Rand Paul is nothing more than a stooge for the GOP establishment who merely pretends to be anti-establishment, anti-big government bailout and anti-career politician when, in reality, Rand Paul's actions show he supports big government bailout, supports career politicians and wants to be part of the GOP establishment.
In 2010, not many people noticed, but Rand Paul began publicly worshiping and stooging for the GOP Establishment just 24 days after he won the Kentucky Primary on May 18, 2010. Currently, Rand Paul underscores that he is now a full-fledged stooge for the GOP Establishment with his endorsement of, and active campaigning for, Mitch McConnell against Tea Party candidate Matt Bevin in Kentucky's 2014 Senate Republican primary.
In fact, Rand Paul is so hot for the status-quo of the GOP Establishment, that he even got his very dear friend, Louisville, Kentucky Tea Party Leader Marilyn Parker, to be a stooge for the GOP establishment too as she has already published her very early endorsement for Mitch McConnell against the Louisville Tea Party Candidate Bevin.
Amazing, Kentucky GOP Primary is a long 9 months away (May 2014) and so-called Kentucky Tea Party'ers, Rand Paul and Marilyn Parker, are so endeared to the GOP Establishment that they have already announced their endorsement of GOP Establishment Leader, Mitch McConnell.
Tea Party and Bank Bailouts
Rand Paul not really against bank bailouts
Tea Party people allegedly loathe big government and loathe big government bailing out any industry because, they say, bailouts are unconstitutional. In 2009, Rand Paul claimed that he hates bailouts because they are "unconstitutional" all GOP candidates should pledge to never accept money from any Senator who voted "yes" for the bank bailouts.
September 2, 2009: Kentucky media reported on Rand Paul's Press release:
Dr. Rand Paul’s U.S. Senate campaign said today that he will not accept donations from any senators that voted for the TARP bailouts. He called on his opponents to take the same pledge
That BS pledge ended up being a Rand Paul Lie because in June 2010, (less than a year later) he let one of the authors of the Bank Bailouts, Mitch McConnell, throw him a Washington DC Fundraiser. (See details below the orange squiggle)
Mitch McConnell not only voted for the bailouts, McConnell helped write the TARP Bill and took to the Senate floor to beg his conservative colleagues to vote "yes" for the TARP bill.
In 2008, on the Senate floor Mitch McConnell said:
So after extensive consultation between the majority leader and myself and the leaders in both parties here in the Senate, we believe we have crafted a way to go forward and to get us back on track.
~Mitch McConnell Senate Floor Speech, October 1, 2008
Then, a year later, in October, 2009 Mitch McConnell told Politico reporters that his
TARP Bill worked
The Troubled Asset Relief Program has “succeeded in stabilizing the banking system,”
~ Mitch McConnell to reporters
Tea Party and Term Limits for Congress
Rand Paul's actions shows he lied when he said he supports "term limits"
In 2009, Rand Paul pretended and falsely claimed he supported a "term limit Amendment" to the Constitution. On November 1, 2009, Rand Paul campaigned alleged that 80% of both Democrats and Republicans support "term limits" for members of Congress so naturally, after that type of polling, Rand Paul got on the "term limit" bandwagon and Rand's campaign posted this:
More than 95% of incumbent politicians win re-election to the US Congress. Incumbents win re-election at a higher rate than they did in the Soviet Politburo.
With each successive term, politicians grow more and more distant from the people. It is hard to understand the plight of ordinary citizens when Congressman make over $170,000 per year, have health care benefits worth another $15,000 and become fully vested in a lucrative pension plan within a few years.
Some pundits like to remark that we already have term limits they’re called “elections.” This glib response ignores the fact that incumbent US Senators start each election cycle with an average of $8 million dollars in the bank. The average US Representative starts with over $1 million in the bank.
Most of this incumbent cash comes in the form of $5000 checks from special interest groups that want federal contracts or federal favors.
Long term incumbency leads to politicians who seem to care more about what is best for their career than what is best for their country.
I hope you will help both the Term Limits movement and the country by supporting my campaign for the US Senate.
