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Rand Paul is a member of the Republican Party and a U.S. Senator representing the state of Kentucky. He received score of 100% from the American Conservative Union in 2012,[1] and his voting record was rated 26% liberal in 2011 by National Journal.[1]

Paul considers himself to be a Tea Party follower, who wants smaller government.[2][3] Paul has said that he identifies as both a "constitutional conservative"[4][5] and a "libertarian conservative."[5]

Paul supports cutting government spending, a balanced budget amendment, and lowering taxes. He has criticized both Republicans and Democrats on deficit spending.[6] Paul has been a longtime opponent of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008

He also opposes the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and the Federal Reserve's control of the money supply and interest rates. He has advocated allowing the free market to regulate interest rates, and supports Congress' constitutional role in controlling the money supply. Paul endorses H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, a bill, introduced by his father, mandating an audit of the Federal Reserve.[7]

Paul has sought to reduce the funds lent by the Export-Import Bank of the United States to countries that hold U.S. debt. He compared the practice to corporate welfare and stated that it was wrong that we "borrow billions of dollars from China, India, and Saudi Arabia then we loan it back to them again." [8]

Paul supports allowing the free market to compete and dictate which forms of energy to use. He opposes subsidizing energy companies, and would support allowing tax breaks for companies that produce alternative energy such as wind, solar, or geothermal. He has said that subsidizing the energy industry will only add incentive for companies to lobby the federal government.[9]

Paul opposes the USA PATRIOT Act, including warrantless searches.[10] He has also proposed that the TSA be eliminated[11] and opposes the extrajudicial killing of American citizens in the United States who are terrorism suspects.[12] He did however express support for domestic use of armed drones for law enforcement to use.[13]

Paul says that American citizens have a right to privacy.[14]

Paul voted against the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA)[15] and 2013,[16] both of which contain provisions in it that allow the US government to indefinitely detain US citizens without due process. He did however vote for the Feinstein-Lee NDAA Amendment to the NDAA 2013,[17] which added in Section 1033 which states: "An authorization to use military force, a declaration of war, or any similar authority shall not authorize the detention without charge or trial of a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States apprehended in the United States, unless an Act of Congress expressly authorizes such detention."[18][19][20] Civil liberties groups, such as the ACLU, were concerned with this amendment because they think anyone on American soil should be given a trial if accused of a crime, given that the U.S. Constitution protects "persons," rather than "citizens."[17][21][22][23] and also worried that the amendment could be construed to actually imply that the U.S. government has the constitutional authority for indefinite detention without charge and trial.[17][24]

In 2014 Paul denied that Gaddafi had plotted terrorist attacks against the United States.[25]

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Political positions of Rand Paul - Wikipedia, the free ...

SARASOTA Conventional wisdom has it that Florida is Jeb Bush country in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio enjoys lots of conservative Sunshine State love as well.

But that didn't stop Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul from courting Republicans in Bush/Rubio home turf this weekend. At a Valentine's evening airport rally Saturday evening he found plenty of Republicans receptive to his message.

"I like Jeb Bush. I've voted for him," said Republican business broker Dale Tindall. "But whether it's the Bushes or the Kennedys, or the Clintons, enough is enough."

That sentiment was repeated over and over again in random interviews among the several hundred people gathered Saturday to see Paul, who told the Tampa Bay Times he is not intimidated by his rivals' Florida advantage or by Bush's expected overwhelming fundraising advantage.

"Most of the grass-roots of our party believes that we should have less centralization of education in Washington. Most of the people I meet are opposed to Common Core, as I am," Paul, 52, said of the education standards championed by Bush and adopted by Florida and most other states. "I just think it's going to be difficult (for Bush) to win over grass-roots conservatives."

Paul suggested that he would like to see both Rubio and Bush jump into the presidential race.

"That would actually make it more like the vote would split enough ways for the state to be competitive," Paul said.

The Kentucky senator on Friday addressed the Orange County GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner, while Jeb Bush was in southwest Florida at the Barbara Bush Foundation's annual event promoting literacy.

Asked at a news conference about his brother's handling of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush demurred.

"If I'm in the process of considering the possibility of running, it's not about re-litigating anything in the past," the Washington Post quoted him as saying. "I won't talk about the past. I'll talk about the future."

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Rand Paul gets receptive ear to his message in Sarasota

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Kentucky, speaks at an election rally for Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, at Bowman Field November 3, 2014 in Louisville, Kentucky. Aaron P. Bernstein, Getty Images

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is asking his state's Republican Party to stage a presidential caucus in 2016 well ahead of their regularly scheduled primary elections in May - a move he says would increase the state's clout in the GOP nominating process while also aiding his own political ambitions.

"You, as a member of the Kentucky Republican Central Committee, will be the one to decide if you want to help me get an equal chance at the nomination," Paul wrote to members of the Republican Party of Kentucky in a letter this week, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

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With the midterm elections behind us, the political focus has shifted to the 2016 race for the White House. As CBSNews.com Senior Political Edito...

Paul will lobby the party's 54-member executive committee to vote to approve a caucus during their March 7 meeting in Bowling Green.

In his letter, the senator suggested Kentucky's current primary, which comes relatively late in the process, effectively deprives Kentuckians of a meaningful voice in the nominating process.

"It has been suggested by others for several cycles that Kentucky has no influence on the presidential process because of our late primary," Paul wrote. "By May 2016, the GOP will likely have decided its nominee, rendering our votes useless in deciding anything."

Creating a separate caucus for the presidential nomination would also allow Paul to simultaneously run for president and reelection to his seat - something he would not be able to do under current Kentucky law, which prohibits a name from appearing on a primary ballot for more than one office.

