#senate

Rand Paul is hoping that Trump will negotiate for a much more conservative bill that completely repeals Obamacare.

Written by Ben Wolfgang for the Washington Times:

President Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan have tried to present a unified front on the GOP’s health care bill, but a top Republican critic of that legislation on Sunday tried to stoke divisions between the two.

Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, said flatly that he doesn’t believe the president is fully committed to the legislation as currently written. The House Republican leadership, he added, is presenting a false choice between the status quo or the current alternative proposal backed by Mr. Ryan.

“I think there’s a separation between the two,” Mr. Paul told CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “I’ve talked to the president I think three times on Obamacare and I hear from him that he’s willing to negotiate. You know what I hear from Paul Ryan? It’s a binary choice, young man. But what does a binary choice mean? His way or the highway?”

Mr. Paul said he doesn’t think the bill, as it stands now, will get the needed 51 votes in the Senate.

Read the entire article here.

Not only is the NSA listening to private American phone calls and reading private American emails, but they’re actively lying about it.

Written by Glenn Greenwald for the Intercept:

Paul explained how the NSA routinely and deliberately spies on Americans’ communications — listens to their calls and reads their emails — without a judicial warrant of any kind:

The way it works is, the FISA court, through Section 702, wiretaps foreigners and then [NSA] listens to Americans. It is a backdoor search of Americans. And because they have so much data, they can tap — type Donald Trump into their vast resources of people they are tapping overseas, and they get all of his phone calls.

And so they did this to President Obama. They — 1,227 times eavesdrops on President Obama’s phone calls. Then they mask him. But here is the problem. And General Hayden said this the other day. He said even low-level employees can unmask the caller. That is probably what happened to Flynn.

They are not targeting Americans. They are targeting foreigners. But they are doing it purposefully to get to Americans.

Paul’s explanation is absolutely correct. That the NSA is empowered to spy on Americans’ communications without a warrant — in direct contravention of the core Fourth Amendment guarantee that “the right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause” — is the dirty little secret of the U.S. Surveillance State.

As I documented at the height of the controversy over the Snowden reporting, top government officials — including President Obama — constantly deceived (and still deceive) the public by falsely telling them that their communications cannot be monitored without a warrant. Responding to the furor created over the first set of Snowden reports about domestic spying, Obama sought to reassure Americans by telling Charlie Rose: “What I can say unequivocally is that if you are a U.S. person, the NSA cannot listen to your telephone calls … by law and by rule, and unless they … go to a court, and obtain a warrant, and seek probable cause.”

Read the entire article here.

Rand Paul: “This legislation will strengthen our foreign policy, enhance our national security, and safeguard our resources.”

Written by the Office of Senator Rand Paul:

This week, U.S. Senator Rand Paul introduced the Stop Arming Terrorists Act (S. 532) to prevent American taxpayers’ money from being used to directly or indirectly support armed militants who are allied with or often working under the command of al-Qaeda, ISIS, or other terrorist groups. The legislation serves as a companion bill to H.R. 608, which Representative Tulsi Gabbard (HI-2) reintroduced in January.

“One of the unintended consequences of nation-building and open-ended intervention is American funds and weapons benefiting those who hate us,” said Dr. Paul. “This legislation will strengthen our foreign policy, enhance our national security, and safeguard our resources.”

“For years, the U.S. government has been supporting armed militant groups working directly with and often under the command of terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda in their fight to overthrow the Syrian government. Rather than spending trillions of dollars on regime change wars in the Middle East, we should be focused on defeating terrorist groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda, and using our resources to invest in rebuilding our communities here at home,” said Rep. Gabbard. “The fact that American taxpayer dollars are being used to strengthen the very terrorist groups we should be focused on defeating should alarm every Member of Congress and every American. We call on our colleagues and the Administration to join us in passing this legislation.”

You can read S. 532, the Stop Arming Terrorists Act, HERE, and you can find more information below:

S. 532, the Stop Arming Terrorists Act:

• Makes it illegal for any U.S. federal government funds to be used to provide assistance covered in the bill, including weapons, munitions, weapons platforms, intelligence, logistics, training, and cash, to terrorists.

• Prohibits the U.S. government from providing such assistance covered in the bill to any nation that has given or continues to give such support to terrorists.

• Instructs the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to determine the individuals and groups that should be considered terrorists, for the purposes of this bill, by determining: (a) the individuals and groups that are associated with, affiliated with, adherents to, or cooperating with al-Qaeda, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, or ISIS; (b) the countries that are providing assistance covered in this bill to those individuals or groups.

• Anticipates changing conditions by requiring the DNI to work with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Armed Services Committee, and Select Committee on Intelligence to review and update the list of prohibited countries and groups every six months.

• Provides for accountability and transparency by requiring the DNI to brief Congress on its determinations.

The American Action Forum was set up to run ads against conservatives who oppose the “Obamacare Lite” bill. Guess who’s funding that PAC?

Yep, the pharmaceutical companies.

House Republicans like Speaker Paul Ryan tell us that the new health care bill will repeal Obamacare and lower costs. We’ve already shown why that’s untrue. Now, evidence that the pharmaceutical companies are supporting the bill with millions of dollars proves that costs will remain high and benefit them, not you.

Stand with Rand and oppose Obamacare Lite!

Quinnipiac University has released a new poll of the Texas Senate race between Ted Cruz and Beto O’Rourke. And it has everyone a twitter.

Quinnipiac poll registered voters throughout the state (31% Republican, 26% Democrat and 36% Independent), which resulted in them determining the race is “too close to call.”

Combined with O’Rourke’s impressive fundraising numbers, this definitely makes the race more interesting. This is a poll of registered voters months out from the election though. Will be interesting to see if this holds, particularly among likely voters.

“Gov. Gavin Newsom appointed California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’ Senate seat on Tuesday, choosing the first Latino in state history for the role.

“Newsom, who had been under intense pressure within California to choose a Black woman to replace Harris because of the lack of diversity in the US Senate – tweeted that Padilla’s appointment would make history but added that Padilla ‘is far more interested in changing history – especially for the working men and women of our state and country.’"

https://www.cnn.com/2020/12/22/politics/alex-padilla-senate-gavin-newsom/index.html

“Democrats captured control of the Senate on Wednesday with a pair of historic victories in Georgia’s runoff elections, assuring slim majorities in both chambers of Congress for President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and delivering an emphatic, final rebuke to President Trump in his last days in office.

“The Rev. Raphael Warnock defeated Senator Kelly Loeffler, becoming the first Black Democrat elected to the Senate from the South. And Jon Ossoff, the 33-year-old head of a video production company who has never held public office, defeated David Perdue, who recently completed his first full term as senator.”

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/georgia-election-results#jon-ossoff-wins-in-georgia-ensuring-democrats-will-control-the-senate

“TheRev. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, will be the first Black senator from Georgia, CNN projected early Wednesday, a repudiation of Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her adherence to President Donald Trump….

Warnock is the first Georgia Democrat elected to the Senate in 20 years, and his election is the culmination of years of voter registration drives conducted by former state House Democratic leader Stacey Abrams and other activists. President-elect Joe Biden also won Georgia, the first time for a Democratic presidential candidate since the 1990s.

‘I am an iteration and an example of the American dream,’ the senator-elect told CNN’s John Berman Wednesday morning on ‘New Day.’ He added, ‘When I think about the arc of our history, what Georgia did last night is its own message in the midst of a moment in which so many people are trying to divide our country, at a time we can least afford to be divided.’"

https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/05/politics/loeffler-ossoff-perdue-warnock-runoff-results/index.html