From Wikipedia:
Randal Howard "Rand" Paul (born January 7, 1963) is an American ophthalmologist and politician, currently a United States Senator-elect from Kentucky.
Paul is a member of the Tea Party movement who describes himself as a "constitutional conservative." He is the son of Republican Congressman and former presidential candidate Ron Paul of Texas and has never held political office. Paul first received national attention in 2008 when making political speeches on behalf of his father.
A graduate of the Duke University School of Medicine, Paul has been a practicing ophthalmologist in Bowling Green, Kentucky, since 1993, and established his own clinic in December 2007. In 1994, he founded Kentucky Taxpayers United, of which he is still the chairman. In 1995, Paul helped the Kentucky Lions Club to establish the South Central Lions Eye Clinic in Bowling Green to provide eye surgery and exams for people who cannot afford them.
In August 2009, Paul officially announced his candidacy for the United States Senate seat being vacated by retiring Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky. Paul won the Republican Party's nomination in May 2010, defeating Kentucky Secretary of State Trey Grayson. In the General Election, Paul defeated Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway on November 2, 2010. As a supporter of the Tea Party movement, Paul has been vocal in advocating for term limits, a balanced budget amendment, and the Read the Bills Act, in addition to the widespread reduction of federal spending and taxation. He has gained prominence for his independent positions on many political issues, often clashing with both Republicans and Democrats.
Early life and education
Rand Paul's parents, Carol Wells Paul and Ron Paul, married in 1957. Rand was born in Pennsylvania in 1963. He has four siblings: Ronnie, Lori, Robert, and Joy." Rand was baptized as an Episcopalian. Although Ron Paul was a fan of Ayn Rand, her name was not the inspiration for Paul's first name; he went by "Randy" as a child and while in college and "Rand" as an adult.
The Paul family moved from Pittsburgh to San Antonio in 1965, eventually settling in Surfside Beach, Texas in 1968. In 1976, Rand Paul's father was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Paul attended Baylor University in Waco, Texas from fall 1981 to summer 1984. According to a current Senate campaign consultant of Paul's, Paul was enrolled in the honors program at Baylor, and had scored approximately in the 90th percentile on the Medical College Admission Test, though no documentation has been provided to support these claims.
During Paul's time at Baylor, he became a member of the NoZe Brotherhood, which would later become an issue in his run for the United States Senate. Paul never obtained a degree from Baylor, however, instead leaving early when he was accepted into his father's alma mater, the Duke University School of Medicine, where he earned his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) degree in 1988 and completed his residency in 1993.
Personal life
In Atlanta, Paul met Kelley Ashby, a Rhodes College English major. Paul and Ashby were married on October 20, 1990, and moved to Bowling Green, Kentucky, less than 30 miles (48 km) from her hometown of Russellville, Kentucky, in 1993.
Kelley Paul is a freelance writer, and she manages payroll and marketing communications for Paul's surgical practice. The couple have three sons: William, Duncan, and Robert.
Medical career
Paul currently owns a private ophthalmology practice in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He first worked at the Graves-Gilbert Clinic in Kentucky, but eventually established his own clinic in December 2007. Paul specializes in corneal transplants, glaucoma surgery, and LASIK,and began offering sutureless DSEK corneal transplantation in 2007.
As a member of the Bowling Green Noon Lions Club, Paul founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic to help provide eye surgery and exams for those who cannot afford to pay. He is a regular presenter at the annual Men's Health and Safety Day conference held by The Medical Center of Bowling Green since 1998. In 1999 Paul founded the Non-profit organization National Board of Ophthalmology (NBO).
Political activism
As founder and chairman of the anti-tax organization Kentucky Taxpayers United (KTU) since 1994, Paul regularly presents "taxpayers' friend" awards to state legislators. KTU, which regards itself as nonpartisan, but ideological and conservative, examines legislator records on taxation and spending to inform voters where their own lawmakers stand on the issues. Paul's editorial commentary on behalf of KTU has been published and recognized in the Kentucky Post.