Paul acknowledged that added benefit in his letter. "As most of you know, moving up Kentucky's presidential primary election would also allow me to make a run for the nomination and seek re-election," he wrote. "I believe I can keep helping the people of Kentucky as senator, but I think there is no doubt I could help them even more as president."

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Rand Paul to Kentucky GOP: Hold a presidential caucus in 2016

SARASOTA - Conventional wisdom has it that Florida is Jeb Bush country in the 2016 Republican presidential primary, while Florida Sen. Marco Rubio enjoys lots of conservative Sunshine State love as well. But that didn't stop Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul from courting Republicans in Bush/Rubio home turf this weekend. At a Valentines evening airport rally in Sarasota Saturday evening he found plenty of Republicans receptive to his message. "I like Jeb Bush. I've voted for him," said Republican business broker Dale Tindall. "But whether it's the Bushes or the Kennedys, or the Clintons enough is enough." That sentiment was repeated over and over again in random interviews among the several hundred people gathered Saturday to see Kentucky Sen. Paul, who told the Tampa Bay Times he is not intimidated by his rivals' Florida advantage or by Bush's expected overwhelming fundraising advantage. "Most of the grassroots of our party believes that we should have less centralization of education in Washington. Most of the people I meet are opposed to Common Core, as I am," Paul, 52, said of the education standards championed by Bush and adopted by Florida and most other states. "I just think it's going to be difficult (for Bush) to win over grassroots conservatives." Paul suggested to the Tampa Bay Times that he would like to see both Rubio and Bush jump into the presidential race. "That would actually make it more like the vote would split enough ways for the state to be competitive," Paul said. The Kentucky senator on Friday addressed the Orange County GOP's Lincoln Day Dinner, while Jeb Bush was in southwest Florida at the Barbara Bush Foundation's annual event promoting literacy. Asked at a news conference about his brother's handling of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Bush demurred. "If I'm in the process of considering the possibility of running, it's not about re-litigating anything in the past," the Washington Post quoted him as saying. "I won't talk about the past. I'll talk about the future." Paul similarly does not want to answer for everything his father, former presidential candidate and Texas Rep. Ron Paul, has said or done, agreed Bush need not answer for his brother. But, Paul said, "of course" Bush needs to explain his views on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. "Yeah, people should ask him about the war," Paul told the Times. "I get asked about it all the time. I think the Iraq war was a mistake for many different reasons. One, it led to less stability. There's still chaos on Iraq. It's a country that really is now separate regions, it's not really a unified country and the (situation) has allowed Iran to become much stronger and more of a threat without the counterbalance of Iraq as a strong nation." Several hundred people turned out to the free airport rally, where the eye doctor presented his wife Kelly Ashby with a long stemmed rose for Valentines Day. He never mentioned his Republican rivals by name, but several times attacked former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is widely presumed to be the eventual Democratic nominee. "Hillary Clinton's war in Libya didn't go so well. Hillary thought it would be a great idea to go Libya and topple the government there. You know what we have there now. We have a Jihadist wonder land...It's a disaster and a disgrace," he said, going on to blame her for failing to ramp up security at the U.S. embassy in Benghazi. Paul is an unconventional Republican candidate, with a libertarian streak that produces applause lines rarely heard at Republican rallies. **"There is absolutely no reason for the government to ever look at your phone records without a warrant." **"Civil forfeiture -- The government can take your stuff without ever charging you or convicting you...You are guilty until you prove yourself innocent." He said Republicans need to take their message to more Americans, which is why he speaks to African-American groups and college students frequently. "The same message I took to the Conservative Political Action Committee I gave to Berkley - and I got a standing ovation at both," he said. "It's the defense of liberty." Paul supports the Obama administration's decision to open relations and ease travel restrictions to Cuba - a big difference from Bush and Rubio - and he told the Times he is not worried about how that will play among the hard line Cuban exiles in south Florida. Polls show most Cuban-Americans born in America feel the same way he does, Paul noted. "Some of the people who seem to very emotional about this issue, it might be good for them to go visit Cuba actually." Asked about one of the biggest controversies in Gov. Bush's tenure - his efforts to overturn court cases that approved the removal of feeding tubes for Terri Schiavo, Paul declined to take a position. "I haven't read or looked at all details of that particular case," he said.

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Rand Paul: "Of course" Jeb Bush should take a position on his brother's wars

Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky) is choosing Valentines Day to take a jab at Hillary Clinton.

On Saturday morning, the senators Facebook page posted a message saying that if Hillary Clinton set up a Pinterest page, we can only imagine it might look like this. It included links to a mock profile on the photo-sharing site set up under Mrs. Clintons name.

The profile includes several references to moments that Mrs. Clinton likely would not highlight in a presidential campaign. One section called shoulda, woulda, coulda showcases images from her unsuccessful 2008 White House bid.

The profile also takes a jab at suspended NBC News anchor Brian Williams, with a picture of him interviewing Mrs. Clinton. The accompanying text reads: You tell me your war story, Ill tell you mine.

Mrs. Clinton in 2008 had acknowledged making a mistake when she said she had come under hostile fire while in Bosnia. Mr. Williams is currently suspended for telling a false war story related tohis time in Iraq.

This is not the first time the senator has used social media to take a jab at Mrs. Clinton or other likely White House candidates. In January, Mr. Pauls political action committee, Rand PAC, posted an audio link of a fake phone call between Jeb Bush and Mrs. Clinton, in which actors portraying them argued over whos turn it was to move into the White House. Mr. Pauls PAC is also asking his followers to sign a petition to say no to Mrs. Clinton running for president.

Pinterest, a platform often used to share recipes and fitness tips, was used in the 2012 presidential campaign by Ann Romney to connect with women. Mrs. Romneys pins were mostly recipes, patriotic photos and books.

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Rand Paul Uses Pinterest to Mock Clinton