2014 SC Senate debate: on Homeland Security

Tim Scott: Maintain a superior nuclear arsenal

Scott: Agree

Thomas Ravenel: No NSA snooping; defend the Fourth Amendment

For those who've forgotten your social studies, the Fourth Amendment affirms the right of the people "to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures"--and requires search warrants to be issued "upon probable cause."

Who doesn't support this amendment? Sen. Lindsey Graham--who has attacked Paul in the past for his defense of liberty. Graham has repeatedly defended the mass snooping of the National Security Agency (NSA)--going so far as to say he was "glad" the government was unconstitutionally obtaining private records with no warrant and no probable cause.

Thomas Ravenel: No more blood & treasure on 'nation-building' in Iraq

"Here's my challenge to Lindsey Graham: Stop fearmongering using other people's sound bites--and other people's blood and treasure--and give us some hard numbers," Ravenel said. "Tell us exactly how much is it going to cost to mold Iraq into the country you want it to be? We know trillions of dollars and thousands of lives have already been lost there in the name of 'nation-building'--yet the situation is worse than it's ever been. So tell us Senator: How many more trillions of dollars is it going to take? How many more dead heroes? How many more lost limbs? How many more shattered families? How many more PTSD victims?"

Thomas Ravenel: I want a military that defends America, not Germany or Japan

Thomas Ravenel: We absolutely must have the world's strongest military

Lee Bright: Maintain a superior nuclear arsenal

Bright: Agree

Joyce Dickerson: I'm mad as heel about delays in veterans' care

"When a relative or a spouse or a loved one has to lie in a hospital for 21 months before they can get service, that is unacceptable," said Dickerson. "I'm mad as hell about that. I will fight for my vets every step of the way."

Lindsey Graham: Doing nothing about Benghazi leads to a more dangerous world

In a recent interview, Graham tied together different areas where he believes Obama has failed: "When you tell the world we're gonna find the people who killed our four Americans in Libya, including the ambassador, and you do nothing about it; whether you agree with his policy in Syria, Egypt, whether you agree with his policies, when he tells people there will be consequences, and there are none, it sets in motion exactly what you see."

Graham argued he wasn't harping on Benghazi for political reasons: "Everything I've done has been about what I think is best for the country. I think it's best to find the truth about Benghazi, when my primary's over, I'm gonna still be on Benghazi," he said.

Jay Stamper: NSA domestic spying included innocent U.S. citizens

In June, Senator Graham defended NSA surveillance practices, saying they are "limited to tracking people who are suspected to be terrorists."

The NSA has now disclosed that one of its programs illegally intercepted thousands of domestic emails and communications annually for at least three years before informing the FISA court. "Lindsey Graham was aware of NSA privacy violations and deliberately misled South Carolinians," said Stamper. "Accordingly, I call on Senator Graham to apologize to the people of South Carolina."

Graham said back in June: "I'm glad the NSA is trying to find out what the terrorists are up to overseas and in our country. I'm glad that activity is going on, but it is limited to tracking people who are suspected to be terrorists."

Lindsey Graham: NSA domestic spying only targets terrorism suspects

Here's what Graham said back in June: "I'm glad the NSA is trying to find out what the terrorists are up to overseas and in our country. I'm a Verizon customer. I don't mind Verizon turning over records to the government if the government is going to make sure that they try to match up a known terrorist phone with somebody in the United States. I don't think you're talking to the terrorists. I know you're not. I know I'm not. So we don't have anything to worry about."

Graham seemingly neglected the criticisms that come with operating a surveillance program that blanket tracks the records of people not even suspected of a crime.

Lindsey Graham: NSA leaker Edward Snowden is a felon, not a hero

GRAHAM: I don't think he's a hero. I believe he hurt or nation. He compromised our national security program designed to find out what terrorists were up to. So, the freedom trail is not exactly China or Russia. I hope we'll chase him to the ends of the earth, bring him to justice and let the Russians know there will be consequences if they harbor this guy.

Q: Should we put pressure on Russia to hold him there?

GRAHAM: Absolutely. They want to be part of the world community, the WTO. They want a good relationship with the United States. They should hold this felon and send him back home for justice.

Lindsey Graham: Cuts to military systems will leave us with a hollow force

Sen. McCAIN (R-AZ): As Lindsey gave you the numbers, there are disproportionate cuts to defense. Defense is 19% of the discretionary spending. It's taken 50% of the cuts.

Q: But wouldn't that be a way to start, though?

GRAHAM: Here's why it won't work. We're taking $45 billion a year out of the Defense Department over the next decade. At the end of the decade, we're going to have the smallest Navy since 1915, 232 ships. We're going to have the smallest Air Force in history; the smallest Army since 1940. Our defense spending will be below 3% of GDP. We will have a hollow force. Personnel costs are exempted from sequestration. So you take all the systems, except military pay, and over a decade, you destroy the Defense Department. There is no amount of flexibility in the world will fix this.

Jack Reed: Don't over-react to Benghazi; situation was confused

Sen. GRAHAM (R-SC): I want to know who took the references to Al Qaida out of the talking points? I'm not going to stop [holding up nomination hearings] until we get to the bottom of it.

Sen. REED: This is unprecedented and unwarranted to stop or attempt to try to stop the nomination of a secretary of defense and a CIA director. Almost simultaneous to the situation in Benghazi, there were attacks on our embassies in Cairo. In fact, mobs were storming the gates. There were threats throughout the region: the situation was confusion. A military response would have been difficult if not impossible because of simply time and space.

Q: You say that holding up nominations is unwarranted?

REED: To ask legitimate questions is completely appropriate. But to say, "I'm going to disrupt the nomination of two key members of the president's Cabinet," I don't think that's appropriate. I don't think it's warranted. I think it is an overreaction.

Lindsey Graham: President did not do enough to protect Benghazi embassy

GRAHAM: Well, there's a six-person rescue team left Tripoli to reinforce the annex in Benghazi. They arrived at 1:30 in the morning Libyan time. And it was not until 5:00 that they could get to the annex. They were held up for three and a half hours at the airport, had a lot of bureaucratic snafus. Here's my question: Did the president ever pick up the phone and call the Libyan government and say, "Let those people out of the airport?" Secretary Clinton said she was screaming on the phone at Libyan officials. Did the president call? This was incredibly mismanaged.