Ron Paul: NATO working against U.S. interests

"It has become much clearer these past few months just how far NATO has shifted away from US interests," writes Dr. Ron Paul, "even though the United States funds a whopping 70 percent of NATO’s cost."

Suddenly, Leaving NATO Is On The Table | Eurasia News | Ron Paul: 

March 3, 2025 - "Over the weekend, President Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk made quite a stir with just two words posted on his social media platform, X. Responding to a post that, 'It’s time to leave NATO and the UN,' Musk replied, 'I agree.' The comment immediately made the rounds on social media and also on mainstream and alternative media.

"Was this the Elon Musk who owns X speaking, or was it the Elon Musk who has become one of President Trump’s closest advisors? Does it even matter? Having someone so close to the US president who advocates finally extracting the US from these international organizations is a significant and very positive shift for the United States.

Ron Paul in 2012. Photo: David Carleon.

CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.

"With the truth coming out about how USAID has been working against US interests for decades, the disinfectant of public scrutiny is now turning to our membership in – and generous funding of – international organizations like NATO and the United Nations.

"I have long advocated our exit from NATO. At the end of the Cold War,  with its very reason for existence gone, NATO decided to look for other ways of stirring up trouble. First NATO involved itself in the first Gulf War and then it decided its mission should be to bomb Serbia to smithereens – in the name of 'human rights'.... 

"It has become much clearer these past few months just how far NATO has shifted away from US interests. Even though the United States funds a whopping 70 percent of NATO’s cost, our own NATO 'allies' are working against the United States as President Trump attempts to pull us back from the brink of war with Russia.

"A simple telephone call between Presidents Trump and Putin was met with hysteria among NATO member countries, and just as US and Russian high-level delegations were meeting in Saudi Arabia to look for way to walk back from a war footing, our 'allies' decided to hold their own summit.... In Paris our 'partners' pledged to continue their failed Ukraine policy and to ridicule the United States.... To add insult to injury, right at the center of the table in Paris was none other than the Secretary General of NATO himself, former Dutch politician Mark Rutte!...

"Also over the weekend Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) and Rep Thomas Massie (R-KY) echoed Elon Musk’s sentiment, with Sen. Lee posting a chart showing the wildly disproportionate amount of US taxpayer dollars that go to funding NATO with the statement, 'Get us out of NATO.' Rep. Massie added to Lee’s comment, 'NATO is a Cold War relic that needs to be relegated to a talking kiosk at the Smithsonian.'

"As in the time of Sen. Robert Taft, the sentiment against NATO membership is coming from the conservative end of the US political spectrum. With President Trump’s clear mandate to pursue his 'America first' agenda we have the best opportunity in decades to sever our damaging and expensive entangling alliances across the globe. Let’s start with NATO!"

This article was originally published by the Ron Paul Institute.

Read more: https://www.eurasiareview.com/03032025-ron-paul-suddenly-leaving-nato-is-on-the-table-oped/

Senate votes down military action against Iran

Senate Passes Bill Stopping Further Military Action Against Iran Without Approval – Reason.com- Scott Shackford:

February 13, 2020 - "With the support of eight Republicans, the Senate today passed a bill forbidding President Donald Trump (or really, any president) from taking further military action against Iran without the expressed permission of Congress.

"By a vote of 55-45, the Senate approved a resolution by Sen. Tim Kaine (D–Virginia) that states Congress did not authorize military actions against Iran when it passed Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF) legislation in 2001 and 2002. That AUMF allowed the president to invade Iraq and also to hunt down al-Qaeda and those responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks. The resolution orders the president to 'remove United States Armed Forces from hostilities against the Islamic Republic of Iran or any part of its government or military' within 30 days of the resolution passing.

"The bill was pushed forward after Trump authorized the drone-strike assassination of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani. Though the administration claimed that the strike was necessary to prevent an 'imminent' attack against Americans in the Middle East, there was little to support this claim, and a couple of Republican senators, including Rand Paul (Ky.) and Mike Lee (Utah), were upset by the unapproved actions. They announced plans to cross the aisle and join Democrats to pass the resolution.

