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

[Chef Ramsay]

I sent tweets to not only my own schmucks but also cruz/lee and a few others for their help of Rand. What did you do?

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul's Smedley Butler Dog Whistle to the Antiwar Libertarians

Amid lots and lots of interesting, and wonderful to hear on the floor of the Senate, stuff from Rand Paul in his just-concluded talk about all the reasons why the Patriot Act needs to go and the USA Freedom Act needs to be amended before it's passed was a quick quote from a name that doubtless most people hearing didn't recognize: Smedley Butler.

The quote was either a direct statement or paraphrase of Butler's "There are only two things we should fight for. One is the defense of our homes and the other is the Bill of Rights."

But that Paul had the nerve to mention Butler in a positive way was a great, if obscure and possibly easy to overinterpret, sign for those who love Paul for his tendencies toward reining in America's tendencies toward war.

Butler, himself a highly honored major general in the Marine Corps, is author of an incendiary tract called War is a Racket in 1935, beloved of antiwar folk ever since. Christopher Coyne summed it up for us here at Reason nicely back in 2012:

"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives."

So begins U.S. Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler's 1935 pamphlet War is a Racket. Butler, who had participated in many military interventions, came to realize that war allowed elites to gain while less powerful citizens and foreigners bore the conflict's financial, physical, and emotional costs. Citizens, policymakers, pundits, and scholars have yet to internalize Butler's warning.

Indeed they haven't, which is why it's great, even though the words "war is a racket" in their full Butlerian meaning likely never won't come from Rand Paul's lips, to hear Butler's name mentioned in the filibuster-ish peroration today. (Paul similarly named a more thoroughly libertarian secret hero, Lysander Spooner, in his 2013 anti-drone filibuster.) These sort of reminders that Rand Paul comes from the curious and unique background of radical anti-state and anti-war thinking are always nice for those of us who hope for a Rand Paul who doesn't forget the rich heritage of libertarian and libertarian-ish thought. And today's Rand Paul was a pretty pure hero.
...

http://reason.com/blog/2015/05/20/rand-pauls-smedley-butler-dog-whistle-to

[Chef Ramsay]

NY Times: 2016 Prospect Rand Paul in New Book: GOP Willing to Change

WASHINGTON — Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul reaches out in his most direct way yet to African Americans in a new book that highlights his libertarian policies on government surveillance, the economy and criminal justice reform.

"My party has let the bond it once enjoyed with minorities fray to the point that it is near beyond repair," the Kentucky senator writes in "Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America," set to be released later this month. He continued, "My Republican Party, the Republican Party I hope to lead to the White House, is willing to change."

Paul, 52, has made reaching out to racial minorities a centerpiece of his political brand as he embarks on his 2016 campaign for president. More than a decade has passed since the Republican Party last won a presidential contest, due in part to the GOP's struggle with minority voters, a growing segment of the population that has overwhelmingly favored Democrats in recent years.

More...http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/21/us/politics/ap-us-gop-2016-paul-book.html?_r=1

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul was right: Rifles, RPGs and missiles flowed from Benghazi to ISIS ports

Rand Paul asks Hillary Clinton if the US is Shipping Arms from Libya to Turkey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg4aL3SUb0w

The U.S. watched as rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and missiles flowed from Benghazi to Syrian ports where they would become part of the Islamic State's arsenal of weapons, a Defense Intelligence Agency memo reveals.

Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied any knowledge of this when Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky asked her about it during a Benghazi hearing in January 2013. Think Progress said Paul's questions were "pushing a conspiracy theory."

Paul: "My question is, is the U.S. involved with any procuring of weapons, transfer of weapons, buying, selling, anyhow transferring weapons to Turkey out of Libya?"

Clinton: "To Turkey? I'll have to take that question for the record. That's, nobody's ever raised that with me."

Paul: "It's been in news reports that ships have been leaving from Libya and that they may have weapons. And what I'd like to know is, the annex that was close by, were they involved with procuring, buying, selling, obtaining weapons and were any of these weapons being transferred to other countries? Any countries, Turkey included?"

Clinton: "Well, senator, you'll have to direct that question to the agency that ran the annex. And, I will see what information is available."

Paul: "You're saying you don't know?"

Clinton: "I do not know. I don't have any information on that."

The Oct. 5, 2012, DIA memo, penned before the Benghazi attacks, makes it clear that the U.S. was watching as weapons were transferred from Benghazi to two Syrian ports.

