Rand Paul
Rand Paul was born in Pennsylvania on January 7, 1963, third of five children born to Ron Paul, a U.S. Congressman and 2012 Republican Presidential Candidate. He graduated from Baylor University and then Duke Medical School, his father's alma mater, in 1963. Paul worked as an ophthalmologist, notably performing many free eye care surgeries and providing free eye care for young and impoverished patients. Paul, a lifelong Republican with libertarian leanings, became involved in politics in 1994, when he founded Kentucky Taxpayers United, a watchdog group that tracked taxation and spending issues in the Kentucky state legislature until it disbanded in 2000. Rand Paul gained national attention when he campaigned for his father, who was running for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2008. He attracted a small, passionate following which helped him win the U.S. Senate seat for Kentucky in 2010. Paul is also the first U.S. Senator to serve alongside a parent in the U.S. House of Representatives. (Bio)
Contents
Issues
Tax Reform
In consultation with some of the top tax experts in the country, including the Heritage Foundation’s Stephen Moore, former presidential candidate Steve Forbes and Reagan economist Arthur Laffer, Rand Paul devised his Fair and Flat Tax proposal. The Tax Foundation, estimates that in 10 years it will increase gross domestic product by about 10%, and create at least 1.4 million new jobs.
Rand Paul's tax reform consists of "The Fair and Flat Tax" proposal:
- $2 trillion tax cut that would repeal the entire IRS tax code
- Replace the tax code with a low, broad-based tax of 14.5% on individuals and businesses applied equally to all personal income, including wages, salaries, dividends, capital gains, rents and interest
- Eliminate every special-interest loophole
- Eliminate the payroll tax on workers and several federal taxes outright, including gift and estate taxes, telephone taxes, and all duties and tariffs
- All deductions except for a mortgage and charities would be eliminated
- First $50,000 of income for a family of four would not be taxed
- For low-income working families, the plan would retain the earned-income tax credit
- 14.5% tax would be levied on revenues minus allowable expenses, such as the purchase of parts, computers and office equipment
- All capital purchases would be immediately expensed, ending complicated depreciation schedules
From (RPW-TR)
Jobs and Business Policy
Jobs
Help the unemployed through lowered taxes:
"Well, you know, there are competing influences in the Republican Party. We've lost two presidential elections in a row. So some people say we need to dilute our message, we need to become Democrat-lite. And then there are some like myself who say, No, no, we need to be more bold with our message. We need to be the party that's not for revenue-neutral tax reform, we need to be the party that actually wants to lower taxes to stimulate the economy and be proud of that, and that it will help poor people, it'll help the unemployed if we lower taxes dramatically. And I think that's being more bold, and I think that actually will bring more people to our cause." (OTI - J)
Unemployment benefits are okay in short-term if paid-for; long-term unemployments/extensions to unemployment benefits do workers a disservice:
"I do support unemployment benefits for the 26 weeks that they're paid for. If you extend it beyond that, you do a disservice to these workers. There was a study that came out a few months ago, and it said, if you have a worker that's been unemployed for 4 weeks and on unemployment insurance and one that's on 99 weeks, which would you hire? Every employer, nearly 100%, said they will always hire the person who's been out of work 4 weeks. When you allow people to be on unemployment insurance for 99 weeks, you're causing them to become part of this perpetual unemployed group in our economy. And while it seems good, it actually does a disservice to the people you're trying to help. You know, I don't doubt the president's motives. But black unemployment in America is double white unemployment. And it hasn't budged under this president." (OTI - J)
Introduced his National Right-to-Work Act, S.204, subtitled "A bill to preserve and protect the free choice of individual employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations, or to refrain from such activities."
"Every American worker deserves the right to freedom of association--and I am concerned that the 26 states that allow forced union membership and dues infringes on these workers' rights."
- "Right-to-work laws are government intervention into what used to be private matters between employers and employees, but they lift the most onerous parts of labor union agreements which demand either the complete exclusion of non-union workers from being employed by a union shop or requiring any non-union workers to support the union with their dues anyway." (OTI - J)
Business
Health Policy
Overall attitude towards U.S. health care/Obamacare:
- Advocate of repealing Obamacare, in favor of free-market principles/against over-regulation of health care market/opposes any government-run health care system
- Supports making all medical expenses tax deductible, allowing insurance to be bought across state lines, tort reform (state-level), and removing the high-deductible insurance policy requirement to access to Health Savings Accounts
Statement from Paul's website:
"As a doctor, I have had firsthand experience with the immense problems facing health care in the United States. Prior to the implementation of Obamacare, our health care system was over-regulated and in need of serious market reforms—but Obamacare is not the answer." (RPW - HP)
Side views on health care:
- Protect vitamin manufacturers from regulation
- Get rid of mandatory mental health screening in schools
- Encourages vaccinations, allows for religious exemptions:
"Parents own the children, and it is an issue of freedom and public health."
