Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Ron Paul

A few people and organizations I trust have recently led me to check out the views of one Dr. Ron Paul, a Republican in the House of Representatives - Texas, 14th District.

As many know, Ron Paul ran a presidential campaign in 2008 as he did in 1988, but this time, he refused to leave the Republican Party in order to do it (in 1988 he ran as a Libertarian third-party candidate).

I've avoided politics for most of my adult life. I'm one of those disillusioned people who believe that no politician is ever really looking out for the people, and who doesn't really care about the future of this nation. But there is a simple solution: all politicians at the federal level take an oath to uphold the Constitution; the only problem is that few follow it. The few that do follow it are an example of what the federal government should be about, and Ron Paul - a strict Constitutionalist - seems to have more of a pulse on the problems this country faces, and sensible solutions to those problems - than anyone else in Washington.

Here's a summary of his views, as well as a few YouTube videos and links. You'll understand quickly why I support him instead of either Senators currently in the race for the white house (Barack Obama, John McCain).



  • Federal Reserve: RP's position is that the Fed needs to go, along with fiat currency. Only sound currency (based on some asset) has any real value over time; all fiat currencies eventually end. The Federal Reserve abuses its unconstitutional position of power to play God to the markets when the free market is the only entity/organism that knows how to set prices of any kind.
  • Federal Government: The Constitution clearly lays boundaries to the government's level of authority, with a checks and balances system, and even holds that any powers not specifically granted to it should be in the hands of the individual states. Any social welfare program, income tax, etc. that limits your rights as an individual or attempting to redistribute wealth, or artificially limiting moral hazard in the marketplace is unconstitutional and should not be allowed. The current size of our federal government is too large and should be limited back to the vision the Founders had.
  • Individual Liberty: The Constitution provides that no person shall be denied life, liberty, or property (without due compensation). Any law limiting those liberties (drug laws, gun laws which also go against the 2nd amendment, etc.) at the federal level is inconsistent with separation of powers between the federal government and state governments. RP also believes in no entitlements for anyone, as this leads to social welfare and redistributes wealth via a form of socialism (usually that wealth is accumulated by the government via taxation). The free market would take care of all of the people's goods and services demands, and is the only entity qualified to do so.
  • War/Foreign Policy: Believes that we should be out of any territory unless there is a clear and present danger to the sovereignty of our nation, in which case a declaration of war is necessary in order to take action against another nation. In today's world, this means withdrawing from Georgia, Germany, Iraq, South Korea, Taiwan, Japan - any nation in which we have troops where Congress did not declare war on that nation.
  • Trade: Believes in free trade, not managed free trade (no NAFTA, no WTO). Free market economics dictate uniform tariffs where required and otherwise free trade among private entities even across country's borders (note: this is an important distinction between isolationism and non-interventionism; RP is non-interventionist but still believes in free trade).

These are just a few of his positions and I may edit this document to add more focused viewpoints later. Seeing the man himself speak is the easiest way to get a sense of what he believes in:






Be sure to watch all six clips.

More below, mostly on the economy, the Fed, wars, and current election:









[Recent Interview with The Cauldron (Ohio)]
[Campaign for Liberty website]

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ron Paul started a movement that will grow in strength before the next presidential election. His "Campaign for Liberty" is exceeding my expectations already (his supporters still aren't giving up!). I only hope there are more candidates as principled and inspirational as Ron Paul in the future, but that seems hard to imagine. 10 terms in Congress without EVER voting for a tax increase!? There's only one Ron Paul out there today. I hope his movement continues to gain support.

Frank said...

Hey Dan, thanks for posting here!

I'm disappointed Paul was not the Republican nominee; I feel if this bailout business had happened a year ago, he would have had an even better shot because people would have researched his voting record and platform and it would have gained more support during the election year. In this country, the minority of the people seek truth, and the majority seek the same old garbage politics we've had (the debates this year just sickened me). I am considering a long term plan of running for public office, but in my home state of Massachusetts, that's incredibly difficult (to get a realistic message across to people who are so brainwashed by the corruption of Yankee politics). Who knows, maybe I'll move to Texas? :) Ron Paul won't be around forever as he's already 73, so one only hopes that his campaign lives on and we find someone just like him but younger who will have more chances in the future to be elected to a high office (Senator, Governor, President). I posted on the Facebook board that I think a bunch of us should join together to find candidates with "Paulian" (or, simply, Constitutionalist) values in each state, and run with that idea to get a nationwide, ongoing campaign up and running while Dr. Paul is still around to help spread that word...thoughts? Or does this already exist?