Thread: Ron Paul on the Issues

Rand Paul: “Ron Paul’s the Only One Hearkening Back to the Reagan Platform”

Said Sen. Rand Paul in a recent interview with The Atlantic:

If you look historically, look at the people Republicans say they admire, the founding fathers believed in a very limited executive branch. They very much feared a king, and they wrote all kinds of rules to limit and disperse the power between the executive and the legislative. Most of the founders didn’t even believe in a standing army. They believed in nonintervention, they believed in a policy of neutrality for the most part. So I think maybe you find there’s a strong tradition.

There definitely have been, even going back just to Reagan, people who believed certain things shouldn’t be done in Washington, but left to the states. We’ve lost that. Think about it: Reagan wanted to eliminate the Department of Education. That was part of our policy platform from 1980 to 2000, and then George Bush comes in and doubles the size of the Department of Education with No Child Left Behind. Santorum supported it, Gingrich supported it, they all supported it. Ron Paul’s the only one hearkening back to the Reagan platform for the Republican Party.


It’s also worth pointing out that even on foreign policy–something Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum cite specifically when calling themselves “Reagan Republicans”–Paul’s approach is actually closer to Reagan’s than the world policeman mentality the other presidential candidates promote. In June, Sen. Paul described what a conservative foreign policy would look like during a speech at John Hopkins University:

“If for example, we imagine a foreign policy that is everything to everyone, that is everywhere all the time that would be one polar extreme… Likewise, if we imagine a foreign policy that is nowhere any of the time and is completely disengaged from the challenges and dangers to our security that really do exist in the world—well, that would be the other polar extreme… But what about a foreign policy of moderation? A foreign policy that argues that—maybe we could be somewhere some of the time?”

Sen. Paul added: “Reagan’s foreign policy was one in which we were somewhere, some of the time, in which the missions were clear and defined, and there was no prolonged military conflict—and this all took place during the Cold War.”

Former American Conservative Union Chairman (and current NRA President) David Keene has compared the conservative prudence of Reagan’s foreign policy with the hyper-interventionist, neoconservative vision that often dominates today:
“Reagan resorted to military force far less often than many of those who came before him or who have since occupied the Oval Office. . . . After the [1983] assault on the Marine barracks in Lebanon, it was questioning the wisdom of U.S. involvement that led Reagan to withdraw our troops rather than dig in. He found no good strategic reason to give our regional enemies inviting U.S. targets. Can one imagine one of today’s neoconservative absolutists backing away from any fight anywhere?”

Rand Paul: "Ron Paul's the Only One Hearkening Back to the Reagan Platform"*|*Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee

Just got back from the Ron Paul rally in Boise.

Submitted by Paul Revere on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 17:26

Click photo to enlarge


WOW! What a great event. I got there early and spoke to a few volunteers about the new caucus in Idaho and the steps to becoming a delegate. It is a chilly day with lite rain and some sporadic flurries. The wind was also blowing. It was cold.

I made my way into the arena. The doors would not open for another 45 minutes so people were mainly just huddled all together to be out of the weather and to get the best seats.

I kept looking out the doors to see if the crowd was growing, but it looked sparse.

Then they let us in. I got a seat in the front row. And I watched a steady stream of people file in the door for about 40 minutes. Just when you thought that the people were done showing up, another long steady stream would file in.

The arena holds 6000. The had the podium at half court. This is a hockey/basketball arena. More than half of the arena filled up. There were definitely over 3,000 people there.
Will Grigg and the new Ron Paul state coordinator spoke.

Then Ron came out. He gave a fine speech. He signed autographs, shook hands, and then had to be rushed away because he had to catch a flight to Kansas City, MO. I met Carol Paul and their granddaughter. Very nice people.

This event, with the massive crowd was organized in less than 3 days. There was very little press and very little time to get people rallied up. But they did come.

Raul Labrador was the only prominent Idaho politician to show up. I watched him throughout the speech and noticed he spent quite a bit of time texting on his phone.

I spoke with a newspaper reporter and he said that this crowd today was larger and more energized than the other two candidates to speak here in Boise. He said he has covered politics in this city since 1976 and is impressed by the massive crowd and the energy.

People of all ages were climbing over the walls to get a chance to meet Ron and get an autograph. Security and the police saw it happening and did not attempt to stop it. That was refreshing.

I did ask Mr. Labrador if he supported NDAA. He confirmed that he did vote against it. The people around me were impressed with that. Someone did get up prior to Ron Paul coming out and said that Labrador would be attending and that we should all hold his feet to the Tea Party fire. Ron Paul spoke at the CenturyLink arena in the heart of Boise. Mitt Romney spoke in some bad warehouse on the outskirts of town.

All in all it was a great event. Impressive that this many people show up to a rally like this with less than three days notice.

The best part was shaking Ron's hand as he left the arena. Also, the number of people signing up to be precinct chair people was off the charts. I saw stacks and stacks of people enrolling to participate. Even the guy next to me who has not voted since 1992 signed up!

Well done, Miss Pitino.

Just got back from the Ron Paul rally in Boise. | Ron Paul 2012 | Peace . Gold . Liberty

Maine Caucus Saturday - Open Thread

Submitted by The Daily Paul on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 14:40
Please post your news, observations, insights and eyewitness accounts below:
Selected posts from the Daily Paul:

• Maddow Dissects Maine Fraud - Caucus Continues This Saturday
• Ben Swann Reality Check: GOP Scrambles Under Allegations of Rampant Election Fraud In Maine Caucus
• Ben Swann Reality Check - Maine GOP releasing "corrected" numbers
• Maine GOP Recounting Votes ( !!! )
• Maine fraud goes mainstream: Chicago Tribune & LA times!
• All delegates that will be going to a state/county convention must watch this and not let it happen again
• What to do if the Chairman ignores your Point of Order
• Bye Bye Charlie Webster
• More posts, via Google
• Upcoming - Maine, 2nd Half of the 1st Quarter...

Maine Caucus Saturday - Open Thread | Ron Paul 2012 | Peace . Gold . Liberty

Anonymous Donor Pledges $15,000 Matching Funds for Idaho Super Brochure Mailing! Deadline Midnight Monday


Submitted by 3StepsTowardFreedom on Sat, 02/18/2012 - 18:56
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The buyer is a major advocate of Dr. Paul's health freedom plan and owns a respected nutritional supplement company in Lake Forest, Illinois. She is going to watch the ticker and match every mailing in Idaho until Monday, February 20 at midnight. This is a race and she has issued the challenge.

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"Let it not be said that we did nothing." Ron Paul

Anonymous Donor Pledges $15,000 Matching Funds for Idaho Super Brochure Mailing! Deadline Midnight Monday | Ron Paul 2012 | Peace . Gold . Liberty

Video: Washington County, Maine Results