he said, before articulating his opposition to the government's intelligence gathering methods.

<snip>

"Christie worries about the dangers of freedom," said a message on Paul's Twitter feed. "I worry about the danger of losing that freedom. Spying without warrants is unconstitutional."

http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/05/rand_paul_to_christie_that_wasnt_very_nice.html#incart_most-read_politics_article

MSNBC host praises Rand Paul's leadership on Patriot Act filibuster
Ari Melber, co-host of The Cyle on MSNBC - 5/27/15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cPb57mfJF8

Rand Paul blames Republican hawks for growth of ISIS

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Wednesday blasted members of his party for sending arms to the Middle East that have ended up in the hands of Islamic militants.

Paul, a Republican presidential candidate who has often sparred with others over his non-interventionist positions on foreign policy, faulted GOP lawmakers for helping the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

"Right now there are 1,500 groups, many of them bad people, including ISIS, that hawks in our party have been arming," Paul said during an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
 
"ISIS exists and grew stronger because of the hawks in our party, who gave arms indiscriminately, and most of those arms were snatched up by ISIS," he continued.

He made the remarks when asked about comments from Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee who is expected to launch his own White House bid next Monday.

...

More...http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/243171-rand-paul-blames-republican-hawks-for-growth-of-isis

Christie: Rand stands with 'criminal' Snowden

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (N.J.) is taking aim at likely 2016 rival Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) for opposing renewal of the Patriot Act, accusing him of siding with “criminal” leaker Edward Snowden.

Christie, a possible 2016 GOP presidential candidate, slammed Paul and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) for their vocal push to end the surveillance practices of the National Security Administration (NSA) that Snowden exposed to the world by releasing classified documents.

“He’s a criminal, he’s a criminal and he’s hiding in Russia, and he’s lecturing to us about the evils of authoritarian government while he lives under the protective umbrella of Vladimir Putin?” Christie said of Snowden on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”

“That’s who Mike Lee and Rand Paul are siding with — with Edward Snowden?” he added. “Come on.”

...

http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/243183-christie-rand-stands-with-criminal-snowden

Bobby Jindal slams Rand Paul as unfit to be commander-in-chief

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal lashed out at Sen. Rand Paul for his recent comments about Islamic State, saying the presidential contender is unfit to be commander in chief and is taking the “weakest, most liberal Democrat position” when it comes to fighting the militant group.

Using unusually harsh rhetoric and an unusual forum, Jindal posted a statement condemning Paul on his “office of the governor” website.

“This is a perfect example of why Senator Paul is unsuited to be Commander-in-Chief,” Jindal said. “We have men and women in the military who are in the field trying to fight ISIS right now, and Senator Paul is taking the weakest, most liberal Democrat position. It’s one thing for Senator Paul to take an outlandish position as a Senator at Washington cocktail parties, but being Commander-in-Chief is an entirely different job. We should all be clear that evil and Radical Islam are at fault for the rise of ISIS, and people like President Obama and Hillary Clinton exacerbate it.”

...

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/bobby-jindal-rand-paul-unfit-president-118322.html

Rand Paul Campaigns in Chicago

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul will bring his campaign to Chicago Wednesday.
Paul is scheduled to discuss “failed liberal policies in Chicago” at a “Stand With Rand” rally at Project HOOD with South Side Pastor Corey Brooks.

He plans to talk about “unequal economic opportunity, failing schools and the broken criminal justice systems that plague cities all across the U.S., including Chicago.”

He will also headline an event with the Illinois Policy Institute Wednesday afternoon at 1871 in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart and attend the DuPage County Lincoln Day Dinner in Lisle later in the day.

Paul announced his candidacy last month, telling supporters that he was running for president because he wanted “a return to government restrained by the constitution” and “a return to privacy, opportunity, liberty.”

"Too often when Republicans have won, we've squandered our victory by becoming part of the Washington machine," he said as he officially kicked off his bid for his party's nomination for 2016. "That's not who I am."


Source: http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Rand-Paul-to-Campaign-in-Chicago-Wednesday-305135891.html#ixzz3bMU8V6Sm

Rep. Labrador signs on for official role in Rand Paul's presidential campaign

Rand Paul’s 2016 presidential campaign today named Idaho Rep. Raul Labrador to an official role with the campaign, as western states co-chairman. “In this role, Congressman Labrador will provide the campaign with important insights from grassroots leaders,” the campaign said in a statement.

Paul said, "Congressman Labrador is a staunch defender of our Constitution and since taking office, he has fought for fiscal responsibility, regulatory restraint and individual liberties. Raúl has lived all across the western part of the country, and I am honored to have his support as the Western States Co-Chairman of Rand Paul for President."

I requested the names of the other western states co-chairmen, and got this response from Paul’s campaign press secretary, Eleanor May: “We have not announced that yet. Rep. Labrador is first.”

