Alright a silly question, since I can't think of any more serious ones. How did you feel about Firefly/Serenity?

Good day Rand,

Thanks for hosting this AMA... Question: When do you plan to start acting like top tier candidate? Let me clarify. You hail from a family of respected libertarian constitutional conservative opinion. You have and continue to fight for the right causes (respect for the constitution, individual rights, smaller government, dealing with national debt, warrantless over reach of government, etc). You command an audience that is not being contacted by the pollsters. When are you going to start acting like you already belong on stage. You're not gathering momentum because you yourself have turned a blind eye to your already existent momentum.

The question was rhetorical...

We, the educated and responsible people of this country,!are dealing with uninformed voters to whom of which we need to vote in aggregate with your current supporters.

You need to be the Champion of the Constitution, but you also need to be the Professor of Reality... Our fellow Americans don't know what they don't know... And that it what stands between you and the White House. If you want to get elected as President and do the job we all so desperately need started.. Because a president can't do it themselves... You need be most effective educator...

That's my two cents...
Joshua Leonhardt
Charlotte, NC
joshuadleonhardt@gmail.com

Dr. Paul, what are your thoughts on the prospect of replacing welfare with a guaranteed basic income?

Numerous times you have said you don't want marriages registered in Washington the same way you don't want guns registered there either. Yet you have also said the states should be able to decide which marriages should be legal or not.

If two guys wanted to co-sign a loan for a car, could they be denied simply because of their gender? Would you let the state decide whether that co-signed loan was acceptable? Or would that action be protected under the 14th Amendment? (And let's assume they have good credit, etc. Gender is the only reason for rejecting the loan).

Now let's say it's not two guys. Let's say it's a married man co-signing a car loan with his mistress. Would you say the state could vote to nullify the contract between a married man and his mistress because of an immoral relationship? Could the banker/salesman object to selling this car or offering the loan due to moral reasons? Does the 14th Amendment protect the banker/salesman in this situation? How about the man and his mistress?

Now let's say it's not a car loan. Let's say it's a consensual contractual obligation between two individuals to share their incomes, property, assets, and liabilities. Maybe there are some other shared obligations in the mix. For some reason the government thinks such contracts should be registered with and regulated by the state and they tend to call it a Marriage. And this time it's not a man and his mistress, but two men and perhaps they happen to practice behavior that some might call Biblically immoral. Does the 14th Amendment protect these individuals so that they can enter into such a contractual obligation? Or can the states vote to prohibit such contracts? Would a public servant - perhaps a County Clerk from your own state - be legally protected by the 14th Amendment to use her own bias toward gender or morality to nullify or prohibit such a contract?

will you work to abolish the minimum wage to help unskilled workers get jobs?
I'm a big fan of you and your father, by the way

Dr. RP: you say you are pro-life. Why can't you say that you support the life of a pregnant woman and that a fetus cannot usurp her rights?

I know you're in favor of letting states decide how to treat Marijuana themselves, but one of the biggest things holding back medical and recreational use of Marijuana is the fact that because of our outdated federal laws, it's nearly impossible for researchers to study it. Would you be in favor of loosening these restrictions and allowing scientists to conduct more research on the drug? And wouldn't legalization help take power from the drug cartels, increase tax revenue and relieve our overcrowded prison system?

Dr. RP: why are you so reluctant to be more aggressive to destroy the worst enemy we have ever had?

Dr. Paul, what is your stance on education reform? Is there something that can be done about student debt? Do you think our public schools need to have a greater focus on technology and teaching students real world skills in high demand such as coding?

Hello Dr. Paul,

I'm not a Republican nor a Democrate, I vote for the candidate, not the party. I'm just learning about you frankly, as in your second debate, you came across much more appealing to me than you did in the first debate. So, after the second debate, I watched some interviews you have and have become more and more impressed, the more I learn about you. There are a lot of topics we need to cover. From foreign policy, taxes to social issues. In my research, I found your thoughts on foreign issues and the tax system you propose. So, I will ask you a social issue question. Where do you stand on the Supreme Court's decision that banning same sex marriage is against civil liberties of those citizens? Would you try to change the current status of same sex marriage? What is your belief in same sex marriage?

Thank you and looking forward to learning more!

