Rand Paul's platform within his speech / 15 points worth debating

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Nov 21, 2013
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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.
 
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First off, you really did a spectacular job of summarizing the entire speech. Thank you. I vowed to NEVER vote for another Repub/Dem again, but his speech has given me reason to pause and just MAY make a liar out of me.

I hope he continues to call out both parties and continues--as you said-- to cast that large net. Brilliant speech, but lets see if he can continue to walk his own path and not fall into the typical Republican drone and talking points. If he sticks to those 15 points he just may get my vote. Still too early, but his 'attractiveness' has certainly gone up for me.
 
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First off, you really did a spectacular job of summarizing the entire speech. Thank you. I vowed to NEVER vote for another Repub/Dem again, but his speech has given me reason to pause and just MAY make a liar out of me.

I hope he continues to call out both parties and continues--as you said-- to cast that large net. Brilliant speech, but lets see if he can continue to walk his own path and not fall into the typical Republican drone and talking points. If he sticks to those 15 points he just may get my vote. Still too early, but his 'attractiveness' has certainly gone up for me.


I gotta say, he is the first candidate I have ever seen who was so willing to criticize his own party as well, a trait just as lacking among Democrats. I found it to be quite refreshing.

There is a LOT of substance he did not broach, for instance, saying that anyone who wants to work should get a job sounds great, but how are you gonna do it?

And a lot of his themes have a populist angle to them and would be things I would expect a progressive Democrat to say.

And should he get the nomination, I would give him a real, hard look before deciding on whom to vote for.
 
First off, you really did a spectacular job of summarizing the entire speech. Thank you. I vowed to NEVER vote for another Repub/Dem again, but his speech has given me reason to pause and just MAY make a liar out of me.

I hope he continues to call out both parties and continues--as you said-- to cast that large net. Brilliant speech, but lets see if he can continue to walk his own path and not fall into the typical Republican drone and talking points. If he sticks to those 15 points he just may get my vote. Still too early, but his 'attractiveness' has certainly gone up for me.

I agree... let's hope he doesn't morph into just another fence-sitting vote whore who'll say anything.
 
Very well laid out Stat. Thank you for that. And yes, I would love to see candidates take their own parties to task for their failings as well. Both parties are equally culpable and that needs to be made plain.
 
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Were Rand Paul to get the GOP nomination and win the 2016 GE, that would mean that for the first time in our nation's history, that two presidents back to back first came to the national scene as 1st term Senators and were relatively unexpected candidates for the presidency. The only slight difference is that, because of the timing of the 2 senate cycles (Class A, B or C), Barack Obama had to resign as Senator in the last 3rd of his term because he won the White House, while Rand Paul will have completely served out his first term as a US Senator by the end of 2016.
 
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In general I think he appeals to people who think for themselves. (I am referring to those people who are not entrenched in partisan politics from either party)
Then, he should have no problem among LGBT, libertarians, Second Amendment upholders, anti-interventionists if he ever gets the nomination, what I seriously doubt. Establishment Republicans will not support him and the behind the scenes puppet master, Karl Rove will do everything possible to hinder Rand's nomination.
 
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Very well laid out Stat. Thank you for that. And yes, I would love to see candidates take their own parties to task for their failings as well. Both parties are equally culpable and that needs to be made plain.


I agree.

The Democratic Party is anything but perfect and I would welcome a healthy dose of self-criticism within our party as well. It remains to be see whether the Democrats will do that. The party in power in the White House tends to NOT go through this kind of introspection going into the next cycle. See: Nixon 1960, Bush 41 1988, Gore 2000.

I don't know if Paul can secure the GOP nomination, but I am sure he can garner many, many more delegates than his father ever did. He is in a good position to go well in many of the early primary states, and I can also imagine a Paul upset in the important primary states of Florida and Michigan - both a bevy of delegates for both parties. With Cruz looking to take the Evangelical vote and Paul appealing to the Libertarian and non-interventionist part of the party, and either Bush or Walker running it up the middle, I see a pretty easy 3 to 4 way split happening.

And notice that no one is thinking about Chris Christie at all, at least for now.

I would also wager to say that Marco Rubio now has his work cut out for him should he decide to announce his candidacy on April 13th, as planned. He is going to have to stake out a different path than Paul or Cruz.
 
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Establishment Republicans will not support him and the behind the scenes puppet master, Karl Rove will do everything possible to hinder Rand's nomination.
This ^^^^^^ I was just going to say that the establishment is going to do their damnedest to marginalize him, put on their smiles and make him out to be that "kooky Paul guy"

With the help of the MSM as well. Fox News in particular
 
Establishment Republicans will not support him and the behind the scenes puppet master, Karl Rove will do everything possible to hinder Rand's nomination.
This ^^^^^^ I was just going to say that the establishment is going to do their damnedest to marginalize him, put on their smiles and make him out to be that "kooky Paul guy"

With the help of the MSM as well. Fox News in particular


Which brings us to another point, an important one.

