Morning Roar: Rand Paul's Declaration of War, USA's Most Fee-Riddled Cities, Obama's Thanksgiving Regulations Dump
Rand Paul Proposes Declaration of War Against ISIS (Yes, with boots on the ground)One of (presumed 2016 GOP presidential candidate) Rand Paul's big selling points to libertarians, independents and liberals alike is his foreign policy, which had been based - for the most part - on staying out of foreign wars whenever and wherever possible. However, it seems that Rand has changed his mind in regards to ISIS, as he has proposed an official Declaration of War against the Islamic State.This resolution includes provisions for American troops on the ground for specific missions and goals, and the language is somewhat vague. Reason breaks down the limited scenarios in which troops can be deployed under Rand's vision:
1. "as necessary for the protection or rescue of members of the United States Armed Forces or United States citizens from imminent danger [posed by ISIS]"2. "for limited operations against high value targets"3. "as necessary for advisory and intelligence gathering operations"Paul has always been clear on the fact that he thinks ISIS poses an evolving threat to the American embassy in Baghdad and the consulate in Erbil. And he was previously in support of advising regional allies. So to my mind, 1 and 3 aren't anything new. Paul might have had a reputation for opposing ground troops, but in reality, if you count defending the consulate and advising allies as "boots on the ground," then he was actually already in favor of that. That stance might be wrong, but it isn't a contradiction.Situation 2, however, does strike me as quite different—and more problematic—than his initial stance. It's nice that it has the word "limited" in it, I suppose, but there is really nothing limiting about authorizing the use of ground troops for offensive military operations. And it's easy to see this rationale being used to justify all sorts of pro-active skirmishes with ISIS.
Exactly right - "limited" is a very subjective term, especially to the US military, which is accustomed to full scale conflict. "Limited" operations can still entail thousands of strikes costing billions of dollars and potentially hundreds of American lives.While I oppose the military actions (at least at this juncture of the conflict), I do fully support the resolution. Why? Under the simple rationale that the President shouldn't be undertaking the kind of military actions that he is against ISIS or anyone else without Congressional approval and an official Declaration of War. I've written on this topic previously, and it's good to see that ol' Randypants is in that camp along with me. Even Ron Paul once proposed a declaration of war against Iraq (which he voted against), merely for the purpose of forcing members of Congress to go on the record and take responsibility for military action there.This is Rand playing ball and achieving some modicum of control over the situation and America's military tactics, deployment and budget in the fight against ISIS while also petting the fur of the GOP war hawk crowd. It's not perfect, but overall it's a move I'm a fan of.USA's Top-Three Most Fee-Riddled Cities Reason has an entertaining and infuriating little piece on the top-three most fee-riddled cities, and it's no shock that all three are a total mess. They are, in reverse order, with my brief summation as to why these cities are the way they are:1. Detroit, MI - Incompetence2. Ferguson, MO (Breaking: No indictment in the Michael Brown case) - Abuse of law enforcement practices.3. Bell, CA - Government corruption.Click through here to see a bit more info on each.Obama's Turkey Day Regulations Dump! 3,415 New Regulations The Obama Administration knows how to party! Yes, they shake what their mama gave them and truly party out every time there is a national holiday that involves the majority of Americans getting off from work and ignoring the news media, celebrating with an annual dump of regulations that will massively effect the populace in a myriad of ways.You see, the administration tactically releases unpopular news, such as thousands of new regulations that are sure to draw the ire of millions, over these holiday weekends because they know the chances of people reading or hearing about them are slimmer.But don't you worry, we'll have a nice breakdown of the most awful ones next week. Can't pull the wool over these eyes, Obama!Read more over at the Daily Caller.The Morning Roar every weekday Monday-Friday right here at Lions of Liberty!The Lions of Liberty are on Twitter, Facebook & Google+Receive access to ALL of our EXCLUSIVE bonus audio content – including “Conspiracy Corner”, “Degenerate Gamblers” and the “League of Liberty Podcast” by joining the Lions of Liberty Pride and supporting us on Patreon!
