I remember around this time 4 years ago...
Neither of the U.S. presidential candidates really stood out.
In the end, it was just a decision between a bad candidate and a worse candidate.
But I think that's changed this time around.
I've never before listened to a candidate who brought so many important issues to the table.
Of course I'm talking about Ron Paul.
Last election, people bickered about moral issues,
trying to elect whichever candidate supported their stance on a particular issue.
Candidates are once again lined up along party lines, trying to distinguish themselves by playing upon American moral sentiment regarding relatively insignificant issues, as these are the only issues they do not already agree upon.
But Paul says it's not Congress' role to force moral policy down America's throat.
Remember back in civics class when you read that powers not granted by the Constitution were reserved for the states?
Limited government? A real limited government? I never even considered such a thing as a viable option until now.
But here he is, running for President. What does he propose?
- get us out of Iraq ASAP
- bring back virtually ALL troops stationed abroad
- stop running America into debt
--- especially by ending costly wars abroad and by slowly weening America off government welfare
- do away with the Federal Reserve, an entity which is not run by the government yet prints all our money and has complete control over our economy
- do away with both the 16th Amendment and the IRS
--- the IRS itself is unconstitutional
--- the income tax only serves to redistribute the wealth of the lower and middle classes to the monetary elite
- do away with government subsidies and needless bureaucracies in favor of a truly free market
- get the US out of debt (currently ~9 trillion dollars)
- trade with nations instead of going to war with and subsidizing them
- get us out of NAFTA, CAFTA, WTO, and other organizations that threaten our economic and political sovereignty
- secure out borders
- limit the power of government over individuals (do away with illegal searches, restore habeas corpus, etc.)
Wow, and I thought we were hung up on issues like "stem cell research" last year.
Morality is great, but with freedom, you don't have to vote on one form of morality over another.
Aside from Constitutional issues, this is exactly why state and local governments exist.
And here we have a candidate talking about issues that directly effect literally everyone.
These are real, tangible issues that must be addressed.
I personally believe in his policies and goals, and I don't know of anyone better suited to lead the U.S.
I hope that I've at least sparked your interest; that's precisely why I've taken the time to create this Member site and guild.
In case you were wondering, I do have another key. Some of you may know me as Gakumerasara.
I've already donated $100 directly to the Ron Paul campaign, and I consider this $15 Member site to be a good investment in America's future, if for no other reason than to spread the word.
I was registered to vote as non-party affiliated,
but after hearing about Ron Paul and his message of liberty,
I changed my status to Republican just so I can vote for him in the primaries.
I intend to use this Member page to achieve 3 goals:
1) Introduce people to Ron Paul.
2) Discuss Ron Paul's ideas and his stance on various issues.
3) Discuss problems facing America today that many people may not know about.
For more information on Ron Paul, visit his campaign website: http://www.ronpaul2008.com
An interesting YouTube video, also a good introduction: http://youtube.com/watch?v=IWfIhFhelm8
Feel free to post in the guild forum.
I look forward to informed and intelligent debate and conversation.
1) Non-interventionism is not the same as isolationism. In fact, we're more isolated now than ever before. The "Coalition of the Willing" is no more; it's just America acting alone. Ron Paul supports free trade, not U.S. sanctions and the creation of vassal states and empire building.
2) It isn't the American tax-payer's duty to fund the policing of the world. Everything we do today around the world has a price tag attached, even though most people do not realize it. Why do we have troops in Germany for example? The people of Germany are quite capable of taking care of themselves. The same can be said of most other nations where we currently station troops, including Iraq. 3) If we don't pull out of Iraq, the Iraqis have no incentive to take care of themselves. Right now our military does practically everything for them, including policing the streets, which is, as you probably guessed, a policeman's job. Until we pull out, the Iraqis have no incentive to stand up for themselves and take control of the situation. As of right now, they have the most powerful military in the world baby-sitting them; what could be better than that? How much do they have to spend on defense under this scenario? practically zero. 4) Our occupation of the Middle East is the reason we are the prime target of fundamentalist Muslim terrorists. Osama bin Laden himself has said this. Why don't terrorists attack Sweden? because Sweden does not occupy their Holy Land. Do some research on "blowback" for more information. 5) One of RP's mantras: You can't spread democracy by force. We should set a good example here in the US so that others seek to emulate us. 6) We've lost more of our personal liberties since the "War on Terror" began than at any other point in recent history. How can we preach the message of Liberty abroad when out own liberties are being taken away from us? 7) "Free trade agreements" are not actually free trade; they're regulated trade. We can trade with countries without regulations imposed upon us by outside. Instead, we currently allow foreign interests to dictate policy to us through "free trade agreements" and undermine our national sovereignty. This is why Ron Paul wants us out of NAFTA and the WTO, which do not serve our interests in any way. 8) We are currently experiencing a HUGE trade deficit, especially with China. American goods must become competitive against oriental imports (i.e. - with the help of tariffs) or American jobs will continue to be outsourced into oblivion. These are all issues I will be addressing in future blog posts and on the forums (if they are brought up). Thanks for your post; these are all important issues. | |
- Mandate that each American trade in his fossil fuel consuming autocar for a environmentally friendly perpetual-motion-powered hover bike.