...

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/rand-paul-was-right-rifles-rpgs-and-missiles-flowed-from-benghazi-to-isis-ports/article/2564816

[Chef Ramsay]

Feud between John McCain and Rand Paul worsens after NSA reform fiasco

The feud between John McCain and Rand Paul worsened on Saturday morning after the presidential candidate successfully held up a temporary extension of controversial provisions of the Patriot Act.

McCain, a leading GOP hawk and Paul, the leader of his party’s libertarian wing, have never exactly seen eye to eye. But the relationship became even more toxic after Paul successfully blocked the Senate from extending NSA surveillance programs for even one additional day.

After the votes, McCain expressed his frustration with the Kentucky Republican, saying there were “99 people [in the Senate] who were basically willing to have this put off for a period of time so there could be negotiations and one person decided that he didn’t want to have it happen”.

The Arizona Republican went on to suggest that Paul’s filibuster of over 10 hours on Wednesday was simply a fundraising ruse while also casting veiled barbs at Texas Republican Ted Cruz as well.

...

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/may/23/feud-between-john-mccain-and-rand-paul-worsens-after-nsa-reform-fiasco

[Chef Ramsay]

Christie slams Paul for Patriot Act failure

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) took a shot Saturday at his potential 2016 presidential rival, Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), for blocking renewal of the Patriot Act.

In a statement from his political action committee, Christie slammed “misguided ideologues” with “no real world experience in fighting terrorism” for “putting their uninformed beliefs above the safety and security of our citizens.”

...

Christie, who is seeking to run as a Washington outsider, cast the Patriot Act vote as another example of congressional dysfunction.

"The Senate's failure to extend the Patriot Act is a failure of the U.S. government to perform its most important function — protecting its citizens from harm,” he said. “This dysfunction is what we have come to expect from Washington, D.C., but usually it does not have such dangerous and severe consequences."

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/243024-christie-slams-paul-for-patriot-act-failure

[Chef Ramsay]

PATRIOT Act on life support after Rand Paul stymies renewal efforts

The Senate plunged into chaos Saturday as Republicans found themselves tangled over the PATRIOT Act, Rand Paul repeatedly stymied his leaders, and senators left town with critical national security programs about to lapse.

In a rare early morning Saturday vote, the Senate blocked a popular House bill that would rein in controversial government surveillance programs. The vote was 57-42, and it needed 60 votes to advance. Immediately after that vote, the Senate also rejected a straight 60-day extension of the Bush-era national security law on a 45-54 vote — leaving the Senate with no immediate options to ensure the programs don’t expire before the end of the month.

Paul, the libertarian firebrand and GOP presidential hopeful, pushed the Senate into the wee hours of Saturday to protest the bulk collection of phone records, as weary and recess-hungry senators trudged through a packed to-do list — finishing trade legislation but getting stuck on the PATRIOT Act issues.

“It’s not about making a point, it’s about trying to prevent the bulk collection of data,” Paul told reporters after the Senate floor drama. When asked whether his objections were a fundraising tactic, Paul responded: “I think people don’t question my sincerity.”

After the two failed votes early Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to swiftly pass shorter and shorter temporary reauthorizations of the PATRIOT Act — extending it to June 8, June 5, June 3 and then June 2 — but he was blocked by Paul, as well as two Democratic senators.

After being stiff-armed at every turn, McConnell announced that the Senate would be back in session on May 31 to resolve the PATRIOT Act standoff — just hours before the critical provisions are poised to sunset.

...

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/mitch-mcconnell-criticize-house-surveillance-bill-118211.html

[Chef Ramsay]

New York Times editorial board stands with Rand on filibuster

He may have annoyed Senate colleagues by seizing the floor for a marathon monologue on Wednesday, but Senator Rand Paul did Americans a singular service by forcing attention to the fact that their civil liberties remain at stake as Congress drifts toward a renewal of the Patriot Act that is likely to do too little to rein in government surveillance programs.

“Are you really willing to give up your liberty for security?” Senator Paul asked in his unexpected, 10-and-a-half-hour quasi-filibuster.

The Kentucky lawmaker candidly linked his floor speech to his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination, where he is determined to make more of a public issue of government intrusion into the private lives of Americans after the 9/11 attacks. This is to be welcomed, particularly since so many of his rivals prefer to slide off the issue by endorsing a compromised and faulty renewal of the Patriot Act as it expires on June 1.