...

http://www.spokesman.com/blogs/boise/2015/may/27/rep-labrador-signs-official-role-rand-pauls-presidential-campaign/

Hopes dim for the Patriot Act

The PATRIOT Act is going to need a miracle to survive the weekend unscathed.
Backers of the post-9/11 anti-terror measure are scrambling this week to prevent the law’s key surveillance programs from lapsing at midnight Sunday. But with the Senate not slated to return to Washington until just hours before that deadline, opponents like Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) showing no signs of budging, and the House so far unwilling to bail out the upper chamber, the prospects for an eleventh-hour breakthrough look slim.

Pressing their advantage over Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and others who lost a late-night gambit last weekend to prolong the current law, even for a matter of days, reform backers say the only way out of the jam is simple: Pass our bill. They’re claiming momentum for the USA Freedom Act, which would rein in current surveillance initiatives by ending the so-called bulk collection program, among other reforms. The House approved the legislation overwhelmingly, and on Saturday, it fell just three votes shy of the 60-vote threshold needed to advance in the Senate.

“Our options are a lot more limited” given the time constraints, said Utah Sen. Mike Lee, the chief Republican backer of the bill in the Senate. “We can either let the provisions at issue expire, or we can pass the House-passed USA Freedom Act.”

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/prospects-dim-for-11th-hour-patriot-act-deal-118300.html

Standing With Rand at the Strand
At New York City's famous bookstore, the most literary Republican 2016 candidate greets his base.

The jacket copy of Senator Rand Paul’s new book, Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America, out Tuesday, says that “Rand Paul’s Republican Party is for young and old, black and white, those with tattoos and those without. This is not your grandfather’s GOP.”

His appearance at the Strand bookstore in lower Manhattan Tuesday night appeared to attract that new GOP: young children and old retirees, some people who weren’t white, and at least one guy with several bright tattoos up and down his arms. Dan Rossano, a 40-year-old office manager and independent voter, said he stopped by to see what Paul was about and was leaving more likely to vote for him.

“The vibe I got is that he seems to be the most independent out of everyone, and if you can equally annoy Democrats and Republicans at the same time, you’re probably a decent guy,” Rossano said as he waited in the book-signing line.

Though Paul canceled a scheduled question-and-answer session to leave for another event, he briefly addressed a large, standing-room-only crowd of people in the Strand’s rare-books room to promote his new publication. At his side was his wife, Kelley, who briefly talked about her own book about the women in her family, released last month. The couple was introduced by Nancy Bass Wyden, the store’s co-owner and the wife of Democratic Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, Paul's Patriot Act-fighting friend on the left. (Paul ended the night by saying that there are “things that are much more important than party and I value the friendship that I have with Senator Wyden.”)

...

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-05-27/standing-with-rand-at-the-strand

Rand Paul stokes feud with GOP leaders over NSA: 'We are on opposite sides'

Rand Paul rejected criticism that his 10-hour filibuster against the government’s bulk data collection programs was a fundraising ploy on Tuesday, casting it as “an unfair characterization” while calling on Barack Obama and Paul’s fellow Republicans to push for further clampdowns on the legal justification for the NSA’s dragnet surveillance.

Last week, Paul conducted a marathon speech in an attempt to halt the US government’s mass surveillance of Americans’ phone records and to derail an extension of the Patriot Act. His talkathon led to a legislative impasse on the USA Freedom Act, as the Obama administration effectively ended its bulk dragnet.

Embarking on a week-long book tour in between Senate sessions, the Republican presidential contender said on Tuesday he still thinks the Senate can “win that vote” on bulk collection.

More...http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/26/rand-paul-nsa-surveillance-reform-republicans

I've been thinking about changing the name of the thread because this has pretty much expanded into a full blown highlight reel/news blog that I keep updating about Rand's presidential run rather than just the initial polling thread. I just thought by now that all interested parties would note what is going on in here. I'm open to title suggestions tho.

Yeah, those with the propensity to freak out might as well sell now and get those coins into healthier hands.

This next pump coming to ltc is beyond that. Too much support will see this leg up and it will be like no IPO. I'd get on board prior to the
WOWz, your choice.

[Video] Rand Paul and Kelley Paul on The Kelly File 5/26/15
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsKMXcYGrgo
Judge the exchange for yourself, especially the wife's.

Confusing the terminology of 'bagholder' and the Bitcoin wealthy is hardly a decent comparison. Bagholder belongs to those that chose to keep fiat and bonds but eschewed the likes of Bitcoin for the future and have accepted the dismal fate that one assumes staying in bullcrap.

Federal Panel Lets Injunction Against Obama’s Immigration Actions Stand

A federal appeals court on Tuesday denied the Obama administration’s request to lift a hold on the president’s executive actions on immigration, which would have granted protection from deportation as well as work permits to millions of immigrants in the country illegally.

Two of three judges on a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, left in place an injunction by a Federal District Court judge in Brownsville, Tex. The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed by Texas and 25 other states against actions President Obama took in November. Many of the initiatives were scheduled to take effect this month.

