GOP - Rand Paul's Presidential Highlight Reel w/ his Libertarian Twist

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul’s courtship of Silicon Valley paying off in donations

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has been engaged in a courtship with Silicon Valley as he prepares a 2016 run for president, has reaped some large donations from tech donors, a new Maplight.org analysis of campaign finance data shows.

The donations went to Paul’s campaign committee, his joint fundraising committee and his leadership political action committee, RandPAC, according to campaign finance data posted between Friday and Monday, the Maplight.org analysis shows.

Among the donors are Bay Area billionaire Sean Parker, the co-founder of file-sharing music service Napster and the first president of Facebook. He contributed $7,600 to Sen. Paul’s joint fundraising committee on Nov. 3 — $5,000 of that donation was distributed to RandPAC, and $2,600 went to the Senator’s campaign committee, the limit allowed by both committees.

The senator’s joint fundraising committee is used to raise money for both his PAC and his campaign committee.

Michael Dearing of Woodside, who founded Harrison Metal and previously worked at eBay, contributed $5,000 to Paul’s joint fundraising committee. The Dec. 27 contribution was distributed to his leadership PAC, the data shows.

Facebook’s PAC also contributed $1,000 to Paul’s campaign committee on Oct 30.

Paul’s campaign committee also received $2,600 from Travis May, founder and CEO of TollFreeForwarding.com, based in Los Angeles.

MapLight.org analyzed contributions from California contributors to Paul's three committees, all of them reported in the latest round of available FEC campaign filings, covering contributions from Oct. 1, 2014, to Dec. 31, 2014.

http://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Rand-Paul-s-courtship-of-Silicon-Valley-paying-6071829.php

[Chef Ramsay]

Understanding Rand Paul: When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong

There’s a lot of attention given to the art of explicating the motivations of Rand Paul, and the disparate coalition he’s attempting to bring together in his fledgling 2016 campaign...

...As a fan of Senator Paul, my view is that any frame of him as a cynical politician attempting to both disguise his father’s demons without insulting the base of support that he needs misses what’s really going on in any of these moments of “impetuous” comments. On nearly every topic where Paul makes a “gaffe”, it’s actually an example of a circumstance best identified by a running Chappelle Show gag, titled “When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong.” It shows a critical moment for a character when he could’ve shrugged something off or declined to make an issue out of a small insult, but decided instead to “keep it real”, to disastrous effect.

This has been something Paul struggles with because he’s not a naturally crafty politician, engaged in the art of manipulation – he’s a true believer. He’s a libertarian gangster who has gone legit, but the old world still lives inside him, in his heart – so the pull of “keeping it real” never really lets him go. He’s not some canny operator trying to pull off a political exorcism on the way to the White House. He’s a true believer who can’t help going back to the truth about how he views the world, like a social conservative who knows they would be better off cloaking their views in spiritual pablum, but they just can’t help going back to “sinners in the hands of an angry God.”

For each of these interviews – on civil rights, on vaccines, on any number of topics – sometimes there’s an actual moment where you can see the internal struggle, and finally, his face relaxes as he gives in, and is who he is. “In response to the interviewer’s question, Paul could have given a bland non-news making platitude, or… he could keep it real.” “What Rand didn’t know was that the interviewer would say slightly crazy things on purpose to get politicians to say much much crazier things… So when the anchor asked Paul about whether we have the god-given right to own tanks… to contract for a commercial exchange of sex for cocaine… to sell bourbon-laced raw milk… he could’ve just gone along with it. But instead he decided to keep it real.”

More...http://thefederalist.com/2015/02/10/understanding-rand-paul-when-keeping-it-real-goes-wrong/

[TheButterZone]

The question is whether this authenticity about his views is something that stands out in a good way in a field of many more carefully packaged candidates, or if this tale of “keeping it real” ends with a Chappelle Show voiceover informing you that Paul now manages the medical facility at an Appalachian commune, where he is paid in bitcoin and chickens.

I like bitcoin, I like chickens and eggs...