KTU sponsors the Taxpayer's Pledge of Americans for Tax Reform, encouraging politicians to pledge publicly to vote uniformly against tax raises. Nine of fifteen Northern Kentucky legislators signed the pledge, such as Senator Dick Roeding and Representative Royce Adams in 1996. In 2000, these legislators considered a hotel room tax hike (favored by Governor Paul Patton for helping expand the Dr. Albert B. Sabin Convention Center in nearby Cincinnati), even though the increase might "incur the wrath of Paul's group," as two newspapers put it.
Paul stated that Patton's argument for "revenue recovery" was merely a euphemism for taxes and said that KTU would fight reelection of any pledge-breakers; Adams requested in writing that Paul's group release him from his pledge, stating that it only applied to his first term. By the close of session in April, the tax increase had failed, although Patton had achieved most of his intended budget; Paul stated legislators were pressured to finalize the budget by deadline rather than to "face accusations of shutting down government."
Paul often speaks on his father's behalf, and he and his son William attended the third Republican presidential debate of 2007 in New Hampshire, as well as campaigned door-to-door in the state for his father. At a New Hampshire rally with 250 in attendance (plus 30 members of his own family), Paul repeated a campaign meme by pretending to take a call from Rudy Giuliani during his remarks, and joking that Giuliani needed campaigners and wanted to borrow the Paul family.
On December 16, 2007, the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, Paul spoke at Faneuil Hall in favor of small government principles, calling for what CNN termed a "modern day revolution." He continued campaigning across the country for his father in 2008, traveling as far as Montana.
2010 Senatorial campaign
Primary campaign
In the beginning of 2009, Paul was the focus of an online grassroots movement to draft him in a bid to replace beleaguered Republican Kentucky senator Jim Bunning. The news of his potential candidacy became a topic of national interest and was discussed in the Los Angeles Times and locally in the Kentucky press. Commenting on Paul's possible candidacy, Congressman Ron Paul noted that "Should Senator Bunning decide not to run, I think Rand would make a great U.S. Senator."
On May 1, 2009, Paul officially confirmed that if Bunning, whose fundraising in 2009 has matched his poor numbers in opinion polling for the 2010 election, declined to seek a third term, he would almost certainly run in the Republican Party primary to succeed him, and formed an exploratory committee soon after, while still promising to stay out of the race if Bunning had ultimately decided to run for re-election. Paul made this announcement on MSNBC's The Rachel Maddow Show, though the news was first broken by a local Kentucky news site.
On July 28, 2009, Bunning announced that he would not run for re-election, after facing insufficient fundraising. This announcement left only Paul and Secretary of State Trey Grayson as the remaining candidates for the Republican nomination, with Paul announcing on August 5, 2009 that he would officially run for the U.S. Senate as a Republican. The announcement was made through a series of national TV events, radio, and other programs, as well as through newspapers in Kentucky.
Early fundraising success
On August 20, 2009, Paul's grassroots planned a moneybomb to kick off his campaign for United States Senate. The official campaign took in $433,509 in 24 hours. According to Paul, This set a new record in Kentucky's political fundraising history in a 24-hour period.
A second "moneybomb" was held on September 23, 2009, to counter a D.C. fundraiser being held for primary opponent Trey Grayson, by 23 Republican United States Senators, 17 of whom voted for the bank bailout. The theme was a UFC "fight" between Paul and "We the People" vs. Trey Grayson and the "D.C. Insiders." The money bomb ended up raising $186,276 for Paul in 24 hours on September 23; bringing Paul's Senate campaign's total raised to over one million. Later in the campaign, Paul claimed his pledge to not take money from lobbyist and Senators who voted for the bailout was only a "primary pledge" and Paul later held a DC fundraiser with the same Senators who were the target of the September 23, 2009 "moneybomb." Paul ended up raising some $3 million during the primary period.
Primary victory
Although Grayson was considered the frontrunner in July 2009, Paul found success characterizing Grayson as a "career politician" and challenging Grayson's conservatism. Paul ran an ad in February that made an issue out of Grayson's September 2008 admission that he voted for Bill Clinton when he was 20 years old. Although the Paul campaign later removed the video from Youtube, Paul's Democratic general election competitor put it back up on October 20 after Paul had taken exception to the Democrat making an issue out of Paul's own college-age actions.