... "
by supporting my campaign for US Senate" WTF? Why Rand? So that 3 years later you, Rand Paul, can endorse and actively campaign for "long term" incumbent Mitch McConnell.
November 11, 2009 Rand Paul Campaign issued this "Term Limit" announcement:
Rand Paul endorses Term Limits Amendment
Rand Paul supports term limits as a means of reining in career politicians and pork barrel spending. He supports the legislation introduced by U.S. Senate Republicans Jim DeMint, Tom Coburn, Kay Bailey Hutchinson, and Sam Brownback to amend the Constitution to limit terms.
“Billions of dollars flow to states like West Virginia and Alaska based on seniority and not based on any objective value of the projects. Term Limits would put a stop to this pork barrel system,” Rand Paul said. “Senator DeMint’s point that the rule only works when applied to everyone makes a lot of sense to me.”
“More needs to be done to break up some the concentrated power in the bureaucracy, but this is a good start toward tearing out political corruption by the roots,” Paul said
... says the person who endorsed and campaigns for Mitch McConnell.
Rand Paul made several other claims where he pretended to support term limits. Rand Paul's campaign website:
RAND PAUL: "Term limits would reverse some of the earmarking process, some of the pork barrel projects that are based on seniority, if you brought people home. It’s a big contrast in the Republican primary between me and my opponent. My opponent is a career politician who looks forward to the rest of his life in Washington D.C. if he can get there.”
~Rand Paul December 4, 2009
Rand Paul put this "term limit" mantra in a different section of his
campaign website:
Rand Advocates Term Limits and Property Rights
Rand Paul’s efforts for governmental reform have met with an overwhelmingly positive reception while traveling around the state, getting an especially enthusiastic response at Tea Parties.
To expand on recent coverage by Joseph Gerth of the Courier Journal, Rand favors twelve year term limits for both representatives and senators.
.... ummm Mitch McConnell has been in the Senate for 29 years (which is 17 years longer than the 12 years Rand pretended to want to "reform)
Rand Paul is full of crap and was lying about supporting term limits which is evidenced by the fact that he has already endorsed career politician, pork barrel spender Mitch McConnell.
Ok, so now we see that Rand Paul lied like a rug with his fake Term Limit support, in 2009. But in 2009, during Rand Paul's primary campaign, he claimed to be anti-establishment, anti-TARP, anti-bank bailout ... but ... was he really?
The answer is "no" Rand Paul was not and is not against the GOP Establishment and, as a result, Rand Paul is not against what he calls, big government.
... and that is why Rand Paul and Marilyn Parker are endorsing and actively campaigning for big government, GOP Establishment Leader Mitch McConnell against Tea Party candidate Matt Bevin.
Oh yeah, I know, some people say Mitch McConnell is getting cozy with Rand Paul so as to get the Tea Party voters in his own Primary election and that is most likely true. However, it seems to me, Rand Paul was GOP Establishment Stooge-In-Training as early as 24 days after he won the GOP Primary in Kentucky.
Reveiw Path to Rand Paul's Stooging for the GOP Establishment
August 25, 2009:
Rand Paul learned that Mitch McConnell, who had not officially or publicly endorsed Rand Paul's opponent, Trey Grayson, was throwing a Washington DC Fundraiser for Trey Grayson.
August 31, 2009
Wanting to catch hold of that growing conservative anti-government, anti-establishment coattail, Rand Paul's Campaign issued a press release pretending Rand Paul was anti-GOP Establishment and anti-big government and condemned any Republican Candidate who accepts money from any US Senator who had voted "yes" for the TARP and Bank bailouts:
U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul on Monday pledged not to accept campaign contributions from any U.S. Senator who voted for the bank bailout and challenged his opponents to follow suit.
Dr. Paul issued this challenge after learning that Trey Grayson has scheduled a Washington D.C. fundraiser co-sponsored by several U.S. Senators, seventeen of whom voted for the so-called TARP bailout in 2008, which was then used to fund an auto industry bailout Congress rejected.
“This isn’t about holding politicians to an impossibly high standard of agreeing with everything one’s supporters say or do,” Paul said. “But a primary focus of my campaign is that we need Republicans in office who will have the courage to say no to federal bailouts of big business.”
