This is an excellent piece. (THE TEA PARTY MAN – Issue: 2/16/11) It does an excellent job explaining Rand Paul, the dilemma of the Republicrats, and how it will affect government in the future. I’m just pleased that we have one principled person in D.C., even if he is libertarian. I’d take a principled progressive over the corporatist in D.C.
—Jim Catch
You are almost there, but not quite. Rand’s enemies will not be left or right but more of true reformer versus status quo. Rand Paul is the real deal much like Reagan was (whether you want to credit Reagan or not). Rand is governing exactly how he campaigned. This is quite refreshing to fiscal conservatives like me, and absolute horrors to people who like to campaign on fiscal conservatism but while safely parked in Washington go for their share of the federal trough.
Rand Paul is a godsend for those of us who believe in Reagan-esque small government, fiscal conservatism. Rand Paul will not go it alone, there are 39 Tea Party members in the House who may not be possessing the same will and determination of a Rand Paul. Their desire for fiscal restraint in Washington is just as real.
James, the Tea Party is for real, ignore or impugn them at your own peril. The Tea Party is not going anywhere and feel they are nowhere near reaching their “high water mark” and feel the American people (who largely identify with the Tea Party) will rise up in 2012 holding Barack Hussein Obama accountable for his debt and spending and will thusly send him back to his prior career of community organizing.
Interesting column you have this week and it is clear your disdain for Reagan is deep seeded. It’s a shame you feel that way, because without a Reagan there is no booming ‘80s, no balanced budget in the ‘90s and we are dealing with a Soviet presence in places we can’t even imagine.
—Bill Roberts
Thank God someone, not entirely in the bag for the left, has seen fit to poke holes in the absolute LIE of Ronald Regan’s “conservative” presidency. Tea Baggers would never stop throwing up at Reagan’s expansion of Social Security and his consistent raising of taxes; which they conveniently either ignore or blame on the Democratic congress, yet hilariously take credit for the great economy under Clinton by handing the credit this time to the Republican ‘90s Congress. Fancy doings!
Does your readership realize that the tax rate is far lower now (35 percent) than during Reagan (50 percent) and way lower during the time these sub-morons want to return to – the ‘50s under Eisenhower (90 percent)? Rand Paul would be trashing Reagan as a phony and a poser, which is what he was, just like Obama is a liberal poser; his pro-Wall St., pro-geo-politics prove this without debate. (Actually I think your comparisons of Obama to Reagan are spot on and were backed quite brilliantly in a recent Time magazine piece, which came nearly two years after your original observation.)
In fact, according to Tax Policy Center historical data, the Obama rate of 4.32 radically lower than during the Reagan years, when average rates for a median-income family of four ranged from 11.79 in 1981 to 9.30 in 1988. By comparison, rates during the Bush administration ranged from 6.71 percent in 2001 to 5.91 his last year. And according to Williams of the Tax Policy Center, the current rate for those earning a combined household income of over $250,000, which is 15 percent under Obama, (The Socialist, big-government Lib) is lower than the 28 percent capital gains rate that Reagan signed into law in 1986.
Get educated, people.
—Brandon Tandy
So what if Rand Paul is a robot? Look at where caving to the “emotional or endearing aspects of issues” has gotten us. Sadly most people’s understanding of American History either begins with the 1960s or at best the 1930s, never realizing the country existed just fine for 150-plus years prior, surviving a Civil War no less. Yet when someone proposes eliminating, for example, the Department of Education or the EPA—both of which having only been around since the 1970s, were classic liberal solutions to problems we DIDN’T have, and have since done absolutely NOTHING for the country except redistribute wealth to the politically well-connected—they’re the crazy ones. The EPA just classified cow milk as an environmental hazard like oil. COW MILK, for Christ’s sake! And let’s not forget the government’s plan to fine and/or jail citizens for NOT participating in interstate commerce, which a Federal Judge has recently ruled unconstitutional, but the government plows ahead anyway setting aside billions of our future tax dollars for Obamacare. Yeah, Rand Paul is fucking nuts?
And I’m getting sick of these mindless comparisons between the Republicans’ game plan today and the smack down they got in ’95 during the government shutdown. It’s apples and oranges! First of all, media coverage was one-sided back then, as it had been for 50-plus years, since the mighty Fox was basically only known for The Simpsons and Married With Children, not the powerhouse megaphone for the conservative right it is today. Second, the Internet had not taken off to clue even the most shut-in of shut-ins as to what’s going on in the country (with the unfortunate downside of giving every fucking moron their own soapbox from which to spew their intellectually-challenged and needless opinions, mine included). Third, and most importantly, we weren’t on the brink of financial collapse, which the majority of the country understands today and for which 16-20 percent of us have experienced firsthand. Maybe once it reaches 30 percent or higher will Paul’s “insane” cuts start to make sense.
—Ken Eustace
Thank you for this article.
Rand Paul is not a career politician. He is a doctor that went to the Senate because he wants to save this country. If we get 50 or so more senators like him, we might stand a chance.
—Littlegrr
I think people should be re-evaluating what their opinion of who Rand Paul is. He’s not the run-of-the-mil Republican. He’ll bring an honest debate to the Senate floor where he and progressives can work together on important matters such as corporatism, banking transparency, war and civil liberties.
—Doctor Jones
Not a big All-American “Tea Bagger” fan, JC, but you gotta have balls with personal true politico convictions like his father, Ron Paul to go after the massive, unchecked, U.S. Military Appropriation K Street lobbyist, sponsored by the biggest predatory Red, White and Gold, “Too BIG to Fail – Too BIG to Nail” Wall Street war profiteers in Washington D.C., under the biggest public consumer bankruptcy buzzards for foreclosure gates with “missing” Swiss Black Eagle bank accounts for U.S. supported dictators and royal sovereign kingdoms in the secular Middle East and around the world: [i.e. Mubark, Suharto, Marcos, Lon Nol, The Golden Triangle, BCCI, BNL, Nugan Hand Bank Intl, et al]: BROKEN TRUST GOLDMAN SACK$ BLOWBACK! AIPAC TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION? “RULERS. AND RULED IN THE U.S. EMPIRE” [James Petras].
Shaloha!
—Hapa1234
James Campion is the Managing Editor of The Reality Check News & Information Desk and the author of Deep Tank Jersey, Fear No Art, Trailing Jesus and Midnight For Cinderella.