James Dobson, a Christian evangelical figure, endorsed Grayson on April 26 based on the advice of what Dobson described as "senior members of the GOP", but on May 3 the Paul campaign announced that Dobson had changed his endorsement to Paul after Paul and some Paul supporters had lobbied Dobson insisting on Paul's social conservative bona fides.
On May 18 Paul won the Republican Senatorial primary by a 23.4% margin, meaning he would face the Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway, in the November 2 general election.
General campaign
On June 28, 2010, Rand Paul supporters held their first post-primary online fundraising drive, this time promoted as a "money blast."
BP oil spill comments
On May 21, 2010, Paul generated some controversy by characterizing statements made by Obama administration officials regarding the BP oil spill cleanup as sounding "un-American". Paul said:
“ What I don't like from the president's administration is this sort of, 'I'll put my boot heel on the throat of BP.' I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business. I've heard nothing from BP about not paying for the spill. And I think it's part of this sort of blame-game society in the sense that it's always got to be someone's fault instead of the fact that sometimes accidents happen. ”
Paul may have been referring to a statement by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who said "our job is basically to keep the boot on the neck of British Petroleum to carry out the responsibilities that they have, both under the law and contractually to move forward and to stop this spill."
Salazar's remark was later slightly misquoted as "boot on the throat" by Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. Gibbs clarified at the same press conference, when asked if this metaphor did not imply hostility to BP, "I think the President accurately conveyed in his remarks yesterday that we are going to do everything humanly possible, and ensure that BP is doing everything humanly possible, to deal with this as comprehensively and as quickly as they can."
Private property and civil rights
Paul in October 2010.Paul criticized the Bowling Green Daily News on May 30, 2002 for supporting the Fair Housing Act. He explained that "a free society will abide unofficial, private discrimination, even when that means allowing hate-filled groups to exclude people based on the color of their skin."
On May 19, 2010, Paul stated that he favors 9 out of 10 titles of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but had he been a senator during 1960s, he would have raised some questions on the constitutionality of Title II of the Act, which prohibits private businesses who provide public accommodations from discriminating on the basis of race, religion, or national origin against their customers, arguing that it infringes upon constitutional freedoms. Paul stated on National Public Radio, "I'm in favor of everything with regards to ending institutional racism".
Paul favors community and neighborhood pressure to persuade private businesses, rather than federal laws that he argued might violate the constitution.
Paul said he abhors racism, and he would have marched with Martin Luther King Jr. to repeal Jim Crow Laws. Paul's comments on Title II of Civil Rights Act of 1964 stirred controversy and brought concern among Republican party insiders about his viability in the general election.
Paul later released a statement declaring that he would have voted for the Act and stated "unequivocally ... that I will not support any efforts to repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964".
Paul stating that while he "abhors racism," he doesn't like the idea of the federal government determining who a business may serve. Amid a flurry of controversy, Paul became the first American politician to cancel an appearance on Meet the Press in their 64-year history. Additionally, RNC Chairman Michael Steele, publicly denounced him, saying that Paul's opposition to the Civil Rights Act is a "misplaced" philosophy for the 21st Century.
Paul addressed his feelings about intentions of the legislation relating to public offices, stating that he "overwhelmingly agrees with the intent of the [Civil Rights Act] which was to stop discrimination in the public sphere and halt the abhorrent practice of segregation and Jim Crow laws," and that Constitutional challenges to the law have been settled by the courts.
On May 21, 2010, Paul appeared on The Situation Room and told host Wolf Blitzer that he would have voted for the Civil Rights Act.
Board certification
On June 14, 2010 the Louisville Courier-Journal reported that Paul, who described himself as a "board-certified" ophthalmologist, was not certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology.
From 1995 through 2005 Paul had an AMA-recognized certification until it lapsed.
Paul is currently certified by the National Board of Ophthalmology, a rival organization founded by Paul himself in 1999 with Paul as president and his wife as vice-president.
Paul has said the group has since recertified several hundred ophthalmologists. The National Board of Ophthalmology's mailing address is a UPS Store in Bowling Green, Kentucky; the organization lacks a website and is not recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). A spokesperson for the ABMS stated: "He [Paul] is not board-certified." Neither Paul's National Board of Ophthalmology nor the American Board of Ophthalmology has anything to do with medical licensure, which is handled by state boards.