...

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/22/opinion/rand-pauls-timely-takedown-of-the-patriot-act.html

[Chef Ramsay]

Sens. Rand Paul & Mark Warner Introduce the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mark Warner (D-VA) today introduced the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2015. This bipartisan legislation will empower those on the front lines of federal spending to find efficiencies and improve productivity to return value to the taxpayer in the form of deficit reduction and less government borrowing. Building on the current federal law, the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act would allow a U.S. government agency’s inspector general to pay a bonus of up to $10,000 when a federal employee identifies surplus or unneeded funds. Cosponsors of the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2015 include: Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Mike Enzi (R-WY).

“Under the current law, federal employees have a perverse incentive to spend all of their agency’s annual budget before the end of the year, and subsequently, bonuses will reverse the incentive to the benefit of the employee and the taxpayer,” said Sen. Paul. “The Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act will reduce the federal deficit and reverse the trend toward agency bloat, by combating inefficiency and mismanagement of funds in the government.”

“This bipartisan proposal encourages federal agencies to return unused funds instead of rushing to spend-down their appropriations at the end of every fiscal year. When we empower federal employees to identify surplus funds instead of encouraging the ‘use it or lose it’ mentality, we are better stewards of taxpayers’ dollars,” Sen. Warner said.

“Giving federal employees more of an incentive to identify and call out unnecessary spending within the federal government has the potential to save taxpayers millions of dollars and make federal agencies run far more efficiently,” Sen. Gardner said. “I’m proud to support this bipartisan effort, and will work to ensure its passage.”

http://www.paul.senate.gov/news/press/sens-rand-paul-and-mark-warner-introduce-the-bonuses-for-cost-cutters-act-of-2015

[Chef Ramsay]

Stop the NSA’s spying on Americans - by Rand Paul and Rep. Mark Sanford

There is always a balance between security and liberty, and the American tradition has long been to err on the side of liberty.

America’s founders feared a government powerful enough to commit unreasonable searches and seizures and crafted a Constitution designed to protect citizens’ privacy.

Today, many Americans keep their daily activities and personal information on their cell phones.

We believe that as technology evolves, our constitutional rights should endure. The Fourth Amendment protects our right to privacy and we should never let a government entity run roughshod on our rights.

When we took office, we vowed to uphold and protect these rights.

This is precisely why we vehemently oppose the renewal of the Section 215 of the USA Freedom Act.

Section 215 allows for secret court orders to collect “tangible things” that could be relevant to a government investigation — a far lower threshold and more expansive reach than a warrant based on probable cause.

The list of possible “tangible things” the government can obtain without a warrant is seemingly limitless and can include things like driver license records and Internet browsing history.

Ironically enough, the court of appeals for the Second Circuit deemed this bulk collection of data to be illegal.

Yet just a week later, the House of Representatives voted to turn this illegal act into law.

While we believe U.S. intelligence should keep a close watch on suspected terrorists, the U.S. Constitution should not be trampled in the process.

This administration and some government officials think that violating American citizen’s right to privacy is essential for national security and that proves just how out of touch and out of control our government has become.

It should be said that we do not believe the vast majority of NSA agents and contractors are using these programs for pernicious purposes. They love their country and are simply trying to protect it with the tools that they have been given.

But the NSA is just one more example of a tool used by a president who has abused his executive authority time and time again.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and trusting unlimited power is not an American strength.

Should our civilization move in that direction, it would represent an American vice.

As Benjamin Franklin wrote, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

We should never give up our freedoms for a false sense of security and we will continue to do all we can to protect our nation without infringing upon our constitutional rights.
...

More...http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150521/PC1002/150529911

[Bit_Happy]

Rand Paul was right: Rifles, RPGs and missiles flowed from Benghazi to ISIS ports

Rand Paul asks Hillary Clinton if the US is Shipping Arms from Libya to Turkey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg4aL3SUb0w

The U.S. watched as rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and missiles flowed from Benghazi to Syrian ports where they would become part of the Islamic State's arsenal of weapons, a Defense Intelligence Agency memo reveals.

Then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied any knowledge of this when Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky asked her about it during a Benghazi hearing in January 2013. Think Progress said Paul's questions were "pushing a conspiracy theory."

