Mitch PerryU.S. Sen. Rand Paul has made his brand as not being your typical Republican. While he positions himself to seek the GOP presidential nomination, though, he’s found himself in a difficult stance balancing his isolationist views versus a public alarmed about combating terrorism.
The Kentucky physician attempted that Saturday morning in Nashua, N.H., on Day Two of the GOP candidates’ weekend summit. He emphasized “If we want to protect and continue our prosperity at home, we have to defend ourselves.”
However, he said there’s a smart way of doing that.
Referencing his background as an opthamologist, he invoked the Hippocratic Oath “do no harm” as a motto for foreign policy.
“We have to decide when getting involved is good, and when it’s not so good,” he said. “There’s a group of folks in our party who think it’s always good. There’s a group of folks in our party who would have troops in six countries right now. Maybe more. There’s people in our party who supported giving arms to Gaddafi, before they supported giving arms to the ‘freedom fighters,’ who turned out to be al-Qaida. So the thing is, I’m not saying don’t be involved around the world, I’m not saying don’t defend our interests. We do have to do something. But think about it!”
Choosing to wear a lavalier microphone so he could pace the stage, Paul discussed about community issues that no one else has talked much about in Nashua.
He blasted civil forfeiture laws, the controversial legal process that allows police to take assets from people suspected of crime or illegal activity without charging them with wrongdoing.
“It’s insane, and it ought to stop,” he said, calling Loretta Lynch one of the biggest “purveyors” of the process.
Lynch is Barack Obama‘s choice to succeed Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General, but has waited an extraordinarily long time for a confirmation vote. Paul said when that vote comes, he’ll oppose her because of her support of such laws: “When she was the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, Loretta Lynch confiscated over $100 million worth of people’s stuff. With no convictions.”
Talking about his concern for sending American citizens to the Guantanamo Bay prison without a trial, Paul said some Republicans simply told him to “shut up.” He said another told him, “If they’re dangerous.”
Paul asked: Who gets to decide who’s dangerous?
“Has there been a time in our history when we decided based on the color of your skin?,” he said. “Has there been a time when we decided someone was dangerous because of different beliefs, didn’t look like us, or had a different religion?”
As he did in Sarasota on Valentine’s Day, Paul used a section of his speech to Hillary Clinton for her work in Benghazi, saying it disqualified her from running for president, which generated a huge crowd response.
Paul also talked about about a bipartisan measure he’s working with California Democrat Barbara Boxer. It would offer companies a 6.5 percent tax rate on profits they voluntarily return to the U.S., known as repatriation, to boost federal transportation funding that’s scheduled to expire next month. (Paul was questioned about how sound the bill is on CNBC this, which prompted a strong reaction from him.)
He also talked about creating economic freedom zones, which he said is like proposals by GOP U.S. Rep. Jack Kemp, though he called his plan “Jack Kemp’s plan on steroids.” He said it would provide an economic stimulus to poor areas such as in Detroit as well as in Appalachia in his home state of Kentucky.
