Republican Senate candidate in Kentucky Rand Paul insists he was not calling Hal Rogers an “errand boy” Monday night.<\/p>\n
It was at the McCreary County GOP’s Lincoln Day Dinner where Dr. Paul (eye surgeon) took aim at wasteful Washington spending…and pronounced it a bi-partisan disease which has led to record federal debt.<\/p>\n
“The system of pork barrel spending is what got us into this mess,” said Paul. There was stirring among the Republicans gathered…but no applause.<\/p>\n
Paul continued: “We have legislators we sent to Washington who think their job is to be an errand boy or an errand girl for us…and grab as much federal money as they can get and bring it back.”<\/p>\n
Sitting at the table closest to the podium was Hal Rogers…CONGRESSMAN Hal Rogers. The 5th District Republican who went to Washington the same year Ronald Reagan did…1981. Rogers is a prolific procurer of federal dollars (aka ‘pork’). Last year alone…according to Citizens Against Government Waste…Rogers hauled home $80-million dollars in pork.<\/p>\n
So was Rand Paul CALLING OUT Rogers?…in Rogers’ own district?…within shouting distance of the Hal Rogers Parkway?…fingering Rogers for being part of the spend-aholic DC crowd?…with Rogers SITTING RIGHT THERE?<\/p>\n
“No,” says Paul, “I try not to refer to individuals in particular…but…if…if…they…if the message is coming to ’em…they should be listening…”<\/p>\n
I ask, “If the shoe fits…”<\/p>\n
Paul responds, “Yup.”<\/p>\n
THIS is the tenor of the Paul campaign. Vowing not to be afraid to lose…Paul is running a\u00a0call-it-as-he-sees-it offensive on Republicans who’ve strayed from fiscal conservatism. He is anti-waste…anti-tax…anti-bailout…anti-TARP…anti-Stimulus. He gets that from his dad.\u00a0Paul is the son of the nation’s most famous Libertarian…Congressman and former Presidential candidate Ron Paul.<\/p>\n
The younger Paul has tapped into a chord of discontent…call it an anti-establishment vibe in voters…especially among Tea Party members. Not surprisingly…Tea Partiers are pretty fond of Paul.<\/p>\n
“The bail-outs? Half the Republicans voted for the bail-outs. We don’t need more Repulicans. We need more Conservatives,” says Mica Sims…mother…blogger and Lexington Tea Party organizer. After talking with all the GOP candidates for Senate…she decided to back Paul.<\/p>\n
“I KNOW he’s a fiscal conservative,” says Sims.<\/p>\n
Getting back to McCreary County…after Paul all but called Hal Rogers an un-repentant part of Washington’s budget woes…Trey Grayson stepped to the mic.<\/p>\n
Grayson…Kentucky’s two-term Secretary of State acknowledge there is discontent among Kentucky voters. The anti-establishment feeling is out there. But on this occasion…Senate candidate Grayson did what many would say is the smart political thing. He passionately defended Rogers.<\/p>\n
Grayson refered to “one of my opponents”…but it was clear this one was lobbed at Paul:<\/p>\n
“When he’s calling out career politicians…he’s calling out Hal Rogers and Mitch McConnell…and let me tell you one thing. Hal Rogers and Mitch McConnell are part of the solution in Washington. They are not part of the problem!”<\/p>\n
A standing ovation followed.<\/p>\n
The only Republican more popular than Hal Rogers in Kentucky’s 5th district…might be Mitch McConnell. It was an apt move by Grayson. Rogers and McConnell can mobilize a lot of votes come primary day…and Grayson seems likely to get their help.<\/p>\n
Rand Paul doesn’t care. He’s calling them as he sees them…no matter which Republican’s feathers get ruffled.<\/p>\n
“If we don’t believe in bailing out private businesses…we shouldn’t be voting for it. If we don’t believe in government ownership of banks…we should be voting for it,” says Paul.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in McCreary County…where Rogers and McConnell are legends…and Grayson is very well liked…a curious thing has settle in to the area…that anti-establishment feeling among folks.<\/p>\n
Tim Gorder…chairman of the McCreary County GOP says,”They’re tired of the ones that’s already been in office. It’s gonna be close between Rand and Trey…I figure…as of right now.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Republican Senate candidate in Kentucky Rand Paul insists he was not calling Hal Rogers an “errand boy” Monday night. It was at the McCreary County GOP’s Lincoln Day Dinner where Dr. Paul (eye surgeon) took aim at wasteful Washington spending…and pronounced it a bi-partisan disease which has led to record federal debt. “The system of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4732,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-303697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4732"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=303697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/303697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=303697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=303697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=303697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}