enhanced_deficit
09-02-2013, 06:58 PM
Good to see that Rand is listed among the 6 big guns , he is in the "hard no" column:
The six key players in Congress' Syria debate
Here is a guide to the key players to watch, their strategies and the challenges they face:
Nancy Pelosi: Get out the vote
Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the top Democrat in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
John Boehner: Corralling the caucus
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio responds to reporters' questions during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
John McCain and Lindsey Graham: Key votes
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, accompanied by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks with reporters outside the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 2, 2013, following a closed-door meeting with President Barack Obama to discuss the situation with Syria.(Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)
Rand Paul: The hard 'No'
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/dfef4f922c583856fa371d04b3334d12bd5d856d/r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/USATODAY/NG/news/nation/2013/7/9/A__-1307301135_4_3.jpgSen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.(Photo: Jacquelyn Martin, AP)
The Kentucky Republican senator and his non-interventionist views are powerful forces within today's Republican Party. Paul's opposition to military engagement in Syria holds sway in both chambers because he has intellectual allies in the House and he is considered a potential 2016 presidential contender.
"I think the line in the sand should be that America gets involved when American interests are threatened. I don't see American interests involved on either side of this Syrian war," Paul said on NBC's Meet the Press, summing up one of the prevailing critical views in Congress on engagement.
Paul is capable of stirring up loud opposition among Tea Party-allied groups. His unsuccessful filibuster earlier this year against U.S. military use of drones made him a star among conservative groups skeptical of the U.S. national security apparatus and suspicious of executive power.
One Paul ally in the House, freshman Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has already introduced the War Powers Protection Act, which would prohibit any military support to Syria without a congressional declaration of war. It has support from 13 mostly Southern Republicans.
The president's proposed resolution, which authorizes him to use the armed forces "as he determines to be necessary and appropriate," contains no limits on the president's power, Massie said, "It's basically a full-on-declaration of war, but it doesn't say that," he argued. "Lobbying missiles into a sovereign country is an act of war, whether you call it that or not."
But he bristles at the suggestion that he would turn his back on the rest of the world. "I'm not an isolationist," he said Monday. "I'm a non-interventionist."
Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., one of the supporters of Massie's bill, is also rallying opposition, taking to Twitter over the weekend to argue that "Americans don't support war in Syria & neither does Congress. No clear U.S. interest or strategy. We don't want entanglement in this war." He also retweeted dozens of messages from military veterans opposing intervention in Syria.
President Obama: Flood the zone
The White House strategy, as one senior administration official put it, is to "flood the zone."
The president and his advisers are trying to hammer home in their conversations with skeptics on Capitol HIll that taking action is about more than just retribution for the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons, according to the administration official, who was not authorized to comment on the deliberations.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/09/02/syria-congress-guide-obama-pelosi-mccain/2754963/
The six key players in Congress' Syria debate
Here is a guide to the key players to watch, their strategies and the challenges they face:
Nancy Pelosi: Get out the vote
Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the top Democrat in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
John Boehner: Corralling the caucus
House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio responds to reporters' questions during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington.(Photo: J. Scott Applewhite, AP)
John McCain and Lindsey Graham: Key votes
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., left, accompanied by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks with reporters outside the White House in Washington, Monday, Sept. 2, 2013, following a closed-door meeting with President Barack Obama to discuss the situation with Syria.(Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais, AP)
Rand Paul: The hard 'No'
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/dfef4f922c583856fa371d04b3334d12bd5d856d/r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/USATODAY/NG/news/nation/2013/7/9/A__-1307301135_4_3.jpgSen. Rand Paul, R-Ky.(Photo: Jacquelyn Martin, AP)
The Kentucky Republican senator and his non-interventionist views are powerful forces within today's Republican Party. Paul's opposition to military engagement in Syria holds sway in both chambers because he has intellectual allies in the House and he is considered a potential 2016 presidential contender.
"I think the line in the sand should be that America gets involved when American interests are threatened. I don't see American interests involved on either side of this Syrian war," Paul said on NBC's Meet the Press, summing up one of the prevailing critical views in Congress on engagement.
Paul is capable of stirring up loud opposition among Tea Party-allied groups. His unsuccessful filibuster earlier this year against U.S. military use of drones made him a star among conservative groups skeptical of the U.S. national security apparatus and suspicious of executive power.
One Paul ally in the House, freshman Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., has already introduced the War Powers Protection Act, which would prohibit any military support to Syria without a congressional declaration of war. It has support from 13 mostly Southern Republicans.
The president's proposed resolution, which authorizes him to use the armed forces "as he determines to be necessary and appropriate," contains no limits on the president's power, Massie said, "It's basically a full-on-declaration of war, but it doesn't say that," he argued. "Lobbying missiles into a sovereign country is an act of war, whether you call it that or not."
But he bristles at the suggestion that he would turn his back on the rest of the world. "I'm not an isolationist," he said Monday. "I'm a non-interventionist."
Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., one of the supporters of Massie's bill, is also rallying opposition, taking to Twitter over the weekend to argue that "Americans don't support war in Syria & neither does Congress. No clear U.S. interest or strategy. We don't want entanglement in this war." He also retweeted dozens of messages from military veterans opposing intervention in Syria.
President Obama: Flood the zone
The White House strategy, as one senior administration official put it, is to "flood the zone."
The president and his advisers are trying to hammer home in their conversations with skeptics on Capitol HIll that taking action is about more than just retribution for the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons, according to the administration official, who was not authorized to comment on the deliberations.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/09/02/syria-congress-guide-obama-pelosi-mccain/2754963/