Rand Paul > Quotes

“Do we fear terrorism so much that we throw out our Constitution, and are we unwilling and afraid to debate our Constitution?”
― Rand Paul

“Today's left would have us forget that the pseudo-science of eugenics was once all the rage among socialists.”
― Rand Paul, The Case Against Socialism

“On Congress: “Nothing ever happens around here.”
― Rand Paul

“I don't want to live in a nanny state where people are telling me where I can go and what I can do.”
― Rand Paul

“I have allowed the president to pick his political appointees…But I will not sit quietly and let him shred the Constitution.”
― Rand Paul

“You can excuse these socialists all you want as "men and women of their times". But never forget that they were socialists and that they saw state planning of the family as no different than state planning of the economy or a rancher's planning for his cattle breeding.”
― Rand Paul, The Case Against Socialism

“You shouldn't have one opinion when you're running and another when you're president.”
― Rand Paul

“On vague wording of drone strike criteria: “Are you going to just drop a hellfire missile on Jane Fonda? Are you going to drop a missile on Kent State? That’s gobbledygook.”
― Rand Paul

“(In response to President Obama)

"For most of our history, no one dared to tell Americans, 'you don't build that.”
― Rand Paul

“So why did I run? I tell people that I got tired of throwing things at my television, and that is at least partially true.”
― Rand Paul, Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America

“Conservatives point out the shortages, food lines, and outright famines in Venezuela, Stalin’s Russia, and Mao’s China, while American socialists stubbornly cling to the only “socialist” model left that has any claim to success—Scandinavia. Unfortunately for them, the so-called socialist success of Scandinavia is, in fact, due to good old-fashioned private property and capitalism!”
― Rand Paul, The Case Against Socialism

“On Obama: “He was elected by a majority, but the majority doesn’t get to decide who we execute.”
― Rand Paul

“The Republican Party is an empty vessel unless we imbue it with values.”
― Rand Paul

“I think its also safe to say that Barack Obama of 2007 would be right down here with me arguing against this drone-strike program if he were in the Senate.”
― Rand Paul

“Our founders believed that “government is best that governs least” because the bigger government becomes, the more that control, and potentially violence, is necessary to exert government edicts.”
― Rand Paul, The Case Against Socialism

“I believe we should work to end all racism in American society and staunchly defend the inherent rights of every person.”
― Rand Paul

“The famine was no accident. When ownership is collectivized, the incentive to work harder, to be more productive evaporates.”
― Rand Paul, The Case Against Socialism

“what makes America unique is that for the first time an entire country based its economy on merit, not heredity.”
― Rand Paul, The Case Against Socialism

“The point is that when we allow arguments to degenerate into emotions and platitudes we lose track of two important things. 1. Are the current regulations actually working? 2. Will the new regulations mean loss of jobs?”
― Rand Paul, Government Bullies: How Everyday Americans Are Being Arrested, Abused, and Terrorized By the Feds

“Let’s hope today’s American socialists will realize that violence is not an aberration but a necessary tool if you want a society made “equal” by redistribution of wealth and property.”
― Rand Paul, The Case Against Socialism

“I have a question, a question for the president (Obama): Do you hate all rich people, or just rich people who don't contribute to your campaign? Do you hate poor people or do you just hate poor people with jobs?”
― Rand Paul

“In the United States, the top 1 percent of income earners pays nearly 40 percent of the total income tax revenue, and the top 10 percent pays almost 70 percent. Meanwhile the bottom 50 percent of taxpayers paid only 3 percent of federal income tax in 2016. When today’s socialists claim the rich aren’t paying their fair share they are ignoring the facts.”
― Rand Paul, The Case Against Socialism

“Both sides of the aisle - Republican and Democrat - have been unwilling and afraid to address the deficit, and someone's got to.”
― Rand Paul

“I'm not in favor of any discrimination of any form.”
― Rand Paul

“The idea of ethnic cleansing was orthodox socialism for a century and more.”
― Rand Paul, The Case Against Socialism

“I have a message from the Tea Party, a message that is loud and clear and does not mince words. We've come to take our government back.”
― Rand Paul

“President Obama is on course to add more debt than all the previous presidents in history—combined.”
― Rand Paul, Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America

“There have been Christians in Syria since St. Paul converted on the road to Damascus. Just north of Damascus is a town called Maalula, or the "land of martyrs." From there, modern-day stories of persecuted Christians filter out the world.”
― Rand Paul, Taking a Stand: Moving Beyond Partisan Politics to Unite America

“Let’s call it what it is and let’s vote on these things. I think we’re in violation of both the spirit and the law of the Constitution by bombing a capital, blockading a country, and removing elected officials. We certainly wouldn’t tolerate it, nor would I if someone did it to us.

Our founders debated extensively over which branch of government should have the power to declare or initiate war. Virtually unanimously they decided, and what was entered into the Constitution, was that the declaration or initiation of war would be the power of Congress.

There are many advocates for an expansive notion of presidential power. They often argue that wars are not really wars, that they’re kinetic actions or drug busts. If you reverse the circumstances it becomes very difficult for these arguments to hold up. If a foreign country bombed our air defense missiles, captured and removed our president, and blockaded our country, would that be considered an act of war? Of course it would be an act of war.

One-way arguments that don’t rebound, that you can’t apply to yourselves, that cannot be universally applicable, are bad arguments.

If it’s not a war and we’re just going to define it away, then calling it a drug bust isn’t really an argument. It’s a ruse. Not a war is a ruse. It’s not a real argument. We do what we do because we have the force and the might, and because it’s in our interest.

What if a foreign country indicts our president for violating a foreign law? Should we extradite our president, or should we be okay if they come in and get him by force? We would never allow that.

The Office of Legal Counsel argument is that this wasn’t a constitutional war because not enough people died. But the problem is it isn’t the number. It happens in retrospect. Our founders gave Congress the power to initiate or declare war. If we have to wait to see the scope, nature, and extent, then the war has already been going on. It’s hard to vote to initiate a war that’s been going on.

The definition of war is very important. Calling things kinetic action is a disservice to our soldiers. You weren’t really wounded in war; you don’t have a medal of honor for war; you have a medal of honor for a kinetic action.

If our predicate is that we can remove someone because we say they weren’t really elected, you can see where it leads, and it leads to chaos. That’s why we have rules like the Constitution—so presidents can’t do whatever they want. This is the check and balance. For seventy years we’ve been going the wrong way. It isn’t just this president. It’s a debate worth having.”
― Rand Paul

“The most common tool in this arsenal of horror was food, which was used as a weapon: entire groups of people considered to be too old, too weak, or too sick to work were deliberately banned from the canteen and starved to death.11”
― Rand Paul, The Case Against Socialism