Rand Paul

Dear Editor, As I joined the Conway/Paul debate on Sunday night late, I was surprised and confused by Paul’s refusal to shake hands at the end of the debate. It felt immature and petulant. There are those who will say that Attorney General Conway’s ad is “gutter” politics, but I believe that Conway was correct in raising these issues. He was not questioning Dr. Paul’s religion; he was questioning Dr. Paul’s behavior. Paul was a member of the banned NoZe secret society at Baptist-affiliated Baylor University.

Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul made a stop in Nicholasville on Friday. He met with a group of about 50 supporters at the Jessamine County Republican Headquarters around 3 p.m.

Dear Editor, I think many of Rand Paul’s ideas are too extreme and are unacceptable to most Kentuckians. Paul has stated that in order to qualify for full Social Security benefits, the retirement age must be raised from 67 to 70, and that Medicare benefits should come with a $2,000 deductible. This would place a heavy burden on our older citizens. For many Kentuckians, Social Security is their primary source of income, and they receive their health care through Medicare.

For editorialists, Rand Paul is the gift that keeps giving. After his May debacle, garnering national attention for stating that he believed restaurant owners were within their rights to exclude diners based on their race, the Republican National Committee told him to shut up, go back and campaign in Kentucky and stay out of the limelight. But like a moth to flame, Paul is back in the hot seat for telling an AP reporter that he doesn’t think that illegal drug use in Kentucky is a “pressing issue” and called for a significant cutback in federal funds spent on fighting drugs in our communities.

On May 27, Rand Paul posted on his website an editorial from the New York Sun praising him for understanding “that the Founders of America feared that the biggest threat to our rights was from our own government.” The editorial doesn’t explain why the Founders bothered to form a government rather than just kicking out the British and letting people fend for themselves. Of course, Rand Paul and his Tea-Party flock are not anarchists. They seem to see government as a necessary evil, and want to shrink it. How far would they go?

Republican Rand Paul, candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2010, will speak at noon Saturday at the Garrard County Courthouse on the Lancaster Public Square. Paul's campaign platform includes opposing any future bailouts, increasing the percentage of the federal budget going to defense spending, cutting the size of the federal budget and lowering taxes.