"In the end, the resolution got the support of not just Lee and Paul, but also Republican Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Jerry Moran (Kan.), Todd Young (Ind.), Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), and Bill Cassidy (La.).

"The bill heads now to the House, which passed a similar, but non-binding resolution. If the House signs on to the Senate version (which seems very likely), it will head to Trump's desk.

"Despite saying regularly he'd like to see less military intervention in the Middle East, Trump is signaling that he opposes this bill. Yesterday on Twitter, Trump called on Republicans to vote it down, claiming it would 'show weakness' to restrain his war powers. The bill is likely to face a veto, and if this vote is any indication, the Senate lacks enough Republican votes to overrule him."

Read more: https://reason.com/2020/02/13/senate-passes-bill-stopping-further-military-action-against-iran-without-approval/
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Paul and McCain oppose Trump's CIA pick

Rand’s rep as Senate rebel on the line - POLITICO - Burgess Everett:

May 14, 2018 - "Rand Paul is once again the talk of the Senate.... [W]ith the Senate preparing for a nail-biter on Trump’s CIA nominee Gina Haspel, the chamber is abuzz over the latest will-he-or-won’t-he Rand guessing game. The libertarian-leaning Kentucky senator says he’s a hard 'no,' but Democrats and Republicans believe he may yet fold under pressure from Trump, as he did with Mike Pompeo for secretary of state.

""Paul had a simple answer when asked if he again can be persuaded by the president to support one of his crucial nominees: 'No.'

"'Someone who has been an active participant and enthusiast for torture is not someone who should represent America,' Paul said in an interview as he left the Senate for the week on Thursday.... In a POLITICO op-ed Friday, he criticized the CIA nominee for selectively releasing information about her record of harsh interrogation techniques on detainees and said 'that fact alone should be enough to cause the Senate [to] reject her nomination'....

"For Paul, it’s the latest test of his resolve in the face of enormous pressure from his party and the president to toe the party line....

"In February, Paul single-handedly caused a brief government shutdown by refusing to relent in his opposition to a budget deal, but then backed off before forcing a second one in March. In the case of Pompeo, he relented after being personally lobbied by the president....

"Paul does not serve on the Senate Intelligence Committee, which will hold the first vote on Haspel’s nomination. Pompeo was first taken up by the Foreign Relations Committee, which Paul does sit on, and his opposition threatened an embarrassing 'unfavorable' vote by the panel.

"For now, Haspel is short of votes for confirmation. {Democratic Senators Joe] Manchin, an Intelligence Committee member, and [Joe] Donnelly support her. But other moderate Democrats ... are not yet behind her, and neither are Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah).

"Though he‘s unlikely to be present for the vote, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) came out against Haspel last week over what he called her evasive responses to questions about the morality of torture, which he called 'disqualifying.' That marks one of the few times the hawkish McCain and libertarian-leaning Paul have agreed — McCain once called Paul 'wacko,' and Paul last year said McCain was 'unhinged' — on foreign policy."

Read more: http://gdspoliticalanimal.blogspot.com/2018/05/paul-and-mccain-oppose-trumps-cia-pick.html
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Senators try to defund civil forfeiture expansion

Senators Push To Defund Jeff Sessions’ Civil Asset Forfeiture Expansion - Hit & Run : Reason.com -  C.J. Ciaramella:

November 8, 2017 - "A bipartisan group of senators wants to defund Attorney General Jeff Sessions' expansion of the Justice Department's civil asset forfeiture program, following similar efforts by ... the House earlier this year.

"Sessions announced in July that he was scrapping a 2015 directive by former Attorney General Eric Holder that severely curtailed when federal authorities could 'adopt' asset forfeiture cases from local and state authorities. Such adoptions, civil rights group said, allowed local police to skirt stricter state forfeiture laws by taking their cases to federal court.

