Rand Paul
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Born January 7, 1963 (1963-01-07) (age 47)
Lake Jackson, Texas
Nationality American
Occupation Ophthalmologist
Known for Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Kentucky
Religion Presbyterian[1]
Website
Rand Paul 2010 | U.S. Senate
Randal Howard "Rand" Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American ophthalmologist and politician who describes himself as a "constitutional conservative".[2] He is the third child of Republican Congressman Ron Paul of Texas. Paul is the chairman and founder of Kentucky Taxpayers United.
Paul is currently the Republican party candidate for one of Kentucky's United States Senate seats.
Early life and education
Randal Howard Paul was born in Lake Jackson, Texas, to Carol Wells Paul and Ron Paul, a US Air Force flight surgeon, in 1963. In 1976, Rand Paul's father was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Paul's parents married in 1957, and Paul was born six years later and baptized Episcopalian.[3] He has four siblings: Ronnie, Lori, Robert, and Joy.[3][4] As a child, his family moved from Pittsburgh to San Antonio in 1965, eventually settling in Surfside Beach, Texas in 1968. He attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas, and obtained an M.D. at his father's alma mater, Duke University School of Medicine.[5]
Medical career
Paul currently owns a private ophthalmology practice in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He first worked at the Graves-Gilbert Clinic in Kentucky, but eventually established his own clinic in December 2007.[6][7] Paul specializes in corneal transplants, glaucoma surgery, and LASIK,[7] and began offering sutureless DSEK corneal transplantation in 2007.[8]
As a member of the Bowling Green Noon Lions Club,[9] Paul founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic to help provide eye surgery and exams for those with no health insurance coverage, or who are living on a minimum wage.[9][10] He is a regular presenter at the annual Men's Health and Safety Day conference held by The Medical Center of Bowling Green since 1998.[11]
Activism
As founder and chairman of the anti-tax organization Kentucky Taxpayers United (KTU) since 1994, Paul regularly presents "taxpayers' friend" awards to state legislators. KTU, which regards itself as nonpartisan, but ideological and conservative,[12][13] examines legislator records on taxation and spending to inform voters where their own lawmakers stand on the issues.[14] Paul's editorial commentary on behalf of KTU has been published and recognized in the Kentucky Post.[15]
KTU sponsors the Taxpayer's Pledge of Americans for Tax Reform, encouraging politicians to pledge publicly to vote uniformly against tax raises.[15] Nine of fifteen Northern Kentucky legislators signed the pledge,[16] such as Senator Dick Roeding[15] and Representative Royce Adams in 1996.[17] In 2000, these legislators considered a hotel room tax hike (favored by Governor Paul Patton for helping expand the Dr. Albert B. Sabin Convention Center in nearby Cincinnati), even though the increase might "incur the wrath of Paul's group," as two newspapers put it.[16][18]
Paul stated that Patton's argument for "revenue recovery" was merely a euphemism for taxes[19] and said that KTU would fight reelection of any pledge-breakers; Adams requested in writing that Paul's group release him from his pledge, stating that it only applied to his first term.[17] By the close of session in April, the tax increase had failed, although Patton had achieved most of his intended budget; Paul stated legislators were pressured to finalize the budget by deadline rather than to "face accusations of shutting down government".[20]
Paul often speaks on his father's behalf,[5][21] and he and his son William attended the third Republican presidential debate of 2007 in New Hampshire, as well as campaigned door-to-door in the state for his father.[22] At a New Hampshire rally with 250 in attendance (plus 30 members of his own family), Paul repeated a campaign meme by pretending to take a call from Rudy Giuliani during his remarks, and joking that Giuliani needed campaigners and wanted to borrow the Paul family.[23]
On December 16, 2007, the 234th anniversary of the