[Chef Ramsay]

Sources: Inner Circle of Republican Party is Genuinely Fearful of Rand Paul

But ask a few questions about forever war and invasive surveillance, and elite Republicans line up around the block for a chance to destroy you. Problem is, Paul hasn’t gone down easily. He’s statistically tied with Scott Walker to win the Iowa caucus, according to a recent Des Moines Register poll, and he’s grabbed boldfaced headlines for his efforts to reach out to black and Millennial voters, something GOP bigwigs encourage but can’t ever seem to pull off.

Hence the fear.
I’ve mentioned the 2016 race to multiple people I know who work in Republican politics here in Washington, only to have them reflexively start fretting about Paul. You would think he was Republicans’ primary antagonist in 2016, rather than Hillary Clinton.

If the party can’t stop Paul, they seem determined to isolate him. With Scott Walker’s refusal last week to rule out ground troops in Syria, and with nearly every other GOP presidential hopeful—Perry, Christie, Rubio, Graham, Bolton, King, Santorum—having taken a swing at Paul, it’s quite likely that the Kentucky senator will be the only candidate on that debate stage who favors a more modest foreign policy.
And yet still the fear remains—and for good reason. “The one candidate that could potentially bring in new Republicans to the field would be someone like Rand Paul,” a former Obama staffer said last year.

http://rare.us/story/its-fear-the-republican-party-is-genuinely-afraid-of-rand-paul/

[Chef Ramsay]

Eric Bolling: Wake Up America, It's time to Audit the FED.

The legislation has bipartisan support and passed the house last year with over 300 votes from both republicans and democrats on board.

The legislation is clearly called for in the constitution, so I can’t even imagine why they need to legislate it..

The Federal Reserve claims they are exempt from oversight and they have been.

But they should not be exempt…

No other agency is exempt from congressional oversight. And the agency that regulates our currency certainly should not be exempt either.

I support Senator Paul’s legislation to audit the Fed. It makes sense. Dollars and cents, that is. Yours and mine.

We have a constitutional right to know. I am calling on the Federal Reserve to open the books and let the American people know to whom and where we are loaning our money.

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2015/02/10/wake-up-america-it-time-to-audit-federal-reserve/

Bolling is one of the pundits on Fox News Show "The Five" which is one of the more popular shows on the station at the start of the evening lineup. This guy really likes Rand so it's definitely a positive to have an ally somewhere in that lineup.

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul endorses David Vitter for Louisiana governor

Rand Paul endorsed Senate colleague David Vitter for Louisiana governor, potentially giving him a boost with Tea Party supporters.
In a fundraising e-mail sent Tuesday, Paul called Vitter a “stalwart supporter of limited government, states’ rights and the taxpayer’s best interest.” Paul, a GOP senator heading toward a likely presidential bid, is a favorite among Tea Party activists and won his 2010 race in Kentucky with their support.
“David Vitter will bring confidence, knowledge and experience to the governor’s seat,” Paul said, noting they have worked together on issues such as balancing the budget, immigration and auditing the Federal Reserve — all favorites issues among Tea Party advocates.
Vitter is the leading Republican in this year’s race to succeed Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who cannot run again because of term limits. Several Republicans have already declared their interest in running for governor, including Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne and Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle.

http://onpolitics.usatoday.com/2015/02/10/david-vitter-louisiana-governor-rand-paul/

Looks like he's trying to get another ally down the road during the LA's caucuses to make sure things happen correctly this time around. If you're curious as to why, just research about what happened at the state convention back in 2012 to Ron Paul supporters. They should've won the majority of delegates there but the state chair pulled a fast one in plain site.

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul: Arm the Kurds
Rand is one of the few, if not the only politician talking about this. Despite all of the anti-ISIS bluster from the establishment right and left, they refuse to arm the Kurds, who are successfully fighting ISIS. In addition to defensive (armor) and offensive (heavier) weapons, the Kurds need all the help we can give them in detecting and avoiding roadside IEDs, mines and bombs.