"In September, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed several amendments to a large appropriations bill that would prohibit the Justice Department from using any funds to enact Sessions' directive...

"In a letter to Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), one of the lawmakers hammering out the difference between the House and Senate versions of the appropriations bill, Sens. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Angus King (I-Vt.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), and Tom Udall (D-N.M.) pushed to include at least one of the amendments in the final version.

"'Adoptive forfeiture and equitable sharing are particularly egregious elements of civil asset forfeiture because they not only violate due process but also attack principles of federalism,' the senators wrote. 'DOJ's reinstated policy allows state law enforcement officers to circumvent state limitations on civil forfeiture by turning seized property over to federal officials for forfeiture in exchange for up to 80 percent of the proceeds of the property. This perversely incentivizes local law enforcement to confiscate suspect property even where state laws forbid the practice.'

"Asset forfeiture — a practice that allows police to seize property suspected of being connected to criminal activity, even when the owner is not charged with a crime — has come under criticism in recent years.... Police groups and prosecutors, as well as law-and-order conservatives like Sessions, argue it is an essential tool to disrupt organized crime by cutting off illicit proceeds. Civil liberties advocates say it leaves far too few protections for property owners and creates perverse profit incentives for law enforcement."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2017/11/08/senators-press-for-defunding-of-jeff-ses
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Sessions expands civil asset forfeiture

Jeff Sessions Backs Civil-Asset Forfeiture to Bipartisan Criticism - The Atlantic:

July 19, 2017 - "Attorney General Jeff Sessions rolled back a series of Obama-era curbs on civil-asset forfeiture on Wednesday, strengthening the federal government’s power to seize cash and property from Americans without first bringing criminal charges against them....

"The directive revives the Justice Department’s Equitable Sharing Program, a controversial process through which state and local police agencies can seize assets, then transfer those seizures to federal control. In doing so, local agencies can skirt some state-level regulations limiting forfeitures. Under the program, the federal government pools the funds derived from the assets and sends 80 percent of them back to the state or local department itself, sometimes evading state laws that say seized assets should go into a state’s general fund....

"A Justice Department inspector general’s report in April found that federal forfeiture programs had taken in almost $28 billion over the past decade, and The Washington Post reported that civil-forfeiture seizures nationwide in 2015 surpassed the collective losses from all burglaries that same year. In its report, the inspector general’s office also raised concerns about how federal agencies take funds, after it found almost half of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s seizures in a random sample weren’t tied to any broader law-enforcement purpose....

"In 2015, Sessions’s predecessor Eric Holder issued a set of modest policy changes that scaled back equitable-sharing proceeds if they were obtained without warrants or criminal charges. Sessions rescinded those policies, but, in a rare nod to critics, imposed some new safeguards on the practice by speeding up notification for owners and requiring more information about the local or state agency’s probable cause for seizing assets....

"Kanya Bennett, a legislative counsel for the ACLU, noted that some polls have shown 80 percent of Americans oppose the practice. 'Civil-asset forfeiture is tantamount to policing for profit, generating millions of dollars annually that the agencies get to keep,' she said in a statement.... 'The only safeguard to protect Americans from civil forfeiture is to eliminate its use altogether,' said Darpana Sheth, a senior attorney at the libertarian nonprofit law firm Institute for Justice, in a statement. 'The Department of Justice’s supposed safeguards amount to little more than window dressing of an otherwise outrageous abuse of power'....

"'This is a troubling decision for the due-process protections afforded to us under the Fourth Amendment as well as the growing consensus we’ve seen nationwide on this issue,' California Representative Darrell Issa, a conservative Republican, said.... 'Instead of revising forfeiture practices in a manner to better protect Americans’ due-process rights, the DOJ seems determined to lose in court before it changes its policies for the better,' concluded Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah. 'Civil-asset forfeiture is unjust and unconstitutional,' Republican Representative Justin Amash of Michigan tweeted. 'It’s a big-government scheme to take people’s property without due process. End it.'"

