Archive for the ‘Rand Paul’ Category

Sen. Rand Paul attacked by neighbor while mowing lawn at home …

Sen. Rand Paul was attacked at his Kentucky home Saturday and police took a neighbor into custody, authorities and witnesses said.

Kentucky state troopers arrived at Pauls Bowling Green home about 3:20 p.m. on a report of an assault.

Officers arrested Rene Boucher, 59, who neighbors said lives next to Paul and has been locked in a feud with the senator.

Sen. Paul was blindsided and the victim of an assault, said Pauls Kentucky Communications Director Kelsey Cooper. The assailant was arrested and it is now a matter for the police. Sen. Paul is fine.

President Trump golfs again, but with Sen. Rand Paul

Boucher, a retired physician and registered Democrat, was charged with misdemeanor assault.

The FBI had reportedly launched an investigation to determine if the assault was politically motivated.

Paul was mowing his lawn at the time of the attack, neighbors told the local NBC affiliate.

Neighbors told the station that the two share a corner adjacent to their homes and have had ongoing problems.

Sen. Rand Paul fully supports President Trump's tax reform plan

A Facebook page for a Rene Boucher is filled with posts denouncing President Trump but none appear to target Paul.

Boucher was locked up at the Warren County Detention Center on a $7,500 bond.

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Sen. Rand Paul attacked by neighbor while mowing lawn at home ...

Intrigue grows over what sparked the attack on Rand Paul …

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. Rand Paul was on the verge of becoming a powerful senator and the nations leading libertarian. His neighbor was a successful doctor and Kennedy-style Democrat who favored nationalized medicine.

They might have sparred over health care or taxes, but an acquaintance of both said they stood in their yards roughly a decade ago shouting at each other over the grass clippings that Pauls lawn mower had shot onto Rene Bouchers property.

I ask him, I tell him and he wont pay attention, the acquaintance, Bill Goodwin, recalls Boucher saying after the argument. One of these days.

That day might have comelast month, when Bouchers attorney said in an interview that his client attacked Paul over long-simmering disagreements between the two about the care of grass, trees and other landscaping on their adjacent properties in a gated community.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) returned to work at the U.S. Capitol more than a week after he suffered six broken ribs when he was tackled by a neighbor while mowing his lawn. (Reuters)

The assault left Paul, 54, with six cracked ribs and a case of pneumonia, and it briefly sidelined the Republican senator during a crucial debate over a tax overhaul in Washington. Boucher, 59, has pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge in the case and could yet face more serious consequences.

Federal prosecutors said they are investigating the case. Boucher could be charged under several federal statutes, including one rarely used provision that bars assaults on members of Congress and other high-ranking government officials.

Intrigue has deepened in the weeks since the Nov. 3 assault as Paul and Boucher have remained largely quiet about what prompted it. Neither would comment for this article.

Into the vacuum, competing theories for the assault have been floated, like so many Washington trial balloons. They range from the mundane, such as bad blood over spoiled views of a lake, to the outlandish an antifa plot.

Some conservative media outlets have suggested that the attack might have been motivated by Bouchers liberal politics. Paul appeared to endorse that idea by retweeting links to the articles. Boucher, a registered Democrat, was critical of President Trump on his now-deleted Facebook page.

Paul, who gave his first television interview about the attack last week on Fox News, said he had not talked to Boucher in 10 years but did not say what caused the assault. He said it was beside the point.

After my ribs were broken, then he said things to me to try to indicate why he was unhappy, but I think the I guess, to me, the bottom line is it isnt so important. If someone mugs you, is it really justified for any reason? Paul said.

Kelley Paul, the senators wife, also wrote an op-ed for CNN, casting doubt on the idea that landscaping or anything else Paul did had prompted the attack. She said any dispute existed only in Bouchers troubled mind.

It is incredibly hurtful that some news outlets have victimized Rand a second time as he struggles to recover, Kelley Paul wrote.

But so far, interviews with friends and area residents who would talk and a review of court files and police records that have been made public reveal only the type of small-time neighborly conflict that has vexed many a suburban relationship.

There is absolutely no political motivation behind this, said Bouchers attorney Matthew J. Baker. It all stems from maintenance, or lack of it, at these two neighboring properties.

Boucher, who employed professional landscapers, didnt see eye-to-eye with the senator, who delighted in doing his own yard work and had an independent streak about the care of his property, in keeping with his libertarian beliefs.

Rene is meticulous about a lot of items in life. Hes neat. Its the doctor in him. Everything had to be just right. The yard was one of them, Goodwin said. Its been a running feud.

Inside Rivergreens gates

For more than a month, the heavy wrought-iron gates of the Rivergreen community have concealed the bizarre saga. With a buzz, they slowly swung open on a recent Sunday.

Despite calls to dozens of residents, just one was interested in taking a reporter near the scene of the assault. Jim Skaggs, the co-developer of Rivergreen and a local Republican politico, said the attack has divided residents and left them scratching their heads.

