[VIDEO] EXCLUSIVE - RAND PAUL: 'WE WANT OUR FREEDOMS BACK'

On Wednesday, Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) released a video to Breitbart News exclusively in which he argued that the surveillance state under President Obama had grown beyond any reasonable proportions. “We were once outraged and dismayed and spurred to resist when British soldiers came knocking at our door with illegitimate warrants seeking taxes on our papers. Today,” Paul continued, “your government responds that there is no expectation of privacy once you consign your records to a third party. Your government applies that the Fourth Amendment applies not at all to your bank records, your Visa bill, your internet searches or purchases or emails. If not resistance, shouldn’t there at least be outrage?”

Paul said, “Imagine for a moment what information could be gathered from your Visa bill,” mentioning health information, political information, and personal information. “Are we so afraid of terrorists that we are willing to give up the very freedoms that separate us from them?” Paul asked.

He mentioned pro-surveillance senators who argued that Americans were not being spied upon, showing a picture of Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). “The surveillance state was made to disappear through the legerdemain of defining it out of existence,” Paul stated.

Citing The Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Milan Kundera, Paul explained, “Kundera captures the heart of the debate: the struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting…against allowing the state to define away its usurpations. Will we allow defenders of the surveillance state to airbrush history and define away the notion of spying? Will we sit idly by as our expectation of freedom is defined downward?”

He added, “Will we be sunshine patriots, or will we stand up like free men and women and say, ‘Enough is enough, we want our freedoms back’?”

Via: Breitbart

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RAND PAUL: OBAMA THINKS AMERICANS ARE STUPID

BACK TO BREITBART TV

Via: Breitbart

Rand Paul bashes Chris Christie for endorsing Medicaid expansion

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., believes Gov. Chris Christie might have a problem if he runs for president in 2016 because the New Jersey Republican supported an expansion of Medicaid in his state.

Paul said Christie's Medicaid decision was more in line with the Democratic Party than with a moderate Republican.

"That's not really even close to the center of the Republican Party," Paul said on Fox News. "It's more close to what Democrat governors did."

There is plenty of room for moderates in the Republican Party, the Kentucky senator said, but he expects them to have difficulties in the presidential primaries.

"Accepting Obamacare, and expanding it, bringing it to your state, I don't think that is going to resonate in the Republican primary. We're pretty conservative in the Republican primary." Paul said. "So, we'll see."

A number of Republican governors have supported the Medicaid expansion included in Obamacare. Among them are Brian Sandoval of Nevada, Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota, Rick Scott of Florida, John Kasich of Ohio, Rick Snyder of Michigan, Susana Martinez of New Mexico and Jan Brewer of Arizona.

Via: Washington Examiner

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Rachel Maddow mocked Rand Paul for plagiarism, but she’s been accused of it too

MSNBC host Rachel Maddow created headlines this week when she alleged that Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) had plagiarized a recent speech from Wikipedia, but it turns out the liberal cable news host has been accused of plagiarism herself.

In 2010 on his blog “Open Salon,” Michael Rodgers of North Port, Fla., wrote a blog post titled “Rachel Maddow Plagiarized My Blog!”

“Don’t get me wrong, I love Rachel Maddow,” Rodgers wrote. “Truth be told, I’m a huge fan. So, if she wanted something from my blog, all she had to do was ask. I would have given willingly because that’s the kind of guy I am.”

The plagiarism in question involves a comparison Rodgers made between the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 with the often-forgot about 1979 Ixtoc I oil spill in the same area. The liberal blogger noted that “the oil industry hasn’t advanced their methods of plugging holes in the ocean floor or cleaning up their messes.”

Rodgers then became perturbed upon seeing his own unique angle being copied on Maddow’s program: “I’m sitting there Wednesday evening watching MSNBC and there is Rachel Maddow…TELLING THE SAME DAMN STORY!!”

Rodgers complained, “she stole my scoop of a lifetime and now it’s plastered all over MSNBC with Rachel getting all the credit. Granted, the segment she did Wednesday night covered more ground and was more professional than my little feature, but then she has more resources at her disposal than I do.”

- See more at: http://rare.us/story/rachel-maddow-mocked-rand-paul-for-plagiarism-but-shes-been-accused-of-it-too/#sthash.VHuVr27n.dpuf

Via: Rare

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[VIDEO] DID MSNBC'S CHRIS HAYES USE 'KKK' IMAGE FOR CRUZ, PAUL, RUBIO?

