Entries from October 2008 ↓

If you’ve always wanted to read Ron Paul’s bestselling book The Revolution: A Manifesto but didn’t have the time to do so, check out this amazing 10 minute video summary of the book, provided by Chance Litton:

If you’ve always wanted to read Ron Paul’s bestselling book The Revolution: A Manifesto but didn’t have the time to do so, check out this amazing 10 minute video summary of the book, provided by Chance Litton:

Original post by admin

On October 29, 2008, Ron Paul was interviewed by Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. He criticized Obama and McCain, explained why he stayed in the Republican party, and described how America fell into Osama bin Laden’s terrible trap.

RM: And what about 2008’s grassroots sensation of the right wing, Republican Congressman Dr. Ron Paul. Dr. Paul stole the show at the Republican primary debates, largely by setting himself apart from the perceived pillars of the GOP. And last month at a third party press conference in in Washington, Dr. Paul announced he would not support John McCain. So what is the future of the Republican party, and who’s gonna be heading it up? Joining us now, former Libertarian presidential candidate, current Republican Congressman Ron Paul. Congressman Paul, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

RP: Thank you. Nice to be with you.

RM: I should speak more precisely and say that you were the Libertarian party’s nominee for President in 1998. You were a Republican Presidential candidate this year. Why did you decide to stick with the Republican party right through the primaries, and not try to be the nominee of the Constitution Party or the Libertarian Party this year?

RP: Mainly because the laws are very biased against people doing that. Some states won’t even allow you to do it. But the system is not very democratic for third parties and alternate choices. All the rules and all the laws are written by Republicans and Democrats, so it’s very hard to get in the debates. If I hadn’t been in the Republican primary I wouldn’t get into the debates. It’s very hard to get on ballots. Although they’ve done relatively well, it takes a lot of money. They’ll spend half their money just getting on ballots. So the system is very biased against competition, and that’s the reason so many of us, and I think a large number of the American people, in spite of this horse race going on, a large number of the American people, if maybe not the majority, think that really they don’t have a good choice and that the system is very biased and that the status quo is going to be maintained.

RM: By virtue of the fact that you did get into the debates and you worked hard at the Republican primaries, right through them, and you made a lot of money and you got a lot of attention, you attracted a lot of support, particularly from people who had seen themselves as outside the traditional market for politicos. You brought a lot of people into the political system who didn’t think there was a place for them in it before you. And for that I’ve always had a lot of admiration for how you ran this campaign this year. I wonder how you see those folks who you mobilized moving forward in the electorate. Do you think they are still alienated from he two party system, or could you imagine them lending their support to somebody?

RP: Well, a lot of them are running for office right now. You’d be surprised, there’s some states there’s 20 and 30 individuals up running, and they did it spontaneously due to the enthusiasm built in the campaign. New Hampshire and Minnesota, and different places, there’s a lot of candidates, we can’t even keep up with them, just as we couldn’t keep up with how we were raising the money in the primary.

There’s a lot of spontaneous energy because the message is so great. The message of individual liberty really attracted the young people. It’s interesting that a lot of young people that Obama has, go back and forth, they support him but they like me, and yet our message is significantly different, but our message is very attractive to young people. They like the idea of self-reliance and individual liberty. They like to get out of these wars. They love the idea of talking about monetary policy, which neither McCain nor Obama will dare talk about. Why do we have a Federal Reserve, and now that we have this financial crisis going on, the young people are really excited. Well, this is what we’ve been talking about not only for the past two years, but many more years. So it’s very appropriate to talk about this financial calamity, how it’s related to this trillion dollar a year expenditure that we spend on our foreign policy, and how it’s bringing us to our knees, and how we’ve more or less capitulated to Osama bin Laden’s idea of getting us over there, bogging us down overseas in a war like they did to the Soviets, bankrupting this country.

So we have fallen into a terrible trap, and right now we’re expanding it, and unfortunately, the two major candidates aren’t even talking about Syria and Pakistan, and the things that are important, because they essentially both agree with that viewpoint. They both say, send more troops to Afghanistan, and quite frankly, I am not expecting the troops, and regardless of whether Obama wins, that they’ll be home in 16 months. That is just pure political talk.

Both candidates support the same foreign policy, same monetary policy, neither one talks about balancing the budget, so the young people want to hear something different. They love the message of individual liberty. They love the idea of defending the Constitution, you know, that old fashioned idea, and that’s what has energized our campaign, actually it’s given me a lot of energy as well.

RM: Former presidential candidate, current Republican Congressman and political phenom, Dr. Ron Paul. Thank you so much for joining us tonight, Sir

On October 29, 2008, Ron Paul was interviewed by Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. He criticized Obama and McCain, explained why he stayed in the Republican party, and described how America fell into Osama bin Laden’s terrible trap.