“There is nothing in the Constitution that allows the government to pick winners and losers in the private sector and the Republican party platform specifically condemns bailouts,” Paul said. “I’m running for the U.S. Senate to stand up for true Republican principles and the Republicans I’ve talked to agree that is what we need.”
~Rand Paul Campaign Press Release August 31, 2009
August 31, 2009
Lexington, Kentucky newspaper
reported that Rand Paul supporters accused Trey Grayson as a "Washington DC Insider" and launched a fundraising moneybomb in order to combat the Fundraiser Mitch McConnell was co-hosting for Grayson.
The site, titled “Rand ‘We the People’ vs. Trey ‘The DC Insiders,’” notes that 23 Republican U.S. senators, including Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell, are to hold a $500-per-plate fundraiser for Grayson’s 2010 U.S. Senate campaign in Washington on Sept. 23.
“This deck stacking favoritism in a highly contested GOP primary is unacceptable,” said the site, www.kentuckyfight.com. It encourages donors to pledge $100 to Paul’s campaign in response.
May 18, 2010
Rand Paul won the May 18, 2010 GOP Primary and became fast-friends with GOP Establishment leader Mitch McConnell and suddenly decided that receiving money, money, money from US Senators who voted for the bank bailouts was actually, really a-okay.
June 11, 2010
June 11, 2010 which is 24 days after Rand Paul won the GOP Primary, Rand Paul's campaign announced Mitch McConnell would throw Rand Paul a "pricey" fundraiser in Washington DC.
McConnell is offering his fundraising prowess after opposing Rand Paul in the primary. The June 24 event includes a reception and dinner at the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Individual tickets go for $1,000 with sponsorships at $5,000 per group, Paul campaign manager Jesse Benton said.
Benton went on to say that there is no "credibility issue" for Rand Paul in his earlier demands that GOP candidates "pledge to
not accept any money" from any Senator of voted "yes" on the bailouts while heading to Washington DC to accept money from Senators who voted "yes" on the bailouts.
"Money will not influence Rand. Just because you donate to Rand doesn't mean that you get special favors. He's not that kind of candidate."
Larry Sabato, a University of Virginia political scientist, acknowledged voters aren't very keen at seeing when politicians say crap to get votes and then 10 seconds later do the complete opposite of what they say they will.
"I think they're pretty set on him," Sabato said. "They like him. They're going to forgive a lot because they believe that deep down in his core he's with them. They also understand he's got to do some things to patch up the rift with McConnell and the mainstream, establishment Republicans."
In other words, Sabato said Rand Paul has to take money from Senators who voted "yes" on the bailouts in order to "patch things up with them" in order for Rand to become part of the GOP Establishment.
If the name Jesse Benton sounds familiar, it's because Jesse is married to Ron Paul's grand daughter and is currently Mitch McConnell's campaign manager. I should make a note here that some in the Ron Paul circle say Jesse Benton was fired from Ron Paul's campaign PAC while others say he "resigned."
Why Rand Paul became a stooge for the GOP Establishment
Rand Paul and Marilyn Parker are endorsing and actively campaigning for GOP Establishment leader, TARP supporter, Bank bailout supporter: Mitch McConnell because, since 2010, Rand Paul enthusiastically became a Stooge for the GOP Establishment so that he can become part of the GOP Establishment and he is bringing Tea Party leaders like Marilyn Parker with him. Rand Paul and Marily Parker's fake Tea Party anti-establishment, anti-big government mantra is just BS smoke and mirrors as it's become very clear that Rand Paul (and Marilyn Parker) are both Stooges for the GOP Establishment because they want to be part of the GOP Establishment.
GOP Establishment
It is my opinion that the GOP Establishment, refers to the permanent political class and structure that makes up the Republican Party. The GOP establishment directly benefit and profit from the status-quo and as such, the GOP Establishment is out-of-touch with voters.
Rand Paul Stooge for GOP establishment
Mitch McConnell is the epitome of the GOP establishment and wants to stay a permanent member of Congress. McConnell started working in the office of the US Senate in his last semester of college and has held a political office, in one form or another, since 1978. Yes, Mitch McConnell is definitely part of the permanent political class.