Rand Paul broke with GOP senators to oppose failed Iran sanctions bill

[AminCad]

http://thinkprogress.org/world/2014/01/30/3228081/rand-paul-iran-sanctions/

Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) said this week that he is against passing a new round of sanctions on Iran while talks on a final nuclear deal are ongoing.
A battle has been ongoing in the Senate over whether to move forward with an Iran sanctions bill championed by Sens. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Mark Kirk (R-IL). The bill attracted dozens of cosponsors — including from a handful of Democrats — when it was introduced last month. But momentum slowed in the face of opposition from the White House, senior Senate Democrats, various security experts and grassroots activists who argue the measure would derail negotiations with Iran and could lead to war.

Only two GOP senators — including Paul — stood on the sidelines as the rest of their Republican colleagues voiced support for the bill. But the Kentucky Republican — in little noticed comments after President Obama’s State of the Union address on Tuesday — broke his silence, bucking his caucus in opposing the bill.

The bill was a step toward war, as it would have violated the Geneva deal. Thanks to the presence of individuals like Paul in the Senate, the bill was scuttled and a rapprochement between Iran and the US remains possible.

I think this was a major test of Paul's willingness to stand for his principles against tremendous political pressure, and he passed.

 

[VoluntaryAmerican]

Neocon! Sellout!

See he panders and says all the wrong things!

/sarc

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Kind of an old story at this point. It's based on Rand's interview following the SOTU.

It's not going to come to a vote.

 

[libertygold]

Where was Ted Cruz on the issue? Probably voted for the sanctions then headed straight to New Hampshire to tell everyone he cares about liberty ignoring the fact that you can't have liberty with such an interventionist foreign policy.

 

[Brett85]

Where was Ted Cruz on the issue? Probably voted for the sanctions then headed straight to New Hampshire to tell everyone he cares about liberty ignoring the fact that you can't have liberty with such an interventionist foreign policy.

There wasn't a vote on it. There probably won't be a vote since Reid decides what comes up for a vote, and Reid isn't in favor of the new sanctions at this time.

 

[Christian Liberty]

@TC- It doesn't matter, I'm still glad Rand is standing with us instead of the neocons.

This ignites my excitement for him a bit.

 

[Brett85]

I'm still glad Rand is standing with us instead of the neocons.

Yeah, me too. I just hope that he holds strong.

 

[Spikender]

Good move.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Where was Ted Cruz on the issue?

IIRC, Cruz was a cosponsor of the new sanctions.

 

[Cap]

+1 for Rand.

 

[Christian Liberty]

In all seriousness, genuinely, this tells me a lot.

Because I honestly did not expect this.

Go Rand!