Im dumbfounded, Skaggs said, echoing the sentiments of others in the neighborhood. You have two wealthy, very accomplished doctors. Its difficult to understand this level of action arising from a property dispute.

As Skaggs talked, he steered his SUV past the large custom homes of doctors, lawyers and bankers. The properties are nestled on rolling green lots around a sparkling, 16-acre man-made lake.

Skaggs came to a stop between Bouchers and Pauls homes. Boucher, a retired and divorced anesthesiologist, and Paul, an ophthalmologist, have been neighbors for 17 years and once worked at the same hospital.

Bouchers gabled home sits on a corner lot across a sloping expanse of grass and trees from Pauls redbrick Colonial. It was in that territory that Kentucky State Police said the assault occurred.

Baker said the old tensions over landscaping were triggered Nov. 3 by a fresh incident that he declined to go into detail about.

In his interview with Fox News, Paul said he was blindsided by the attack.

I was working in my yard with my earmuffs on you know, to protect my hearing from the mower and I had gotten off the mower, facing downhill, and the attacker came running full blown, Paul said. I never saw him, I never had conversation in fact, the weird thing is, I havent talked to him in 10 years.

Kentucky State Police said they were called to the scene shortly after 3:20 p.m., according to a police report. Authorities said Boucher admitted going onto Pauls property and tackling him.

After an investigator interviewed both men and left the scene to consult with a prosecutor, Boucher was charged with fourth-degree assault after 8 that night, Baker said.

Police said that Paul initially refused medical care, thinking the injuries were minor, but he eventually was treated as the extent of the damage done by the tackle became more apparent.

He is profoundly regretful, Baker said of Boucher. He wishes this had never happened.

Friends and neighbors said both men were similarly driven and devoted to medicine, but with one crucial difference.

Skaggs said Boucher was exacting about the standards for his yard landscaping bags filled with waste were a common sight on his property. Neighbors said Paul had a reputation for a more relaxed style that some felt didnt always jibe with a community that features gas lamps, Greek statuary and a 13-page packet of rules.

The senator had a pumpkin patch, compost and unraked leaves beneath some of his trees. Goodwin said it annoyed Boucher that Paul did not consistently cut his grass to the same height, and leaves from Pauls trees blew on his property.

Baker, Bouchers attorney, said Paul and his client had stopped speaking for a number of years because of these landscaping issues. He described the silence as a cold war of sorts.

Friends of Paul in the neighborhood said the story rings hollow and that such petty issues would never justify an assault on the senator.

Several said they were unaware of any such problems and said Paul carefully maintained his property. If Boucher had problems with Paul, several current and former representatives of the homeowners association said, he had not brought them to the board in recent years.

Theyre just good neighbors, Gayla Warner said of the Pauls. We never knew of any conflict.

A difficult time

But Boucher has had disputes over his property before.

Rivergreen residents said Bouchers family had previously had a disagreement with another neighbor over the fate of a tree near the border of their properties. The Bouchers wanted to keep the tree, but the neighbor wanted it removed to clear the way for a house project.

And in 2012, Boucher sued the prospective buyers of his home after they pulled out of a contract, according to court records.

Boucher sued the couple for breach of contract and slander, saying they had spread false stories that Boucher was untruthful and is engaging in unscrupulous acts to sell his home. Boucher was worried the comments would affect his reputation as a doctor.

The couple denied the allegations, and the suit was eventually settled. None of the parties involved responded to requests for comment.

The rancor capped a decade or so of difficulty for Boucher.

In 2005, Boucher suffered a severe accident while bicycling that left him unable to work, according to court records. During his recovery, Boucher developed a rice-filled Therm-a-Vest that could be heated to help ease neck and back pain. It was sold on the cable TV shopping network QVC and in stores.

Three years later, his wife of 22 years filed for divorce, saying the couples marriage was irretrievably broken, according to court records. The pair had two adult children, and divorce records indicate that Boucher was left alone in the familys large home, which he was attempting to sell then as well. Bouchers family members did not respond to requests for comment.

Despite the issues, there was little to presage the violent attack on Paul.

Boucher has no criminal record, and call records from the Warren County Sheriffs Office and Kentucky State Police do not indicate that authorities were previously called to deal with disputes between the senator and his neighbor.

Kentucky State Police are wrapping up their investigation into the incident. State prosecutors will then determine whether the assault rises to the level of a felony charge in Kentucky.

Skaggs said the assault would probably never have occurred if Boucher had his way. Boucher had been trying to sell his home to move closer to his children, Skaggs said. They are out of state.

Danny Renshaw, another neighbor, said the case should give anyone with neighbors pause.

We never know what our neighbors are thinking none of us, Renshaw said. You see stuff that happens in New York or L.A. or Florida and think, that would never happen in our neighborhood. But you just never know what someone will do or what is going on in their mind.

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Intrigue grows over what sparked the attack on Rand Paul ...

