By Rand Paul
Obama acts as though we no longer have a Constitution
While the IRS scandal is only a week old, Capitol Hill Republicans already are pushing more than a half-dozen pieces of legislation that would punish and clip the wings of the beleaguered agency.
President Obama's election was a hopeful moment for civil rights advocates who thought he would usher in a golden era of government openness and respect for civil liberties, but some of the president's most enthusiastic supporters have expressed the harshest condemnation this week as revelations of multiple controversies involving intrusive government overreach have exploded onto the national stage.
President Obama seems to have departed from his duly elected duties, Sen. Rand Paul said Monday, referring to the growing scandal on the IRS targeting of conservative nonprofits.
Rex Elsass, chief executive of the largest Republican campaign advertising firm in the country, might have answered "yes" if he had been on the "Should we shoot all the consultants now?" panel at this year's Conservative Political Action Conference.
Laying the groundwork this weekend for likely White House bids, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal reached out to Republican voters in the two states that open the presidential nomination race — sounding the unofficial starting gun of the 2016 campaign.
It's never too early raise the curtain on a 2016 presidential play. Sen. Rand Paul knows his lines and will command the political stage in Iowa on Friday — and in New Hampshire on Monday.
The emotions raised by the Boston Marathon bombing are clouding the judgment of policymakers, tempting them to expand domestic surveillance to thwart future attacks. Constitutional rights once surrendered are likely to be impossible to regain.
Sen. Rand Paul's scramble this week to clarify his remarks on whether drone killings should be allowed on American soil underscores a key challenge facing the ambitious Kentucky politician: translating his libertarian principles into clear policy positions.
Sen. Rand Paul said he's not flip-flopped on his opposition to domestic drone use. He just misspoke and on Tuesday, he clarified.
The White House drew scorn from both sides of the aisle on Tuesday after it refused to send a witness to the first Senate hearing on drone warfare and targeted killings.
Sen. Mike Lee said Monday that conservatives cannot surrender the idea of community to the political left.
Sen. Rand Paul said Monday that the immigration reform debate should be halted until Congress first understands what went wrong in Boston, where two brothers who came to the U.S. legally under the asylum program have been accused of the deadly bombings at last week's marathon.
Sen. Rand Paul may hope to inherit his father's political movement, but he is staking out different positions on issues of major importance to those followers, including saying Wednesday that he was not ready to close the Guantanamo Bay prison.
Does the government work for us, or do we work for the government? How can the president claim the lawful power to kill whomever he wishes and at the same time ask Congress to incapacitate our ability to defend ourselves against those who might seek to kill us?
Senators overcame a Republican-led filibuster on gun control Thursday, ensuring that the first post-Newtown legislation will reach the Senate floor and setting up bruising fights over expanded background checks and bans on some guns and ammunition.
"The president has deemed this inexcusable, yet actions speak louder than words," said Mr. Paul, suggesting Mr. Obama was slow in taking the scandal seriously. "It is time for President Obama and his administration to act, and it is our duty as Americans to hold them accountable."
Mr. Paul also said his celebrated 13-hour filibuster just two months ago over the possibility of an American being killed by a drone on American soil has gained new credence in the past week as voices across the political spectrum have accused the Obama administration of abusing its power and failing to live up to the president's campaign promise to rein in the executive branch and operate the "most transparent administration in U.S. history."
White House scandals turn enthusiastic supporters into critics →
