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I remember a lot of outrage about two things when I first ran for office: Obamacare and the bank bailouts. Unfortunately, the Senate healthcare bill combines the worst of those two this time, we're bailing out the big insurance companies.

Why? Partly because of the crony capitalism that pervades the culture in the swamps of Washington.

In other words, is there somehow a right to healthcare that includes a taxpayer obligation to maintain insurance industry profits, which hit a record $15 billion last year?

One would hope not.

But the one certainty of the Senate GOP health plan is that it guarantees a profit for Big Insurance. The same Big Insurance that takes in about $15 billion in profit annually.

Am I the only one in the Senate that finds this brand of crony capitalism unseemly?

We aren't talking about whether or not we take care of the poor or disabled who can't afford their healthcare. We already do that in Medicaid and a host of other direct government programs.

I can have an honest debate with socialists about whether one can have a right that confers an obligation on another individual, but I really can't even admit any intellectual honesty to those in Congress who now argue that the federal government has a responsibility to confer profit to a profitable industry.

The current Senate GOP healthcare bill creates a giant insurance bailout superfund of nearly $200 billion.

Big Insurance whines that they lose money in the individual market, while carefully leaving out the fact that they make enormous profits in group insurance markets that comprise about 90 percent of the private insurance marketplace.

As a believer in free markets and capitalism, I favor no federal government intervention in the insurance marketplace. But if Senate Republicans now accept a prominent role for government in the insurance marketplace, maybe Big Insurance should just be told, "Hey, the insurance stabilization fund' is going to be financed by your $15 billion in profits." Government could simply forbid them from selling group insurance unless they agree to subsidize the individual market.

Now, I don't favor such a mandate. But if I were forced to choose between asking the taxpayer to fork over $200 billion to subsidize Big Insurance or mandating that insurance companies subsidize those with pre-existing conditions, I'd choose taking the money out of their profit, without question.

Once upon a time, there was a classically-liberal intelligentsia in our country who understood what natural rights are.

The economist Walter Williams puts it this way:

In the standard historical usage of the term, a right is something that exists simultaneously among people. A right confers no obligation on another. For example, the right to free speech is something we all possess. My right to free speech imposes no obligation upon another except that of non-interference. Similarly, I have a right to travel freely. That right imposes no obligation upon another except that of non-interference.

As we forgot about what natural liberty means, so have we forgotten what made America great in the first place freedom.

I am disappointed that my colleagues have insufficient confidence in the freedom of the healthcare marketplace, and I am greatly disappointed they've decided there now exists a federal right of insurance companies to have their $15 billion annual profit subsidized by taxpayers.

I really can't describe my level of disappointment. Crony capitalism is enshrined as a "right" by the new GOP Obamacare bill, while that bill does little to nothing to repeal Obamacare or fix our ailing healthcare sector.

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is the junior U.S. Senator from Kentucky. You can follow him on Twitter: @RandPaul

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Rand Paul: Crony capitalism isn't a right, so why does Senate healthcare bill give insurance companies the right to ... - Washington Examiner

Sen. Rand Paul. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Sen. Rand Paul, my former boss, made me proud this week. He has become a one man wrecking crew in the Senate Republican leaderships attempt to bail out Obamacare with a bill that neither repeals nor replaces President Obamas destructive health care law.

Sen. Paul wrote earlier this week in Breitbart about the bill, which is titled the Better Care Reconciliation Act: I miss the old days, when Republicans stood for repealing Obamacare. He went on to make the case that now too many Republicans are falling all over themselves to stuff hundreds of billions of taxpayers dollars into a bill that doesnt repeal Obamacare and feeds Big Insurance a huge bailout. Obamacare regulations? Still here. Taxes? Many still in place, totaling hundreds of billions of dollars. Paul points out the many flaws and proves this Republican bill doesnt replace a destructive health care law thats pushing America toward a single-payer health care socialist system.

Bloomberg News describes the bailout provision in the bill: The $50 billion market-stability fund is intended to protect insurers that cover large numbers of customers with more costly health problems from having to raise their premiums for the next four years. This provision is nearly identical to the Obamacare risk corridors provision that many Republicans rightly called a bailout. Yet, now its okay because Republicans are the ones proposing a bailout. The stated goal of the fund is to incentivize insurers to take on high-cost enrollees. In fact, this direct subsidy to insurance companies is better termed a massive bailout that will benefit insurance companiesnot average Americans.

This is reminiscent of a Bush era fumble by the Republican Party in 2008 when they fully supported a bailout of Wall Street with the now infamous Troubled Assets Relieve Program (TARP). Many consider the TARP bill the spark that created the Tea Party and helped get members like Sens. Paul, Mike Lee and Ron Johnson into the Senate and Congressmen like Thomas Massie and Justin Amash into the House. The current health care bill may cause the Republican Partys liberty minded base to respond with Tea Party-like activism and the recruitment of new Republican candidates who keep the promise of a full repeal of Obamacare.

The so called Troubled Assets Relieve Program (TARP) was a massive $450 billion bailout of investors during the subprime mortgage crisis. The Bush administration loaned billions of dollars to our nations biggest banks and investment companies. The goal was for the Federal Reserve to stabilize markets, but in January 2009 the New York Times reported, An overwhelming majority saw the bailout program as a no-strings-attached windfall that could be used to pay down debt, acquire other businesses or invest for the future. The same will happen with insurance companies. They will not use the money to help keep high-risk people on plans; they will use it as if it is a windfall with few strings attached.