Sen. Rand Paul: Here’s why I plan to vote for the Senate …

One of the fundamental problems in Washington is the attitude that the money that people make belongs to the government. Thats why you hear arguments about how much a tax cut costs, or big government advocates disingenuously and breathlessly complaining about the people who pay taxes getting a tax cut.

I believe it is the other way around. Our default position should be that the money you earn belongs to you, and government has to justify why it should take it from you.

Currently, there are at least 97 different federal taxes. The tax code that instructs people how they must hand over their hard-earned money to government spans some 74,000-plus pages.

This is absurd, and so is the fact that government will collect over $3 trillion from taxpayers next year but still is not satisfied.

The good news is we can do this every year. Want a bigger tax cut? Urge your legislators to do one every single year. Ill sponsor it. Want them to be permanent? Well, one good start is to keep extending them, every single year.

One of the main differences between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans, in general, favor less government and more tax cuts. Thats why Im pleased to see us moving forward on a plan for tax cuts, and why I hope to vote to pass such a cut in the coming weeks.

I spoke out all year against the GOP leaders initial plan to make their tax reform revenue neutral meaning not really a cut. Im pleased to see my point of view has prevailed, and the current tax plan calls for a $1.5 trillion cut over the next ten years. I would have liked to see more in fact, I offered an amendment to move it up to $2.5 trillion but Ive stated many times that as long as it is a real cut, Ill vote for it, even if it isnt as large as I would prefer.

Im also pleased to note that, in part by my urging, the Senate tax-plan writers have included repeal of the ObamaCare individual mandate in the tax plan. The mandate is clearly a tax, a fact that was established by the Supreme Court when it upheld ObamaCare. So including it in the tax bill only makes sense. In addition, with CBO scoring it as a $350 billion savings, repealing the mandate helped pave the way for increased middle-class tax cuts, like an expanded child tax credit.

I was pleased to work directly with President Trump to push this important change that lets us keep multiple promises in one bill cut taxes and repeal the ObamaCare mandate weve been fighting against for years.

This bill is not perfect. I would prefer a larger cut. I would prefer that the Senate bill match the House bill and keep some form of state and local deductions so that no one gets caught in the trap of losing too many deductions at once and failing to benefit from the tax cuts. Lastly, Id like to see more permanence on the individual side.

Some of that is still achievable. Some of it is due to the peculiarities of the budget and Senate rules and will have to wait for another day.

The good news is we can do this every year. Want a bigger tax cut? Urge your legislators to do one every single year. Ill sponsor it. Want them to be permanent? Well, one good start is to keep extending them, every single year.

This tax bill is a true test for my colleagues. Im not getting everything I want far from it. But Ive been immersed in this process. Ive fought for and received major changes for the better and I plan to vote for this bill as it stands right now.

I urge my colleagues to do the same. I urge you, their constituents, to make sure they hear from you.

The next few weeks in Washington will be important. Will we keep our word and cut taxes? Will we do what we campaigned on and repeal the ObamaCare mandate? I will fight for both, and I look forward to ending the year keeping these important promises to the American people.

Republican Rand Paul represents Kentucky in the United States Senate.

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Sen. Rand Paul: Here's why I plan to vote for the Senate ...

Rand Paul Says GOP Tax Bill Isnt Perfect, but Its Earned …

When it comes to GOP bills, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul (R) is usually the guy standing athwart the legislation as it typically doesnt meet the standards or too often does the opposite of what Republicans had promised the American people.

But not with the upcoming GOP tax bill. For this, Paul is declaring himself a yes, and urging his fellow Republicans to join him.

Paul first expressed his approval in an op-ed for Fox News where he began by saying that the government is not entitled to your money, no matter how much it thinks it is:

One of the fundamental problems in Washington is the attitude that the money that people make belongs to the government. Thats why you hear arguments about how much a tax cut costs, or big government advocates disingenuously and breathlessly complaining about the people who pay taxes getting a tax cut.

I believe it is the other way around. Our default position should be that the money you earn belongs to you, and government has to justify why it should take it from you.

Paul said that while the bill isnt perfect, hes pleased with how its turned out.

This tax bill is a true test for my colleagues. Im not getting everything I want far from it. But Ive been immersed in this process. Ive fought for and received major changes for the better and I plan to vote for this bill as it stands right now.

I urge my colleagues to do the same. I urge you, their constituents, to make sure they hear from you.

He echoed the same sentiment in an update that he posted via Twitter, saying that while he wishes he could have secured an even larger tax cut for Americans, the current tax cut he helped managed to create is still good enough to earn his nod. As hes previously demonstrated, its not an easy nod to earn.

Both Ivanka and Donald Trump have gotten behind Pauls support of the bill, hoping Republicans follow the Kentucky Senators lead.

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Rand Paul Says GOP Tax Bill Isnt Perfect, but Its Earned ...

Email Rand | Senator Rand Paul

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