RM: And what about 2008’s grassroots sensation of the right wing, Republican Congressman Dr. Ron Paul. Dr. Paul stole the show at the Republican primary debates, largely by setting himself apart from the perceived pillars of the GOP. And last month at a third party press conference in in Washington, Dr. Paul announced he would not support John McCain. So what is the future of the Republican party, and who’s gonna be heading it up? Joining us now, former Libertarian presidential candidate, current Republican Congressman Ron Paul. Congressman Paul, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

RP: Thank you. Nice to be with you.

RM: I should speak more precisely and say that you were the Libertarian party’s nominee for President in 1998. You were a Republican Presidential candidate this year. Why did you decide to stick with the Republican party right through the primaries, and not try to be the nominee of the Constitution Party or the Libertarian Party this year?

RP: Mainly because the laws are very biased against people doing that. Some states won’t even allow you to do it. But the system is not very democratic for third parties and alternate choices. All the rules and all the laws are written by Republicans and Democrats, so it’s very hard to get in the debates. If I hadn’t been in the Republican primary I wouldn’t get into the debates. It’s very hard to get on ballots. Although they’ve done relatively well, it takes a lot of money. They’ll spend half their money just getting on ballots. So the system is very biased against competition, and that’s the reason so many of us, and I think a large number of the American people, in spite of this horse race going on, a large number of the American people, if maybe not the majority, think that really they don’t have a good choice and that the system is very biased and that the status quo is going to be maintained.

RM: By virtue of the fact that you did get into the debates and you worked hard at the Republican primaries, right through them, and you made a lot of money and you got a lot of attention, you attracted a lot of support, particularly from people who had seen themselves as outside the traditional market for politicos. You brought a lot of people into the political system who didn’t think there was a place for them in it before you. And for that I’ve always had a lot of admiration for how you ran this campaign this year. I wonder how you see those folks who you mobilized moving forward in the electorate. Do you think they are still alienated from he two party system, or could you imagine them lending their support to somebody?

RP: Well, a lot of them are running for office right now. You’d be surprised, there’s some states there’s 20 and 30 individuals up running, and they did it spontaneously due to the enthusiasm built in the campaign. New Hampshire and Minnesota, and different places, there’s a lot of candidates, we can’t even keep up with them, just as we couldn’t keep up with how we were raising the money in the primary.

There’s a lot of spontaneous energy because the message is so great. The message of individual liberty really attracted the young people. It’s interesting that a lot of young people that Obama has, go back and forth, they support him but they like me, and yet our message is significantly different, but our message is very attractive to young people. They like the idea of self-reliance and individual liberty. They like to get out of these wars. They love the idea of talking about monetary policy, which neither McCain nor Obama will dare talk about. Why do we have a Federal Reserve, and now that we have this financial crisis going on, the young people are really excited. Well, this is what we’ve been talking about not only for the past two years, but many more years. So it’s very appropriate to talk about this financial calamity, how it’s related to this trillion dollar a year expenditure that we spend on our foreign policy, and how it’s bringing us to our knees, and how we’ve more or less capitulated to Osama bin Laden’s idea of getting us over there, bogging us down overseas in a war like they did to the Soviets, bankrupting this country.

So we have fallen into a terrible trap, and right now we’re expanding it, and unfortunately, the two major candidates aren’t even talking about Syria and Pakistan, and the things that are important, because they essentially both agree with that viewpoint. They both say, send more troops to Afghanistan, and quite frankly, I am not expecting the troops, and regardless of whether Obama wins, that they’ll be home in 16 months. That is just pure political talk.

Both candidates support the same foreign policy, same monetary policy, neither one talks about balancing the budget, so the young people want to hear something different. They love the message of individual liberty. They love the idea of defending the Constitution, you know, that old fashioned idea, and that’s what has energized our campaign, actually it’s given me a lot of energy as well.

RM: Former presidential candidate, current Republican Congressman and political phenom, Dr. Ron Paul. Thank you so much for joining us tonight, Sir

Original post by tmartin

A wise person once defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Now that Congress is considering yet another stimulus package in a desperate effort to keep our fraudulent monetary system afloat, one cannot help but wonder what their real intentions are. Don’t they realize that the more they attempt to paper over the cracks in the façade with money created out of thin air, the bigger the eventual collapse is going to be? As always, Ron Paul is a lone voice of reason and tries to reign in an insane, treacherous, or maybe just bewildered Congress that is driving us straight into the abyss of global socialism and dictatorship. — tmartin

Spending the Economy into Oblivion

by Ron Paul

With news this week that Congress is poised to consider a new stimulus package, I am forced to again ask a question that seems silly in Washington: How will we pay for this?

