In this thread as well as here and elsewhere people have complained or more or less attacked Rand Paul for being "not as principled" as his father, or "too statist" or various other things along the lines of basically not "being libertarian enough".
I will grant that his rhetoric is much more curbed than Ron's, and he sounds like more of a compromiser than you'd assume he would be, but his actions speak differently.
Here's the latest example:
From Reason:
Dobner is now on a one-woman crusade to make Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) pay. See, as Jacob Sullum noted in February, Paul is the guy blocking the Senate vote to have the Drug Enforcement Administration reclassify synthetic marijuana and other synthetic drugs as schedule 1. He’s the one, Dobner believes as paraphrased by theDaily News, who is “putting his libertarian principles before the lives of young people.”
He also ignored 15 phone calls from Dobner in which she pleaded for him to pass the bill. Ergo, “He has blood on his hands.”
There are a number of Ron Paul supporters and libertarians who have been skeptical of Rand Paul. Ever since I first heard that he was running for office, I been in favor of giving him the benefit of the doubt. He was endorsed by Ron Paul after all and at worst he would likely still be one of the 2 or 3 most libertarian Senators.
However, the more I see of Rand in the Senate, the more I am convinced that he is the real deal. He speaks about issues with a much more moderate rhetoric than his father, but talk is cheap and when it comes down to it, I think he proving to be about as libertarian as I could have hoped for. This is just another example of taking a very libertarian policy stance and masking it in a much more moderate, softer rhetoric than Ron Paul might have. I don’t have any problems with him playing the game if he can keep scoring policy victories on behalf of libertarians.
And as I said, this is but just the latest example....
I could go on and on.
Rand Paul Brings Senate to a Standstill Rand Paul Single Handedly Stops Amendment that Would Have Allowed the Government to Detain American Citizens Indefinitely Rand Paul Blocks New Iran Sanctions
Rand Paul Single Handedly Stops Amendment that Would Have Allowed the Government to Detain American Citizens Indefinitely
Rand Paul Blocks New Iran Sanctions
"Shortly before final passage, the Senate unanimously backed crippling sanctions on Iran as fears about Tehran developing a nuclear weapon outweighed concerns about driving up oil prices that would hit economically strapped Americans at the gas pump. The vote was 100-0."
Rand is a politician.
Rand Paul Speaks Out Against Corporate Welfare
Thisw is good, but...
Rand Paul, scoring points with the much favored Romney crowd. Can corporations exist without a contract with the State? 0_o
In a response to the same Romney quote Ron Paul says,
"Obviously they’re not. People are individuals, they’re not groups and they’re not companies. Individuals have rights, they’re not collective. You can’t duck that. So individuals should be responsible for corporations, but they shouldn’t be a new creature, so to speak. Rights and obligations should be always back to the individual."
For such a large political implication, Ron Paul doesn't mince words. Rand does.
Rand Paul Heroic Seven Hour Filibuster Rand Paul Grills Geithner Rand Paul Returns $500,000 to the U.S. Treasury
Rand Paul Returns $500,000 to the U.S. Treasury
Partisan, partisan, and token. Cashing in on his fathers tradition; a good thing, but also a simple political gesture.
Rand Paul Single-Handedly Halts a Potential Future Military Confrontation with Russia
This is good. I don't know what Lieberman, Graham, and McCain et al are thinking...
Rand Paul Launches Petition to Kill Online Piracy Bills
"protect copyright in ways that don’t kill jobs or shred the Constitution." -- Rand Paul
The Constitutional parameters for copyright protection have already been violated to the point of virtual unrecognition. I'm sure Ron Paul would be all over making sure Disney owns all of those celtic/irish folk stories. Also a token gesture as nothing official ever made its way through. His gesture was part of a wave of activity against the bills.
I'm not "against" him, but he takes the side of the Establishment on the big things (except that NATO/Georgia thing). Corporate Personhood is a good topic to combine part of the liberal agenda with our own.
Obviously no one benefits from war. Rand need not contribute to the starving of the Iranian people. He doesn't want to give aid to foreigners, but why does he want to prevent them from living?
I responded, but it is awaiting moderation...
"Talk is cheap". Well said. Rand Paul is the best!
I'll support him if he runs in 2016 or 2020, but it may or may not be be with all of the enthusiasm that I've given his father for the past 5 years.
I didn't like the balanced budget amendment he proposed even if it was better than the one proposed by the establishment (the Browne Amendment with a few additions, a repeal of the 17th Amendment with a few additions, an Amendment requiring Van Buren's independent Subtreasury system as well as requiring the government to collect revenues exclusively in gold by weight or silver by weight and that also repeals centralized taxation powers would go much further toward balancing the budget).
He doesn't seem to think as creatively as his father does. Ron Paul's frontal lobes are superhuman.
Should he be the leader against the looming Iran War and if he votes against it at every chance, then I'll enthusiastically support him.
I'll admit John James is right about him being the most libertarian senator.
No2statism:I'll admit John James is right about him being the most libertarian senator.
Well, I never said that, but since you bring it up, I would be pretty shocked if someone could find one who is "more libertarian".
You're right, Reason said he was one of the most libertarian senators:)
Well, to be accurate, Patrick McEwen at The Capital Free Press said that. As you can see from the indenting, he was the one writing the whole thing, as a response to the 5 sentences quoted from Reason.
OKAY idiot moderators.
POST IT.
No, fuck that. These idiot mods that run this place have done this to me twice.
All I did was reorganize the links you made and provided a few of my own. They claim to "moderate" the post becuase of so many links. But, then are derilict in their actual "duty" (something they crown on themselves).
My response will not be posted and all of the time I put into it wasted.
FUCK THE MODS HERE.
You stay classy, phany!
One would think you'd say something different. You say that at every opportunity. You lack creativity and are in no position to judge morality of others (the way you love to do).
JJ, do you need another psychotherapy session? I won't charge you for it.
I'm not backing off the idiot mod restrictions.
What kind of anarchist forum requires mods to approve posts?
A phony anarchist forum, I would think.
Also, Rand did support the initial passage of the Iranian sanctions. Just because he stalled on new ones doesn't mean he didn't support them first. He is a politician.
He also stands up for corporate personhood "Corporations are people because we all own stock in them." He doesn't at all have the understanding of rights that his father promotes. (Some libertarian...)
Aristophanes:You say that at every opportunity.
You know, one can't really be sure...you give so many
A private anarchist forum?
But I do agree - I've had a bunch of posts which have not gone through moderation.
FORUM - market-/public place, forum
Doesn't quite mean the same thing in ENglish, but you get the idea.
They are lost. I doubt anyone checks them...THAT is what pisses me off.
JJ posts a slew of links, then I quoted him and placed my own links. [NONMODERATION] Had my post posted, JJ would have been forced to respond to the points I made instead of jacking off all over himself with emoticons in his thoughtless lost plot posts.
Aristophanes: JJ would have been forced to respond to the points I made instead of jacking off all over himself with emoticons in his thoughtless lost plot posts.
(I realize how perfectly suited that pic is for the quote that is featured above it, but what's even better is I didn't even have to make it. How great is the Internet?)
Did you make that just for me?