The Republican field of presidential candidates has been whittled down to the gang of six, with the possibility of one or more dropping out of campaigning in the coming weeks. Ron Paul has been largely ignored, almost unnoticed and under the radar for the most part and now he has been receiving more and more attention, so it just might be the time to take a closer look and see what kind of America Ron Paul believes in and what is his view on some of the more pressing issues of the day.
On the National Debt, Congressman Paul wants to slash nearly half its spending and shut down five Cabinet-level agencies and end spending on existing conflicts as well as no longer allocating any resources and money toward foreign aid. This seems rather shortsighted and ignorant of the value and impact of this assistance on a global basis. As far as The Economy is concerned, Paul wants a return to the “GOLD STANDARD” and total elimination of The Federal Reserve as well as abolishing most federal regulations. Of course, he hasn’t said which regulations need to be axed and which ones are to be kept. The implication of replacing the dollar with gold as the currency standard and eliminating the “Fed” is so radical as to not even merit further comment because the impact on world economies, including in this country is too serious to imagine. On Education, he wants to eliminate the Department of Education and sees no role for the federal government in education; so that presupposes refusal to accept any assistance in the form of Pell Grants and low-cost Stafford Loans for college tuition.
Although, like most Americans, the idea of paying taxes is a hard pill to swallow but Congressman takes it to another level when is comes to Taxes by completely eliminating the Department of the Internal Revenue Service [IRS] and paying all federal income taxes. He is an avid proponent of ‘States Rights’ and believes that Abortion, The Environment and Gay Marriage/Rights are matters that should be settled by the states and not federal legislation or The U.S. Supreme Court. Congressman Paul has an Immigration policy that is non-apologetic and forceful as he believes, “Do whatever it takes [BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY]" to secure the border and end right to citizenship of U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants as well as deny social services for illegal immigrants. He also wants aggressive deportation of undocumented citizens no matter how long they have lived here and raised families, or worked and paid taxes or served in the military. As far as positions on Terrorism or The War/Foreign Policy, Ron Paul believes that America’s military presence overseas [Pacific Rim or Middle East] is what provokes or incites terrorists to attack America or our troops in these regions and pulling our military from remote places should be the highest priority. He wants to slash the Pentagon budget and opposed the intervention in Libya but it would be interesting to know how he views the outcome now.
There is an article by syndicated Columnist Michael Gerson, which was featured Tuesday, January 3, 2012, edition of the Tacoma News Tribune, Section A9, listed some of the more interesting comments by Texas Congressman Ron Paul:
He accused President Lincoln of “causing a senseless war” and regarded the presidency of Ronald Reagan as a “dramatic failure.” He once proposed the legalization of prostitution and heroin and promised to abolish the CIA, depart NATO and withdraw military protection in South Korea. He believes that 9/11 was a government “cover-up” and published in a newspaper that the 1993 WTC [World Trade Center] attack was a set-up orchestrated between the U.S. government and the Israeli Mossad.
He would not have sent American troops to Europe to end the “Holocaust” and freeing over six-million Jewish men, women, boys and girls from the horrors and atrocities of Hitler and the Nazis. Congressman Paul believes that forced [government-mandated] “integration” is evil. He obviously doesn’t agree with the outcome of Brown vs. the Board of Education in which the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed segregation as unconstitutional. He sees no problem with former slaveholders treating human beings a “property” and can treat them in any way as they please, and he believes that the federal government has no “legitimate“ authority to infringe upon the sovereign rights of the states and their citizens. Congressman Paul has disparaged Martin Luther King Jr., former Texas Congresswoman Barbara Jordan and has referred to the MLK holiday as “Hate the White Man Day.”
Finally, since this nearly octogenarian [76 year-old] is vying for nomination to represent this country on the international stage as well as occupy the most powerful elected office on planet earth, and sit at the head of government of world’s only true military “SUPER POWER” it is imperative that a window into what he really believes in is important, and after getting a glimpse into his inner psyche [past and present], there are a few things that should concern all of us but each person has to make up in their own mind about which of his personal perspectives that concern them the most.
Robert Randle
776 Commerce St. #B-11
Tacoma, WA 98402
January 3, 2012
robertrandle51@yahoo.com
