Posts Tagged ‘Rand Paul’
Don’t Take the Bait
May 21st, 2010 by John FeeheryReductio Ad Absurdem
May 21st, 2010 by John Feehery
In 1803, emissaries from the American President, including future President James Monroe, signed a treaty, which was then the largest real estate purchase in history. Thomas Jefferson authorized his ambassadors to sign the Louisiana Purchase Treaty despite some misgiving he had about its constitutionality. He did it because he thought it was a great deal (it was – 15 million bucks for property which would later make up parts of 14 states), and because he wanted to enhance American security.
He was opposed in his efforts to make the purchase by Federalists, who while they appreciated the expansion of federal power (being Federalists and all), didn’t like so much money going to a sworn enemy of the English, who they liked. So, the Federalists made a big stink about Jefferson’s lack of philosophical consistency, as they themselves showed that they lacked any philosophical consistency by opposing an expansion of federal power, which philosophically, they supported.
Had Jefferson been a stickler for his philosophy, American history would have taken a dramatically different course. Instead of a sprawling and vibrant democracy powered by Manifest Destiny in the 19th and 20th centuries, the United States would have been hemmed in by European powers France, Spain and Great Britain, where it would have become at best a second-rate power.
Rand Paul and Online Poker
May 19th, 2010 by John Feehery
Photo credit: Jamie Adams
It was interesting to go to a Ways and Means Committee meeting on the possibilities and pitfalls of online gambling in the aftermath of Rand Paul’s huge victory in Kentucky.
Paul is a libertarian, and by definition should be in favor of doing away with the prohibition of online gambling. His father, Ron Paul, is a co-sponsor of legislation that would do just that.
Paul also has ample reason to change the current Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act. The law could have a negative impact on para-mutual horse race betting, an industry important to the home state of Churchill Downs.
The hearing exposed both the philosophical and practical problems with the current law. Philosophically, as Republican primary voters are clamoring for more freedom from the federal government, this law says simply that American adults are not capable of handling the temptation of Internet gambling.
Now, that may be true for a small percentage of Americans. And it may be true that a small percentage of Americans can’t handle the temptation of sniffing glue. But we don’t ban glue because of those fateful few whom have decided that sniffing it is the best use of glue. Nor should we use the resources of the federal government to throw people in jail because they want to play poker in their own homes.
Skunk at the Garden Party
May 19th, 2010 by John Feehery
Rand Paul / Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore
Rand Paul’s election may very well mean the beginning of the end of the neo-conservative movement in the Republican Party. It also might mark the beginning of the end of the social conservative wing of the Republican Party.
During the nomination process of the Presidential election two years ago, I wrote about the impact of the Ron Paul insurgency and its potential impact. Paul was a fundraising sensation, and he had a cadre of committed followers who believed profoundly that the Federal Government had grown too big, had become too intrusive, had gone to war for all the wrong reasons, and was too involved in the daily lives of the American people.
Paul went after some pretty significant sacred cows in the Republican orthodoxy. He thought the Iraq War was stupid, and that our foreign policy presence in the Middle East was a big reason why we were attacked on 9/11. He thinks that the war on drugs is a waste of time, and that if people want to smoke pot, well, that is up to them. He thinks that the security apparatus of the United States makes America more of a police state and should be down-sized dramatically.
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