One day, I fully intend to run for office (I'm only 21 and in college now 
) and these are some things that I think I would bring up as ideas and platforms that I believe would resonate with many people and generate a lot of attention.
1. SOPA - I would give a speech dedicated solely to the atrocity that is the "Stop Online Piracy Act". This is not quite on the level that NDAA was but it fully threatens our ability to use the internet as a means of communication because sites like reddit, youtube, facebook and many other forums will be severely hurt by the ability of users to upload and post content. The only people that think this is truly a good idea are those in hollywood and those who don't use the internet enough to understand the ramifications but an anti-SOPA message will resonate very well with my generation and get us very motivated.
2. Term limits - I would make a push to get term limits for all politicians on all levels. This obviously will be very difficult but considering how many states are already suing the feds over Obamacare, it actually would not be that difficult to get a couple more to call a Constitutional convention and this could easily be added to the points of order. I know this may seem a little hypocritical coming from Dr. Paul considering how long he's been in but the founding fathers didn't intend for people to be career politicians. Representatives were meant to serve for a few terms and then pass the buck on to the next guy.
3. Congressional exemptions - Another Constitutional Amendment that I would push for is one that prevents politicians from exempting themselves from laws they make. Particularly, I point to Obamacare as an example of this. If it's not good enough for our congressman, then how is it good enough for the average American? Further, politicians tend to be exempt from so many laws that it's almost mind boggling. They are not that special and half the problem in our congress is that they think they are.
4. The newsletters - This isn't really something I would have to deal with on my own but I think Dr. Paul should take time during the next debate (and I'm sure he'll be asked about it) to explain that he is not a racist. The fact is that even if he was, Libertarians believe in the individual and not groups so when we consider laws, we don't consider laws that impact any group or another but rather all people as individuals. Anyone that I've had that debate with has had no comeback to that response and that's because it's hard to argue with that fact. Dr. Paul should explicitly say it and be done with it.
5. Courting minorities - Now I hate pandering to particular groups but the Democrats have minorities so convinced that everything they do is good for them that minorities don't see the truth. Milton Friedman had some great explanations of how programs like the minimum wage are actually bad for minority groups and I would turn them into commercials. In particular, I would point out to Hispanic voters that the only reason we can't have open borders is that we have this welfare state (I'm quoting Milton Friedman on this). As was pointed out in one of his lectures, we had open borders from the time of our founding until we began giving out money like Social Security. If we didn't have these programs, people would be free to come and go which is beneficial to our economy and is half the reason we became the world power that we did. Immigrants drove our country and sadly, the policies of the last 80 years have caused us to have to restrict the flow of entrepreneurial immigrants into our nation.
I hope these seem at least somewhat intelligent... it's my first here so don't be too mean!
) and these are some things that I think I would bring up as ideas and platforms that I believe would resonate with many people and generate a lot of attention.1. SOPA - I would give a speech dedicated solely to the atrocity that is the "Stop Online Piracy Act". This is not quite on the level that NDAA was but it fully threatens our ability to use the internet as a means of communication because sites like reddit, youtube, facebook and many other forums will be severely hurt by the ability of users to upload and post content. The only people that think this is truly a good idea are those in hollywood and those who don't use the internet enough to understand the ramifications but an anti-SOPA message will resonate very well with my generation and get us very motivated.
2. Term limits - I would make a push to get term limits for all politicians on all levels. This obviously will be very difficult but considering how many states are already suing the feds over Obamacare, it actually would not be that difficult to get a couple more to call a Constitutional convention and this could easily be added to the points of order. I know this may seem a little hypocritical coming from Dr. Paul considering how long he's been in but the founding fathers didn't intend for people to be career politicians. Representatives were meant to serve for a few terms and then pass the buck on to the next guy.
3. Congressional exemptions - Another Constitutional Amendment that I would push for is one that prevents politicians from exempting themselves from laws they make. Particularly, I point to Obamacare as an example of this. If it's not good enough for our congressman, then how is it good enough for the average American? Further, politicians tend to be exempt from so many laws that it's almost mind boggling. They are not that special and half the problem in our congress is that they think they are.
4. The newsletters - This isn't really something I would have to deal with on my own but I think Dr. Paul should take time during the next debate (and I'm sure he'll be asked about it) to explain that he is not a racist. The fact is that even if he was, Libertarians believe in the individual and not groups so when we consider laws, we don't consider laws that impact any group or another but rather all people as individuals. Anyone that I've had that debate with has had no comeback to that response and that's because it's hard to argue with that fact. Dr. Paul should explicitly say it and be done with it.
5. Courting minorities - Now I hate pandering to particular groups but the Democrats have minorities so convinced that everything they do is good for them that minorities don't see the truth. Milton Friedman had some great explanations of how programs like the minimum wage are actually bad for minority groups and I would turn them into commercials. In particular, I would point out to Hispanic voters that the only reason we can't have open borders is that we have this welfare state (I'm quoting Milton Friedman on this). As was pointed out in one of his lectures, we had open borders from the time of our founding until we began giving out money like Social Security. If we didn't have these programs, people would be free to come and go which is beneficial to our economy and is half the reason we became the world power that we did. Immigrants drove our country and sadly, the policies of the last 80 years have caused us to have to restrict the flow of entrepreneurial immigrants into our nation.
I hope these seem at least somewhat intelligent... it's my first here so don't be too mean!