Paul: "My question is, is the U.S. involved with any procuring of weapons, transfer of weapons, buying, selling, anyhow transferring weapons to Turkey out of Libya?"

Clinton: "To Turkey? I'll have to take that question for the record. That's, nobody's ever raised that with me."

Paul: "It's been in news reports that ships have been leaving from Libya and that they may have weapons. And what I'd like to know is, the annex that was close by, were they involved with procuring, buying, selling, obtaining weapons and were any of these weapons being transferred to other countries? Any countries, Turkey included?"

Clinton: "Well, senator, you'll have to direct that question to the agency that ran the annex. And, I will see what information is available."

Paul: "You're saying you don't know?"

Clinton: "I do not know. I don't have any information on that."

The Oct. 5, 2012, DIA memo, penned before the Benghazi attacks, makes it clear that the U.S. was watching as weapons were transferred from Benghazi to two Syrian ports.

...

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/rand-paul-was-right-rifles-rpgs-and-missiles-flowed-from-benghazi-to-isis-ports/article/2564816

People who are "pushing a conspiracy theory" should never be proven correct, since it will only encourage them to come up with an endless flow of even crazier theories! 
Oh, did you hear the confirmed reports about Jeb and 'W' doing coke at Camp David when Daddy was President?

[funtotry]

Sens. Rand Paul & Mark Warner Introduce the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2015

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mark Warner (D-VA) today introduced the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2015. This bipartisan legislation will empower those on the front lines of federal spending to find efficiencies and improve productivity to return value to the taxpayer in the form of deficit reduction and less government borrowing. Building on the current federal law, the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act would allow a U.S. government agency’s inspector general to pay a bonus of up to $10,000 when a federal employee identifies surplus or unneeded funds. Cosponsors of the Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act of 2015 include: Sens. Cory Gardner (R-CO), Pat Toomey (R-PA), and Mike Enzi (R-WY).

“Under the current law, federal employees have a perverse incentive to spend all of their agency’s annual budget before the end of the year, and subsequently, bonuses will reverse the incentive to the benefit of the employee and the taxpayer,” said Sen. Paul. “The Bonuses for Cost-Cutters Act will reduce the federal deficit and reverse the trend toward agency bloat, by combating inefficiency and mismanagement of funds in the government.”

“This bipartisan proposal encourages federal agencies to return unused funds instead of rushing to spend-down their appropriations at the end of every fiscal year. When we empower federal employees to identify surplus funds instead of encouraging the ‘use it or lose it’ mentality, we are better stewards of taxpayers’ dollars,” Sen. Warner said.

“Giving federal employees more of an incentive to identify and call out unnecessary spending within the federal government has the potential to save taxpayers millions of dollars and make federal agencies run far more efficiently,” Sen. Gardner said. “I’m proud to support this bipartisan effort, and will work to ensure its passage.”

http://www.paul.senate.gov/news/press/sens-rand-paul-and-mark-warner-introduce-the-bonuses-for-cost-cutters-act-of-2015

This is a FANTASTIC idea. Giving bonuses to people that save the taxpayers money, and cut the corners is good for everyone. The employee gets a really nice bonus, and there could be savings of millions or billions in uneeded spending. Bravo to Rand Paul again

[Chef Ramsay]

Rand Paul Breitbart op-ed: The Patriot Act Provides No Security At The Cost Of Our Liberty

Supporters of the NSA’s large scale spying on the American people claim the program has made our country safer. Benjamin Franklin famously said, “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”

This week, I stood on the Senate floor for over 10 hours explaining just that. We should never give up our rights for a false sense of security, but supporters of the PATRIOT Act are also presenting voters with a false choice. This week, the Investigator General reported that the FBI has not cracked a single terrorist plot thanks to the invasive spying powers implanted under the PATRIOT Act. Let me reiterate that: even the most vocal defenders of the spying program have failed to identify a single thwarted plot.

When will we realize that trading liberty for security is a monumental mistake? The Revolutionary War was fought to protect against writs of assistance, general warrants written by soldiers not judges. Our Founding Fathers believed that the right to be left alone—the right to be secure in your own persons—is the most cherished of rights.

Politicians like Senators Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Lindsey Graham(R-SC), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Governors Jeb Bush and Scott Walker have all endorsed the NSA domestic surveillance program. Alone among presidential candidates, I am leading the fight to end this unconstitutional program. They are threatening our rights, freedoms, and privacy by encouraging the NSA to continue their warrantless tapping of American’s cell phones, and all without good reason.

