Tod
Member
- Joined
- Aug 22, 2011
- Messages
- 5,062
I invite a critique of the following:
Hi, all
I thought I would share with you my plans on voting in the 2012 presidential election. In my opinion, the preferred candidate is Ron Paul.
I’ve been reading up on him and listening to speeches and examining his position on issues, and in my humble opinion, he’s the
only one in the race with an ounce of integrity and values, he’s a strong supporter of the Constitution, and he’s been saying the same things
for the past 30-40 years.
He also has shown that he has an excellent understanding of the economy and why we are in the situation we are currently facing.
Among other things, he is on record of:
• In 1988 he predicted the collapse of the Soviet Union (which happened 2-3 years later)
• In 2001 he predicted the collapse of the housing bubble (which happened about 6 years later) AND explained why it would happen
• In 2002 he predicted the rapid expansion of the size and scope of the federal government that is occurring now and noted that it would
make both the establishment conservatives AND liberals happy.
• In 2002 he predicted that Americans would become poorer and less free in the coming decade
• Voted FOR the war in Afghanistan for their role as a training & support ground for the 9/11 terrorists
• Voted AGAINST the war in Iraq
• Voted AGAINST the Patriot Act because it violates the 4th Amendment and is contrary to the spirit of a free and open society.
• In 2007 he predicted where Osama Bin Laden would found (Pakistan)
• Correctly understands the history that lead up to 9/11, history that our own CIA confirms. The other candidates are so wrapped up in
phony patriotism that they refuse to accept the truth
• He votes AGAINST participation in agreements such as NAFTA & CAFTA because he believes the so-called “free trade” agreements are misnamed
and they actually do not promote free trade but instead serve to benefit certain special interests such as multinational corporations and result
in the “giant sucking sound” of jobs going out of the country (as Ross Perot described it) and they reduce our national sovereignty.
• He votes against participation in organizations such as the WTO and UN because they reduce our national sovereignty and create undesireable
entanglements that place our nation at risk (Jefferson wrote about this)
• He believes the Federal Reserve System (our “central bank”) is a corrupt organization that was formed to benefit the large banks and the federal
government at the expense of ordinary Americans in part by creating continual inflation, which is a hidden tax. The Fed was designed in secret
by a group of politicians and bankers in 1910 on Jekyll Island, Georgia. It wrote the Federal Reserve Act which was, with difficulty and by removing
some especially troubling language, passed by Congress in 1913. Since it was passed, the Act has been modified over the years to be more in
line with the original intentions of the designers. In the 1940’s we adopted the international Bretton Wood System, which allowed the Fed
more freedom to manipulate the currency and then in 1971 Richard Nixon completely abandoned any pretext at a gold standard, making the
dollar entirely fiat money (money that is good only because the gov’t says it is good). Prior to the 40’s, the dollar fluctuated between fairly
brief periods of inflation and deflation but after, with one minor exception, there has been only inflation in varying degrees. That inflation
amounts to a tax: our savings becoming less valuable over time. For more information about the Fed, read “The Creature From Jekyll Island”
Dr. Paul believes that the Fed should be audited, given competition, and eventually phased out altogether.
• He believes that much of the federal bureaucracy is unconstitutional and that many departments should be shut down, leaving some of those
functions to the States as the country’s founders intended.
• He believes that our military and covert agencies should NOT be used for pre-emptive or offensive uses but instead should be reserved strictly
For the defense of our country and as such is in favor of bringing home the troops that we currently have abroad in more than 130 countries and
closing the 700-900 bases around the world (number depends on your definition of a “base”)
• He believes that we should NOT be using torture and that places like Gitmo should be closed because they are in opposition to what America
should stand for.
• And a LOT more….
A bit about him, from the web:
Congressman Ron Paul is the leading advocate for freedom in our nation’s capital. As a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, Dr. Paul
tirelessly works for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies. He is known among his
congressional colleagues and his constituents for his consistent voting record. Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is
expressly authorized by the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Dr. Paul is the “one exception to the Gang
of 535” on Capitol Hill.
