Ron Paul Shines in New Hampshire Debate

Ron Paul and the other top tier Republican candidates shared the stage for a crucial nationally televised debate in New Hampshire tonight, and Ron Paul was finally treated like a serious contender. The questions played to his strengths, and he was given a chance to reply to all of them, unlike in most of the previous debates.

Foreign Policy: Only Ron Paul opposed the un-American policy of preemptive war that has been advanced by President Bush, and explained the necessity of understanding our enemies. The “discussion table” format allowed the other five candidates to gang up on him in their replies, but Ron Paul held his own in the ensuing free-for-all.

Fundamental Principles: Ron Paul pointed out that if we truly respect the Constitution, we should do more than pay lip service to it, and if we want peace and prosperity, we need to change our unconstitutional policies of undeclared wars, our monetary system, and the welfare state.

Health Care: While the other candidates addressed various policy details, Ron Paul painted the big picture — health care costs more because our costly foreign interventions create huge deficits, leading to more debt, more printing of paper money, and more inflation, particularly in sectors where the government has been involved, like health care, education, and housing.

Illegal Immigration: Ron Paul again focused on the root cause of the issue under discussion, and presented a practical plan for reducing illegal immigration, by saying no to amnesty and removing the welfare incentives and mandates that encourage it. He returned to his theme of monetary inflation, pointing out that the economic pain facing the middle class is part of the reason why so many Americans are upset about illegal immigration.

Barack Obama: With Obama’s win in Iowa, the Republican candidates were asked to stop the Hillary-bashing for once, and focus on another Democratic contender. Ron Paul replied that he respects Obama for his anti-war and pro-civil liberties views, but that he differs with him on monetary policy, cutting taxes, and the true compassion of free market economics. He even threw in a joke about young people responding to the youthfulness of Barack and himself.

Gas Prices: Ron Paul volunteered to answer this question while the other candidates pondered it. He explained that while the price of oil has increased by 350% in terms of dollars in the past ten years, it has only increased by 200% in terms of Euros, and has stayed flat compared to gold, so the real underlying problem is monetary inflation. He also explained that our invasion of Iraq, sold to us in part as a way to secure our oil supply, has caused oil production there to be cut in half, putting further upward pressure on prices.

If the people of New Hampshire were paying close attention, there was only one candidate on the stage clearly identifying the root causes of the problems facing America, and only one candidate advocating sensible alternatives to the failed policies of the past, and a new way forward.

Part 1

Part 2