Paul stated that he founded the National Board of Ophthalmology after a dispute with the American Board of Ophthalmology over recertification requirements. Paul has also explained his decision to let his recognized certification lapse resulting from "the kind of hypocritical power play that I despise and have always fought against." In interviews before the May 2010 Republican Senatorial primary, Paul stated that he was certified by both boards. When first questioned on his certifications, Paul responded, "I'm not going to go through all that right now... What does this have to do with our election?"
He subsequently described such questions as "a personal assault on my ability to make a living" and that "you vilify me and make it out to sound, 'Oh, ... there's something wrong with him as a physician because he chose not to register (with the American Board of Ophthalmology).'" Paul's spokesperson stated that Paul's earlier claim of dual board certification was misspoken in response to an unclear question.
ABO administrator Beth Ann Slembarski says that over 95 percent of the nation’s practicing ophthalmologists have American Board of Ophthalmology certification, and that certification through the ABO reflects “an extra commitment by physicians to demonstrate their knowledge and skills in this specialty.”
Paul has been licensed to practice medicine in Kentucky since 1993, and his license is in good standing with no history of disciplinary action. The Courier-Journal reported: "There is no indication that Paul isn't qualified to practice ophthalmology."
Controversy over college activities
On August 9, 2010, an article was published in GQ profiling Paul's activities as an undergraduate student at Baylor University. The article noted that during Paul's time at Baylor, he became a member of the NoZe Brotherhood, a college secret society described as a cross between Yale's Skull & Bones and the Harvard Lampoon. The group had an anti-authoritarian bent that often mocked Baylor's strict atmosphere of religiosity, and two years before Paul's arrival, the group had been banned from campus for being, in the words of Baylor's president at the time, "lewd, crude, and grossly sacrilegious." The article also included an account from an anonymous woman who said she was on the swim team with Paul, describing an incident in which Paul and one of his friends from the NoZe Brotherhood had tied her up, blindfolded her, ordered her to take bong hits, and took her to a creek where she was urged to worship a deity called "Aqua Buddha". The woman, who did not allege any wrongdoing on Paul's part, called the incident "sadistic" and "messing with my mind", but also a "joke".
Nevertheless, the story received widespread media coverage. A few days later, the woman clarified that she was not physically forced to do anything and that she played along with the prank, and said the whole thing had been blown out of proportion.
Coverage of the story died down after Paul denied he had kidnapped anyone or forced anyone to take drugs, or worshipping a so-called "Aqua Buddha". but was subsequently revived in mid-October when Politico ran a new story on the topic, this one quoting articles from a 1983 NoZe newsletter as well as a different classmate's claim that in those days "Randy smoked pot, he made fun of Baptists."
Within the week, Paul's opponent ran a TV ad asking why Paul had belonged to a group that had mocked Christianity and Christ and had tied up a woman and made her worship "Aqua Buddha". The story received widespread national media attention after a contentious October 17 debate between Paul and Conway in which the two candidates sparred extensively over the accusations and exchanged many insults. Paul refused to shake his opponent's hand after the debate had concluded.
Political views
Abortion and bioethics
Paul is opposed to abortion and supports a Human Life Amendment and a Life at Conception Act. He also opposes abortion in cases of rape and incest, but supports use of the morning-after pill. He opposes federal funding for abortion. He takes a states' rights position, favoring the overturn of Roe vs Wade and allowing states to decide on the legality of abortions without federal involvement.
According to the Paul campaign, Paul received a 100% pro-life score on a Kentucky Right to Life survey and indicated on the survey that he opposed human cloning. This was disputed by Kentucky Right to Life, however, who endorsed Paul's primary opponent instead and claimed that Paul did not, in fact, answer the cloning question.
Campaign finance reform
Paul opposes the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 and has called it a "dangerous piece of legislation". Instead, he supports regulating the contracts given out by Congress and placing limits on corporations receiving government contracts. Paul opposes legislation limiting the amount of money individuals, corporations, and organizations can give to candidates. Additionally, Paul has proposed "mandating a clause in all federal contracts over $1 million that requires the recipient to pledge not to lobby government or contribute to campaigns during the terms of the contract."