Each party wants to claim that it doesn't interfere in the primary politics of the other party, but that is bullshit. We know that it happens, has happened for a long time.

So, I think it will be instructive to see how Hillary Clinton approaches Rand Paul as the next months go by.

It should be reminded that Rush Limbaugh, in a move that is entirely legal but morally questionable, started "operation chaos" in 2008 in order to drag out the Democratic nomination process. He did this by getting Republicans voters to cross party lines in states where this is allowed (open, semi-open primaries is the term, or in the case of Pennsylvania, state laws that allow party switches up to 24 hours before a primary) and to get them to vote for either Obama or Hillary, depending on the state. Well, in 2016, it would not surprise me with a crowded GOP field, as we expect it might be, for a Democrat to suggest the same thing of Democrats to do to Republicans, especially if the DEM field doesn't look crowded at all. This does not make it any less questionable, morally speaking. But I am pointing out that this could be a real possibility. And a state like PA has a LOT of delegates. Were something like this result in a temporarily hung convention that has to go beyone a 1st or 2nd ballot, that would be cause for great joy among Democrats, for obvious reasons.
 
12:32 "Quit spending money we don't have" (fiscal restraint)


I agree ... start by STOPPING the $4 billion dollars a year we GIVE to Israel
 
Establishment Republicans will not support him and the behind the scenes puppet master, Karl Rove will do everything possible to hinder Rand's nomination.
This ^^^^^^ I was just going to say that the establishment is going to do their damnedest to marginalize him, put on their smiles and make him out to be that "kooky Paul guy"

With the help of the MSM as well. Fox News in particular
I don't know if they will be able to get that done. I think a lot of voters are pretty tired of candidates that are just not quite as far left as the democrat. After thee last eight years I have a feeling this is a good cycle for a stronger conservative candidate than we had the last two cycles.
 
Establishment Republicans will not support him and the behind the scenes puppet master, Karl Rove will do everything possible to hinder Rand's nomination.
This ^^^^^^ I was just going to say that the establishment is going to do their damnedest to marginalize him, put on their smiles and make him out to be that "kooky Paul guy"

With the help of the MSM as well. Fox News in particular

The GOP, IMHO, is in deep doo-doo until they jettison Rove... he needs to go.. like years ago.
 
14.) wants to repeal laws that disproportionately incarcerates blacks/latinos

What exactly does this mean? Are you going to relax laws for minorities just to make it look good on paper? If blacks and latino's commit more crimes as a percentage of the population then their numbers in prison SHOULD be higher. I suspect he's setting up some kind of drug legalization stance.
 
Read the Bills Act?!?! Who's got the time when every spare minute goes to auctioning off votes for campaign contributes?
 
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.


#14 - It's not the law the disproportionately incarcerates blacks and latinos. How can an inanimate object do that? Perhaps if a disproportionate number of them don't want to be incarcerated, a disproportionate number of them should quit breaking the laws that are being blamed.
 
12:32 "Quit spending money we don't have" (fiscal restraint)


I agree ... start by STOPPING the $4 billion dollars a year we GIVE to Israel

Yeah that and an additional tax on 1% of the population will solve all of our $70+ trillion in debt and unfunded liabilities...

:cuckoo:
 
Establishment Republicans will not support him and the behind the scenes puppet master, Karl Rove will do everything possible to hinder Rand's nomination.
This ^^^^^^ I was just going to say that the establishment is going to do their damnedest to marginalize him, put on their smiles and make him out to be that "kooky Paul guy"

With the help of the MSM as well. Fox News in particular

The GOP, IMHO, is in deep doo-doo until they jettison Rove... he needs to go.. like years ago.
Agreed. If you're a candidate and still talking to that guy you should be bitch slapped out of the damn country. That goes for the left wing retreads as well.
 
14.) wants to repeal laws that disproportionately incarcerates blacks/latinos

What exactly does this mean? Are you going to relax laws for minorities just to make it look good on paper? If blacks and latino's commit more crimes as a percentage of the population then their numbers in prison SHOULD be higher. I suspect he's setting up some kind of drug legalization stance.

I expressed something similar. How can something written be the cause. A law doesn't come into play unless someone breaks it.
 
So, assuming that Rubio announces on the 13th as planned, that leaves us with the prospect of Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, maybe still Chris Christie as well. And then there's Carly Fiorina, whom I would consider to be a longshot. And Mike Huckabee may see that Ted Cruz pre-empted him and may not even try, but then again, maybe he would go for it.

It should also be noted that with a shoestring budget, Rick Santorum (R-PA) took second place in delegates at the RNC convention in 2012. I would not completely count him out, at least for now. And there is Dr. Ben Carson, who has already said he is seriously considering a run.

That would make, if all announce:

Cruz
Paul
Rubio
Bush, J
Walker
Christie
Huckabee
Fiorina
Santorum
Carson

Did I miss anyone?
 

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