- Abolish Potato chips. - Do away with NASA, it's time pluto probed itself, damnit. | |
IainPeregrine wrote:
- Mandate that each American trade in his fossil fuel consuming autocar for a environmentally friendly perpetual-motion-powered hover bike. I have serious doubts about how environmentally friendly violation of the laws of thermodynamics would be. | |
One major question - how the hell does this guy think a government can function without some form of income tax? And how the hell does it just redistribute money to the wealthy? Sliding pay scales, anyone?
Furthermore, one of the other bigger questions - what's Ron Paul think about the rampant theocracy and blatant breaking of separation of church and state in America today? Does he do what every other politician seems to do and appeal repeatedly to his Christian morality and Christian ideals and we need more Christianity? Or does he actually give a damn about freedom of religion? | |
Good questions.
One major question - how the hell does this guy think a government can function without some form of income tax? 1) The income tax isn't the only tax used by the federal government. Ron Paul seeks to restore the federal government to Constitutional levels, which means it won't spend as much money and also won't require as much money in taxes. Government bureaucracy wastes TONS of money each year fulfilling tasks that are questionable at best, and in many cases outright unneeded. We have plenty of other taxes that don't place a direct burden on the lower and middle classes who are already struggling to get by. 2) The United States got along just fine without an income tax right up until 1913. And how the hell does it just redistribute money to the wealthy? Sliding pay scales, anyone? What do you think happens to your federal income tax? Does it go to fund government projects? welfare? the military? wrong, none of the above. Virtually all income tax goes straight to the INTEREST on the national debt. This interest is the price we pay to the Federal Reserve for the privilege of letting it print America's money. (edit: There are other entities, both public and private, including other countries, that also have a stake in the national debt. But by far the largest chunk of it goes to private banking interests.) Thus, your income tax goes into the pockets of the private bankers who run the Federal Reserve. This is the redistribution of wealth I was talking about. what's Ron Paul think about the rampant theocracy and blatant breaking of separation of church and state in America today? Does he do what every other politician seems to do and appeal repeatedly to his Christian morality and Christian ideals and we need more Christianity? Or does he actually give a damn about freedom of religion? That's actually one of the best things about him. Instead of the typical candidate who seeks to impose his moral beliefs on America, he says it's not the federal government's role to dictate morality. The federal government should stay out of moral issues and leave these up to the states. There's no secret that different states are made up of different demographics, and what works in one state will not necessarily work in another. It's time to stop forcing one-size-fits-all moral legislation from the top down. These are issues that should be handled at the local and state levels. I hope that answers your questions. Again, I'll begin posting topics on specific issues every 2-3 days, and from the replies to this topic alone, I see several issues that can potentially be addressed. | |
Why didn't someone tell me this guy was pro-life? Seriously pro-life, I mean. I'm willing to overlook a multitude of crazyness (gold standard, anyone?) for a candidate that takes the issue seriously.
External article by the candidate. Edit: The above text was found via a search, and I have no clue as to opinions and statements of the website on which its resides. | |
You can't just pull our troops out of the global stage, no matter how bad we look right now the policies we promote are genuinely loved by everyone throughout the world. Democracy and Openness are loved everywhere. The people that protest American policies and things like Guantanamo aren't against our values but the things that we do that go against the values that we promote - like Guantanamo.
And it's better to be second best in a growing world economy than best in a stagnant one(china and tariffs). And uh yeah... you want to pull out of all these free trade agreements but still trade with countries? Doesn't make a lot of sense.