From (OTI-HC)
Drug Policy
Advocate of more rehabilitation and less incarceration
- Apply the 10th Amendment to allow states to make marijuana legal
- Bans on marijuana discriminates against lower income levels/ higher levels of incarceration among poor children than wealthy children
- In addition to ending the over-criminalization of marijuana, Paul has risen awareness of an important issue among drug-related incarcerations, war on drugs has unintentionally had a racial outcome:
"Even though whites used drugs at the same rate as black kids, the prisons are full of black kids and brown kids. There are Republicans trying to correct this injustice."
- Supports community treatment rather than federal anti-drug programs
- Favors legalizing medical marijuana
- Exclude industrial hemp from definition of marijuana
- Exempt industrial hemp from marijuana laws
- Believes drug-abuse isn't a federally pressing issue, should instead be dealt with on the state level
From (OTI - DP)
Middle East
U.S. Involvement in Middle East:
- Against sending troops/fighting battles in Middle East
"The Kurds deserve to be armed and I'll arm them. But the boots on the ground need to be the people who live there. Why are we always the world's patsies that we have to go over there and fight their wars for them? We need to defend American interests, but it is not in America's national security interests to have another war in Iraq."
- Believes U.S. intervention in Libya strengthened Islamic State
- Proposed a bill called the "Stand with Israel Act" to cut off the flow of U.S. taxpayer dollars to the Palestinian Authority. As long as the Palestinian Authority is allied with Hamas not one more tax dollar should flow to them
- Cut foreign aid to most countries, including Israel
From (OTI - ME)
Trade
Opponent of Obama's Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA
"My consistent opposition to the Trade Promotion Authority, or TPA, stems from my belief that Congress has already given too much power to the Presidency."
"With TPA, Congress gives up the power to amend or filibuster trade legislation. While I think trade is a net positive, I don’t believe Congress should cede more power to this or any other President."
"I oppose TPA because I oppose secrecy. There is no sane reason for making the trade treaty classified."
"As a strong supporter of free trade who has voted for three free trade agreements, I am willing to work with the administration on a compromise that ensures more transparency, but unless Congress and the American people can play a role in negotiating these agreements, I will not support them."
From (RPW - T)
Proponent of trade with China
"When I was about ten years old, like many conservative middle-class families, our inclination was to resist anything to do with Red China. In that black and white world, you were either for us or against us. Trade with China was thought to be trade with the enemy. A funny thing happened, though, along the way. Many conservatives came to understand a larger truth. As trade began to blossom with China, many conservatives, myself included, came to admit that trade improves our economic well-being AND makes us less likely to fight. The success of trade with China made many conservatives rethink their view of the world." (NI - T)
Encourages free trade through export inducers, such as investment - not devaluation of the dollar
"In November 2011, my office was happy to participate with the Raw Milk Freedom Riders, who set out to acquire raw milk in protest of raids on small farmers. Over the past several years, the President has taken the laudable step of urging Congress to pass free trade laws in order to elevate exports. However, apart from the effort to encourage free trade, the President's efforts to create an environment conducive to competing in a global economy have been largely misguided. The President and the central bank have attempted to increase exports by destroying the value of the dollar here at home."
"The President's agenda of increasing taxes on top of a weak dollar policy is inhibiting the country's ability of to compete overseas. One of the fundamental keys to export growth is investment. The correlation between tax rates, investment and export is demonstrated by the tremendous export opportunities and growth of East Asia."
"Tax rates affect the investment decisions of firms and individuals by altering the cash flow of investment opportunities, and decrease the return on investment, resulting in overall reduced investment."
Active Opponent of Government Regulation of Industry
"In November 2011, my office was happy to participate with the Raw Milk Freedom Riders, who set out to acquire raw milk in protest of raids on small farmers. The Raw Milk Freedom Riders intentionally purchased and transported raw milk across state lines in violation of federal law. Civil disobedience. Hunger strikes. Persecuted activists. The food freedom movement has all the hallmarks of the great struggles of the past, and that's because it shares a common enemy with those movements--aggressive and arrogant government."