...

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/05/26/exclusive-rand-paul-the-patriot-act-provides-no-security-at-the-cost-of-our-liberty/

[Chef Ramsay]

FBI admits no major cases cracked with Patriot Act snooping powers

FBI agents can’t point to any major terrorism cases they’ve cracked thanks to the key snooping powers in the Patriot Act, the Justice Department’s inspector general said in a report Thursday that could complicate efforts to keep key parts of the law operating.

Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said that between 2004 and 2009, the FBI tripled its use of bulk collection under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows government agents to compel businesses to turn over records and documents, and increasingly scooped up records of Americans who had no ties to official terrorism investigations.

The FBI did finally come up with procedures to try to minimize the information it was gathering on nontargets, but it took far too long, Mr. Horowitz said in the 77-page report, which comes just as Congress is trying to decide whether to extend, rewrite or entirely nix Section 215.

Backers say the Patriot Act powers are critical and must be kept intact, particularly with the spread of the threat from terrorists. But opponents have doubted the efficacy of Section 215, particularly when it’s used to justify bulk data collection such as in the case of the National Security Agency’s phone metadata program, revealed in leaks from former government contractor Edward Snowden.

The new report adds ammunition to those opponents, with the inspector general concluding that no major cases have been broken by use of the Patriot Act’s records-snooping provisions.

“The agents we interviewed did not identify any major case developments that resulted from use of the records obtained in response to Section 215 orders,” the inspector general concluded — though he said agents did view the material they gathered as “valuable” in developing other leads or corroborating information.



Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/may/21/fbi-admits-patriot-act-snooping-powers-didnt-crack/#ixzz3bGvAMgSM

Rand presented this in his filibuster as one of the main reasons that the bulk data collection is wrong over and above constitutional reasons. The neocons lie time and again saying that the Patriot Act and this bulk collection is what has kept us safe and now the facts are clear.

[Chef Ramsay]

New Poll, Rand Paul leads GOP field in Washington State with strong support among gun owners

Washington Republicans are lining up for Kentucky’s Sen. Randal H. “Rand” Paul with strong support from gun owners, according to the May 18-19 Townhall/Gravis Insights poll of 523 Republican voters.

“Rand Paul has a national following that has not been reflected in our state-by-state polls, until we took at look at Washington State,” said Doug Kaplan, the managing partner of Gravis Insights, the Florida-based polling company that conducted the poll. The poll of Republicans carries a 4 percent margin of error.

Gravis Insights, a nonpartisan research firm, conducted a random survey of 1,032 registered voters in

Washington regarding potential election matchups and other relevant issues. The poll has a margin of error of 3 percent for the general election questions, 6 percent for the 256 Democratic respondents, he said. The poll was conducted using IVR technology and the results were weighted by anticipated voting demographics.

In other matchups, Democratic Sen. Patricia L. Murray leads her potential Republican challenger Rep. Catherine McMorris Rodgers, the chairwoman of the House Republican Policy Committee, 51 percent to 40 percent.

A Murray v. McMorris Rodgers battle would pit the moderate congresswoman, who has led Republican support of Obamacare in the House, against one of the most partisan senators in the Democratic caucus.

Paul is the choice of 13.2 percent of Republicans, he said. The other top four candidates are: Wisconsin Gov. Scott K. Walker, 12.4 percent; former Florida governor John E. “Jeb” Bush, 11.5 percent; Florida’s Sen. Marco A. Rubio, 11.3 percent and Dr. Benjamin Carson with 7.6 percent.

“Paul comes to Washington with advantages, too,” Kaplan said. The senator’s father former Texas congressman Dr. Ronald E. Paul won the 2012 Washington caucuses with strong grassroots organization.

Sergio Gor, a spokesman for the senator, said: “Senator Rand Paul has worked very hard to grow the party over the last few years, his focus on issues like privacy and criminal justice reform gives him a unique ability to successfully engage the youth community.”

http://gravismarketing.com/polling-and-market-research/washington-state-pool-paul-leads-gop-field-murray-leads-mcmorris-rodgers-right-to-work-up-45-to-33/

[Chef Ramsay]

Rep. Brat and Sen. Paul: FREEDOM Act won't fix government overreach

After we have been so outspoken about the National Security Agency’s bulk collection of Americans’ telephone data, many have asked why we so strongly oppose the USA Freedom Act. The Freedom Act, which passed the House last week and now goes to the Senate, reauthorizes and reforms the parts of the USA Patriot Act that are set to expire. While one of the reforms is an attempt to stop the government’s bulk data collection, the bill’s wording leaves considerable gaps in privacy protections, and that greatly concerns us both.