Why isn't this common sense action already taking place? Because of the stubborn and futile dream of the establishment leftists and neoconservatives to claim that they created a unified, democratic Iraq. Sorry, that train left the station long ago.

He was interview earlier on Fox and had this to say. Funny how the Kurds are actually fighting a defensive war against ISIS (and better weapons could likely wipe them out) and nobody on the right or in the white house wants to arm them rather than arming more rebels or getting the US involved w/ soldiers. This is obviously not the best answer but considering the other major options that likely will happen it's like he's throwing this one in there to trip up the military industrial complex.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJq4d2bRgrA

[Chef Ramsay]

So, Rand Paul and David Koch Walk into a VIP Reception

Kentucky Senator Rand Paul sat at the head table of the American Spectator's 48th anniversary dinner. To his right, his wife Kelley, who Paul joked had been invited on "date night." To his left, David Koch, the libertarian funder whose net worth hovered around $42 billion, and whom Paul had just seen at a conference of donors that reportedly went better for literally every other Republican who showed up. Scattered around the room were more donors, influential journalists for conservative publications (John Derbyshire, Byron York, Andrew Ferguson, James Taranto, Richard Miniter), members of Congress (Colorado Representative Ken Buck, Idaho Representative Raul Labrador), and John Ratzenberger, who played Cliff on Cheers.

So Paul's speech, a streamlined version of several he'd given in Republican primary states, was delivered with one of the conservative movement's biggest donors looking right at him. (They'd also talked at a VIP reception before the start of the dinner.) Paul's been talking about criminal justice reform anyway, but the context gave his remarks about Ferguson a little extra heft. To the shock of people who are unfamiliar with libertarians, Koch and his foundations had announced a prison-reform push.

"Many of us believe that if you’ve convicted of a non-violent crime, maybe you deserve a second chance," said Paul. "I think there’s room, in the concept of justice, for discernment."

More...http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-12/so-rand-paul-and-david-koch-walk-into-a-vip-reception

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul Is Real in New Hampshire

The conventional wisdom among Republican elites is that Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky is a fringe candidate with limited popular appeal. That may prove correct in the long run, but it's unsupported by recent polls -- especially last week's Bloomberg Politics/Saint Anselm New Hampshire survey.

In fact, the poll, which surveyed 989 general election voters, suggests that Paul is succeeding in generating support beyond the Republican base. His untraditional Republican views -- including skepticism of government surveillance and military interventions, and his call to reform U.S. prison and drug laws -- appear to be resonating.

More...http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-02-12/rand-paul-is-real-in-new-hampshire

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul asks Kentucky GOP leaders for a presidential caucus in 2016

Requesting help to avoid a "costly and time-consuming legal challenge," U.S. Sen. Rand Paul is asking members of the Republican Party of Kentucky's central committee to create a presidential caucus in 2016.

In a letter dated Feb. 9, Paul told GOP leaders that an earlier presidential preference vote would give Kentuckians "more leverage to be relevant."

"As you may have heard, you, as a member of the Kentucky Republican Central Committee, will be the one to decide if you want to help me get an equal chance at the nomination," Paul wrote.

The letter went out to hundreds of other Kentucky Republicans ahead of the party's 54-member executive committee meeting on March 7 in Bowling Green, where Paul will pitch the caucus idea to members for a vote.

...

More...http://www.kentucky.com/2015/02/12/3691040_rand-paul-asks-kentucky-gop-leaders.html?rh=1

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul speach and interview at #RebootCongress [video]

WASHINGTON – If Republicans Rand Paul and Ted Cruz were competing in the 2016 tech primary, the senator from Kentucky on Thursday showed why he’s ahead — even if he managed to also highlight his weaknesses as a potential presidential candidate during the same appearance.

Both Paul and Cruz appeared at Lincoln Labs’ #RebootCongress conference at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington (subtitle: “Get S#!t Done”), giving a speech and answering questions from organizer-selected moderators.