Chris Hayes, host of MSNBC's All In, has a favorite tactic--though not an original one: connecting today's Republicans with the racist Democrats of the old South. In June, he rewrote history bycasting George Wallace as a Republican--an error for which, to his credit, he later apologized. On Wednesday, he appeared to use a more subtle tactic to connect the Tea Party's Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, and Marco Rubio to the Ku Klux Klan.

In a segment on possible Tea Party contenders for the Republican Party's nomination in the 2016 presidential race, Hayes used a graphic (above) that portrayed Cruz, Paul, and Rubio as kings in a deck of cards--and that, rather conveniently, spelled out the initials "K K K." (Hayes did not say the word "kings" during the segment.)

The use of KKK imagery--historically associated with Democrats, not Republicans--to describe the Tea Party would not be unique to Hayes. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) recently used a burning cross to provide the "T" in "Tea Party" in a fundraising email. Hayes's "dog whistle" was more clever, but--if intentional--no less offensive.

There is a hazard, of course, in taking offense too quickly at bad jokes, and there is always the possibility that Hayes was unaware of the graphic, or even that the KKK reference was entirely coincidental. However, given Hayes's past record, and the constant obsession of fellow MSNBC anchors with making false accusations of racism against the Tea Party and the Republican Party, Hayes has arguably exhausted the benefit of the doubt. 

Via: Breitbart

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Sebelius: I'm Not Signing Up for Obamacare

(CNSNews.com) - In an interview with CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta Tuesday night, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she won't be enrolling in the problem-plagued health insurance system that she was charged to implement.

"I have created an account on the site. I have not tried signing up, because I have insurance," she told Gupta.

But Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) says government officials like Sebelius should be required to live under the same laws they impose on everyone else.

Paul is now plugging a constitutional amendment that states, "Congress shall make no law applicable to a citizen of the United States that is not equally applicable to Congress." The amendment also contains two provisions that apply that same principle to the Executive Branch and Judicial Branch of the federal government.

Appearing on Fox News Tuesday evening, Paul told Sean Hannity he thinks this is an amendment "that really everybody ought to be able to agree to."

"There have been a lot of times in our history -- originally, congressional members were exempt from Social Security. That's not true now because people got mad about it. But really, the law should be applied equally to everyone," Paul said. "I think that's a basic precept of the law. So I really think maybe we'll get some bipartisanship on this and maybe we'll get it passed."

Via: CNS News

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Rand Paul Pushes Constitutional Amendment on Congress

Forget the Vitter amendment. Rand Paul wants to make sure that Congress can’t ever again write laws with provisions specific to lawmakers.

The Kentucky freshman Republican has introduced a constitutional amendment that would preclude senators and representatives from passing laws that don’t apply equally to U.S. citizens and Congress, the executive branch and the Supreme Court. The amendment is aimed squarely at Obamacare provisions specific to members of Congress and their staffs that became a central point of contention during the government shutdown.

Under Obamacare, Capitol Hill aides and lawmakers are required to enter the law’s health exchanges and a summertime ruling from the Office of Personnel Management ensured they will continue to receive federal employer contributions to help pay for insurance on the exchanges. A number of lawmakers, specifically Sen. David Vitter (R-La.), have been pushing for the end to those contributions, arguing they amount to a Washington exemption from Obamacare. Vitter has drafted legislative language that would eliminate these subsidies and tried to attach the measure to an energy efficiency bill and pushed for it to be included in the government funding bill last week.

 (WATCH: 7 defining quotes from Rand Paul)

Paul seeks to go a step further and amend the Constitution so that “Congress shall make no law applicable to a citizen of the United States that is not equally applicable to Congress,” the executive branch including the president and vice president as well as the Supreme Court.

Via: Politico

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Rand Paul shames media for ignoring ‘worldwide war on Christianity’

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul spent Friday morning telling stories to conservatives about the persecution of Christians across the world.

“Today I want to tell you about a war the mainstream media is ignoring,” the Republican lawmaker said Friday during the Values Voter Summit in Washington. “From Boston to Zanzibar, there is a worldwide war on Christianity.”

“You won’t hear much about it on the evening news because the answer is not convenient and does not fit the narrative we have been told about radical Islam,” Paul added.