The Freedom Act directs phone companies, rather than the NSA, to hold certain data that the government can later search during an investigation. The act also limits the government to only asking for records based upon a “specific selection term.” Unfortunately, “specific selection term” is defined so broadly under the bill that it could include a whole corporation or a whole geographic region — a reduced form of bulk collection, but bulk collection nonetheless, and one that ropes in the records of many innocent people.

Additionally under the act, the standard required for initiating searches is much lower than what the Constitution calls for. The Fourth Amendment requires having “probable cause” that a crime has been committed before initiating a search, while the act lowers that bar to only “reasonable suspicion” — an unconstitutional standard.

While the USA Freedom Act certainly creates some very needed reforms, we’ve seen what happens when the executive branch isn’t limited by Congress’ checks and balances. We don’t like the broad language of “specific selection term” that leaves the discretion of how sweeping these dragnets can be to the people who have already shown they don’t mind violating the Fourth Amendment.

As recently as this month, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals deemed this bulk collection of data to be illegal. Yet just a week later, with the passage of the Freedom Act and its broad language, the House of Representatives seems to have given the NSA the legal authority the court said it was lacking.
...
The director of national intelligence, James Clapper, blatantly lied to Congress when he denied the NSA spying program existed at all. During the recent IRS scandal, we also learned that this administration took confidential tax information belonging to political opponents. And the Justice Department was used to intimidate journalists who were critical of the administration.

More...http://www.richmond.com/opinion/their-opinion/guest-columnists/article_db5b9bef-a392-5bdc-a7d0-9a714f63f8f7.html

[Chef Ramsay]

White House Implies Rand Paul Puts ‘Political Ambition’ Above National Security

White House press secretary Josh Earnest not-so-subtly called out Republican Kentucky senator and presidential candidate Rand Paul for his 10-hour long filibuster of the NSA’s metadata surveillance practices, accusing him of putting “political ambition” above national security.

EARNEST: All the hard work’s been done on this. I mean, it’s complicated policy, it’s working through the partisan politics that’s involved, trying to understand the technology that’s involved, the stakes are really high when it comes to our national security and when it comes to civil liberties of the American people. All of that’s been worked out, because of the President and his national security team working effectively with Democrats and Republicans.

The other thing I would point out is that every single Democrat in the United States Senate voted for this compromise. And right now what we’re seeing is a difference of opinion of the Republican side of the aisle. At some point, the political ambitions of individual members of the U.S. Senate are going to have to come second to the national security of the United States.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/05/26/wh-accuses-rand-paul-of-putting-political-ambition-above-national-security-video/

[Chef Ramsay]

Obama and Rand Paul face off over the Patriot Act

WASHINGTON — – President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged the Senate to renew National Security Agency surveillance powers before they expire at midnight Sunday, as Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul vowed to keep working to block the Patriot Act and the bulk collection of Americans’ phone records.

“This needs to get done,” Obama told reporters in the Oval Office on Tuesday.

White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest, asked what Obama was doing to round up votes, suggested, without naming him, that Paul needs to put the country first as he runs for the Republican nomination for president.

"Right now, I think what we're seeing is a difference of opinion on the Republican side of the aisle," Earnest said. "At some point, the political ambitions of individual members of the United States Senate are going to have to come second to the national security of the United States."

Obama called on the Senate to approve a House-passed bill that would change the phone record collection program while renewing less controversial Patriot Act provisions that also expire at the end of the month. The Senate rejected the House bill by three votes last weekend and is on a break until Sunday, just hours before the spying powers are scheduled to expire.

Obama said reauthorizing the surveillance efforts is “necessary to keep the American people safe and secure.”

“I strongly urge the Senate to work through this recess and make sure that they identify a way to get this done,” Obama said.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2015/05/26/267822/obama-and-rand-paul-face-off-over.html#storylink=cpy

[Chef Ramsay]

[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.

[Harry Hood]

Chef, you should update this or start a new thread to align with the newest candidates in the running!