Sunday, May 30, 2010

What is Rand Paul's political philosophy?

What is Rand Paul's political philosophy?

What is Rand Paul's political philosophy?

Posted: 29 May 2010 10:52 PM PDT

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The Bowling Green eye surgeon's stumble has raised a whole new line of questioning about his ideology — a mix of ideas from libertarians, social conservatives and the Tea Party movement — and how it would apply to a seemingly endless list of other government programs and mandates.

Where does he draw the line on consumer-protection laws? What about Wall Street regulations and workplace-safety rules? Is the Americans with Disabilities Act too onerous?

"These questions aren't going to go away," said Scott Lasley, a political science professor at Western Kentucky University.

Paul hasn't talked with reporters at length since the week of his primary victory, but he's scheduled to appear on WHAS radio in Louisville on Monday. He was not available for an interview with the Herald-Leader last week, his campaign said.

On May 19, Paul said on MSNBC and National Public Radio he is against discrimination, but he questioned whether the 1964 Civil Rights Act law went too far in imposing government control on private businesses. Among other things, the act outlawed racial segregation in restaurants and other public accommodations.

Paul's comments about civil rights echo a letter he wrote to the Bowling Green Daily News in 2002 about the federal Fair Housing Act.

In defending private-property rights, Paul said public institutions should be barred from discriminating based on a person's beliefs or attributes, but not private entities. One example he gave was that of a retirement community that didn't want to let in residents with noisy children.

"Decisions concerning private property and associations should in a free society be unhindered," Paul wrote. "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."

Amid the recent furor over his comments on the Civil Rights Act, Paul said he abhors racism and would have voted for the landmark law. That stance led to charges of flip-flopping.

"Was (Paul) being untruthful on the occasions when he said the federal government has no authority to outlaw racial discrimination in private businesses such as restaurants?" Washington Post columnist Eugene Robinson wrote. "Or is he being untruthful now in claiming he would have voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964?"

The Libertarian Party of Kentucky disavowed Paul last week, issuing a news release that was "an effort to clear our good name" after Paul's comments on civil rights.

Others defended Paul, saying he was merely raising a philosophical point about the limits of federal power and is not a racist.

"When one listens to him talk, one gets the sense that he comprehends that the Founders of America feared that the biggest threat to our rights was from our own government," the New York Sun said in an editorial.

The attention to just about everything Paul says isn't likely to wane as he runs what promises to be a hard-fought race against Attorney General Jack Conway, the Democratic Senate nominee.

Democrats hope to paint Paul as too extreme for most voters.

After Paul stumbled on civil rights, Conway said Paul was promoting a "narrow and rigid ideology." Paul responded that Conway and Democrats were lying about him.

'Libertarian instincts'

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