Paul also said President Obama”tries to gloss over who is attacking and killing Christians.”

“But the truth is, there is a worldwide war on Christians by a fanatical element of Islam,” Paul said.

“Ever since 9/11, commentators have tried to avoid pointing fingers at Islam,” he said. “While it is fair to point out that most Muslims are not committed to violence against Christians, this is not the whole truth and we should not let political correctness stand in the way of the truth.”

Examples referenced by Paul:

• Referencing an incident in Syria, Paul spoke of Islamic rebels storming into town and demanding everyone convert to Islam or die. “Sarkis el Zakhm stood up and answered them, ‘I am a Christian and if you want to kill me because I am a Christian, do it.’ Those were Sarkis last words.”
• “Elsewhere in Syria, Islamic rebels have filmed beheadings of their captives and celebrated by eating the heart of an enemy soldier,” Paul said. “Two Christian bishops have been kidnapped and one priest recently killed.”
• “In Zanzibar, a priest was shot in the head on his way to church by two Muslim youths,” Paul said. :A message by the Muslim Renewal said, ‘We thank our young men, trained in Somalia, for killing an infidel. Many more will die. We will burn homes and churches. We have not finished: at Easter, be prepared for disaster.’”
• Said Paul: “In Kenya, motorcycle assailants hurled bombs into a Christian church injuring 15 people including the pastor who had both of his legs broken.”
• “In Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, three girls were beheaded on their way to their Christian school,” Paul said.

Via: Daily Caller

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Obama criticizes Cruz, other first-term GOPers for 'being controversial'

President Obama was once a high-profile first-term senator, but he doesn't think the current crop -- including Sens. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio -- is serving the country well as they seek out controversy.

"I recognize that in today's media age, being controversial, taking controversial positions, rallying the most extreme parts of your base, whether it's left or right, is a lot of times the fastest way to get attention and raise money," he said in an interview with the Associated Press released Saturday. "But it's not good for government."

When Obama got to the Senate, he said, "my attitude was I should just keep a pretty low profile in the Senate and just do the work." While the media did seek him out, "I didn't go around courting the media."

In a particular jab that seemed aimed at Cruz, who is seen as a driving force behind efforts to shutdown the government over Obamacare, the president added: "And I certainly didn't go around trying to shut down the government."

Via: Politco

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[VIDEO] McConnell and Rand Paul on Hot Mic: Hey, Democrats Are Hurting Themselves By Refusing to Negotiate

Let's begin with some fresh and relevant polling data. CBS News' brand new national survey has four major take-aways: (1) Obamacare remains unpopular.(2) Government shutdown is even more unpopular, with 72 percent of the country opposed. (3) Americans narrowly blame Republicans more than President Obama (44R/35O/17both), though the split is far less lopsided than it was in 1995 (2-to-1 blaming the GOP). (4) The public overwhelmingly supports a compromise solution to resolve the impasse:

 Most Americans want compromise. Majorities think the President and the Democrats in Congress (76 percent) and the Republicans in Congress (78 percent) should compromise in order to come to an agreement on the budget. But there are some party stalwarts who don't think compromise is the way to go. Thirty-eight percent of Republicans say members of their party in Congress should stick to their positions even if it means not coming to an agreement, while 36 percent of Democrats say that about their party.

So, on average, a massive 77 percent of Americans want to see both sides to come to the table and negotiate a settlement. Which brings us to the 'hot mic' moment between the two Senators from Kentucky. Watch as Rand Paul explains that his go-to talking point on television has been to repeatedly state the fact that Democrats and the president have stubbornly refused to negotiate at all. "I think it's awful for them to say that," Paul says. McConnell agrees, adding that based on his meeting at the White House last night, Democrats have been as obstinate behind closed doors as they've been in front of the cameras.

Via: Townhall

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Washington Builds a Bugaboo

How does Senator Ted Cruz tick off liberals? Let us count the ways.

Several times a day, especially if he’s out travelin’ and talkin’ to folks, as he always is when the U.S. Senate isn’t in session, Ted Cruz will stand before an audience and reflect, seemingly for the first time, about the generational shift taking place in the Republican party. 

