How did it become that the following clip is the boiler plate for winning elections?  It truly is a sad state of affairs for our politics. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSk4SUpWVuY Technorati Tags: elections, politics

Filed under: President 2008, Ron Paul, Congress, Earmarks

The esteemed representative and presidential candidate Ron Paul writes this on his Web site:

But today, too many politicians and lobbyists are spending America into ruin. We are nine trillion dollars in debt as a nation. Our mounting government debt endangers the financial future of our children and grandchildren. If we don't cut spending now, higher taxes and economic disaster will be in their future - and yours.

Hmmm. If that's the case, why is Rep. Paul asking for megabucks in earmarks for his district in Texas?

Read these requests (file in PDF) and note how vague they are and the lack of concrete numbers asked for. There are over a hundred requests for funding of various projects including "marketing wild American shrimp" to "construction" and "engineering services." The requests must be in the high millions or billions of dollars.

Paul seems to have adopted the "do as I say, not as I do" approach to governance so popular with the left. Perhaps Rep. Paul can forgo all earmarks to set a good example for the rest of Congress. He can be the anti-pork leader in the bloated legislature. Come on Rep. Paul, I challenge you to drop every single request for earmark funding and help us lower the debt. That seems to be your goal, but alas, I foresee you continuing your high-spending ways.

Hat tip: Ace, who is not nearly as nice as I've been.

 

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Today in the Washington Post there were 2 articles that were quite interesting today. It is quite scary that according to this data such countries as the Ivory Coast and Kenya have the most favorable view of the U.S.  While Britain, Canada and France are pretty much split down the middle over whether they like us [...]

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul will celebrate life and liberty at a rally in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday, June 30th.Dr. Paul will share his message of freedom, peace and prosperity at the Hy-Vee Hall, Room C, Iowa Events Center, 730 Third Street, Des Moines, Iowa. The rally will start immediately following the conclusion of [...]

As most of you are aware a Presidential Forum being sponsored by the Iowans for Tax Relief and Iowa Christian Alliance has decided to not include Dr. Ron Paul.  While we at Americans for Ron Paul are extremely disappointed in this decision as it is only logical that any forum on tax relief should include [...]

In today’s Washington Post’s Metro Section (full article) there was an article regarding the federal governments deficit spending issues and current predictions for the future.  The article talk’s about the government’s chief auditor, David M. Walker, and the “Fiscal Wake-up Tour” they are presenting throughout the country. “Their goal: to generate enough grass-roots anger to force the 2008 [...]

Filed under: President 2008, Republicans, Ron Paul

Since it's Friday, I thought I'd write something on the light side. I couldn't think of anything lighter than the gravitas of the Ron Paul campaign.

Paul is a congressman from Texas who calls himself a Republican but is more of a neo-libertarian. He constantly refers to the Constitution and acts as if his interpretation is the only true interpretation. He has a rabid, small following who Google his name three times a day (this will help them find this piece: Ron Paul, Ron Paul, Ron Paul) and comment on every Web site that mentions him. If what is said is derogatory, they become venomous and launch ad hominem attacks at the writer, kind of like LaRouchians. They go to every Internet presidential poll and vote for him repeatedly and then carp that America loves the man because he won a poll they rigged.

But let's look at Ron Paul on the issues. Let's start with national security:

Both Jefferson and Washington warned us about entangling ourselves in the affairs of other nations. Today, we have troops in 130 countries. We are spread so thin that we have too few troops defending America. And now, there are new calls for a draft of our young men and women.

We can continue to fund and fight no-win police actions around the globe, or we can refocus on securing America and bring the troops home. No war should ever be fought without a declaration of war voted upon by the Congress, as required by the Constitution.

Note that the only one to ever call or talk about a draft is Ron Paul and Charles Rangel and Rangel did it purely for political reasons. For the record, Congress did vote. I believe Paul was serving at the time. Note also every answer has the word "Constitution" in it.

He's against the Patriot Act, which has been used successfully in numerous cases and has proved to not be as intrusive as Paul and liberals have said.

I do agree with Paul on several issues -- immigration reform and tax relief -- but his stand on national security is one I'll never get past. We are fighting them over there and not here. We have not been attacked in the U.S. because of the WOT and Paul knows this. He just chooses to ignore it.

He's a small-time candidate who will maybe get as many votes as Ralph Nader in a good year. He has a bit of an Internet recognition thing going but ask 100 or so average Americans on the street what they think of Ron Paul and you'll get 99 blank stares and one guy who will agree with Paul (or his ghost-writing staffers) that the Israel lobby runs the U.S.

But Scott, you'll all say, "he's won every major poll after the debates on MSNBC, CNN, blah, blah, blah.."

I'll say, "so what?" These polls mean nothing. Does anyone think that Hillary or Rudy have an e-mail list that they send out information on these votes urging their supporters to vote? Of course not, because it means nothing. Look at Rasmussen or any of the other polls, at present, Ron Paul is carrying at best 3% and is not even a footnote at Real Clear Politics. In other words, his campaign is a sham.

It's nice that he has automaton supporters who bristle at every cross word said about their hero (believe me, I'm glad they're occupying themselves on the net), but that and twice as many of you might give you .0008% of the total American vote.

Bring it Ron Paul fans, vent your ire. I predict that the first comment comes within ten minutes of this being posted and it's a slam at me for either "hating the Constitution" or "supporting those who wish to create and oligarchy".

 

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Rep. Ron Paul answers a question from CNN's Wolf Blitzer at Tuesday's GOP debate. WASHINGTON (CNN) — It’s been an exciting week for us at the Ticker – a few days ago, we opened up the comments section of our blog, and since then, we’ve received thousands of responses. A large number of the ones [...]

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (CNN) — Did anyone win Tuesday night's Republican presidential debate? "God no… and it's almost obnoxiously early," said Michael Kiernan, an undecided voter from Merrimack, New Hampshire, who attended the debate. Kiernan was picked to sit in the "red zone" during the debate, an area reserved in the front of the stage for voters [...]