Ron Paul was born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Gettysburg College and the Duke University School of Medicine, before
proudly serving as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the 1960s. He and his wife Carol moved to Texas in 1968, where he began his medical
practice in Brazoria County. As a specialist in obstetrics/gynecology, Dr. Paul has delivered more than 4,000 babies. He and Carol, who reside in Lake
Jackson, Texas, are the proud parents of five children and have 17 grandchildren.
While serving in Congress during the late 1970s and early 1980s, Dr. Paul’s limited-government ideals were not popular in Washington. In 1976, he
was one of only four Republican congressmen to endorse Ronald Reagan for president.
During that time, Congressman Paul served on the House Banking committee, where he was a strong advocate for sound monetary policy and an
outspoken critic of the Federal Reserve’s inflationary measures. He was an unwavering advocate of pro-life and pro-family values. Dr. Paul consistently
voted to lower or abolish federal taxes, spending and regulation, and used his House seat to actively promote the return of government to its proper
constitutional levels. In 1984, he voluntarily relinquished his House seat and returned to his medical practice.
Dr. Paul returned to Congress in 1997 to represent the 14th congressional district of Texas. He presently serves on the House Committee on Financial
Services and the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. He continues to advocate a dramatic reduction in the size of the federal government and a
return to constitutional principles.
Congressman Paul’s consistent voting record prompted one of his congressional colleagues to say, “Ron Paul personifies the Founding Fathers’ ideal
of the citizen-statesman. He makes it clear that his principles will never be compromised, and they never are.” Another colleague observed, “There
are few people in public life who, through thick and thin, rain or shine, stick to their principles. Ron Paul is one of those few.”
Brief Overview of Congressman Paul’s Record:
He has never voted to raise taxes.
He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
He has never taken a government-paid junket.
He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
He voted against the Patriot Act.
He voted against regulating the Internet.
He voted against the Iraq war.
He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
Mainstream Media, Talk Radio, and Dr. Paul
If you listen to the Mainstream Media or listen to conservative AM talk radio for very long, you’ll quickly notice that they frequently either: 1) try to
pretend that he doesn’t exist or 2) try to label him as a crazy man. If you take the time to delve into his positions and reasoning, you’ll see that
not only is he NOT crazy, he’s the only one making any SENSE. He is also a lot more popular with people than you might believe because he
does NOT get the huge financial support from large corporations and special interest groups. Why doesn’t he get their support? Simple: It is because
he has shown that he can’t be bought out by them: he is too principled.
His opponents
Likewise, if you examine his major opponents in depth, you’ll find that they have things in common that are the opposite of Dr. Paul. However, as Dr. Paul’s
message has started to resonate more and more with informed voters, recently they have started picking up many of his discussion points and trying to claim
them for themselves in an attempt to appear to the public that they are as in tune with events as he has proven himself to be. About the only issue that
they have continued to embrace is all of the warfare. He is standing alone on that, although if we keep it up much longer, we’ll HAVE to stop it if for no other
reason than it is bankrupting us.
Eisenhower warned us back in a speech in 1961 of being wary of the “military industrial” complex. Today, industries and multinational corporations have
unprecedented influence over legislation and our government. Both sides of the aisle have shown themselves to be corrupted. The first question when
hearing of new legislation should probably be, “Who benefits?” and the second question might well be, “Who is donating to the campaign/administration?”
In the case of the new healthcare legislation, in the case of so-called “green jobs”, and on and on.
One easy target is the recent flap over Rick Perry pushing to make it MANDATORY for all 12 y.o. girls in Texas to be vaccinated against a sexually transmitted
disease, HPV. Who would have benefitted? Merck, the sole manufacturer of the vaccine would have benefitted. Who was donating to Perry’s re-election
efforts and supporting groups he was involved in? Merck was, to the tune of about a total of $400,000. Ironically, Merck lists a bunch of possible side
effects of the vaccine and sums it up with the following: “Only a doctor or health care professional can decide if GARDASIL is right for you or your child.” Oh,
and the government, if you let them (sarcasm, in case you couldn’t tell). There is a LOT more about these guys that doesn’t pass the smell test, but I’ll leave
it at that for now.