Among that tiny fraction of Americans who are paying attention to such things, Cruz seems to be the only person who is forgetting Ted Cruz’s name. “I call them the Children of Reagan,” he says. He means the rising group of Republican officeholders who came to political consciousness during President Reagan’s two terms. He rattles off their names: “young leaders” like Paul Ryan, Rand Paul, Nikki Haley, Mike Lee, Scott Walker .  .  . and then sometimes he’ll pause, letting you wonder if he’s leaving out any of the Children’s names. Sometimes a helpful fan in the audience will volunteer it, to general appreciation from the crowd.

“Americans who worry about democracy need to keep on this guy,” warned a reporter for the New Republic back in February. And no wonder! Skim the tweets or scan the blogs or, if you’re older than one of Reagan’s Children, read the actual newspapers, and you’ll soon discover that Ted Cruz is far more than the freshman senator from Texas, only eight months in office. He is also the “scary” “McCarthyite” “Taliban” “bully” and “bomb-thrower” known for his “extremism” and his “arrogant” and “nihilistic” “disregard of facts.” 

When you follow him around, however—for he is in constant motion, from Iowa to New Hampshire to every corner of Texas—this nasty fellow you’ve been reading about, the caricature Cruz, never appears. If “Ted Cruz” didn’t exist, professional Democrats and the mainstreamers in the Washington press corps would have to invent him. 

Via: Weekly Standard

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A Lot to Answer For

Not just Hillary Clinton, but Rand Paul, on this anniversary of 9/11.

Consider the passage from an article that appeared here regarding my reflections on the attacks of September 11, 2001 exactly one year ago today:

Osama bin Laden will never write another fatwa again. But his words will continue to influence jihadists for years to come…. As I write this, Islamic terrorists are planning to carry out terrorist attacks against Americans on our soil and abroad and, one day, they will strike. 

As we all know, on September 11, 2012, jihadists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi killing four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. In the days following the attack, the Obama Administration claimed the attacks were a spontaneous response to the Internet film The Innocence of Muslims. 

However, it quickly became apparent that this was no spontaneous response to a YouTube video or anything else. Rather, it was a well organized terrorist attack carried out by al-Qaeda on the eleventh anniversary of the attacks of September 11, 2001. Despite the emergence of this fact and the fact that the State Departmentrejected requests for additional security in Benghazi, Republicans were unable to mobilize public sentiment against the White House and President Obama was easily re-elected.

Republicans also failed to effectively scrutinize then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton when she appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee last January. They were especially ineffective in challenging her infamous reply to Wisconsin GOP Senator Ron Johnson:

With all due respect, the fact is we have four dead Americans. Was it because of a protest? Was it because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they would kill some Americans? What difference, at this point, does it make?

Via: American Spectator

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RAND: GOP DOESN'T NEED 'INVERTEBRATE CAUCUS'

On Tuesday at the "Exempt America" rally for defunding Obamacare in Washington, D.C., Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said Republicans did not need the "invertebrate caucus" to confront and fight Democrats and their policies like Obamacare. 

"If he is going to exempt his friends, why won't he exempt all of us?" Paul said of Obama and his signature healthcare legislation. "This fight is about some backbone. We need some backbone. We need some help."

Paul added, "We don't need to be the invertebrate caucus." He said conservatives needed to be the caucus with the spine, heart, and will to defund Obamacare. 

Paul said conservatives may not win the ultimate battle to fully defund Obamacare but they will never know unless they actually fight.

He also noted that the poor Americans Obama said Obamacare would help are losing insurance in addition to their jobs because of the healthcare law. 

The "Exempt America" rally was a culmination of a multi-state tour organized by Tea Party Patriots and ForAmerica.

Via: Breitbart

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Rand Paul’s War

He works the phones and the media to make the case for not intervening in Syria. 

It’s 9:15 on Tuesday night and Capitol Hill is quiet as Senator Rand Paul emerges from Fox News’s studio near Union Station. His face is slightly smeared with powder from his appearance minutes earlier onHannity, and Sergio Gor, a political aide, is trailing him. Paul walks quickly to the street, heading toward his nearby apartment. It’s been a long day for him, starting with a flight from Kentucky and followed by a packed afternoon at the Foreign Relations Committee. He’s eager to get to his place, rest up, and get ready for a busy week of debate.

