I agree with JMart below that Libertarians are compelling and frustrating. Actually, a big bowl of whipped cream that looks good, but has no practical substance.
He says the ends don't justify the means, but he supports free trade with dictators. If he said capitalism with the rest of the liberal agenda of freedom, rule of law, enforcement of contracts, etc., he'd make a lot more sense. Buying Iranian oil to fund their proxies trying to eliminate Israel in no way makes us richer.
His moralistic stance on spending puts more power in the executive, not less. Presumably he and his mates could torpedo any legislation, which he will do if he sticks to his guns on voting against any such bill which increases the Federal debt, i.e., all of them. Trump then will have no choice but to attempt executive actions to implement his agenda. Not good. It also makes Paul an authoritarian as he is thwarting the will of the electorate which voted republican in this cycle to fulfill his own Quixotic adventures.
Such politicians are harmless when their party is out of power, but hell when that party is in power.
Rand Paul is equal parts super impressive and other times frustrating as hell. His take on tariffs is misguided. I sense he’s trying to fit a square “too much government” peg into a round “tariffs” hole. I’m all for less government and appreciate his stance on the budget, overseas spending, censorship, etc. But not on tariffs.
I get his take on how tariffs could cause our prices to rise. But what about countries that unfairly tax, or ban, US companies? Should we not reciprocate?
The other issue, and maybe even more important, is that without tariffs the U.S. relies way too much on foreigners for critical products. Wouldn’t tariffs help bring the manufacturing of these products to the U.S.?
And don’t get me started on how much farmland and factories are being purchased by foreigners.
These are all questions that should have been asked. I would sure like to hear Rand Paul’s answers.
Bari, you missed some important follow up questions
I appreciate Rand Paul's consistency and that he seems to have a coherent philosophy of government and budgeting. Like another commentor, I disagree on the issue of tariffs- they are a tool that we need to be able to use when our trading partners are not abiding by the same rules as we are. It isn't a competitive advantage that we should embrace in low prices if goods are produced by slave labor or if our trading partner is stealing intellectual property or refusing to let our products into their market. Sometimes we need to pay more for goods if we want longer term benefits.
Bari (and others at TFP) please let go of the incidental Trump hits. So he talked with Tucker, big deal. Will you do a deep dive on all the Loomer-like people who might appear in Kamala's entourage? How about the Commerce Secretary saying Trump needs to be eliminated? Will you or anyone ask Kamala to disavow her? The Springfield OH stuff, too. Even if we don't have video and signed confessions of Haitians eating cats, there was a larger point being made about what was going on in a town that all of sudden had 20K people drop in. It is really petty when you do this without pointing out all the similar stuff on the D side. I've really liked your podcast and TFP, and don't expect you to be conservative, but would like more balance.
No question about slave labor , Paul talks to the free market and free trade without slaves , what if there are slaves , how would Paul answer this ? What about child labor ? These are economics reality's so how do you handle this Paul ? Paul has good ideas about limiting power of a president and return the power to the Constitution ideas .
Weiss, seems to try to set trap after trap to get Paul to denounce Trump and or other Republicans again and again would she do this to a Dem ? Paul is an independent type Republican of sorts , I think liberals don't understand the many differences in what the new Republican party is , it's is more like this independent type and less with the traditional old style Republican party . I guess this confuses liberals a lot funny .
You mentioned in your interview with Rand Paul you are a leftist. You seem at the very least to be a moderate. Nellie Bowlles whose writing I love and respect. She seems to be going back to hers NYTs past. David Jisha,Beaumont Texas
good to hear Rands' voice amplified - Bari as a avid listener I only ask that while interviewing could you omit the pejoratives before peoples names! Most folks call that leading the witness or in this case interviewee. No need to check your bias in editorials but otherwise pejoratives before Carlson or Owens names is out of bounds. Lastly if there is a reason to vote for either candidate this year it is the promise of Musk and crew retooling our government not to reduce service but to remove redundancies that drive cost and confusion. Harris will never do this, Trump and team will begin
I have been following Rand Paul longer than I have been following The Free Press and I have voted Republican for 50 years. I don't know what Trump is but he is not a Republican. This year I will have to abstain from voting for President. Kamala says what she is told to say and Trump is unstable. Senator Paul is my idea of a Republican.
Good interview. But Bari's typical framing the Gaza conflict as a "battle of good versus evil" is both ethically reductive and counterproductive. I wish she and her colleagues would try to take a more nuanced perspective, acknowledging the strategic and ethical mistakes of Israel as well as the - admittedly - much larger ones on the other side. Whenever I hear Bari and others I admire greatly push this view, I'm reminded of a verse from Leonard Cohen's song "In my Secret Life":
"The dealer wants you thinking / That it's only black or white / Thank God it's not that simple ..."
Late to the party on this one...
I agree with JMart below that Libertarians are compelling and frustrating. Actually, a big bowl of whipped cream that looks good, but has no practical substance.
