Thread: Ron Paul on the Issues

Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk 2/27/12: Economy Squeezed As Debt Accelerates




Audio is shaky at first but gets better (Here is the Transcript)

Feb 27, 2012 http://RonPaul2012.com
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Economy Squeezed As Debt Accelerates
by Ron Paul

Senator Jeff Sessions, ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee has pointed out that our per capita government debt is already larger than Greece's. Per person, our government owes over $49,000 compared to $38,937 per Greek citizen. Our debt has just reached 101% of our Gross Domestic Product. Our creditors see this and have quietly slowed down or stopped their lending to us. As a result, the Federal Reserve has been outright monetizing debt as a way to patch things together and keep the economy on life support a little longer. There is rapidly shrinking demand for our debt, and confidence in the dollar is falling. This phenomenon is hidden only by the fact that confidence in all other fiat currencies is falling faster.

None of this seems to really alarm the administration, obviously, as they have just released a budget that accelerates spending and borrowing. The reason the debt and deficits plague the economy, according to this administration, is that the American economy is not taxed enough. Therefore, hidden in the fine print of the budget is a provision that ramps up the corporate dividends tax rate from its current 15% to 39.6%. In addition, certain deductions and exemptions will be phased out; an additional 3.8% Obamacare investment tax surcharge will be tacked on, bringing the effective dividend tax rate to 44.8% in 2013. Keep in mind, this is not just a tax on big business, this is a tax on anyone who depends on dividend income to live - retirees will be hit hard by these changes and dividend yielding stock prices will adjust downward rapidly to reflect their decreased value.

Not only this, but the Obama administration is worsening the uniquely American policy of taxing income of US based companies earned overseas. No other country presumes to tax globally in this manner, so it amounts to a huge penalty for basing a company in the US. Companies have been able to manage this penalty by deferring taxation until it is repatriated or by paying dividends. What will happen to US based businesses with strong international ties if these allowances are abolished as the Obama administration proposes? A massive wave of permanent capital flight will undoubtedly cause the already high levels of unemployment to rise.

Businesses are struggling and failing in this economy. The government ultimately depends on a healthy business climate to provide jobs and a tax base. It is penny wise and pound foolish to add to business tax burden in a misguided attempt to close the colossal gap between our government's revenue and spending. Rather than crippling and absorbing more of our shrinking economy, government needs to be drastically cut - not in 10 years, but immediately.

Those who understand the underpinnings of the dollar and how the Federal Reserve works have known for some time that we are on an unsustainable course, that major chaos is in store if nothing is done quickly to reform things. Politicians pay lip-service to reforms that never materialize or turn out to be at best small and meaningless, or at worst actively harmful. It seems more and more inevitable that because the necessary changes would be too inconvenient for the elites to enact now, we will get them later Greek-style, through collapse and chaos.

Ron Paul vs. Republican Identity Politics


I’ve made the point occasionally in my columns over the years that what often drives politics is not necessarily having the correct philosophy but political identity. This frustrates those of us who care about the size of government, reducing the national debt and restoring the Constitution. Ron Paul has a limited government record second to none.

A recent study showed that out of Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Paul, only Paul would actually reduce the debt as president. Here’s the breakdown:

Newt Gingrich’s plan
Debt over next decade: Adds $7 trillion, increasing debt to GDP to 114%…

Rick Santorum’s plan
Debt over next decade: Adds $4.5 trillion, increasing debt to GDP to 104%.

Mitt Romney’s plan
Debt over next decade: Adds $250 billion, increasing debt to GDP to 86%…

Ron Paul’s plan
Debt over next decade: Reduces it by $2.2 trillion, lowering debt to GDP to 76%.

Yelling at CNN’s John King during a debate delivered my home state of South Carolina to Newt Gingrich by a commanding 41%, because Newt seemed on “our” side to Republicans and “against” the media.

Gingrich’s actual conservative record is abysmal but in that primary it didn’t matter much. For Republicans at that time, Newt was “one of us.”

Rick Santorum’s record is just as abysmal. Here’s a guy who admits to being George W. Bush’s wingman, helping to implement some of the most big government programs in American history.

