Statistikhengst
Diamond Member
- Banned
- #1
So, I watched and listened to Rand Paul's candidacy speech, which lasted about 23 minutes.
After describing some aspects of his life (much of it a very compelling personal history, I must say), Sen. Paul began to outline his platform, which he described as "my vision for America"
12:31 EDT "It seems to me that both parties and the entire political system are to blame" (for the failings within America). He criticized "Big Government" and debt under both parties. Interesting start to his speech, I thought.
12:32 "Quit spending money we don't have" (fiscal restraint)
12:32 "This message of liberty, opportunity and justice is for all Americans"
12:33 "In order to restore our Liberty, we can not, we must not, give up on your principles. If we nominate a candidate who is simply "Democrat-lite", what's the point? Why bother?"
12:34 "Washington is horribly broken. I fear it can't be fixed from within. We the people must rise up and demand action. Congress will never balance the budget unless we forced them to do so" - supports a constitutional amendment to balance the budget.
12:35 "We limit the President to two-terms, it's about time we limit the terms of Congress" - for congressional term-limits.
12:35 He mentions his "read the bills" Act.
12:38 Economy/Employment: "I have a vision for America where everyone who wants to work will have a job." In a very populist move, Paul notes that under both parties, the cleft between the rich and poor has continued to grow.
12:39 "My plan includes economic freedom zones to allow empoverished areas like Detroit, W. Louisville, Eastern KY, to prosper by leaving more money in the pockets of the people who lived there."
12:40 Paul promises to bring back manufacturing jobs that pay well, by lowering the tax on those companies. Paul envisions building new highways and bridges in the USA not by raising taxes, but by lowering taxes on companies with manufacturing jobs outside of the USA, so that the estimate 2-3 Trillion in profits would be here rather than there. That is his point of argument.
12:41 "Liberal policies have failed our inner cities". Paul then hearkens to the words of MLK, speaking about "2 Americas." "It's time for a new way, predicated on opportunity, justice and freedom".
12:42 Paul advocates for vouchers, which he calls "school choice".
12:43 "I propose we do something extraordinary, I propose that we just spend what comes in" (back to economy / finances).
12:43 "Without question, we must defend ourselves, and our interests, from our enemies. But until we name the enemy, we can't win the war: the enemy is radical Islam. You can't get around it. And not only will I name the enemy, I will do whatever it takes to protect us from these haters of mankind."
12:44 national defense: modern and nimble. "At home, Conservatives understand that Government is the problem, not the solution. Conservatives should not succumb, though, to the notion that a government inept at home will somehow succeed in building nations abroad." AGAINST NATION BUILDING.
12:46 Rand Paul invokes Ronald Reagan: "Peace through strength". Rand Paul talked then about Iran. No Iran deal without the Congressional approval.
12:47 The goal is always: peace, not war.
12:48 "We must realize that we do not project strength by borrowing money from China to send it to Pakistan"... the gist of what he says is that he is against foreign aid, especially to any country that demonstrates against us. ANTI-FOREIGN AID.
12:49 Intelligence gathering: "Warrantless searches of Americans' phones and computers are unamerican and a threat to your civil liberties".... he then holds up a smartphone.... "I say that your phone records are yours, I say that the phone records of law-abiding citizens are none of their damned business"....."The President created this vast dragnet by Executive Order, and as President, on Day 1, I will immediately end this unconstitutional surveillance" (massive applause). Anti NSA.
12:50 "We must defend ourselves, but we must never give up who we are as a people. We must never diminish the Bill of Rights as we fight this long war against evil. We must believe in our founding documents, we must protect economic and personal liberty again."
12:51 "I see an American strong enough deter foreign aggression, yet wise enough to avoid unnessary intervention". NON-INTERVENTIONISM.
12:51 a big surprise: "I see an America where criminal justice is applied equally, and any law that disproportionally incarcerates people of color is repealed."
12:52 He sees a "restrained" IRS that cannot harrass American citizens for their political or religious beliefs. (Big applause)
12:52 "Today begins the journey to take America back".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, if we take his "platform points", chrononogically, then candidate Paul is:
1.) for fiscal restraint (don't spend more than we bring in)
2.) for a balanced-budget amendment to the US Constitution
3.) for congressional term-limits
4.) for "read the bills" act.
