Government Bullies
How Everyday Americans Are Being Harassed, Abused, And Imprisoned by the Feds
by Rand Paul


(Click for Amazon book review)

BOOK REVIEW by OnTheIssues.org:

This book is tedious to read. It comprises case after case (after case after case) about wetlands, and about how the federal government took inappropriate action against the owners of those wetlands. The reader concludes that there just MUST be another side to these stories! As a result, the book feels imbalanced -- like propaganda, rather than like an effective political argument. A few cases, focused on a few key issues, would have been better -- and even better yet would have been interviewing the enforcing agencies to get their side of the story.

The over-focus on environmental issues contributes to the feel of imbalance. There are other sections of the book, but the first 100 pages are dedicated entirely to the EPA -- that's "Part 1." Then "Part 2" brings up another 52 pages on environmental enforcement by NMFS -- which is a federal agency unrelated to the EPA, but readers will not make that distinction (it's the National Marine Fisheries Service, a branch of the Department of Commerce, under separate jurisdiction than the EPA, but it's still all just environmental law, to the casual reader).

Finally, beginning on page 155, we get some issues related to the TSA, the DHS, the FDA, and the USDA. Finally, after 155 pages, this book gets interesting -- because it makes some generalizations about federal activity and federal wrongdoing. Prior to mentioning those other agencies, it was unclear if Paul's argument was anti-environmentalist, anti-EPA, or just anti-Lacey Act (and other environmental laws). If the book had started with non-environmental agencies, and then applied the lessons to the EPA and NMFS, it would be more effective -- and would retain more readers too!

Senator Paul is running for president in 2016, the pundits say. This book is a good start, because it outlines numerous issue stances that Paul will fight for in the Senate and will bring to the fore in 2016. The senior Paul wrote numerous heavy-duty policy books; this is the first pure policy book by the junior Paul (he wrote a book on the Tea Party, but its focus was politics, not policy). We hope that Senator Paul will write more (and better!) books prior to 2016. The Paulistas who adored Senator Paul's father will enjoy this book -- but it's just too hard to read for the typical reader.

-- Jesse Gordon, jesse@OnTheIssues.org, Oct. 2013

OnTheIssues.org excerpts:  (click on issues for details)

Corporations     Rand Paul: Kelo decision was dangerous landmark in US law.     Sandra Day O`Connor: Beneficiaries of eminent domain should not be corporations.

Crime     Ayn Rand: Too many laws means men can't live without breaking laws.     Paul Broun: Stop over-criminalization in vague laws like Lacey Act.     Rand Paul: Lacey Act applies foreign laws to US citizens.     Rand Paul: Stop over-criminalization in vague laws like Lacey Act.     Rand Paul: Many criminal statutes lack requirement of criminal intent.

Energy & Oil     Rand Paul: Test older gas pipelines for explosion safety.     Ron Paul: EPA inflicts economic devastation to increase air quality.

Environment     Anthony Kennedy: "Navigable waters" includes "significant nexus" to water.     Antonin Scalia: "Navigable waters" should have permanent surface connection.     George Bush Sr.: 1989: America will lose no wetlands on my watch.     Heritage Foundation: No criminal penalties for violating foreign wildlife laws.     Rand Paul: Citizens run afoul of vague definition of "wetlands".     Rand Paul: EPA enforcement nullifies due process and judicial review.     Rand Paul: EPA regulations cost $15 trillion in 2012.     Rand Paul: Land rules made by delusional government interventionists.     Rand Paul: Navigable waters should mean permanently flowing.     Rand Paul: Our federal government regulates everything and anything.     Ron Paul: Cross-state purchase of raw milk is constitutional right.     Samuel Alito: EPA enforcement gives no recourse to homeowners.     Stephen Breyer: EPA regulations ignores precedent of judicial review.

Foreign Policy     Rand Paul: Freeze aid to Egypt until they release detained Americans.     Rand Paul: Stop sending foreign aid to people who don't like us.     Ray LaHood: Son arrested in Egypt during revolution against Mubarak.

Free Trade     Rand Paul: Participated with Raw Milk Freedom Riders civil disobedience.

Government Reform     Rand Paul: Fund new programs by deleting existing ones.     Ron Paul: What we say, do, and think has become government's business.     Ron Paul: More needless and harmful regulations today than ever.

Health Care     Rand Paul: Protect vitamin manufacturers from unreasonable regulations.     Ron Paul: Let nutraceutical ads include testimonials as free speech.

Homeland Security     Rand Paul: Military sacrifice spreads flame of freedom around the world.     Ron Paul: Get rid of the TSA, or limit its ability to harass citizens.     Ron Paul: We should privatize airport security, not nationalize it.     Tea Party: Outraged by how citizens are manhandled at airports.

Principles & Values     Ronald Reagan: 9 scariest words: I'm from the government & I'm here to help.

Technology     Rand Paul: Sharply questioned ban on incandescent light bulbs.     Rand Paul: TSA is a testament to Islamic terrorist's success.     Rand Paul: TSA's primary function violates the Fourth Amendment.

Welfare & Poverty     Clarence Thomas: Public Use Clause limits government's eminent domain power.

Click for quotations from other sources by: Anthony Kennedy Antonin Scalia Ayn Rand Clarence Thomas George Bush Sr. Heritage Foundation Paul Broun Rand Paul Ray LaHood Ron Paul Ronald Reagan Samuel Alito Sandra Day O`Connor Stephen Breyer Tea Party