While a few Members of Congress have raised the issue, it certainly was not the primary concern of the House Budget Committee when they interviewed Ben Bernanke on Monday. And, when they did direct this question to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, his answer was the standard rhetoric about how Congress needed to make tough choices. Needless to say, not many specifics were discussed.

One of the most liberal members of the House, Barney Frank, has at least volunteered something of a suggestion: “We can let Iraq take care of itself.” This, of course, goes in the right direction, but hardly far enough.

We need to declare the facts and their obvious consequences. The deficit of the United States is now spiraling out of control, and the recent bailout package has only made it worse. Our crushing federal debt is one key reason behind our current economic turbulence.

As Congress begins to consider the third “stimulus package” of the year, we need to realize it is time to start setting priorities. Priority number one should be cutting spending in foreign countries. This does not simply mean Iraq, but everywhere.

The next stimulus package is likely to include money for infrastructure. While these investments are, constitutionally speaking, supposed to be made by state and local governments, it is not likely that Congress will suddenly begin to pay heed to the document we are all sworn to uphold. Still, we need to acknowledge the fact that the current Congress and Administration are rushing the nation toward bankruptcy.

This being the case, we could hope they would at least come to their senses regarding our debt and foreign spending sprees. Our nation’s foreign-held debt is at record highs and moving ever higher. Continuing to borrow money from Red China and others in order to pay “dues” to the United Nations and run “Plan Colombia” makes no sense at all.

Our whole carrot-and-stick approach to foreign policy makes no sense. The US government simultaneously gives money to Israel, and to Egypt. We send AIDS money to Africa while AIDS clinics in America shut down. “Millennium challenge” funding goes to countries which enact “market based reforms” as we push our own country further and further into a centrally planned economy.

Economic recovery will only come through financial prudence, savings and getting back to producing things of value again. But it seems to be a foregone conclusion that we are about to enact another government initiative to “stimulate the economy.” Instead, there should be some serious talk about cutting all of these foreign giveaway programs. But, alas and again, we should not hold our breath. Congress is still not close to being serious about ending its addiction to debt and spending, and is again faced with the deadly temptation to attempt to spend us out of a recession. We should not forget that in the 1930s those types of efforts gave us the Great Depression.

A wise person once defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Now that Congress is considering yet another stimulus package in a desperate effort to keep our fraudulent monetary system afloat, one cannot help but wonder what their real intentions are. Don’t they realize that the more they attempt to paper over the cracks in the façade with money created out of thin air, the bigger the eventual collapse is going to be? As always, Ron Paul is a lone voice of reason and tries to reign in an insane, treacherous, or maybe just bewildered Congress that is driving us straight into the abyss of global socialism and dictatorship. — tmartin

Spending the Economy into Oblivion

by Ron Paul

With news this week that Congress is poised to consider a new stimulus package, I am forced to again ask a question that seems silly in Washington: How will we pay for this?

While a few Members of Congress have raised the issue, it certainly was not the primary concern of the House Budget Committee when they interviewed Ben Bernanke on Monday. And, when they did direct this question to the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, his answer was the standard rhetoric about how Congress needed to make tough choices. Needless to say, not many specifics were discussed.

One of the most liberal members of the House, Barney Frank, has at least volunteered something of a suggestion: “We can let Iraq take care of itself.” This, of course, goes in the right direction, but hardly far enough.

We need to declare the facts and their obvious consequences. The deficit of the United States is now spiraling out of control, and the recent bailout package has only made it worse. Our crushing federal debt is one key reason behind our current economic turbulence.

As Congress begins to consider the third “stimulus package” of the year, we need to realize it is time to start setting priorities. Priority number one should be cutting spending in foreign countries. This does not simply mean Iraq, but everywhere.

The next stimulus package is likely to include money for infrastructure. While these investments are, constitutionally speaking, supposed to be made by state and local governments, it is not likely that Congress will suddenly begin to pay heed to the document we are all sworn to uphold. Still, we need to acknowledge the fact that the current Congress and Administration are rushing the nation toward bankruptcy.

This being the case, we could hope they would at least come to their senses regarding our debt and foreign spending sprees. Our nation’s foreign-held debt is at record highs and moving ever higher. Continuing to borrow money from Red China and others in order to pay “dues” to the United Nations and run “Plan Colombia” makes no sense at all.

Our whole carrot-and-stick approach to foreign policy makes no sense. The US government simultaneously gives money to Israel, and to Egypt. We send AIDS money to Africa while AIDS clinics in America shut down. “Millennium challenge” funding goes to countries which enact “market based reforms” as we push our own country further and further into a centrally planned economy.

Economic recovery will only come through financial prudence, savings and getting back to producing things of value again. But it seems to be a foregone conclusion that we are about to enact another government initiative to “stimulate the economy.” Instead, there should be some serious talk about cutting all of these foreign giveaway programs. But, alas and again, we should not hold our breath. Congress is still not close to being serious about ending its addiction to debt and spending, and is again faced with the deadly temptation to attempt to spend us out of a recession. We should not forget that in the 1930s those types of efforts gave us the Great Depression.