“I love tech,” Cruz declared as he paced the stage for nearly half an hour with microphone in hand, regaling the scattered crowd with stories of how his parents were programmers in the 1950s and 1960s — echoing the standard campaign trope of telling, say, an Iowa audience which distant relative was born in a town that somewhat resembles a hamlet in the agricultural state.

The Silicon Valley-oriented, mostly tieless, often denim-clad crowd stared back at him. “The principle I’m going to suggest to you is, don’t mess with the Internet!” Cruz said. Exactly two half-hearted claps came from the back of the room. “The two ‘don’t mess with us caucus,’” Cruz said, laughing nervously, “and the remainder are looking to be messed with.”

It was a study in contrasts with Paul, who sat onstage with TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington and bantered easily back and forth about Bitcoin currency, net neutrality and how urban liberals could find common ground with rural conservatives. His fluency served as a reminder that he has something of a leg up with the tech crowd; the billionaire PayPal founder Peter Thiel has donated more than $2.5 million to a PAC backing his father, former Rep. Ron Paul, and Rand Paul has traveled to the Valley to raise money. Napster co-founder Sean Parker has donated to RandPAC.

More...http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/ted-cruz-and-rand-paul-battle-tech-cred-rebootcongress

Video - http://www.msnbc.com/shift/watch/rand-paul-wants-to-reboot-congress-397922883876#

[Chef Ramsay]

Paul adviser: The Federal Reserve is “downright scared” of Rand Paul’s Audit the Fed bill

Kurt Wallace: This is Kurt Wallace and our guest today on Rare is Doug Stafford, Executive Director at Rand PAC. You can find Rand PAC at RandPaul2016.com, and Doug thanks for being with us today.

Doug Stafford: Thanks, Kurt. Pleasure to be with you.

Kurt Wallace: Purpose of this discussion is to talk about the Fed. Sen. Paul has introduced Audit the Fed legislation. The Hill newspaper which covers Congress, puts in this week is that the Fed is “lashing out” at Mr. Paul’s plan.

Forbes has conjectured that “The club of U.S. central bankers appears jittery, but it’s not because of interest rates, unemployment, or mortgage-backed securities. It’s because of Congress.” What’s going on here?

Doug Stafford: Yeah Kurt, Sen. Paul has reintroduced Audit the Fed and I’m going to take issue with “jittery” I don’t think it’s jittery…

It seems downright scared, doesn’t it?

More...http://rare.us/story/paul-adviser-the-federal-reserve-is-downright-scared-of-rand-pauls-audit-the-fed-bill/#t1r322GhjVqEP57J.99

Doug Stafford is Rand's chief of staff for his RandPac, aka his Ace. Pretty much an underboss. Keep reading.

[Chef Ramsay]

How to write an anti-Rand Paul attack piece in 4 easy steps

Michael Gerson, who boasts the résumé bullet point of chief speechwriter under George W. Bush, recently began a column bashing Rand Paul by arguing that the Kentucky senator’s actions had fallen into a pattern.

Let me humbly suggest that the pattern is on the other side of the table. Nearly every hawkish opinion columnist has written at least one think piece about Paul, and at this point they’ve become a tad predictable—almost like they’re working off a template.

Now, for the first time, and after much rigorous research, I’ve distilled that template into four handy steps.

Not every anti-Paul manifesto follows these rules to a T, but if you’re planning to write such a piece, this is about as comprehensive a style guide as you’ll find.

As always, I exist only to serve.

First, begin by expressing curiosity about Paul

You might concede that Paul is “interesting” or “thoughtful,” “an alternative,” someone who is starting a “necessary” or “inevitable” foreign policy debate on the right. Bonus points are awarded if you mention the “war-weary” American public, whose sentiments Paul is channeling.

This establishes you as a neutral arbiter of the conversation, rather than a zealous ideologue who winces every time a fistfight breaks out in the Middle East without an American response. Your tone is prodding, curious, willing to consider Paul even if you’re secretly pining for his electoral annihilation.