Another question I have for you Senator Paul would be why are bills presented to the house and senate allowed to be so ridiculously large and complex? Why can there not be a limit imposed of say 10 to 20 pages where a proposed bill would be easily readable. Anything that requires more space than that is far too complex of a law and is most likely really not needed. In the very rare cases where an issue would come up that might require a larger bill, it would have to pass a majority vote in a few committees with adequate reasons given for it being excessive in length. We already have far more laws on the books than can be enforced and it's been said that everyone is guilty of something that is already law. Why do we need to keep passing all these complex laws?

Do you hold mixed feelings about the UNC-Chapel Hill Students for Rand? ;) #tarheels4rand

Dr. Paul,

Which of the other Presidential candidates do think could help you and your administration? In regards to the same question, what role would you ask them to play?

Also want to shout out to Max Keiser & Mike Rowe. Both would be great, in my opinion, to do something campaign related with such as a interview or event. Might be able get a couple more non political endorsements :)

Dr Paul, your father was able to mobilize voters very well. Do you expect to do better than you are polling?

Dr. Paul,
I'm particularly interested in areas of space policy;

How do you see NASA under a Rand Paul administration?

As President would you continue and/or expand the commercial procurement reforms started by NASA in a limited fashion under the current administration with programs like Commercial Orbital Transportation Services(COTS), Commercial Resupply Services(CRS), and Commercial Crew Development(CCD), in which private companies provide and develop hardware for NASA activities on a fixed-price basis, rather than the traditional bureaucratic development process in which NASA subcontracts companies on a cost-plus basis?

Should the US government try to avoid solely relying on Russian sourced hardware(such as the Russian made RD-180 engine) for critical activities?

Thank you for coming to this AMA and I hope you will be able to answer some of my questions today, space policy is a complex topic, and one which no candidate has yet been willing to touch on.
David Whitfield
@Scribbles646

Would you consider, alongside your term limit proposal, setting congressional pay at a annually fluctuating rate proportionate to the average wage in the area each congressman represents? Not exactly what the average is per say but atleast tied in/tiered, therefore it would be in eachs best interest to read bills and not pass anything that could be potentially harmful to the electorate they represent. Thanks

That unfortunately is a state issue, not a federal one. The federal government cannot, or at least it should not be able to, mandate that states change their laws or make laws requiring others to accept you with your past.

That being said, I do think all states need to start adopting laws and policies that allow for people to have their records expunged after say 10 or 15 years, no matter what the crime is, as long as they do not have any other convictions. It should not be held over their heads forever.

Unfortunately you still have to suffer the negative consequences and figure out a way to over come them when you get in trouble with the law. It can be tough and it would be a good discussion on how to best help people reintegrate into society as many find it very difficult or near impossible.

Our roads and bridges are falling apart, and very little is being done to repair or replace them. The result of which has cost many American's their lives.
Infrastructure repair and replacement is a high priority as working roads and bridges reduce congestion, increase profits for companies that ship products, and is safer for people and limits damage to machinery. It will produce, taxable, jobs for hardworking Americans.

Honorable Dr.Paul, you have not supported infrastructure reform regardless of the positive impact it will have on our health and economy. Will you consider reversing your stance, as indicated by your poor voting record in this area, and supporting an infrastructure overhaul?

Thank you for your time.

Should you be elected president, you will likely have stiff resistance in Congress (no matter which party is in charge) to substantial spending/governmental reform. To overcome that, you will need substantial public support. How can you achieve that?

Dr. Paul,

I have been and continue to be very excited about your campaign. I am concerned by the number of candidates in this race and the broad range of positions that brings to the table. Many Republican voters view your platform as libertarian and isolated, they're are not comfortable with your position. How do you plan to overcome this and gain a competitive edge on the other candidates? How can we help?

Dr. Paul, it's obvious the 'outsiders' are high in the polls because people are mad at Crony corruption and Incompetence in government. How can you, better, tap into this backlash to rise in the polls?

(Brazoswood '76)

Hi Dr. Paul, I would like to see the DEFICIT become the #1 issue in this campaign. Why are voters not interested in this subject when we're facing bankruptcy as a nation? Is there a way to get this message across to voters who don't seem to have a clue (or if they do, don't care) how much money we owe. Thank you and you have my vote!