Boston Tea Party, Paul spoke at Faneuil Hall in favor of small government principles,[24] calling for what CNN termed a "modern day revolution".[25] He continued campaigning across the country for his father in 2008,[6] traveling as far as Montana.[10]
2010 senatorial campaign
See also: United States Senate election in Kentucky, 2010
Rand Paul campaigning in Kentucky.In the beginning of 2009, Paul was the focus of an online grassroots movement to draft him in a bid to replace beleaguered Republican Kentucky senator Jim Bunning. The news of his potential candidacy became a topic of national interest and was discussed in the L.A. Times,[citation needed] on Fox News,[citation needed] and locally in the Kentucky press.[26] Commenting on Paul's possible candidacy, Congressman Ron Paul noted that "Should Senator Bunning decide not to run, I think Rand would make a great U.S. Senator."[27]
Campaign
On May 1, 2009, Paul officially confirmed that if Senator Bunning, whose fundraising in 2009 has matched his poor numbers in opinion polling for the 2010 election,[28] declined to seek a third term, he would almost certainly stand in the Republican Party primary to succeed him,[29] and formed an exploratory committee soon after, while still promising to stay out of the race if Bunning had ultimately decided to run for re-election. Paul made this announcement on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, though the news was first broken by a local Kentucky news site.[30] In celebration of the announcement, a group of Paul's supporters launched a spontaneous grassroots mini-moneybomb for the date of June 1, 2009, specifically citing it as the anniversary of Kentucky's admission to the Union.[31] Over $25,000 was raised in the one-day event.[32]
On July 28, 2009, Senator Bunning announced that he would not run for re-election, after facing insufficient fundraising.[33] This announcement left only Paul and Secretary of State Trey Grayson as the remaining candidates for the seat in the Republican primary,[34] with Paul announcing on August 5, 2009 that he would officially run for the U.S. Senate as a Republican. The announcement was made through a series of national TV events, radio, and other programs, as well as through newspapers in Kentucky.[35][36][37]
Rand Paul campaigning in Frankfort.On August 20, 2009, Paul's grassroots planned a moneybomb to kick off his campaign for United States Senate. The official campaign took in $433,509 in 24 hours.[38] According to Paul,[39] this set a new record in Kentucky's political fundraising history in a 24 hour period.
A second moneybomb was held on September 23, 2009, to counter a D.C. fundraiser being held for primary opponent Trey Grayson, by 23 Republican United States Senators, 17 of whom voted for the bailout.[40] The theme was a UFC "fight" between Paul and "We the People" vs. Trey Grayson and the "D.C. Insiders."[41] The money bomb ended up raising $186,276 for Paul in 24 hours on September 23;[42] bringing Paul's Senate campaign's total raised since its start to over one million. On December 16, 2009, Paul's grassroots held their third major money bomb for Paul, with the theme reflecting the 236th anniversary of the
Boston Tea Party.[43] The money bomb raised more than $240,000 for Paul in 24 hours.[44] According to Paul, at that time, this was the second biggest fundraising day for a Kentucky primary candidate in a 24 hour period; with the first being the over $433,000 Paul raised on August 20.[45] This has since been surpassed by another money bomb for Paul on March 23.
On March 23, 2010, Paul's grassroots held a first fiscal quarter money bomb and their fourth major one for Paul to date.
The theme was the anniversary of the "Give me Liberty, or give me Death!" speech by Patrick Henry on March 23, 1775.[46] The money bomb ended up raising over $261,000 for Paul's campaign in 24 hours on March 23,[47] making it the second largest online fundraising day in Kentucky political history for a candidate in a primary. On April 19, 2010, a final primary money bomb was held, that raised over $100,000 in 24 hours bringing the four primary money bomb totals to just over 1,000,000 dollars 1/3 of Paul's total fund raising contributions.