The appeals court found that the states had sufficient legal grounds to bring the lawsuit and that the administration had not shown that it would be harmed if the injunction remained in place and the programs were further delayed.

Also denied was a request by the administration to limit the injunction to the states bringing the lawsuit. The ruling is a second setback for programs the president hoped would be a major piece of his legacy, raising new uncertainty about whether they will take effect before the end of his term and casting doubts on the confidence of administration lawyers that their case was very strong.

Demonstrators outside federal appeals court in New Orleans last month. A panel of the court decided Tuesday not to lift a hold on President Obama's immigration executive actions. Credit Gerald Herbert/Associated Press
The lawsuit was filed in December, and on Feb. 16, Judge Andrew S. Hanen of Federal District Court in Brownsville ordered a preliminary injunction on the programs while he ruled on the constitutional issues in the suit.

In a statement, Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, said Mr. Obama had tried to impose “a drastic change in immigration policy” without the consent of Congress. The appeals court decision is “a victory for those committed to preserving the rule of law in America,” Mr. Paxton said. “We will continue to fight the brazen lawlessness that has become a trademark of the Obama administration.”

More...http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/27/us/fifth-circuit-court-of-appeals-rules-on-obama-immigration-plan.html

Missing woman to sister: ‘We are floating in a house’

WIMBERLEY, Texas (KXAN) — Eight people from two different families have been confirmed missing in Wimberley following flooding Saturday night; the two families were together when the flooding happened. Three of those missing people are the daughter-in-law and grandchildren of former Nueces County Commisioner Joe McComb, he confirmed to KXAN. McComb’s son, Jonathan McComb, was pulled from the floodwaters and taken to a San Antonio hospital for treatment. He is expected to be OK.

All the families were spending a weekend together in Wimberley when the flooding happened.

The confirmed missing include:

Laura McComb and her two children, Leighton and Andrew
Ralph and Sue Carey
Randy and Michelle Charba, daughter of Ralph and Sue, and their 4-year-old son Will
Julie Shields said she was on the phone with her sister, Laura, when their cabin was swept away.

“We are floating in a house that is now floating down the river,” Laura told Shields on the phone. “Call mom and dad. I love you, and pray.”

Those were the last words Shields had with her sister.

More...http://kxan.com/2015/05/24/family-of-former-nueces-county-commisioner-missing-following-flood/

President Obama's second-term agenda, it seems, is in the hands of the courts.

Same-sex marriage. Obamacare. Climate change. And now immigration. And in many cases, there is significant doubt about whether his signature initiatives will stand legal scrutiny.

The latest blow to Obama's second-term plans came Tuesday when a federal appeals court in New Orleans denied the administration's request to move forward with implementing his expanded executive action on immigration to defer deportation for millions of undocumented immigrants.

More...http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2015/05/26/obama-courts/

Floodwaters deepen in Houston after city gets more rain

HOUSTON (AP) — Floodwaters deepened across much of Texas on Tuesday as storms dumped almost a foot more of rain on the Houston area, stranding hundreds of motorists and inundating the famously congested highways that serve the nation's fourth-largest city.

Meanwhile, the search went on for about a dozen people who were still missing, including a group that disappeared after a vacation home was swept down a river and slammed into a bridge.

Several more fatalities were reported — four in Houston and four more in Central Texas. That brought to 17 the number of people killed by the holiday weekend storms in Texas and Oklahoma.

Similar search efforts unfolded just south of the Texas-Mexico border, where crews tried to track down the missing and assessed damage in the city of Ciudad Acuna after a tornado killed 13 people Monday.

In Houston, the water rose sharply overnight as about 11 more inches of rain fell, much of it in a six-hour period. By Tuesday evening, most rivers had receded back within their banks.

The floodwaters affected virtually every part of the city and paralyzed some areas. Firefighters carried out more than 500 water rescues, most involving stranded motorists. At least 2,500 vehicles were abandoned by drivers seeking higher ground, officials said.

"Given the magnitude and how quickly it happened, in such a short period of time, I've never seen this before," said Rick Flanagan, Houston's emergency management coordinator.

http://news.yahoo.com/12-missing-flooding-texas-sweeps-away-vacation-home-073741185.html

Punishing rains, flooding turn Houston into a soggy mess; at least 2 killed

More than 11 inches of rain turned Houston into a deadly, soggy mess Tuesday, as rising waters brought an increasing death toll, cut electricity to neighborhoods and stranded motorists in their vehicles.

At least two deaths were reported overnight in Houston, the nation’s fourth largest city, bringing to at least 16 the number of people killed by a flurry of storms in Texas and Oklahoma. Authorities just across the border in Mexico were searching for victims in Ciudad Acuña, where a tornado Monday killed 13 people and left at least five others missing.

Nearly a foot of rain fell overnight in parts of Texas, turning rivers and streams into powerful floodwaters that reshaped shorelines and swept away homes.

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-texas-flooding-rain-houston-austin-20150526-story.html#page=1