5.) for Economic Freedom Zones in the big cities.
6.) for bringing manufacturing jobs back to the USA.
7.) for school vouchers
8.) for naming the enemy as "radical Islam", and then acting accordingly.
9.) against nation-building
10.) against any Iran-deal without express Congressional approval
11.) against foreign aid
12.) strongly against the NSA and warrantless data-gathering on US citizens.
13.) anti- interventionistic
14.) wants to repeal laws that disproportionately incarcerates blacks/latinos
15.) for a "restrained" IRS.
Now, a lot of these talking points of his are very familiar to me. Note that Rand Paul did not mention the Fed at all. And notice that he never once used the word "God" in his speech. And when speaking of liberty, he mentioned "religious liberty" only once in his speech. That alone sets him apart from many of his expected Republican opponents for the nomination.
I have to say, Rand Paul is making a big play for minorities, especially our fellow Black citizens, talking about big cities, economic freedom zones, repealing laws that disproportionately throw blacks into jail - and also by invoking, at length, MLK. I don't remember any Republican in my lifetime ever doing that before.
On the economic stuff, I think he was very, very fuzzy.
If you compare his speech to Ted Cruz's speech, you will find striking differences. And of course, there is that Libertarian element in his thinking and actions that would indeed make him the first Libertarian Republican since Barry Goldwater to be nominated, were he to make it so far.
But I found FIFTEEN points in his speech that you could call his "platform points", and that should give people more than enough to discuss and debate.
The point I am going to start with is: agree with him or disagree with him, it looks pretty obvious to me that he is casting a larger net than Ted Cruz did. It should be noted that Rand Paul has an organization in all 50 states and appears to be savvy at securing the finances he needs to wage a primary campaign and beyond.
My encouragement would be for everyone who wants to to copy one of the platform points, like:
"7.) for school vouchers"
-and then start to give input. What surprised you about it, or didn't surprise you at all. Is there anything you expected him to say that you think he left out.
I personally am going to be VERY curious to see what his polling values among GOPers do in the next weeks. With Marco Rubio likely to announce in the next 7 days, Rand Paul will need to do all he can in this week to make his mark.
cereal_killer - I am thinking this is a debate that would especially interest you and maybe you would like to throw some wood on the fire as well.
After describing some aspects of his life (much of it a very compelling personal history, I must say), Sen. Paul began to outline his platform, which he described as "my vision for America"
12:31 EDT "It seems to me that both parties and the entire political system are to blame" (for the failings within America). He criticized "Big Government" and debt under both parties. Interesting start to his speech, I thought.
12:32 "Quit spending money we don't have" (fiscal restraint)
12:32 "This message of liberty, opportunity and justice is for all Americans"
12:33 "In order to restore our Liberty, we can not, we must not, give up on your principles. If we nominate a candidate who is simply "Democrat-lite", what's the point? Why bother?"
12:34 "Washington is horribly broken. I fear it can't be fixed from within. We the people must rise up and demand action. Congress will never balance the budget unless we forced them to do so" - supports a constitutional amendment to balance the budget.
12:35 "We limit the President to two-terms, it's about time we limit the terms of Congress" - for congressional term-limits.
12:35 He mentions his "read the bills" Act.
12:38 Economy/Employment: "I have a vision for America where everyone who wants to work will have a job." In a very populist move, Paul notes that under both parties, the cleft between the rich and poor has continued to grow.
12:39 "My plan includes economic freedom zones to allow empoverished areas like Detroit, W. Louisville, Eastern KY, to prosper by leaving more money in the pockets of the people who lived there."
12:40 Paul promises to bring back manufacturing jobs that pay well, by lowering the tax on those companies. Paul envisions building new highways and bridges in the USA not by raising taxes, but by lowering taxes on companies with manufacturing jobs outside of the USA, so that the estimate 2-3 Trillion in profits would be here rather than there. That is his point of argument.
12:41 "Liberal policies have failed our inner cities". Paul then hearkens to the words of MLK, speaking about "2 Americas." "It's time for a new way, predicated on opportunity, justice and freedom".
12:42 Paul advocates for vouchers, which he calls "school choice".
12:43 "I propose we do something extraordinary, I propose that we just spend what comes in" (back to economy / finances).
