Archive for the ‘Rand Paul’ Category

Rand doesn't stand

Rand Paul says he wants surveillance reform. Instead, he helped sink it.

And now hes under fire from the civil liberties groups who have been his strongest allies in his war on the NSAs domestic spying program.

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If Paul really wanted to help the cause of reining in the NSA, critics say he could have broken with his party and voted to let the bill move ahead a headline-grabbing moment that would make him stand out from the rest of the Republican presidential field.

Instead, the Kentucky senator the GOPs most famous libertarian voted to block the bill from even being debated.

(Also on POLITICO: Liberal 'hell no' caucus rises)

He could have voted against the bill on final passage. That would have been a completely different thing than shutting down the debate, said Laura Murphy of the American Civil Liberties Union, one of Pauls strongest allies on the issue. Both have filed lawsuits against the NSA surveillance programs.

This type of criticism may become a recurring theme as Pauls presidential campaign blossoms the purist libertarian beliefs that built the Paul brand are going to keep crashing into traditional Republican standards, especially on national security.

His no vote on NSA reform even raised suspicions that Paul just didnt want to have the debate.

Even if Senator Paul had problems with the text he still should have voted to advance the bill, offer an amendment to fix his problem, and then vote against the final bill if it wasnt adopted, said Mark Jaycox of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. By voting against the procedural motion, he said, Senator Paul made clear that he didnt even want to debate the bill.

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Rand doesn't stand

Rand Paul Casts Crucial "No" Vote on Obama-Backed NSA "Reform" Bill

SenatorRandal Howard "Rand" Paul (R-Kentucky) on Tuesday cast one of two critical "No" votes that on the surface seem to scuttle a bill banning U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) spying on Americans' phone calls. But the true story is far murkier. I. The Rise of the Intelligence Defense Complex The NSA currently collects metadata on 99 percent of calls placed in the U.S. -- information that includes who you called, the time, and the place the call was made from. That information adds up to a massive dataset that can be used to track virtually every American's movements on a coarse scale without a warrant. The NSA also reportedly records a large percentage of America's phone calls -- tens of millions a day, at least -- storing them at its massive data centers. The NSA has admitted to Congress that employees have abused this spying in the past to spy on exes or commit other "illegal" actions, just some of the thousands of times a year that NSA agents admittedly break federal laws.

Our bill protects Americans. It ends indiscriminate data collection, but keeps the tools our intelligence community needs to protect the nation.

God forbid tomorrow morning we wake up to the news that a member of ISIL is in the United States. We can disrupt that cell, before they can carry out a horrifying attack that kills hundreds of people.

Commented Sen.Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.):

This bill advances the cause of safeguarding our nation, without in any way detracting from our security. The founding fathers would have been shocked, if they had heard of warrants being issued by a secret court, making secret law.

If we didn't pass the House bill, there were members that wanted to end the whole program. I do not want to end the program. I'm prepared to make the compromise, which is that the metadata will be kept by the telecoms.

As Benjamin Franklin put it, those who trade their liberty for security may wind up with neither. Todays vote to oppose further consideration of the Patriot Act extension proves that we are one step closer to restoring civil liberties in America.

Sources: Senate [vote record], Ars Technica, The New York Times, Sen. Rand Paul [press release]

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Rand Paul Casts Crucial "No" Vote on Obama-Backed NSA "Reform" Bill

Rand Paul on Syria Ultimatum ‘President shouldn’t be Willy Nilly be Drawing Red Lines’, Loses Cred – Video


Rand Paul on Syria Ultimatum #39;President shouldn #39;t be Willy Nilly be Drawing Red Lines #39;, Loses Cred
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Rand Paul on Syria Ultimatum 'President shouldn't be Willy Nilly be Drawing Red Lines', Loses Cred - Video

Rand Paul President Shouldn’t Willy Nilly Be Drawing Red Lines, It Makes Him Lose Credibility – Video


Rand Paul President Shouldn #39;t Willy Nilly Be Drawing Red Lines, It Makes Him Lose Credibility
News in World http://lin.kim/2BKxw Turkey TGB, Passes Per Bag of US Soldiers America military WOOW ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCuY2yEIyVQ.

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Rand Paul President Shouldn't Willy Nilly Be Drawing Red Lines, It Makes Him Lose Credibility - Video

Rand Paul Putin Is Running Circles Around Obama, If This Were Tennis It’d Be Advantage Putin – Video


Rand Paul Putin Is Running Circles Around Obama, If This Were Tennis It #39;d Be Advantage Putin
News in World http://lin.kim/2BKxw Turkey TGB, Passes Per Bag of US Soldiers America military WOOW ! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCuY2yEIyVQ.

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Rand Paul Putin Is Running Circles Around Obama, If This Were Tennis It'd Be Advantage Putin - Video