Standing up on the right to trial by jury is something that, really, a lot of people should agree with, you know, both on the Right and the Left.
— Rand Paul
We could try freedom for a while. We had it for a long time. That's where you sell something, and I agree to buy it because I like it. That is how we operate in most of rest of the marketplace other than health care.
If you hear me out, I believe you'll discover that what motivates me more than any other issue is the defense of everyone's rights.
Democrats in Louisville were led by Courier-Journal editor Henry Watterson and were implacably opposed to blacks voting.
I don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat, there is something profoundly un-American about using the brute force of government to bully someone.
The Democrats promised equalizing outcomes through unlimited federal assistance while Republicans offered something that seemed less tangible - the promise of equalizing opportunity through free markets.
Because Republicans believe that the federal government is limited in its function-some have concluded that Republicans are somehow inherently insensitive to minority rights. Nothing could be further from the truth.
We should not have drug laws or a court system that disproportionately punishes the black community.
We must always embrace individual liberty and enforce the constitutional rights of all Americans-rich and poor, immigrant and native, black and white.
If our freedom is taken, the American dream will wither and die.
My great-grandfather, like many, came to this country in search of the American dream.
The great and abiding lesson of American history, particularly the cold war, is that the engine of capitalism, the individual, is mightier than any collective.
I've been accused of wanting to allow terrorists to have weapons to attack America.
The Republican Party is an empty vessel unless we imbue it with values.
Foreign aid is not something the vast majority of Americans support, but definitely not conservatives.
All issues of crime are better addressed at the state level.
You shouldn't have one opinion when you're running and another when you're president.
To defend our country we need to gather intelligence on the enemy, but when the intelligence lies to Congress, how are we to trust them? The phone records of law abiding citizens are none of their damn business.
In our state, I'm really proud of the fact that the ones who overturned Jim Crow in Kentucky were Republicans fighting against an entirely unified Democrat Party. So I am proud to be Republican. I can't imagine being anything else.
Of strong importance to me is the defense of minority rights, not just racial minorities, but ideological and religious minorities.
I think what happened during the Great Depression was that African Americans understood that Republicans championed citizenship and voting rights but they became impatient for economic emancipation.
I would argue that the objective evidence shows that big government is not a friend to African Americans.
The Republican Party's history is rich and chock full of emancipation and black history.
What gets lost is that the Republican Party has always been the party of civil rights and voting rights.
The history of African-American repression in this country rose from government-sanctioned racism. Jim Crow laws were a product of bigoted state and local governments.
And when the time is right, I hope that African Americans will again look to the party of emancipation, civil liberty, and individual freedom.
My grandfather would live to see his children become doctors and ministers, accounts and professors.
For most of our history, no one dared to tell Americans, 'you don't build that.'
The power to tax and spend is restricted by the enumerated powers.
Do we fear terrorism so much that we throw out our Constitution, and are we unwilling and afraid to debate our Constitution?
I think really that you shouldn't run as a conservative if you're not.
The main thing I say on war is that we need to obey the law and formally declare war.
You don't go into politics unless you want to win.
You need to have people within your own party that have the wherewithal to stand up to you.
As a doctor, I will take it and make it my mission to heal the nation, reverse the course of Obamacare, and repeal every last bit of it.
The most important thing you will do is yet to be seen. For me, I found my important thing to do when I learned to do surgery on the eye, when I learned to restore a person's vision.
To understand how Republicans lost the African American vote, we must first understand how we won the African American vote.
The Republican promise is for policies that create economic growth. Republicans believe lower taxes, less regulation, balanced budgets, a solvent Social Security and Medicare will stimulate economic growth.
No Republican questions or disputes civil rights. I have never wavered in my support for civil rights or the civil rights act.
Every child in every neighborhood, of every color, class and background, deserves a school that will help them succeed.
Using taxes to punish the rich, in reality, punishes everyone because we are all interconnected. High taxes and excessive regulation and massive debt are not working.
Big and oppressive government has long been the enemy of freedom, something black Americans know all too well.
You campaigned against rich people and you got enough envy whipped up in the country and you're gonna get 'em. You're gonna stick it to those rich people. But guess what? You may not get anymore revenue. You may not get anymore economic growth. But you can say, 'I stuck it to the rich people.'
In America, as opposed to the old country, success was based on merit.
American inventiveness and the desire to build developed because we were guaranteed the right to own our success.
Some people say I chastise the Republican Party too much.
I think we need to treat everybody with dignity.
I need to be very careful about going on certain networks that seem to have a bias.
I would have voted 'no' on the Iraq war and 'yes' to Afghanistan.
You don't win as a party unless you become a bigger party.
