The Tea Party Goes to Washington: Rand Paul on the intellectual bankruptcy of both major parties

Rand Paul (R-Ky.) took an unusual path to his seat in the United States Senate: Though his father, the libertarian Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) has spent decades in office, Rand Paul had never previously held public office before winning in 2010. Throughout his campaign, Paul fils identified more with the Tea Party than with the Republican Party, and he ran against the hand-picked candidate of one of the most powerful Republicans in America, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). After trouncing both his primary challenger and the Democratic nominee, Paul did not mention the GOP once in his victory speech last November, saying instead, "Tonight, there's a Tea Party tidal wave."

Since entering office, the freshman senator has quickly proven himself to be the most interesting and radical voice on Capitol Hill, proposing immediate budget cuts 500 percent steeper than anything else Republicans have contemplated, speaking eloquently against the PATRIOT Act and runaway defense spending, and going bonkers against nanny-state regulations in the home. He's even taken on the sainted 19th-century Kentucky statesman Henry Clay ("the Great Compromiser") in a speech that caused McConnell to leave the room. And this all happened just in Paul's first two months in office.

Now the freshman senator has a new book out, The Tea Party Goes to Washington, that discusses his political journey, the intellectual bankruptcy of both major parties, and the urgency of our clear and present fiscal crisis. Reason's Matt Welch and Nick Gillespie interviewed Sen. Paul in his temporary Senate office in March 2011.

Interview produced by Meredith Bragg with Josh Swain and Austin Bragg.


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[XCritonX]

I am fiscally conservative and socially conservative. However, I don't believe it is morally right to use the government to impose my socially conservative views on others and I do not want the government to continue to impose other persons liberal fiscal and social views on me.

Government must stay out of social engineering. Any government powerful enough to impose your social views on other people is powerful enough to impose other peoples social views on you.

[kmg501]

Rand Paul has a bright future and in turn that makes me a little bit more optimistic for the future of America.

[mtanousable]

@XCritonX So, politically, you are not socially conservative. Personally, you are. Right? If so, I definitely agree.

Social engineering, no matter who is doing it, is just wrong. Civilized, free people don't walk around threatening others to force them to behave "respectably", nor do they use the government as a proxy to do so. (They also don't threaten people to get their money, or use the government as a proxy to "tax" them for their special interests....)

[Andy180084]

@benchfordeath in that case he wouldn't need to speak about them.

All in all i'm ok with the paleo-conservatives like Paul(s)

[benchfordeath]

@XCritonX Amen brother!

[benchfordeath]

@Andy180084 he means he believes these things personally and that he DOES NOT support the right of the state to impose his views on others. Lrn2Read

[pikaparka1]

Anti gay is american core values..so is judeo christian

[TKAW11]

I'm proud he is one of my senators.

[PanzerDivisionBOM]

@Andy180084

That's what I thought it meant, but you kind of have to assume that this person means something different by it. Like how Benjamin Tucker called himself a socialist.

[Andy180084]

@PanzerDivisionBOM following viewpoints like anti abortion, low taxes, anti gay marriage, and other generally christian/conservative viewpoints. Kind of an ironic statement considering he was talking about not forcing viewpoints on others.

[howya111]

I'm a teabagger and I'm proud of it!!!!!