Rand Paul

'The Tea Party Goes To Washington': Rand Paul Inks Book Deal

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 23, 2010, 10:50AM

KY-SEN candidate Rand Paul (R)

The Senator from the tea party is going to become the author from the tea party starting in February 2011. Yesterday, Center Street Publishing -- a division of Hachette that produces "wholesome entertainment, helpful encouragement, and books of traditional values" -- announced it had inked a deal with Rand Paul, the Republican Sen.-elect from Kentucky, to write a book called "The Tea Party Goes to Washington."

From Center Street's release announcing what will surely be next year's must-have Valentine's Day gift:

In THE TEA PARTY GOES TO WASHINGTON, Rand Paul presents his plan--and the Tea Party's platform--to bring the U.S. government more in line with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, to stop spending money the country doesn't have, to stop borrowing, to balance the budget and reduce the size of the government.

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Tim Profitt

Kentucky Stomper's Attorney: Tape Shows 'My Client Is Justified' (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 19, 2010, 11:41AM

Tim Profitt, the former Rand Paul county coordinator who stomped on a MoveOn activist's head outside the final debate of the Kentucky Senate race in October, finally got his day in court yesterday. And though Profitt didn't say much, his lawyer told reporters that the notorious video of Profitt's foot crushing down on MoveOn activist Lauren Valle actually shows Profitt had been subject to a smear campaign.

Profitt appeared in a Lexington, KY court and pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge stemming from the incident, which briefly defined the Kentucky Senate race before Paul, the Republican nominee, won in a landslide Nov. 2.

The court was packed with folks trying to catch a glimpse of the Kentucky Stomper, according to reports from the ground. And though Profitt's been willing to discuss the incident before (like that time when he blamed a bad back for stepping on a woman that was being held down on the ground,) in court and afterward he kept his mouth shut.

His lawyer, however, laid out a defense to the charges that partly hinged on the video that got Profitt in trouble in the first place.

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Rand Paul

Sen.-Elect Rand Paul: We'll Look At Cutting Everything (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 8, 2010, 9:57AM

Kentucky Senate Candidate Rand Paul (R)

Newly crowned Senator-elect Rand Paul (R-KY) brought his "message from the tea party" from Kentucky to his biggest national interview since handily winning the election over Democrat Jack Conway last Tuesday. In a nutshell, Paul stuck to his tea party guns in the brief sitdown on ABC's This Week. The movement's moment has arrived, Paul told host Christiane Amanpour. Now it's time to start cutting. Cutting everything.

"Republicans traditionally say, 'Oh, we'll cut domestic spending, but we won't touch the military,'" Paul explained. "The liberals -- the ones who are good -- will say, 'Oh, we'll cut the military, but we won't cut domestic spending.'"

As for Paul and his tea party friends, "Bottom line is, you have to look at everything across the board."

Amanpour pressed Paul for specific cuts, but for the most part Paul preferred to talk in the same sweeping generalizations about cuts that helped win him the election and helped the tea party win the hearts of so many conservatives this year.

"We don't need bigger government," Paul said. "We need to shrink the size of government."

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KY-SEN

Rand Paul: We All Work For Or Sell Stuff To Rich People (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | November 2, 2010, 10:57PM

Fresh off his Kentucky Senate win, Rand Paul had some interesting things to say about a possible tax increase for the highest-income Americans: "We all either work for rich people, or we sell stuff to rich people. So just punishing rich people is as bad for the economy as punishing anyone."

He also said: "We're all interconnected. There are no rich, there are no middle class, there are no poor. We're all interconnected in the economy."

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KY-SEN

Rand Paul In Victory Speech: This Is A 'Tea Party Tidal Wave' (VIDEO)

Jillian Rayfield | November 2, 2010, 10:02PM

Kentucky Senator-elect Rand Paul's victory speech tonight heavily referenced his speech from his Republican primary night win: "I have a message, a message from the people. The people of Kentucky. A message that is loud and clear and does not mince words: We've come to take our government back!"

"Tonight there's a tea party tidal wave, and we're sending a message to them," said Paul.

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KY-SEN

Rand Paul Wins Kentucky Senate Race

Evan McMorris-Santoro | November 2, 2010, 7:03PM

Rand Paul

Get ready for two Pauls, one Congress. Rand Paul, son of Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), won the Kentucky Senate race tonight, according to the cable news networks. With just 103 out of 3,578 precincts reporting, Paul leads Democrat Jack Conway 54.7-45.3. MSNBC and CNN have called the race for the Republican.

The win means the controversial junior Senator from Kentucky, Jim Bunning, who often publicly scraps with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, will be replaced by another controversial junior Senator from Kentucky who got where he is today in part by publicly scrapping with McConnell already.

It may be no surprise, then, that Paul has said he intends to emulate Bunning's irascible nature, which led him to vote against TARP and hold up unemployment benefit extensions for months while even fellow members of his Republican caucus tried to stop him.

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