Second, denounce as crazy one or two genuinely concerning statements Paul has made

The most common and effective examples here are Paul’s equivocating on mandatory vaccinations and his implication that Dick Cheney invaded Iraq to enrich Halliburton, the first of which is controversial and the second of which simply isn’t borne out by the facts.

These are statements that worry even his supporters. Questions about them are absolutely fair game, and Paul will have to put them to bed if he wants to win the presidency.

Third, denounce as crazy one or two entirely normal foreign policy statements Paul has made without skipping a breath

More...http://rare.us/story/how-to-write-an-anti-rand-paul-attack-piece-in-4-easy-steps/#xmc7MpLL5mHKbl7i.99

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul says that Hillary Clinton deserves a lot of blame for ISIS

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Wednesday morning that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton deserves a lot of blame for instability in the Middle East and the rising numbers of Islamic State (ISIS) recruits.

Paul said that Clinton’s intervention in Libya and the assassination of Muammar Gaddafi created space for ISIS jihadists to flourish and grow.

“The disaster that is Libya is now a breeding ground for terrorists and is a breeding ground for armaments. So I really do blame Hillary Clinton’s war in Libya for creating a lot of the chaos that is spreading throughout the Middle East,” he said.

More...http://rare.us/story/rand-paul-says-that-hillary-clinton-deserves-a-lot-of-blame-for-isis/G7P24QrDhUzI8Hwj.99

Him coining the term, "Hillary's War" is pretty epic and will be great ammo to use on that bitch in the general election should she get to that point. Not only that but pinning everything ISIS related on her from the start is a great way to frame his foreign policy w/o having to "blame America" like was being pinned on his dad during the last crusade. That's the savviness that he is showcasing.

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul: Scrap the tax code

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said Thursday that lawmakers should "scrap" the tax code.

Paul was responding to a question during a Facebook question-and-answer session in which he was asked if Congress should abolish the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

"The IRS is too big, too powerful, and we absolutely should scrap the code," Paul, a prospective 2016 presidential candidate, answered. "Look for my tax plan later this spring."

Paul was touting his "Audit the Fed" proposal, which has 30 co-sponsors and would allow the comptroller general to audit the Federal Reserve. Fed officials oppose the policy, saying that it'd politicize monetary policy.

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/232688-rand-paul-scrap-the-tax-code

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul On The Federal Government: ‘Shut The Damn Thing Down’

Speaking at the American Spectator Gala in Washington D.C. last night, Sen. Rand Paul delighted the crowd with a strong anti-government speech.


He began with a defense of the government shutdown in 2013, pointing out that many Americans in “fly-over country” didn’t really care, and only a third of government was shut down at the time.


Paul blamed Obama for shutting down national parks and national monuments to raise public concern, praising World War II veterans for ignoring the barriers placed in front of their monument in Washington D.C.


“I tell people who don’t understand America, don’t understand that we need to shut the damn thing down, I tell people the image you need to remember is when the World War II veterans got off their bus, took their wire cutters, cut the barricades, and threw them on the lawn,” he said.


Paul and his wife Kelly attended the annual gala, seated at the same table as David Koch, one of the two billionaire brothers who serve as philanthropists for conservative ideas.


After highlighting more incidents of mismanaged government spending, Paul pointed out that leaders in Washington D.C. can not be trusted to properly run the country.


“Everything in Washington is broken, nothing works here,” he said. “We can’t run the post office, we are not to be trusted with money. Congress is not good with money, we shouldn’t be trusted with almost any responsibility up here. Most of government should be shut down and devolved and sent back to the states.”

More...http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/02/12/rand-paul-on-the-federal-government-shut-the-damn-thing-down/

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul Preaches to Techno-Libertarians and the 'Leave Me Alone' Coalition

...
"I didn't allege there is a connection," Paul said on Thursday. "I said I have heard of people who have said there is a connection."

Aside from briefly playing Gaffe Police, Arrington stuck to the techno-libertarian talking points of the conference, including the USA Patriot Act, net neutrality, and bitcoin.

