Mike Barnicle and Morning Joe team discuss Rand Paul and Chris Christie (6 February 2015)
Mike Barnicle, msnbc Political Analyst Steve Schmidt, and the rest of the Morning Joe team discuss the latest setbacks for Republican presidential hopefuls S...
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Mike Barnicle and Morning Joe team discuss Rand Paul and Chris Christie (6 February 2015) - Video
Rand Paul had a prickly week / Election 2016
Sen. Rand Paul got a little contentious this week in telling a reporter to shh! and making comments about vaccines. How do these moments play out in early ...
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Rand Paul had a prickly week / Election 2016 - Video
Shut Up and Vaccinate Your Kids. Ignore Jenny McCarthy, Rand Paul and Chris Christie
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Shut Up and Vaccinate Your Kids. Ignore Jenny McCarthy, Rand Paul and Chris Christie - Video
Sen. Rand Paul was a no-show Tuesday at a hearing on the necessity of vaccines, an issue Paul helped launch into the political spotlight last week by making controversial comments on parents choice in getting their kids vaccinated.
The hearing, convened by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) committee, on which Paul sits, coincided with a classified hearing on Irans nuclear negotiations, which Paul attended, according to a spokesman.
He was attending a classified Foreign Relations committee hearing at the exact same time, Sergio Gor, a spokesman for Paul, told ABC News.
Paul stirred controversy when he said during a TV appearance last week that he heard cases of perfectly healthy children who wound up with medical issues after getting vaccinated.
"I'm not arguing vaccines are a bad idea. I think they are a good thing. But I think the parent should have some input. The state doesn't own your children. Parents own the children, and it is an issue of freedom, Paul added during the segment.
Later, Paul clarified his comments, saying he supported vaccines and wasnt saying vaccines caused disorders only that they were temporally related and also tweeted a picture of himself getting a booster shot.
The Democratic National Committee pounced on Tuesdays hearing to remind reporters of Pauls comments: Keep an eye out for whether Paul doubles down on his fringe comments pandering to the anti-vaxxer movement.
They were also prepared for the possibility he wouldnt attend the hearing at all: What will he say today? Will he show up to the hearing? Or will he skip it altogether?
Senators frequently have overlapping obligations that force them to miss hearings and other events, but more than half the members on this committee were able to attend, as The Hill pointed out.
ABC's Arlette Saenz contributed to this report.
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Why Rand Paul Skipped Senate Vaccine Hearing
Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) has taken over the mantle of leading Federal Reserve critic within the Republican Party from his father, former Texas representative Ron Paul.
Mr. Paul, a likely candidate for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, has introduced a bill that would allow for congressional audits through the Government Accountability Office of the Feds monetary policy deliberations, something Fed officials say would curb the central banks independence.
It is a controversial and complicated issue, generating sharply divided views. In an effort to clarify some aspects, we fact-checked comments he made Friday at a rally in Iowa, with input from some economists. His comments below, in italics, were transcribed from our audio recording of his speech.
The central banks operations are subject to several layers of financial audits and reviews, which are detailed on the Fed website.
On the website, for example, one can see the March 14, 2014 auditors report by Deloitte & Touche LLP on the combined financial statements of the Fed reserve banks for 2013 and 2012.Also available are links to the reports on each individual reserve bank and the board of governors, a link to Office of Inspector General reports on the Fed and a link to the U.S. GAO reports on the Fed.
Currently, the GAO reviews a variety of Fed activities, but not its conduct of monetary policy. Mr. Pauls bill would allow the agency to also examine the policy decisions.
The Feds assets are not $57 billion, theyre $4.5 trillion. Its capital is $57 billion. The Fed could in theory build a much larger capital cushion, since it has been earning record profits. But the law requires it to turn over its profits to the U.S. Treasury, so Fed officials have not retained additional capital even as its profits rose and balance sheet increased.
Central banks are different from private banks in some important ways. The Fed has the power to create money electronically and use those funds to buy assets. This means it is free from the risk of the kinds of run that brought down Lehman Brothers. The assets the Fed holds on its balance sheet include Treasury securities, agency debt and agency-backed mortgage securities, all of which are effectively backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government. Economists we spoke to questioned Mr. Pauls comparison.
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Unfriend the Fed: Rand Pauls Attack Re-examined