Endorsements
Paul has secured endorsements from several public figures and political organizations. They include the Downsize DC Foundation,[48] Concerned Women for America,[49] Gun Owners of America,[50] Steve Forbes,[51] FreedomWorks,[52] Sarah Palin,[53] Jim DeMint,[54] and Jim Bunning.[55]
Primary election results
The counties carried by Paul are in yellow; counties carried by Grayson are in green.On May 18, 2010, Paul won the Republican Senatorial primary by a 23.4% margin.[56] He will face the Democratic nominee, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, in the November 2010 general election.[57]
Political views
Abortion and bioethics
Paul believes life begins at conception and the government should play a role in protecting all human beings. He is opposed to abortion without exception and supports a constitutional amendment to completely ban abortion.[58][59] He also opposes federal funding for abortion.[58] In the case of abortion, Rand takes a states rights position. He would overturn Roe vs Wade and allow states to make abortions illegal or legal without federal interference.[60] According to a survey offered by the organization Kentucky Right to Life, Rand is opposed to cloning and supports legislation banning human cloning and the use of embryos for research. He opposes the legalization of euthanasia and would reject an overturning of Kentucky law that prohibits euthanasia. In the case of Terry Schaivo, Rand believes she had the right to receive nutrition and hydration.[61]
Campaign finance reform
Paul opposes the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 (McCain-Feingold Act) and considers it a "dangerous piece of legislation".[62] Rand believes that lobbyists and corporations are drawn to Washington because it has so much money and power and provide benefits to their businesses. He opposes legislation limiting the amount of money individuals, corporations, and organizations can give to candidates, and instead regulate the contracts given out by Congress like placing limits on corporations receiving government contracts. Additionally, Rand has proposed "mandating a clause in all federal contracts over $1 million that requires the recipient to pledge not to lobby government or contribute to campaigns during the terms of the contract"[62][63]
Civil liberties
Paul criticized the Bowling Green Daily News on May 30, 2002 for supporting the Fair Housing Act. He explained that "a free society will abide unofficial, private discrimination, even when that means allowing hate-filled groups to exclude people based on the color of their skin."[64] On May 19, 2010, Paul stated that he favors 9 out of 10 titles (parts) of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but opposed Title II of the Act, which prohibits private businesses who provide public accommodations from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, or national origin against their customers, arguing that it infringes upon Constitutionally-enshrined freedoms.[65] These comments stirred controversy,[66][67][68] and brought renewed concern amongst Republican party insiders about his viability in the general election.[67][68]
The following day, Paul stated "unequivocally ... that I will not support any efforts to repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964."[69] Paul has also criticized the Americans with Disabilities Act, characterizing it as an overreach of the federal government.[70] (Note; the Americans with Disabilities Act was an accomplishment of President George Herber Walker Bush).
Economics and tax cuts
Paul has been a longtime opponent of the bank and auto bailouts. Paul believes failed businesses should be allowed to fail instead of propped up by the federal government.
Paul opposes the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and the Federal Reserve's control of the nations money supply and interest rates. He wants to allow the free market to regulate interest rates, and supports congresses constitutional role of controlling the money supply. Paul endorses H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, a bill introduced by Congressman Ron Paul mandating an audit of the Federal Reserve. Although Paul would abolish the Federal Reserve, he supports transparency and accountability of the semi-private institution. Additionally, Paul opposes inflation and supports "restoring the value of the dollar that has devalued by approximately 95% since the Federal Reserve's inception in 1913".[71]
Paul supports tax cuts and a Balanced Budget Amendment, and has criticized both Republicans and Democrats on deficit spending.[72]
Education
Paul supports eliminating the federal Department of Education and returning control of education to local communities and parents. He is a opposed to the government regulating homeschooling and believes in restoring parental rights to education.[73]
Energy
Paul supports allowing the free market to compete and choose the best forms of energy to use. He opposes subsidizing energy companies, but would support allowing tax breaks for companies that produce alternative energy such as wind, solar, or geothermal. He believes that subsidizing the energy industry will only add incentive for companies to lobby the federal government.[74]
Healthcare
Paul opposes federal government involvement in health care. He would repeal the HMO Act of 1973 that "drives a wedge between the patient and [one's] doctor".[75] He believes that government has driven up the cost of healthcare and causes the quality and coverage to decrease. Paul would support a free market approach to health care including tax deductions for for medical expenses. He opposes federal regulations discouraging businesses from providing coverage. He supports Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) and its availability to all Americans.[75]
Illegal immigration
Paul does not support amnesty. Paul believes the United States subsidizes illegal immigration through taxpayer funded welfare and medical care. He has proposed securing the border by an underground electric fence and helicopter stations.[76]
Medical marijuana
Paul supports the legalization of medical marijuana.[77][78]
National defense
Paul believes national defense is the most important role of government. Paul supports eliminating issuance of visas to people from terrorist or rogue nations. He would not vote to close Guantanamo Bay detention camp, and does not support trying terrorists in military tribunals. Paul believes in a responsible and constitutional foreign policy and would close unnecessary military bases.[79]
Same-sex marriage
Paul opposes same-sex marriage.[80]
Second Amendment
Paul supports the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution and would oppose all gun control legislation.[81]