From (OTI - FT)
Immigration
While serving in the Senate, Paul introduced legislation to make immigration reform conditional on Congress voting on whether the border is secure, requiring completion of a border fence in five years and a protection against the federal government establishing a national identification card system for citizens. His "Trust but Verify" amendment requires Congress to write and enforce a bipartisan border security blueprint rather than using bureaucracies, such as the Department of Homeland Security, to come up with a plan. The amendment also would provide new national security safeguards to track the holders of student visas and those provided asylum and refugee status.
Paul does not support the concept of "amnesty," but instead "supports legal immigration process" (RPW - I). If elected President, Paul would implement his "Trust but Verify" plan and apply pressure on the Department of Homeland Security to secure the border and produce an effective visa tracking system.
- Replace current path to citizenship with work visas for illegal immigrants: supports "probation" followed by "assimilation," putting undocumented immigrants on an eventual track to either permanent legal status (a green card) or citizenship
- Immigrants get a temporary "work visa" but are not put ahead of anyone waiting to enter the country
- Opponent to the federal government creating a national ID card
- Believes U.S. can accommodate current 11 million illegal immigrants already leaving in the country; however, we must completely secure the border before any other action can be taken
From (OTI - I)
Environmental
Balancing Environmental Safety with Deregulation
"Counteracting excessively burdensome government regulations has become a centerpiece of my tenure in Washington. All my actions seek to find a balance between environmental, safety and health protection, without compromising the ability of family businesses to flourish."
"Unelected bureaucrats should not have the power to enact regulations that affect the lives of everyday Americans. Whether it's ObamaCare or EPA regulations, cutting red tape and opening the regulatory process to scrutiny is an important step in holding government accountable to all Americans.
In the Senate, I proudly introduced the Regulations from the Executive Need of Scrutiny (REINS) Act. This legislation is designed to increase accountability for and transparency in the Federal regulatory process.
As President, I will place common sense and reasonable limitations on a bureaucracy that seeks to target well-intentioned businesses with burdensome regulations."
"Our federal government regulates everything and anything. How much water goes into you commode. How much water comes out of your showerhead. The temperature of the water in your washing machine. How many miles to the gallon your car must get."
Criticisms of EPA
Agency's Abuse of 'Wetlands' Term
"The Clean Water Act never even mentioned the term "wetlands" while passing through Congress for approval. The unelected bureaucracy simply created the concept and defines it in distinct terminology dependent upon whatever scenario they are currently considering. "Wetlands" quite literally can mean whatever the EPA wants it to mean."
"The definition of wetlands has become so absurd and transparent that the Army Corps of Engineers developed the "migratory bird theory." This theory states that if your land is a stopping point for any migratory bird that has traveled between real navigable waters, then your land is now de facto connected to the interstate navigable streams. I'm not kidding."
"This theory is irrational & completely illogical. How did it ever become enforceable law? It happened because Congress has abdicated its duty in this area. Citizens often run afoul of these rules inadvertently due to the constant evolution of complex and unexplained regulations."
High Costs of EPA's Regulations
"Since its creation in 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency has done more harm than good. EPA regulations cost more than 5% of our annual gross domestic product (which was over $15 trillion in 2012). This is equivalent to the costs of defense and homeland security combined. Most Americans are unaware of this."
"Too often our rights are violated by abusive and power-hungry EPA bureaucrats who use threats, coercion, and force to implement power grabs. I wish these instances of abuse were random and the exception, but they have unfortunately come to characterize what many Americans now rightly see as a rogue government agency. EPA regulations have hampered landowners' ability to manage their private property as they please and have seriously impaired job creation. As with the massive cost of the EPA, many Americans are unaware of the routine suffering caused by the overreach of such regulatory agencies."
EPA's Circumnavigation of Due Process and Judicial Review
[The Sacketts were building their own home when the EPA ordered them to stop ] "They requested a hearing before the EPA where they could challenge the agency's claim that their property was a wetland. The EPA refused, claiming property owners have no right to a hearing regarding compliance orders. Throughout this waiting process, the daily $75,000 fine continued to accumulate."
"However, they filed their own lawsuit in federal court, arguing that the Administrative Procedure Act entitled them to a hearing before a judge. Yet the Sixth and Fourth Circuits rejected any possibility of judicial review. Is this not a complete violation of the separation-of-powers principle? These circuit courts essentially handed the EPA free rein over innocent Americans and their private property. Our government was literally telling the Sacketts that in the US, you are free--unless the EPA decides to get involved, at which point your right to due process and private property becomes null and void."
Sources Key
RPW - Rand Paul's Website
OTI - On the Issues
NI - National Interest
Second Abbreviation = Policy Issue (i.e. TR = Tax Reform)