Read more: https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/07/sessions-forfeiture-justice-department-civil/534168/
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Rand Paul budget deal video gets 19 million hits

Rand Paul’s viral video surprise - The Washington Post - David Weigel:

"Last week's 'filibuster' of the deal to raise the debt limit was widely seen as a bust for Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.). With great fanfare, one day before the CNBC presidential debate, Paul said that he would take the floor and make life difficult for the deal's backers 'until we talk about proposals.' In the end, he talked for less than two hours -- and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) arrived to talk even more.

"Then, to the Paul campaign's surprise, one video of his speech transformed into a hit. Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), a member of Paul's 2010 Tea Party class, shared the longest stretch of the Paul speech on Facebook. 'I was proud to vote with Senator Paul on his point of order that would have protected Social Security, and I ask you to help me shine a light on what Washington has tried to hide from you in the darkness of night,' Lee wrote. 'If everyone who sees this message shares it, it will reach millions of Americans.'

"Paul's campaign had not uploaded much of the speech to its YouTube account; none of the clips that made it up got more than 3,500 views. But over two days, the Lee video got more than 19 million impressions. (By contrast, the most popular YouTube video posted by Cruz has nearly 600,000 YouTube views.)

"'Virality means increased traffic, sign ups, and of course digital donations,' said Paul's digital strategist Vincent Harris. '[It's] a huge number in a short amount of time by any standards, especially considering the fact the campaign didn't pay a cent to promote it. Seems to be the most 'viral' moment since the senator stood up for life against Debbie Wasserman Schultz in New Hampshire months ago in a video that went around as well. It happened because people online appreciate Senator Lee, who shared the clip, and the senator's message on spending and our broken congress.'"

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/11/02/rand-pauls-viral-video-surprise/
Watch video here: https://www.facebook.com/senatormikelee/videos/1028817943816565/?permPage=1
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Republicans to push criminal justice reform in 2015

The Growing Republican Divide on Criminal Justice Reform | TIME - Alex Altman:

December 29, 2014 - "Charles Koch, the billionaire industrialist and Republican Party donor, says he will make criminal justice reform a major cause in 2015. 'Over the next year, we are going to be pushing the issues key to this, which need a lot of work in this country,' Koch said in an interview with the Wichita Eagle.

"Koch is a big spender — and something of a bogeyman among many liberals — so this made news. The 'conservative mega-donor,' a Politico story blared, 'is opening his wallet on an unexpected issue.'

"Except it shouldn’t be unexpected. Koch is a libertarian, and libertarians have a history of opposing policies, such as mandatory minimum sentencing, that have made the U.S. incarceration rate the highest in the world. What’s perhaps more surprising is how Republican politicians from other parts of the spectrum are beginning to embrace criminal justice reform as well.

"Virtually all of the likely 2016 Republican field supports some element of criminal-justice reform. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul is the most visible and least surprising proponent; as a libertarian-leaning conservative, he has staked his candidacy on the idea that the GOP must adjust its policies as the composition of the electorate changes. But Paul is hardly the only 2016 hopeful to plant a flag on the issue. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a former federal prosecutor, has called for an end to the 'failed war on drugs' and signed legislation that sent some offenders to rehab instead of prison.

"Rick Perry, the conservative governor of Texas, has been among the nation’s top prison reformers, even winning a national award for his support of drug courts as an alternative to incarceration. Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal, another Republican governor eyeing a 2016 bid, pushed legislation that would boost the state’s drug rehab program and make some nonviolent offenders eligible for early release.

