Sat. 12/08/25 12:37 EDT
.post #237
[url=Scandal! RevPac Founder Reveals Juicy Behind The Scenes Details - #5 by ClaytonB]
I transcribed it:
Matt Welch: All the juice in American politics, basically since TARP and the bailouts, have been in that direction. Even if it’s not specifically Tea Party, it’s been in the direction towards cutting the size of government, freaking out about it and reacting that way. Why has it taken so long for people who work around here to realize that?
Rand Paul: Well, there is a disconnect and my dad used to always say that there’s a lag time, you know, maybe of years, between what’s going on in America and what’s going on in Washington. And there’s the lag time because maybe they’re not truly connected to the people that well, they’re not home as much as they used to be, but there’s also a lag time because those in Washington are more concerned about furthering their career. And who do we see every day that comes in the office? Somebody with their hand out wanting money. Not poor people; rich people come in here with their hand out, and corporations, special interests, lobbyists…they all want something. In fact, one of my favorite little, ah, signs or stories is there’s a Michigan congressman who’s elected and he’s got a sign up in his office and it says “If you’ve come looking for money you’re in the wrong office.” But that’s what happens. So they get influenced by the wrong people and they are also self-preservation, they want to stay here once they get here, and to stay here they think you have to please the ah, the lobbyist. And I think the opposite may be true. See, like they don’t want to talk about Social Security, in fact, they don’t want me to talk about Social Security. I’m going to anyway, because…
Nick Gillespie: And who is “they” in this…?
Rand Paul: Well, let’s just … “they” …
Nick Gillespie: Yeah, okay. (laughter)
Rand Paul: …official wa…official Washington … but anyway, you know, because they, they uh, they don’t want us out in front of the issue, they want the president to absorb some of the blow - when you talk about entitlement(?), they think there will be blows - but I think even politically they’ve miscalculated, because I think people are hungry for someone who will step up and say “This is what’s wrong and this is what I’m going to do to fix it.” Look at who…look at the reaction of Chris Christie: He’s nothing if nothing else he’s frank, he’s to the point, he’s unafraid to say what’s wrong, and all of a sudden people respect that, and I think even some of the media seems to be paying him some respect. So, I think it’s a wrong political strategy and it’s also wrong for the country just to sit back and not try to lead us out of the problems we have.
Clayton, I confess I don’t hear or read anything unusual. What, specifically, are you referring to?