Murkowski, Collins and other RINOs are not opposing Trump the right way. They are too assertive and predictable. They are stuck in the Bush years pushing neocon arguments in an age of MAGA.
Rand Paul has figured a fresh way to thwart MAGA not by regurgitating Democrat talking points, but by using MAGA ideas against them. He has mastered going on TV and pretending to be a true red-white-and-blue MAGA man while doing everything he can to block the MAGA agenda.
This is different from his previous method of just being Murkowski with a medical degree. In March 2019, Paul voted against allowing President Trump to use emergency powers to build the border wall.
Paul said, “I can’t vote to give extra-constitutional powers to the president.”
He stopped short of saying the next Democrat line: “Polly wants a cracker.”
Congress had authorized construction of the wall in 2006, an authorization both Dubya and BO ignored. Only in the Crazy World of Rand Paul is carrying out the law considered a violation of the Constitution. He has a district judge’s view of the law, which holds that any policy he doesn’t like must by definition be unconstitutional, otherwise he would like the policy.
6 years and 20 million illegal aliens later, Paul has seen the light and is now very much for building the wall—except he isn’t. He says it costs too much.
Paul’s new argument is, “The $46.5 billion is just for the wall. To build a thousand miles using the Border Patrol official estimate would cost $6.5 billion. $108.5 billion are separately asked for border patrol agents, detention, etc. It’s way too much.”
Not included in his math is the cost of housing, feeding and caring for millions of illegal aliens.
The Heritage Foundation said a dozen years ago that housing illegals cost taxpayers (on state, local and federal levels) $54.5 billion. That’s the 2013 number. The 2017 number was $116 billion. The number now is $150 billion.
Mike Cernovich recently outed Paul as the open borders baby he is, citing a 2013 speech, in which Paul said, “Let's start that conversation by acknowledging we aren't going to deport 12 million illegal immigrants. If you wish to work, if you wish to live and work in America, then we will find a place for you.”
The speech was to the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. I think he also sang it to Natalie Wood in the movie:
There’s a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us
Somewhere.
Paul’s response to Cernovich’s post was less than impressive:
A secure border is achievable. My 2013 “Trust But Verify” plan would have brought the border under total operational control. In that plan, I required:
A double-layer border fence across the length of the southern border
100 percent border surveillance
The end of visa overstays through 100 percent exit tracking
The total end of catch-and-release
A full prohibition on refugees and asylum-seekers getting welfare benefits Imagine where America would be if we had done this in 2013.
Where would we be? Right where we are now because he never bothered to work with his fellow senators to get such a bill passed.
Anyone can offer a plan. It takes hard work and integrity to get a plan passed into law. What has Paul done for the past 12 years to make his super-duper plan reality? Nothing. He ran for president in 2016 and dropped out after finishing fifth in Iowa because the Republican Party dumps their fifth-place losers, unlike Democrats who made Biden president.
He’s uncompromising? Guess what. His job is to compromise with others to develop solutions to problems. That’s what legislating is. The Constitution itself is a compromise.
The fact is that unlike his father, Rand Paul is a defender of the status quo. He is passive-aggressive in his support of the deep state but he always finds an excuse not to stand up to it.
Consider his battle against the Big Beautiful Bill, which will cut $2 trillion in spending over a 10-year period. But the bill makes the 2018 tax cuts permanent—which the deep state’s CBO claims will add $4.3 trillion to the deficit.
That’s odd because originally the CBO said the tax cut would add $1.5 trillion.
The CBO numbers are about as trustworthy as gas station sushi but they serve their sole purpose of supporting whatever the talking point of the day is for Democrats.
Rand uses those numbers to oppose spending cuts while increasing taxes—all in the name of MAGA.
Paul’s TDS is district court judge-level. Anything and everything Trump does, Paul seems to oppose.
This week he lied, “Any military intervention in Iran must come before Congress.”
That’s not what the War Powers Act of 1973 says. Under that law, a president can intervene without congressional approval. He then has 48 hours to inform Congress.
Paul also is not above using and army of strawmen arguments.
He said, “Let me be totally clear: I will not vote to send one American soldier to Iran. Not one.”
No one will because the issue is off the table.
And Rand Paul is off the wall.
In a perfect world, Rand Paul would still find an imperfection and vote against it.
I have seen one person in the government do what they said they would do during their campaign. It wasn’t Rand Paul, it’s President Donald J. Trump. The LEADER of the free world.
When Rand Paul's 'Principles' result in every major issue reaching a stall-point leaving it dead in it's tracks then the premise of the principle is faulty. Biblical principles may be absolute but political policy principles are fraught with exceptions. Those principles must be challenged in open debate in the House and Senate as was done by the founders as they hammered out our Constitution. Unfortunately, our present-day politicians don't want to put in that hard work as it may threaten their re-election.
On most days, Rand Paul is as helpful as a hair clog in the tub drain.