12:43 "Without question, we must defend ourselves, and our interests, from our enemies. But until we name the enemy, we can't win the war: the enemy is radical Islam. You can't get around it. And not only will I name the enemy, I will do whatever it takes to protect us from these haters of mankind."
12:44 national defense: modern and nimble. "At home, Conservatives understand that Government is the problem, not the solution. Conservatives should not succumb, though, to the notion that a government inept at home will somehow succeed in building nations abroad." AGAINST NATION BUILDING.
12:46 Rand Paul invokes Ronald Reagan: "Peace through strength". Rand Paul talked then about Iran. No Iran deal without the Congressional approval.
12:47 The goal is always: peace, not war.
12:48 "We must realize that we do not project strength by borrowing money from China to send it to Pakistan"... the gist of what he says is that he is against foreign aid, especially to any country that demonstrates against us. ANTI-FOREIGN AID.
12:49 Intelligence gathering: "Warrantless searches of Americans' phones and computers are unamerican and a threat to your civil liberties".... he then holds up a smartphone.... "I say that your phone records are yours, I say that the phone records of law-abiding citizens are none of their damned business"....."The President created this vast dragnet by Executive Order, and as President, on Day 1, I will immediately end this unconstitutional surveillance" (massive applause). Anti NSA.
12:50 "We must defend ourselves, but we must never give up who we are as a people. We must never diminish the Bill of Rights as we fight this long war against evil. We must believe in our founding documents, we must protect economic and personal liberty again."
12:51 "I see an American strong enough deter foreign aggression, yet wise enough to avoid unnessary intervention". NON-INTERVENTIONISM.
12:51 a big surprise: "I see an America where criminal justice is applied equally, and any law that disproportionally incarcerates people of color is repealed."
12:52 He sees a "restrained" IRS that cannot harrass American citizens for their political or religious beliefs. (Big applause)
12:52 "Today begins the journey to take America back".
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So, if we take his "platform points", chrononogically, then candidate Paul is:
1.) for fiscal restraint (don't spend more than we bring in)
2.) for a balanced-budget amendment to the US Constitution
3.) for congressional term-limits
4.) for "read the bills" act.
5.) for Economic Freedom Zones in the big cities.
6.) for bringing manufacturing jobs back to the USA.
7.) for school vouchers
8.) for naming the enemy as "radical Islam", and then acting accordingly.
9.) against nation-building
10.) against any Iran-deal without express Congressional approval
11.) against foreign aid
12.) strongly against the NSA and warrantless data-gathering on US citizens.
13.) anti- interventionistic
14.) wants to repeal laws that disproportionately incarcerates blacks/latinos
15.) for a "restrained" IRS.
Now, a lot of these talking points of his are very familiar to me. Note that Rand Paul did not mention the Fed at all. And notice that he never once used the word "God" in his speech. And when speaking of liberty, he mentioned "religious liberty" only once in his speech. That alone sets him apart from many of his expected Republican opponents for the nomination.
I have to say, Rand Paul is making a big play for minorities, especially our fellow Black citizens, talking about big cities, economic freedom zones, repealing laws that disproportionately throw blacks into jail - and also by invoking, at length, MLK. I don't remember any Republican in my lifetime ever doing that before.
On the economic stuff, I think he was very, very fuzzy.
If you compare his speech to Ted Cruz's speech, you will find striking differences. And of course, there is that Libertarian element in his thinking and actions that would indeed make him the first Libertarian Republican since Barry Goldwater to be nominated, were he to make it so far.
But I found FIFTEEN points in his speech that you could call his "platform points", and that should give people more than enough to discuss and debate.
The point I am going to start with is: agree with him or disagree with him, it looks pretty obvious to me that he is casting a larger net than Ted Cruz did. It should be noted that Rand Paul has an organization in all 50 states and appears to be savvy at securing the finances he needs to wage a primary campaign and beyond.
My encouragement would be for everyone who wants to to copy one of the platform points, like:
"7.) for school vouchers"
-and then start to give input. What surprised you about it, or didn't surprise you at all. Is there anything you expected him to say that you think he left out.
I personally am going to be VERY curious to see what his polling values among GOPers do in the next weeks. With Marco Rubio likely to announce in the next 7 days, Rand Paul will need to do all he can in this week to make his mark.
cereal_killer - I am thinking this is a debate that would especially interest you and maybe you would like to throw some wood on the fire as well.
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