But then Paul spots a group of his Senate staffers in the shadows, relaxing in the outdoor lounge at Johnny’s Half Shell, a seafood restaurant housed on the first floor of Fox News’s building. They signal him to come over. Paul glances at Gor, smiles, and hops smoothly over the small fence. The bartender looks on disapprovingly. His advisers chuckle; they’re impressed with their boss’s athleticism, and one raises a glass to toast him.

For the next 30 minutes, Paul sits with them, nursing a beer and sharing the latest stories about his opposition to military action in Syria. At first, there’s talk of his testy exchange with Secretary of State John Kerry at a hearing, then whispered updates about Republicans’ growing unease. Paul never says it explicitly, but it’s clear from his upbeat manner how much he relishes this fight. Of course he’s troubled by the prospect of war and he’s realistic about his chances of stopping one, but he’s enthused by how the GOP is shifting away from the foreign policy of the George W. Bush era.

Via: National Review Online

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Rand Paul: Boehner speakership in jeopardy over immigration reform

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On Laura Ingraham’s Friday radio show, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul said that if Speaker of the House John Boehner passed an immigration reform bill similar to the Gang of Eight’s, it would be one of the “final things he did as speaker.”

Paul offered an update on Congress’ immigration reform efforts: Earlier this summer, the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate passed its version of immigration reform legislation. Despite that, Paul still lobbied for his amendment that would put Congress in charge of making sure the border is secure.

“I’m not hearing much,” Paul said. “It’s gone pretty quiet on it. And I still think they’re still working on something in the House and the conservative members that have come up to me — what I keep saying and what I come back to is my amendment is trust but verify and in my amendment, I say you have to have congressional votes each year for about five years and each time we have to vote to say the border is more secure.”

Listen:

Host Laura Ingraham was skeptical of Paul’s position, noting that Congress may be in hands of Democrats who would like to see a weakened border for their own political gain. Paul said that would still be better than a president with sole discretion.

Via: The Daily Caller

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Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Oppose Funding Obamacare

Twelve senators sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) Thursday afternoon declaring their intention to vote against any bill that contains funding for Obamacare.

The senators “believe the only way to avert disaster is to fully repeal Obamacare and start over with a more sensible, practical approach to reforming our healthcare system,” they wrote.

The signatories, led by Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah), include potential presidential hopefuls Sens. Ted Cruz (R., Texas), Rand Paul (R., Ky.), and Marco Rubio (R., Fla.).

“However, if Democrats will not agree with Republicans that Obamacare must be repealed, perhaps they can at least agree with the president that the law cannot be implemented as written,” they wrote.  “If the administration will not enforce the law as written, then the American people should not be forced to fund it.”

The administration’s decision a few weeks ago to delay several key parts of Obamacare set off a firestorm among conservative groups and raised concerns among health care experts that the law would not be ready in time.

Following the administration’s announcements, the House leadership and all 46 Republican senators wrote letters to President Barack Obama asking that other parts of the law, including the individual mandate, be delayed as well.

The letter marks the first official salvo regarding the upcoming continuing resolution and Obamacare. If Congress does not pass a continuing resolution by the end of September, the federal government will shut down.

Via:WFB

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Conservatives: Defund Obamacare or shut down the government

This Law Is No Fund: The new conservative plan to beatObamacare

WASHINGTON — Conservatives on Capitol Hill are drawing a line in the sand: they will not vote to stop the government from shutting down if Obamacare is not defunded.

Led by Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee, a dozen senators sent a letter Thursday saying they will not support any resolution to continue funding the federal government if President Obama’s health-care law remains funded.

Under current law, the government is funded until Sept. 30, meaning a continuing resolution needs to be passed to keep the government from shutting down.

“The Obama Administration’s recent decision to delay Obamacare’s employer mandate and eligibility verification for the individual exchanges is further proof the law is a failure that will inevitably hurt businesses, American families, and the economy,” Lee said.

“In light of this admission, I and several of my colleagues will be informing Sen. Reid that we will not vote for a continuing resolution that funds Obamacare,” he added.

Among those who signed onto the letter: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul.

Over in the House, a large contingent of House Republicans are pushing a similar strategy, led by Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina.

“Congressman Meadows is leading a letter, currently co-signed by 66 Members, encouraging House leadership to defund Obamacare through the appropriations process,” spokeswoman Emily Miller told The Daily Caller on Thursday.

Via: Daily Caller

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