Original post by tmartin

William “BJ” Lawson is running for Congress in North Carolina’s 4th district. The race is very close and to help with a final media push, BJ Lawson’s supporters have organized a money bomb for today, Tuesday Oct. 28th.

Here are the top reasons to support Lawson and to participate in today’s money bomb:

• BJ Lawson is endorsed by Ron Paul.

  

  “A lot of folks have begun calling B.J. Lawson the next Ron Paul. The comparison is very flattering… for me.

  For those who are not yet familiar, B.J. Lawson is a wonderful young candidate running for Congress in North Carolina’s Fourth Congressional District. B.J. is a medical doctor, family man, Constitutionalist and a fierce defender of individual freedom. We need B.J. Lawson in Congress to stand beside me in the fight for liberty, and against the corporate socialism that has overtaken our economy!

  B.J. is running against an entrenched big government liberal who voted for the $700 billion taxpayer bailout of Wall Street and has a long history of voting for huge spending, raiding your social security trust fund for pet projects, and even voted for the Patriot Act.

  A recent poll shows B.J. Lawson within striking distance in this election, but he needs your help!” [...]

  – Ron Paul

• BJ Lawson showed his viability by beating the establishment candidate Augustus Cho in the primary election (May 6th) with 71% of the vote. Augustus Cho tried to make fun of BJ Lawson by calling him “Ron Paul Jr.”, which obviously backfired.
• BJ Lawson’s opponent David Price, a Big Government Democrat who voted for the PATRIOT Act, the HR 1955 “Thought Crimes Bill”, and the disastrous Bailout Bill, has grown quite uneasy. He is now running desperate attack ads and resorted to smearing BJ Lawson and Ron Paul as dangerous George Bush followers.
• Funds raised during today’s money bomb will be used to purchase and hand out pocket constitutions, which are the number one tool for introducing otherwise partisan folks to the idea of liberty, and to make a final media push to combat Price’s negative attacks with Lawson’s positive message of liberty.

For more information about BJ Lawson, visit his website, his blog, and watch his Oct. 14 debate with David Price:

Click here to participate in today’s money bomb!

William “BJ” Lawson is running for Congress in North Carolina’s 4th district. The race is very close and to help with a final media push, BJ Lawson’s supporters have organized a money bomb for today, Tuesday Oct. 28th.

Here are the top reasons to support Lawson and to participate in today’s money bomb:

• BJ Lawson is endorsed by Ron Paul.

  

  “A lot of folks have begun calling B.J. Lawson the next Ron Paul. The comparison is very flattering… for me.

  For those who are not yet familiar, B.J. Lawson is a wonderful young candidate running for Congress in North Carolina’s Fourth Congressional District. B.J. is a medical doctor, family man, Constitutionalist and a fierce defender of individual freedom. We need B.J. Lawson in Congress to stand beside me in the fight for liberty, and against the corporate socialism that has overtaken our economy!

  B.J. is running against an entrenched big government liberal who voted for the $700 billion taxpayer bailout of Wall Street and has a long history of voting for huge spending, raiding your social security trust fund for pet projects, and even voted for the Patriot Act.

  A recent poll shows B.J. Lawson within striking distance in this election, but he needs your help!” [...]

  – Ron Paul

• BJ Lawson showed his viability by beating the establishment candidate Augustus Cho in the primary election (May 6th) with 71% of the vote. Augustus Cho tried to make fun of BJ Lawson by calling him “Ron Paul Jr.”, which obviously backfired.
• BJ Lawson’s opponent David Price, a Big Government Democrat who voted for the PATRIOT Act, the HR 1955 “Thought Crimes Bill”, and the disastrous Bailout Bill, has grown quite uneasy. He is now running desperate attack ads and resorted to smearing BJ Lawson and Ron Paul as dangerous George Bush followers.
• Funds raised during today’s money bomb will be used to purchase and hand out pocket constitutions, which are the number one tool for introducing otherwise partisan folks to the idea of liberty, and to make a final media push to combat Price’s negative attacks with Lawson’s positive message of liberty.

For more information about BJ Lawson, visit his website, his blog, and watch his Oct. 14 debate with David Price:

Click here to participate in today’s money bomb!


Original post by tmartin

Watch the Third Party Presidential Debate between Chuck Baldwin and Ralph Nader which took place last Thursday (October 23):

Ron Paul endorsed Chuck Baldwin on September 23.

Ron Paul was interviewed on CNN’s American Morning today. He responded to Alan Greenspan’s Testimony to Congress, criticized the former Federal Reserve Chairman’s contribution to the financial crisis, and talked about the upcoming election.