Mediaboss Marketing

FILE - In this Jan. 16, 2015 file photo, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.speaks with people at a restaurant in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

WASHINGTON Rand Paul is demonstrating how he could disrupt the Republican presidential field if he seeks the nomination, sparring with potential rivals over Iran, Cuba and the Pentagon's budget in a face-to-face forum that offered an early preview of the feisty policy debate to come.

The Kentucky Republican joined fellow first-term senators Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida on stage Sunday evening in California for a summit organized by Freedom Partners. That group is the central hub of the powerful network of organizations backed by conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch.

Each likely candidate has broad backing from tea party activists, who helped push them to victory over establishment-minded rivals in their most recent races. But a split is already starting to emerge even before they formally decide if they will run, and Paul seems to be an eager wedge.

"I'm a big fan of trying the diplomatic option as long as we can," Paul said of talks with Iran over its nuclear plan. "I do think diplomacy is better than war."

Lawmakers from both parties are pushing for a new round of sanctions against Iran. The White House and foreign leaders have urged Congress to not do that, for fear it would agitate Iran and prompt them to end negotiations over its nuclear abilities.

Cruz and Rubio were sharply critical of negotiations, backed by President Barack Obama.

"This is the worst negotiation in the history of mankind," Cruz said, predicting an Iranian nuclear strike in "Tel Aviv, New York or Los Angeles."

Added Rubio: "At this pace, in five years, we're going to build the bomb for them."

Paul urged his colleagues to have patience. "Are you ready to send ground troops into Iran?"

Visit link:
Rand Paul clashes with Rubio, Cruz on defense, foreign policy at Koch forum

Story highlights Sens. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul debated foreign policy Sunday night They sat on stage for a panel hosted by the Koch brothers It was the first time potential presidential candidates shared a stage at the same time this year

Republican Sens. Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul took part in a largely friendly, but occasionally fiery, panel at the Palm Springs event sponsored by mega GOP donors David and Charles Koch, better known as the Koch Brothers.

The event, moderated by ABC's Jonathan Karl, marked the first time potential GOP contenders gathered on the same stage at the same time to talk about policy in 2015, a year that's expected to see a hoard of candidates compete for the Republican nomination in forums and debates.

RELATED: 2016 race kicks off with auditions in Iowa

It also offered a window into the unofficial campaign that's largely playing out behind the scenes, with White House hopefuls traveling the country and meeting privately with donors in settings much like the California desert Sunday to gauge the kind of the financial commitments they could secure for a 2016 endeavor.

The first-term senators were keenly aware of their immediate audience at one point Cruz blatantly said, "I admire Charles and David Koch" but knowing their remarks would be public, they also sought to show off their command of the issues in a high-pressure scenario.

The senators revealed little disparity on domestic and economic policies, but roughly half way into the event, the discussion shifted toward President Barack Obama's new Cuba policy and Paul instantly found himself on defense.

"I'm kind of surrounded on this," Paul joked. Rubio and Cruz both have parents who emigrated from Cuba, and Paul is also the odd-man-out on substance, being the only one on stage who's backed the President's call for relaxing the Cuba embargo.

The Kentucky Republican explained that in hindsight, President Richard Nixon "made the right decision" by opening relations with China, saying it prevented war and opened up trade.

"China not a good example," Rubio disagreed, saying the country may be "more prosperous...but it is not a free country."

See the original post here:
Cruz-Rubio-Paul event previews GOP foreign policy debate

Republican Sens. Ted Cruz (Tex.), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) discussed what they see to be the current U.S. economys weak spots at a forum Sunday night. All are thought to be potential 2016 presidential hopefuls. (Reuters)

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. Three of the likely Republican presidential contenders decried the nations income gap and argued that President Obama deserves little credit for the improving economy in a forum Sunday night that offered a preview of the themes expected to dominate the 2016 election.

Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida took part in a lively and at times wonkish discussion that ranged from economic policy to U.S. policy toward Iran to the role of wealth in politics. Their 80-minute conversation marked the first time that a crop of potential White House contenders shared a stage in the 2016 season, a session that exposed some of the fault lines that will separate the crowded GOP field.

The panel, moderated by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, took place at a private meeting of wealthy donors hosted by Freedom Partners, a tax-exempt group that serves as the hub of a political network supported by Charles and David Koch and other conservative financiers. In a first, the organization shared a live Web stream of the event with news organizations.

The senators alluded to the vast resources of their well-heeled audience even as they called for new economic policies they said would lift up a struggling middle class. Those who are doing well are the top one percent, the millionaires and billionaires the president loves to demagogue, one or two of whom are here with us tonight, Cruz said, adding: The people who have been hammered for the last six years are working men and women.

Cruz dismissed the economic gains that Obama touted in his recent State of the Union speech as the description of an alternate reality. I chuckle every time I hear Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton talk about income inequality, because its increased dramatically under their policies, he said.

Paul agreed. The reason I would say the economy is getting better is despite the president and despite the presidents policies, he said, crediting the lift instead to revenues from oil and gas extracted from private land. This president should take no credit for any kind of recovery we have, he added to hearty applause.

Rubio said taxes and regulations have held back the ability of the United States to compete on a global stage, adding that more higher-wage jobs were needed to address income disparity. The best cure for poverty is a job, a good paying job, and our economy isnt producing enough of them, he said.

The Democratic National Committee challenged their arguments, citing the countrys recent job growth, low gas prices and stock market gains in one of several e-mail statements the party blasted out during the forum.

While Cruz, Paul and Rubio sounded similar notes on the economy, the trio divided sharply over foreign policy.

Here is the original post:
Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio decry income inequality, clash over foreign policy

World News Videos | ABC World NewsCopy

As recently as October, Ann Romney was poo-pooing the notion of a third Mitt Romney candidacy. After two failed presidential bids, in 2008 and 2012, she and her husband had moved on, she told ABC News.

Though sources close to Mitt Romney recently announced hes once again thinking about another bid for the White House, at least one of Romney's GOP colleagues thinks Ann Romney had the right idea.

Im with Ann Romney on this one: No, no, no, no, never, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., told ABC News' Jonathan Karl at a forum of three likely 2016 presidential candidates in Palm Springs, California, Sunday night.

Romney would have made a great president, added Paul, rumored to be considering his own White House bid. But to win the presidency you have the reach out and appeal to new constituencies. And I just don't think it's possible.

And if he thinks, Well, I'm just going to change a few themes and next time I'll reach out to more people, I think it's a little more visceral than that, the libertarian lawmaker said of Romney.

Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, another Republican rumored to be harboring presidential ambitions, said Romney's infamous on-camera gaffe cost Republicans the White House.

I think in 2012, the reason Republicans lost can be sum up it in two words: 47 percent, Cruz said at the forum.

Just months before the 2012 election, Romney was caught on tape at a private fundraiser telling guests that they shouldnt worry about the 47 percent of people who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.

I don't just mean that comment, Cruz said. The central narrative of the last election, what the voters heard, was, We don't have to worry about the 47 percent. And I think Republicans are and should be the party of the 47 percent.

Excerpt from:
Rand Paul on Possible Mitt Romney Run: 'No, No, No, No'

Rand Paul supports TTIP?
RemnantMan is slipping and a sliding in NH (13 F) handing out The New American magazine special issue entitled How The FREE TRADE AGENDA Is Knocking America Down. Ask Sen Rand Paul to ...

By: William McNally

Link:
Rand Paul supports TTIP? - Video