Thursday, October 18, 2012

Rand Paul Goes Beyond Gingrich, Santorum and Huckabee in His Support of Todd Akin

Rand Paul is going beyond the mere endorsement that Gingrich, Santorum and Huckabee have given Todd Akin. He is running ads supporting Akin.

Rand is running a statewide television ad in Missouri critical of Akin's senate opponent Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill for her votes on foreign aid to countries that have seen violent demonstrations critical of the United States.

Who is Todd Akin? He appears to be an evangelical war hawk, who has no hardcore principles when it comes to support of  free markets.  According to WSJ:

In a 13-minute speech at a campaign stop this week, Missouri's Republican senatorial candidate, Rep. Todd Akin, never mentioned jobs or the economy. He did, however, mention God—31 times. 
"God is the start of it all," Mr. Akin told about 150 attendees at the "Missouri Women Standing with Todd Akin" rally Monday afternoon. 
Mr. Akin, a six-term representative from the St. Louis area, has long been a favorite of evangelical Christians...

In a recent statement, Akin said:
 The Constitution is clear: the federal government must provide for the common defense. I have fought for a strong defense budget on the Budget Committee, and have worked to put that defense budget to the best possible use on the Armed Services Committee. My subcommittee worked for a strong Navy and a strong Air Force, supporting tanker, airlift and bomber programs. We also added roughly a billion dollars to the Navy shipbuilding account, to help grow our Navy fleet...

As far as blocking free markets,  Akin is a staunch advocate of a federal prohibition of online poker. In 2006, he co-sponsored H.R. 4411, the Goodlatte-Leach Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, and H.R. 4777, the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act.

Akin has a mixed record on votes to raise the debt ceiling, he first voted for them, but now votes against them. He voted for off-balance-sheet wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and voted to create the unfunded Medicare prescription drug benefit.

Three of his sons attended the Naval Academy.


11 comments:

  1. No, what he is saying "government is the start of it all." To him god is government.

    This war and American Excepttionalism has got to go. It's like a cult but more deadlier. A lady that is a pro-neocon supporter commented to me one time that our freedoms must be bought bought by the blood of our soldiers. As if it were some sort of supernatural sacrifice that we had to receive our freedoms.

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  2. Two things:
    1) Akin is the "legitimate rape" idiot
    2) Where does Rand get the money to advertise for other politicians, having alienated the generous Ron Paul base?

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    Replies
    1. He started his own SuperPac, called RandPac.

      That being said, your question still remains.

      Maybe the tea-party folks who aren't substantially influenced by Ron Paul?

      Delete
  3. Maybe Rand is aware of something about McCaskill that the rest of us aren't.

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  4. I think it's pretty clear he's running the ads as part of a larger strategy to sure up the evangelical base, make (some) foreign aid an issue and gain sway in the GOP generally.I would hope he's doing it to create a buffer so it's harder for neocons to attack him for his positions that are libertarian.

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  5. Todd Akin and his family are family friends of ours, and have been for many years. I love the Akins. Some quick facts from a man who knows them:

    1) The family are solid Christians, and as nice as you will find.
    2) Todd absolutely clueless on economics, and hadn't even heard of "Austrian economics"
    3) He's very, very neocon on foreign policy.
    4) He has a skewed understanding of the role of the federal government.
    5) The Akin children were all homeschooled, and are very intelligent.
    6) Todd won't do anything about GMO's...he doesn't see them as a problem.
    7) He has extensive knowledge of history, yet for some reason doesn't make the applicable connections that your typical LRC or EPJ reader would make.
    8) He's incredibly honest.

    As for McCaskil, she is disgusting. Absolutely horrible. Although Akin is bad in many ways, he's still one of those good intentioned men. He is not the type of man to be making backroom deals with the establishment. McCaskil is.

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    Replies
    1. You know what they say about good intentions....

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    2. The road to hell is paved with them...

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  6. Laughably, the Missouri Ron Paul movement leaders are promoting Akin amongst their followers. They are telling them that because the GOP has turned against Akin, he will have no debts of gratitude if elected. They somehow equate that with a fondness for libertarianism /small government.

    While I cannot disagree with 7:59's description of Akin, I cannot vote for him as his voting record isn't consistent with my libertarian sensibilities.

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  7. Rand is running ads against Claire McKaskil. The ads do not mention Akin. I take it the EPJ is a big fan of McKaskil. The EPJ seems to be trapped into the small world of the two-party system, which i find especially pathetic.

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  8. Rand's ads will work in favor of Libertarian Party candidate Jonathan Dine:

    A closer look at Jonathan Dine, Libertarian candidate

    A Libertarian candidate will appear on the ballot in the Missouri U.S. Senate race, but Jonathan Dine will not be a part of Thursday's debate with incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill and Rep. Todd Akin.

    http://www.ksdk.com/news/article/343587/3/Libertarian-Senate-candidate-campaigns-despite-criminal-record-

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