Sen. Paul followed up his Breitbart piece with another in the Washington Examiner.In this piece,he argued that the Senate version of the Republican health care reform bill was the embodiment of cronyism. Paul wrote, I remember a lot of outrage about two things when I first ran for office: Obamacare and the bank bailouts. Unfortunately, the Senate health care bill combines the worst of those twothis time, were bailing out the big insurance companies. Why? Partly because of the crony capitalism that pervades the culture in the swamps of Washington. Sen. Paul is spot on. Its outrageous that more conservatives in the Senate arent joining Pauls crusade against Obamacare-lite.

In June, health care expert Mike Cannon of the Cato Institute made the case in the New York Postthat this bill has put off cuts of some Obamacare spending in a way that makes it unlikely that the cuts will ever happen. Cannon wrote, The Senate bill wouldnt even repeal the parts of Obamacare Republicans claim it would. On paper, it would repeal Obamacares expansion of Medicaidbut not until 2024. There will be three federal election cycles, three new Congresses, and potentially a brand new president between now and then. It is almost certain Democrats will control at least one of those Congresses and could then rescind this repeal as if it never happened. Even this bills cuts are illusory and unlikely to ever happen.

Sen. Paul, thank you for being the one member of the Senate who is standing up against cronyism and a bill that fails to repeal and replace Obamacare.

Brian Darling is former Sr. Communications Director and Counsel for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). He can be followed on Twitter @BrianHDarling

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Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said on "Fox & Friends" this morning that he remains a "no" vote on the Senate health care bill because it will not deliver on his promise to repeal ObamaCare.

Brian Kilmeade asked Paul why - if the bill is an improvement on ObamaCare - he won't support it and then seek to make it better in the coming years.

"I don't know that this is better than ObamaCare," he responded, adding that the "fundamental flaw" of the Affordable Care Act would remain in place.

He said the bill will create a $200 billion "bailout superfund" for insurers which will "subsidize the death spiral" instead of fixing it.

Paul argued that the fundamental flaw of ObamaCare was that young, healthy people are not buying insurance, knowing they can get coverage in the event they become sick.

"We have these regulations that make it really expensive for young, healthy people. ... I can't vote for something that doesn't repeal ObamaCare and doesn't fix it," said Paul.

A revised version of the Senate bill is being released today, but it still appears short of the 50 votes it needs to pass.

Paul said the bill contains an "insurance stabilization fund," which he sees as a bailout provision for companies that make $15 billion a year and "already have their hands all over this bill."

He proposed splitting the effort into two bills, first repealing ObamaCare and then debating a better option.

Watch the interview above.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) - a supporter of the bill - responded to Paul's criticism later in the show.

He said that Paul's proposals would not garner nearly enough support to pass in the Senate, leaving ObamaCare in place.

Watch the interview below.

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Rand Paul Not Sure Senate Health Care Bill Is Better Than ...

Senator Mark Warner, D-Virginia, participates in a hearing to Senate Intelligence Committee on Russia's intelligence activities, at Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, DC on January 10, 2017.

Riccardo Savi

President Trump's troubles with questions about his campaign's ties to Russia intensified this week with the release of emails showing his son, Donald Trump Jr., arranging a meeting with a Russian government attorney last year in the hope of obtaining incriminating information on Hillary Clinton. Meanwhile, health care reform remains stalled in the Senate, its fate increasingly uncertain, and President Trump headed to France for Bastille Day.

This Sunday on Face the Nation, we'll bring you the latest news and analysis on all that and more.

We'll talk with Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, about the latest developments in the scandal involving Russian involvement in the election, and possible collusion with Mr. Trump's campaign. What did he make of Donald Trump Jr.'s emails? And how is his committee proceeding with its investigation alongside the special counsel's probe?

We'll also talk with Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a conservative who's pushing Senate Republican leaders for a fuller repeal of Obamacare in their health care reform proposal. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell says he may have to work with Democrats to amend Obamacare if Republicans can't agree on a replacement. Would Senator Paul join that effort?

We'll hear from Jay Sekulow, a member of President Trump's legal team, on how the president and the administration are responding to Donald Trump Jr.'s explosive emails and the broader investigation. How might Trump Jr.'s problems affect the president? And what is the strategy for Trump's legal team going forward?

As always, we'll hear from an expert political panel to help us break down the busy news week. This Sunday, we'll be joined by USA Today Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page, The Atlantic Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, The Washington Post's Ed O'Keefe, and National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru.

And finally, for a bit of a respite from politics, we'll talk with Time Magazine senior writer and science editor Jeffrey Kluger about his new book, "Apollo 8," which chronicles the NASA mission in 1968 that heartened a weary nation and provided a glimpse of future possibilities in space.

It's going to be an exciting broadcast, so make sure you tune in! Check your local listings for airtimes.

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Sunday: Mark Warner, Rand Paul, and Jay Sekulow - CBS News

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Pence: The President And I Really Like Sen. Rand Paul A Man Of Principle And Conviction The Liberty Conservative Now let me say from my heart, the President and I really like Senator Rand Paul, Pence said. I've known him for a lot of years. He's a man of principle and conviction. Senator Rand Paul is a great conservative and a great legislator, and he does ... Pence pitches governors on ObamaCare repeal billThe Hill Pence defends health care reform in Lexington speechWLKY Louisville all 47 news articles »

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Pence: The President And I Really Like Sen. Rand Paul A Man Of Principle And Conviction - The Liberty Conservative