Arrington, a libertarian, asked Paul what he thought about the idea of replacing the U.S. welfare program with a basic income policy that would give a sum of money to every American—an idea that has tantalized both libertarian and left-leaning economists. Paul brushed off the idea.

"I think that we sort of limit ourselves if we're talking about the minimum we want people to have," Paul said. "We should minimize what the government does—that's the nonproductive sector—and we should maximize the productive sector."

On net neutrality, Paul said the government should not regulate Internet service providers as utilities because it stifles innovation. Paul noted that the tunnels in New York City could likely accommodate "hundreds" of cables from different ISPs, which could spur competition.

"The way to fix this and to correct this is to open up competition within those monopolies," Paul said. "Why grant monopoly licenses?"

When asked how rural conservatives can find common ground with urban liberals, Paul noted that last year, he gave virtually the same speech about privacy at the Conservative Political Action Conference and the University of California (Berkeley). He held that fact up as evidence of a "leave me alone" coalition between Democrats and Republicans.
...

More...http://www.nationaljournal.com/twenty-sixteen/rand-paul-preaches-to-techno-libertarians-and-the-leave-me-alone-coalition-20150212

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul's East Orlando (Florida state capital) Post Interview

United States Senator (KY) and likely Republican Presidential candidate Rand Paul, chatted with us Friday while he was in town for the Orange County GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner.

By Jacob Engels

His stump speech brought Central Florida Republicans to their feet for a healthy standing ovation in the heart of the I-4 corridor, during the Orange County GOP's annual Lincoln Day Dinner fundraising event...proving that Senator Paul's libertarian brand of conservatism can engage the Republican base, as well as students on college campuses nationwide.

But beforehand...Paul, a leading presidential contender, dressed in blue jeans and a sport coat, kindly fielded our questions after being hounded by the local TV news outlets, who provided little more than "gotcha" style inquiries.

The son of former Texas Congressman and Republican presidential contender Ron Paul, was on point with his answers and focused on a theme of freedom and individual liberty. From his #AuditTheFed legislation to his favorite band, we present our exclusive interview with Rand Paul.


Was a pleasure to speak with Senator Paul.


What were the expectations growing up in the Paul household?

Do well in school...or else.

You have made a significant effort to broaden the appeal of the Republican Party to millenials and the younger generations. Why should the platform of the GOP interest these groups?

Kids are just innately part of this "leave me alone" coalition. They are leaving the house and tired of their parents and ready to make their own decisions. As adults move out of school and into the workforce, they are hungry for independence.

Young people are connected through their devices more so than any other generation and don't understand why the government should be looking at what you are doing on your phone or who you are talking to. Ideas of privacy, of reigning in the NSA...are very much ideas that resonate. I have taken this message to young conservatives and libertarians at CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) and more liberal students/young people at Berkley, and it was received well in both places.

A lot of the youth who voted for President Obama are upset that he has not been a better defender of their privacy and that he has continued the perpetual nature of war.

Freedom and the power of the individual are two themes that are predominant in almost everything you do. Why are these concepts so important to you, and what is an example of something elected officials do to hinder these ideas?

When we started out, the whole battle of the constitution was not to restrain the people...but to restrain the government. When we finally booted the King and set up our own country, we wanted to constrain it...to make it hard to go to war, and listed rights important to us in the Bill of Rights. We also stated that those not listed are not to be disparaged, so individual freedom and rights really come out of our origin as a nation and people.

Over the last 100 years, government has grown bigger while freedom and individual liberty have grown smaller...in times of war it's even more dangerous. In the past, some civil liberties would be lost and then come back after war. The problem now is that we are in a perpetual state of war and fear, and because of that there is a great deal of danger that our civil liberties face...as we lose them through the Patriot Act and the new NSA surveillance program. The mandates of backdoor searches through Google and Facebook mean we could never get that freedom back.

What would a Rand Paul presidency look like? What role would women, minorities and citizens have in helping shape policy and governance?