Civil liberties
Paul opposes the USA PATRIOT Act, including warrantless searches and breach of individual privacy.
Economics and tax cuts
Paul has been a longtime opponent of the bank and auto industry bailouts.
He also opposes the Federal Reserve Act of 1913 and the Federal Reserve's control of the money supply and interest rates. He has advocated allowing the free market to regulate interest rates, and supports Congress' constitutional role in controlling the money supply.
Paul endorses H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, a bill, introduced by his father, mandating an audit of the Federal Reserve. Although Paul would abolish the Federal Reserve, he supports transparency and accountability of the semi-private institution. Additionally, Paul opposes inflation and supports "restoring the value of the dollar that has devalued by approximately 95% since the Federal Reserve's inception in 1913".
Paul supports tax cuts and a Balanced Budget Amendment, and has criticized both Republicans and Democrats on deficit spending.
In October 2010 the Kentucky coordinator for Americans For Fair Taxation stated that Paul would "vote for the FairTax", which would replace federal income taxes with a 23% national consumption tax and includes rebate provisions for taxes on all money spent up to the poverty line. The Associated Press confirmed with a representative of the Paul campaign that the statement fairly reflected Paul's position, but the next day Paul distanced himself from the proposal, saying that while he supports tax reform in general, he hasn't committed to the proposal, adding that it is "a little complicated to administer" and that "it would probably work better at the state level than the national."
Education
Paul supports returning control of education to local communities and parents and thus eliminating the federal Department of Education, but he says that some functions of the Department of Education, such as disbursing student loans and Pell Grants, should be transferred to other departments instead of being eliminated. Paul opposes federal regulation of homeschooling.
Energy
Paul supports allowing the free market to compete and dictate which forms of energy to use. He opposes subsidizing energy companies, and would support allowing tax breaks for companies that produce alternative energy such as wind, solar, or geothermal. He has said that subsidizing the energy industry will only add incentive for companies to lobby the federal government.
Health care
Paul opposes federal government involvement in health care. He would repeal the HMO Act of 1973 that "drives a wedge between the patient and [one's] doctor". He believes that government has driven up the cost of health care and causes the quality and coverage to decrease. Paul would support a free market approach to health care, including tax deductions for medical expenses. He opposes federal regulations discouraging businesses from providing coverage. He supports Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).
On Medicare, Paul has suggested higher deductibles as well as changes to premiums or eligibility rules as ways to address what he sees as the program's looming financial problems, saying "You want to have more participation by the person who's receiving the entitlement..."By that I mean that they need to be more involved with some sort of economic transaction every time they use their entitlement, and that means they have to bear more of the burden." Paul also stated that he does not support such changes for current retirees or people nearing retirement.
Illegal immigration
Paul has proposed adding security to the border by installing an underground electric fence and helicopter stations. He opposes birthright citizenship for children of illegal immigrants. Paul has said that courts should review the 14th Amendment, which guarantees citizenship to "all persons born or naturalized in the United States," to conclude whether or not it should apply to the children of illegal immigrants. If court challenges fail, Paul would support a constitutional amendment that would deny citizenship to children of illegal immigrants who are born in the United States.
Medical marijuana
Paul believes the issue of medical marijuana is a states' rights issue and that the federal government should not interfere. In August, the Associated Press reported that Paul said he was opposed to the legalization of marijuana for medicinal purposes, but the Paul campaign says he was misquoted. Paul described himself as a "social conservative," but was nonetheless described by the AP reporter as holding "libertarian leanings on drugs" and believing some drug sentences were too harsh.
National defense
Paul supports eliminating issuance of visas to people from nations deemed as terrorist or rogue. He would not vote to close Guantanamo Bay detention camp, and supports trying suspected terrorists in military tribunals. Paul believes that when the United States goes to war, Congress must declare war as mandated by the US Constitution, and says that he would have voted against an invasion of Iraq.
Same-sex marriage
Paul opposes same-sex marriage, but believes the issue should be left to the states to decide.
Second Amendment
Paul would oppose all gun control legislation, a position he says is supported by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.
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