He says the ends don't justify the means, but he supports free trade with dictators. If he said capitalism with the rest of the liberal agenda of freedom, rule of law, enforcement of contracts, etc., he'd make a lot more sense. Buying Iranian oil to fund their proxies trying to eliminate Israel in no way makes us richer.
His moralistic stance on spending puts more power in the executive, not less. Presumably he and his mates could torpedo any legislation, which he will do if he sticks to his guns on voting against any such bill which increases the Federal debt, i.e., all of them. Trump then will have no choice but to attempt executive actions to implement his agenda. Not good. It also makes Paul an authoritarian as he is thwarting the will of the electorate which voted republican in this cycle to fulfill his own Quixotic adventures.
Such politicians are harmless when their party is out of power, but hell when that party is in power.
Best Senator in DC
Rand Paul is equal parts super impressive and other times frustrating as hell. His take on tariffs is misguided. I sense he’s trying to fit a square “too much government” peg into a round “tariffs” hole. I’m all for less government and appreciate his stance on the budget, overseas spending, censorship, etc. But not on tariffs.
I get his take on how tariffs could cause our prices to rise. But what about countries that unfairly tax, or ban, US companies? Should we not reciprocate?
The other issue, and maybe even more important, is that without tariffs the U.S. relies way too much on foreigners for critical products. Wouldn’t tariffs help bring the manufacturing of these products to the U.S.?
And don’t get me started on how much farmland and factories are being purchased by foreigners.
These are all questions that should have been asked. I would sure like to hear Rand Paul’s answers.
Bari, you missed some important follow up questions
Would like to see additional nuanced voices like Rand Paul regarding the conflict in Gaza and overall defense spending.
Only one of the two people I admire in D.C. Thank you for interviewing Senator Paul.
I appreciate Rand Paul's consistency and that he seems to have a coherent philosophy of government and budgeting. Like another commentor, I disagree on the issue of tariffs- they are a tool that we need to be able to use when our trading partners are not abiding by the same rules as we are. It isn't a competitive advantage that we should embrace in low prices if goods are produced by slave labor or if our trading partner is stealing intellectual property or refusing to let our products into their market. Sometimes we need to pay more for goods if we want longer term benefits.
Bari (and others at TFP) please let go of the incidental Trump hits. So he talked with Tucker, big deal. Will you do a deep dive on all the Loomer-like people who might appear in Kamala's entourage? How about the Commerce Secretary saying Trump needs to be eliminated? Will you or anyone ask Kamala to disavow her? The Springfield OH stuff, too. Even if we don't have video and signed confessions of Haitians eating cats, there was a larger point being made about what was going on in a town that all of sudden had 20K people drop in. It is really petty when you do this without pointing out all the similar stuff on the D side. I've really liked your podcast and TFP, and don't expect you to be conservative, but would like more balance.
No question about slave labor , Paul talks to the free market and free trade without slaves , what if there are slaves , how would Paul answer this ? What about child labor ? These are economics reality's so how do you handle this Paul ? Paul has good ideas about limiting power of a president and return the power to the Constitution ideas .
Weiss, seems to try to set trap after trap to get Paul to denounce Trump and or other Republicans again and again would she do this to a Dem ? Paul is an independent type Republican of sorts , I think liberals don't understand the many differences in what the new Republican party is , it's is more like this independent type and less with the traditional old style Republican party . I guess this confuses liberals a lot funny .
You mentioned in your interview with Rand Paul you are a leftist. You seem at the very least to be a moderate. Nellie Bowlles whose writing I love and respect. She seems to be going back to hers NYTs past. David Jisha,Beaumont Texas
good to hear Rands' voice amplified - Bari as a avid listener I only ask that while interviewing could you omit the pejoratives before peoples names! Most folks call that leading the witness or in this case interviewee. No need to check your bias in editorials but otherwise pejoratives before Carlson or Owens names is out of bounds. Lastly if there is a reason to vote for either candidate this year it is the promise of Musk and crew retooling our government not to reduce service but to remove redundancies that drive cost and confusion. Harris will never do this, Trump and team will begin
I have been following Rand Paul longer than I have been following The Free Press and I have voted Republican for 50 years. I don't know what Trump is but he is not a Republican. This year I will have to abstain from voting for President. Kamala says what she is told to say and Trump is unstable. Senator Paul is my idea of a Republican.
I stand with Rand.
Good interview. But Bari's typical framing the Gaza conflict as a "battle of good versus evil" is both ethically reductive and counterproductive. I wish she and her colleagues would try to take a more nuanced perspective, acknowledging the strategic and ethical mistakes of Israel as well as the - admittedly - much larger ones on the other side. Whenever I hear Bari and others I admire greatly push this view, I'm reminded of a verse from Leonard Cohen's song "In my Secret Life":
"The dealer wants you thinking / That it's only black or white / Thank God it's not that simple ..."
Don't be a dealer, Bari.
Great interview. Why are the politicians who make the most sense, sadly, the least influential?
I liked Ron a whole lot
When you mix nanotechnology and broken ribs. A recipe for reluctance.