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Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Kentucky Libertarians: Rand Paul Betrayed Our Values

It seems I am not alone in my questioning whether or not Rand Paul was expressing truly Libertarian ideas. 

In an article in Huffington Post (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/26/kentucky-libertarians-may_n_590387.html) they report:
The Libertarian Party is considering running a candidate in Kentucky's U.S. Senate race, saying GOP nominee Rand Paul – the son of a former Libertarian presidential candidate – has betrayed the party's values.
Party Vice Chairman Joshua Koch said Wednesday that Paul has been a black eye for Libertarians because of stands he's taken on issues, including his criticism of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Koch said Paul is not a Libertarian. He called Paul and his Democratic opponent, Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, "faces of the same bad coin."
And what are the issues which they believe cause Rand Paul to differ from a Libertarian?  According to the report:
Koch said Paul's views on a variety of subjects differ from the Libertarian Party, including his promised support for any measures to ban abortion and his opposition to same-sex marriage.

"Trying to impose a national standard for that would throw the whole system out of balance, and that's definitely not Libertarian," Koch said.
Koch also said Paul is out of step with Libertarians in his unwillingness to call for U.S. troops to leave Iraq and Afghanistan.
"The reason why we would even consider running somebody in this race is because we're not going to let Rand determine what a Libertarian stands for," he said. "I'm here to say Rand does not have the Libertarian ideology."
Libertarians typically side with Democrats on social issues and Republicans on fiscal issues.

So it begs the question, what is Rand Paul?  Personally I don't care what he calls himself as long as he takes consistent viewpoints.  My issues with Rand Paul relate to his inconsistent stances regarding governmental involvement - eespecially as it relates to protection of minorities and the disenfranchised.

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