Brett85
05-11-2015, 09:28 PM
http://www.wmur.com/politics/paul-opposes-granting-obama-fasttrack-trade-authority/32951864
Frustrated by being required to find his way to a private “dungeon” to read the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, Rand Paul said Monday he is a “no vote” on a provision to allow President Obama to complete the deal on a fast track.
The Republican presidential candidate said in an interview in Manchester he will vote against granting Obama trade promotion authority, which limits Congress to only up or down votes on trade deals. A vote on “TPA” is expected as early as Tuesday on the Senate floor.
The Kentucky senator spent part of the day in New Hampshire before heading back to Washington for a late afternoon vote.
He held a town hall at the Londonderry Lions Club, an event that was at least partially overshadowed by a top New Hampshire staffer licking the camera lens of a pro-Democratic video tracker. The video of David Chesley quickly went viral on social media.
Paul told WMUR.com the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement “is being held under lock and key” by the Obama administration “because they’re afraid that if the public knows what we are going to vote on, that somehow that would destroy the republic.”
Members of Congress must go to office of the U.S. Trade Representative to see a copy of the agreement, but are not allowed to take notes, make copies or bring any members of their staffs.
“I’ve told leadership I’m a ‘no’ vote” on trade promotion authority, Paul said. “I’m hesitant to give blanket authority on stuff we haven’t seen. I’m not saying there wouldn’t be a time I could be for it, if I’d seen the trade agreement, and it’s fine,” Paul said.
“I still might vote for the trade agreement, but I hate giving up power. We give up so much power from Congress to the presidency, and with them being so secretive on the treaty, it just concerns me what’s in the treaty,” he said.
Paul has been a leader in the Senate to do away with the NSA’s power to engage in mass collection of phone data. Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the program “exceeded the scope of what Congress has authorized” in the Patriot Act.
Paul said he hopes the case eventually goes to the U.S. Supreme Court, although that is not certain based on the status of the case. He said it is significant that the appeals court did not rule on the constitutionality of the NSA collection program.
“They ruled it illegal, and that may be lost on people but it’s a big difference,” Paul said. “However, it’s a pretty important ruling to be illegal. The court said the Patriot Act does not authorize this. But I also think the Constitution doesn’t authorize this.”
He said the Fourth Amendment requires specific names to be on warrants, “and you have to have probable cause and a judge has to sign it. So there are a lot of reasons to say this is an overstep by the government.
“But I would end it all,” he said. “On day one if elected president, I would stop the bulk collection. And when people say, ‘How would you stop terrorism?’ I would say, ‘The old-fashioned way. We’d use the Constitution.’”
The ability to “look into everyone’s house and into everyone’s records is antithetical to what our founders wanted,” Paul said.
At the town hall, Paul said Republicans have been equally responsible as Democrats in increasing the national debt.
“We borrow $1 million a minute, and it’s not pretty,” he said. “It’s going to end in calamity if we’re not careful.
Paul also talked about his goal of broadening the GOP.
“You’re going to have other Republicans who are conservative,” he said. “But New Hampshire is a purple state now. Republicans don’t always win. We need somebody who is going to bring new people into the party.
“People who are not just business owners, but the people who work for them,’ he said. “People who are not just part of America’s rich, but people who are poor or black or brown.”
Paul said the United Nations “should not have any power or authority over anything that happens inside the United States.
“I’m not against having some type of international forum where we try to work things out rather than have war,” said Paul. “I’m not against dialogue. I’m just against paying for people to come and attack America and tell us what a terrible country America is.”
On immigration, Paul said, “Let’s figure out a lawful way to do it. Let’s figure out how many immigrants we can absorb each year and let’s do it in as lawful manner. When you get past the politics of it, the only thing that will get us started in doing something about it is we have to have a will in the leader of the country, and we also have to have the laws to enforce the border and have border security.”
Frustrated by being required to find his way to a private “dungeon” to read the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement, Rand Paul said Monday he is a “no vote” on a provision to allow President Obama to complete the deal on a fast track.
The Republican presidential candidate said in an interview in Manchester he will vote against granting Obama trade promotion authority, which limits Congress to only up or down votes on trade deals. A vote on “TPA” is expected as early as Tuesday on the Senate floor.
The Kentucky senator spent part of the day in New Hampshire before heading back to Washington for a late afternoon vote.
He held a town hall at the Londonderry Lions Club, an event that was at least partially overshadowed by a top New Hampshire staffer licking the camera lens of a pro-Democratic video tracker. The video of David Chesley quickly went viral on social media.
Paul told WMUR.com the Trans Pacific Partnership agreement “is being held under lock and key” by the Obama administration “because they’re afraid that if the public knows what we are going to vote on, that somehow that would destroy the republic.”
Members of Congress must go to office of the U.S. Trade Representative to see a copy of the agreement, but are not allowed to take notes, make copies or bring any members of their staffs.
“I’ve told leadership I’m a ‘no’ vote” on trade promotion authority, Paul said. “I’m hesitant to give blanket authority on stuff we haven’t seen. I’m not saying there wouldn’t be a time I could be for it, if I’d seen the trade agreement, and it’s fine,” Paul said.
“I still might vote for the trade agreement, but I hate giving up power. We give up so much power from Congress to the presidency, and with them being so secretive on the treaty, it just concerns me what’s in the treaty,” he said.
Paul has been a leader in the Senate to do away with the NSA’s power to engage in mass collection of phone data. Last week, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the program “exceeded the scope of what Congress has authorized” in the Patriot Act.
Paul said he hopes the case eventually goes to the U.S. Supreme Court, although that is not certain based on the status of the case. He said it is significant that the appeals court did not rule on the constitutionality of the NSA collection program.
“They ruled it illegal, and that may be lost on people but it’s a big difference,” Paul said. “However, it’s a pretty important ruling to be illegal. The court said the Patriot Act does not authorize this. But I also think the Constitution doesn’t authorize this.”
He said the Fourth Amendment requires specific names to be on warrants, “and you have to have probable cause and a judge has to sign it. So there are a lot of reasons to say this is an overstep by the government.
“But I would end it all,” he said. “On day one if elected president, I would stop the bulk collection. And when people say, ‘How would you stop terrorism?’ I would say, ‘The old-fashioned way. We’d use the Constitution.’”
The ability to “look into everyone’s house and into everyone’s records is antithetical to what our founders wanted,” Paul said.
At the town hall, Paul said Republicans have been equally responsible as Democrats in increasing the national debt.
“We borrow $1 million a minute, and it’s not pretty,” he said. “It’s going to end in calamity if we’re not careful.
Paul also talked about his goal of broadening the GOP.
“You’re going to have other Republicans who are conservative,” he said. “But New Hampshire is a purple state now. Republicans don’t always win. We need somebody who is going to bring new people into the party.
“People who are not just business owners, but the people who work for them,’ he said. “People who are not just part of America’s rich, but people who are poor or black or brown.”
Paul said the United Nations “should not have any power or authority over anything that happens inside the United States.
“I’m not against having some type of international forum where we try to work things out rather than have war,” said Paul. “I’m not against dialogue. I’m just against paying for people to come and attack America and tell us what a terrible country America is.”
On immigration, Paul said, “Let’s figure out a lawful way to do it. Let’s figure out how many immigrants we can absorb each year and let’s do it in as lawful manner. When you get past the politics of it, the only thing that will get us started in doing something about it is we have to have a will in the leader of the country, and we also have to have the laws to enforce the border and have border security.”