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Rand PaulMay 26, 2015 U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) was specifically talking about Republicans and conservative activists who say they support freedom and small government, but then say NSA spying and the PATRIOT Act -- two things that expand the size, role, and power of government -- are necessary for the security of the nation. However, such an inconsistency can be applied to pretty much any issue -- people are against something when they have something to gain from the position or to stick

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear the case, Evenwel v. Abbott. The case centers on what constitutes the principle of 'one person, one vote,' which came out of the 1964 Reynolds v. Sims decision. The group behind the challenge is a a 501(c)(3) organization called the Project on Fair Representation. The same group successfully challenged key provisions of the Voting Rights Act in the case, Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder in 2013. The plaintiffs contend that Texas' State Senate distri

Some Republican presidential candidates are facing a serious problem: they may be denied access to some debates during the primary election season. The 2016 GOP presidential field is going to be huge, and it is going to feature current and former governors, senators, entrepreneurs, and even a retired neurosurgeon. The problem? There are simply going to be too many candidates to fit on one stage. The RNC, understandably, doesn't want the debates to turn into a circus, and the cable networks sim

Kentucky U.S. Senator Rand Paul announced on his Facebook page and Twitter account that he has taken the Senate floor to begin his filibuster of renewing the PATRIOT Act, specifically provisions in Section 215 that are set to expire at the end of the month. Check out the live footage of Paul's filibuster here. https://twitter.com/RandPaul/status/601079082676318208 1:15 pm ET - Rand Paul takes the floor by saying, "There comes a time in the history of nations when fear and complacency allow pow

On May 7, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the NSA's bulk collection of phone records was illegal, putting Congress in a difficult position. However, legislation in Congress may dilute attempts to reform surveillance practices. The USA Freedom Act was once hailed by privacy advocates as a step toward reining in the controversial practices leaked to the public by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Various versions of the bill have been introduced in the House of Representatives,

Earlier this week, a bill that would fully legalize marijuana in Texas surprised many politicos in the state when it cleared the House Criminal Jurisprudence Committee in a 5-2 vote. The author, state Rep. David Simpson (R-Longview), a tea party conservative, is pushing the proposal on religious grounds, arguing that marijuana comes from God and therefore should not be banned. "State law currently makes no exceptions even for medical marijuana, making outright legalization unthinkable. Still, a

Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee launched his 2016 presidential bid on Tuesday in Hope, Arkansas, the hometown he shares with former President Bill Clinton. Huckabee kicked off his campaign by appealing to social conservatives, exclaiming that the United States has fallen off the moral path. The Hill reports: "“We’ve lost our way morally,” Huckabee told a cheering hometown crowd during his speech in Hope, Ark.“We’ve witnessed the slaughter of over 55 million babies in the name of choice

In circulation is a petition in which members of PEN are disassociating themselves from the decision of the PEN American Center to honor the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, with the Freedom of Expression Courage Award. By the most recent count, it has 145 signatures, and has been signed by esteemed authors such as Teju Cole, Junot Díaz, Joyce Carol Oates, and the poet Charles Simic. Why? While the petition begins by acknowledging the tragedy of the murder of many of Charlie Hebdo's s

The 2016 Republican presidential field continues to grow and Jeb Bush has not even officially entered the race yet. U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rand Paul (R-Ky.), and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) will compete for the more conservative voters of the GOP's base, and now there are two more candidates they will have to compete with: former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Dr. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon. While Ben Carson is considered a political neophyte, his remarks during the 2013 Nation

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state laws barring elected judges from directly asking for campaign donations. “Judges are not politicians, even when they come to the bench by way of the ballot,” Chief Justice Roberts wrote in the decision, joining the court’s four liberal justices in a 5-4 decision. The LA Times reports: The decision marks one of the few times the high court has rejected a free-speech claim involving politics and campaigning. Roberts split fro