I would look at the law and find out how the law was treating people unfairly. For example, the war on drugs has had a disproportionately negative effect on African Americans, Hispanics and those that live in poverty.

In my administration, I would do everything in my power to make sure that the law was treating everyone equally and that it was more just. Putting someone in jail for 50 years for selling marijuana is obscene, and it should stop.

In Florida, you have two prominent people who might run for President who can't even come to support medical marijuana. I know a man whose daughter has 200 seizures every day, so many that it can stunt the growth of his daughter’s brain. He wants to use cannabis oil, in addition to traditional medicine. Those in Florida who are against medical marijuana would actually put him in prison if he did that in your state. As Republicans, we need to show a little bit more compassion for people.

Where does your legislation on auditing the Federal Reserve stand?

Audit The Fed is very popular. It passed in the House last time with every Republican and about 100 Democrats. In the Senate, we have a little bit more of an uphill battle, but we have 30 co-sponsors right now and are hoping for a vote sometime this spring.

A lot of people think that a bank connected to the government like the Federal Reserve ought to reveal whose stuff they buy and what they own. If you are the Chairman of the Federal Reserve...should you let people know that you bought your brother’s bank? There should be more transparency.

Lightning round - Favorite band, film and Austrian economist.

Rush. Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and F.A. Hayek.

More...http://eastorlandopost.com/6-questions-rand-paul

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul gets receptive ear to his message in Sarasota

SARASOTA
Conventional wisdom has it that Florida is Jeb Bush country in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio enjoys lots of conservative Sunshine State love as well.

But that didn’t stop Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul from courting Republicans in Bush/Rubio home turf this weekend. At a Valentine’s evening airport rally Saturday night he found plenty of Republicans receptive to his message.

“I like Jeb Bush. I’ve voted for him,” said Republican business broker Dale Tindall. “But whether it’s the Bushes or the Kennedys, or the Clintons, enough is enough.”

That sentiment was repeated over and over again in random interviews among the several hundred people gathered Saturday to see Paul, who told the Tampa Bay Times he is not intimidated by his rivals’ Florida advantage or by Bush’s expected overwhelming fundraising advantage.

“Most of the grass-roots of our party believes that we should have less centralization of education in Washington. Most of the people I meet are opposed to Common Core, as I am,” Paul, 52, said of the education standards championed by Bush and adopted by Florida and most other states. “I just think it’s going to be difficult (for Bush) to win over grass-roots conservatives.”

More...http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article10304669.html

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul draws applause in Florida for urging change in GOP

...
Paul said he expects to announce in March or April whether he’s running for president.

President Barack Obama’s request last week for Congress to authorize military force against the Islamic State highlighted a contrast between Paul and many Republicans, particularly Rubio, on foreign policy.

Obama’s request sets a three-year time limit, but doesn’t put geographic boundaries on where the U.S. can use force.

On the Senate floor Wednesday, Rubio called the time restriction “quite unprecedented” and said: “I would say there is a pretty simple authorization he could ask for, and it would read one sentence. And that is: We authorize the President to defeat and destroy ISIL, period.”

When asked on Friday about Rubio’s approach, Paul said: “That could be a million American GIs in the Middle East. It’s a mistake not to put some conditions. … Right now there are 60 different groups in 30 different countries that have pledged allegiance to ISIS. The current resolution, and for those who want no restrictions on the resolution, would allow us to put 100,000 troops in Libya. I would think we would want to vote if we’re going to send 100,000 troops to Libya.”

Since Bush has emerged as the early Republican front runner, Paul has been a leading critic and suggested there’s little difference between Bush and Clinton.

On social media last month, Paul’s PAC put out a recording of a mock phone call between Bush and Clinton, with an actress playing Clinton telling the Bush character that “We both agree on so many issues: bigger government, Common Core and amnesty for illegal immigrants.”
...

More...http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-politics/rand-paul-draw-applause-in-florida-for-urging-chan/nkBmz/