"Conservatives in Congress also have an appetite for reform. Paul Ryan produced a white paper on poverty that includes proposals like giving judges sentencing flexibility for nonviolent offenders and letting some inmates earn time off their prison stays for successful participation in programs. Mike Lee, a Republican senator from Utah and a Tea Party favorite, was one of the original sponsors, with liberal senators Dick Durbin and Pat Leahy, of a bill called the Smarter Sentencing Act, which attempts to curtail the draconian sentencing that has left some 2.2 million Americans behind bars. Among the Republicans who have since signed on: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, another presidential hopeful."

Read more: http://time.com/3648638/republicans-police-reform/
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Club for Growth gives Cruz & Lee perfect scores for 2013

Club for Growth gives Ted Cruz, Mike Lee perfect marks - Washington Times - :

February 24, 2014 - "The conservative Club For Growth released its annual scorecard for 2013 on Monday, bestowing two Republican U.S. senators — Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah — and four GOP congressmen with 100 percent ratings for their voting records 'based on issues relating to limited government and economic growth.'

"The four congressmen with perfect ratings for 2013 are Republican Reps. Matt Salmon, Trent Franks and David Schweikert of Arizona and Tom McClintock of California. Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan got a 99 percent rating in 2013 'but because of rounding has a 100 percent LifeScore,' the group said....

"The 2013 and lifetime scores of GOP Sens. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Marco Rubio of Florida, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Tom Coburn and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma, Tim Scott of South Carolina and Jim Risch of Idaho were good enough to qualify all seven, along with Mr. Cruz and Mr. Lee, for the “Defender of Economic Freedom” Award.

Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/24/club-growth-gives-ted-cruz-mike-lee-perfect-marks/
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Senate 'wacko birds' speak at Young Americans for Liberty conference

Senate 'wacko birds' at home among the Ron Paul faithful - Chris Moody, Yahoo! News:

August 1, 2013 - "Rand Paul of Kentucky, Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, briefly fled across the Potomac Wednesday night to mingle with a crowd more appreciative of their brand of politics.

"Earlier this week, several hundred college-age libertarians gathered for the fifth annual Young Americans for Liberty (YAL) conference inside a ballroom at the Westin Hotel, located a safe seven miles from the Capitol building. YAL is the youth outreach group birthed from the womb of former Texas Rep. Ron Paul’s first run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008, and it works with Paul’s other organization, the Campaign for Liberty, to continue advocating for his causes.

"The young Paulites at the Westin howled when Paul, Cruz and Lee strolled onto the stage.... 'We’re not accustomed to that kind of welcome in Washington,' Lee beamed over the whoops and hollers. 'There are people just a few miles from here who give us quite the opposite reception'....

"'It seems there may be a few wacko birds in the house,' Cruz said from his perch in the middle of the stage, a reference to a term coined by Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain that was not made with affection at the time."

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/senate--wacko-birds--at-home-among-the-ron-paul-faithful--210259493.html

36 hours that changed the GOP

Libertarians Say That Rand Paul's Historic Filibuster Fundamentally Changed The Republican Party - Business Insider - Grace Wyler:

March 8, 2013 - "Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul has emerged from his 13-hour filibuster as a national political leader, having unexpectedly unified divergent wings of the Republican Party on the issue of civil liberties.

"For libertarians, Paul's filibuster — and the groundswell of support for it across the conservative spectrum — was a crowning moment, signaling their reintegration into the mainstream Republican Party, which has largely dismissed, and even mocked, libertarian notions about civil liberties in the decade since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. "

"'This was a very big deal. In 36 hours, the Republican Party has completely changed,' said Brian Doherty, a senior editor at Reason magazine.... 'It started with Rand Paul, and then it was just [Sens.] Mike Lee and Ted Cruz. And then you had people like Marco Rubio and Saxby Chambliss joining in. And by the end of it, [Republican Minority Leader] Mitch McConnell was on the floor saying he was going to block [CIA Director John] Brennan's confirmation, and [RNC Chairman] Reince Priebus was tweeting that Senators should go join Rand Paul.'"

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/libertarians-say-that-rand-pauls-historic-filibuster-fundamentally-changed-the-republican-party-2013-
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