Ronald Bailey: Rand Paul May Regret Voting Against the USA FREEDOM Act
Earlier this week, the USA FREEDOM Act needed the votes of 60 senators in order for debate on the bill to proceed. The bill would have reined in aspects of massive domestic spying on innocent Americans by the National Security Agency. The bill garnered only 58, and so it did not make it to the floor. One of the 42 voting against was Sen. Paul. Why? Paul said that he opposed the legislation on the grounds that it extended three unconstitutional provisions of the PATRIOT Act. Civil libertarians were disappointed by Paul's vote. Reason Science Correspondent Ronald Bailey worries that the senator has allowed his advocacy for the perfect to get in the way of the merely better.