“Politics is a team sport” says Santorum. He’s more right than he knows, as voters have largely “identified” with Santorum recently precisely because they think he’s more part of the Republican “team” than Romney. Writes The American Spectator’s Quin Hillyer (a Santorum supporter):

Cultural identification matter. That’s what allows Santorum to survive mistakes, or distorted attacks on his record, when others can’t: People identify with him.

The “distorted attacks” on Santorum’s record means people are simply discussing Santorum’s record. It’s horrible. If Santorum is actually better than Romney or Gingrich it is a marginal difference, and that margin is so slim that there is essentially no difference at all.

These guys are three peas in a big government pod and no amount of mental gymnastics from their supporters can erase their career-long statist records.

The Tea Party was supposed to be a movement that eschewed the politics of old, demanding strict fiscal conservatism and rejecting conventional big government Republicans. The only candidate in this race that fits what the Tea Party originally desired is Ron Paul. This is not arguable. If cutting government and reducing the debt is the Tea Party’s primary goal, only Ron Paul fits the bill, whether judging by his past record or his current budget plan.

Every other candidate–Romney, Santorum, Gingrich–fails the Tea Party’s fiscal conservative litmus test, whether judging by their past records or even their proposed budget plans, all of which cut nothing and add to our debt significantly.

But people “identify” with these candidates, some say? Republicans once “identified” with George W. Bush. A majority of Americans “identified” with Barack Obama in 2008.

To the degree that Republicans reject conservative philosophy to comfort themselves with identity politics is also to the degree that all of us will have to continue to endure big government.

Ron Paul vs. Republican Identity Politics*|*Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee

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Impressive Ron Paul Crowd Pictures - Don't Believe the deceptions of the Mainstream Media - Ron Paul is drawing HUGE numbers!

Submitted by kstroh on Tue, 02/28/2012 - 16:30 in Ron Paul 2012

Here is a growing series of photos and videos showing the huge turnouts at Ron Paul events around the nation. Anyone who follows Ron Paul realizes the mainstream media is doing everything within their power to falsely represent the support that Ron Paul has at every one of his events. He is filling banquet halls, convention halls, speaking venues, stadiums, and anywhere people can congregate! Far more than the media is portraying

Don't Believe the deceptions of the Mainstream Media - Ron Paul is drawing HUGE numbers!

Here is a growing series of photos and videos showing the huge turnouts at Ron Paul events around the nation. Anyone who follows Ron Paul realizes the mainstream media is doing everything within their power to falsely represent the support that Ron Paul has at every one of his events. He is filling banquet halls, convention halls, speaking venues, stadiums, and anywhere people can congregate! Far more than the media is portraying.

Michigan State University Rally - East Lansing, MI
February 27, 2012



A packed house at the Michigan State University Auditorium came to show their support for Ron Paul. Approximately 4,000 in attendance.

Michigan State University Rally - East Lansing, MI
February 27, 2012



VIDEO - Michigan State University
February 27, 2012

Ron Paul receives a warm welcome from the 4000+ attendees at Michigan State University.



The Pinnacle Center - Grand Rapids, MI
February 26, 2012



Thousands overflow the Pinnace Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan to see Ron Paul

VIDEO - Small Business Owner Speech - Hudsonville, MI
February 26, 2012

36 degrees outside & in line to hear Doctor Ron Paul, the Pinnacle Center was packed to capacity!



Ron Paul Rally - Capital Lawn - Oklahoma City, OK February 25, 2012



Ron Paul attracts more than 1,700 supporters to Oklahoma City Rally. The rally at Sooner State Capital yields huge turnout with characteristic enthusiasm unique to Ron Paul.

VIDEO - Ron Paul Rally - Oklahoma City, OK
February 25, 2012



Central Michigan University
February 25, 2012



CMU's Plachta Auditorium holds more than 1,200 and it filled up quickly. Fifteen minutes before the event, the line was hundreds deep in Warriner Hall and the line extended outside in the cold and to the sidewalk with supporters who couldn't get in.

VIDEO - Crowd Outside Arizona GOP Debate
February 22, 2012



The streets were lined with Ron Paul supporters outside the Arizona GOP Debate, FAR outnumbering any other candidate supporters.

Ron Paul Rally at Union Station - Kansas City
February 18, 2012



Kansas City's Union Station Rally overflowed with standing room only, filling the room to capacity drawing over 2,000 people.

Tri-Cities Town Hall Meeting - Bellevue, WA
February 17, 2012



Ron Paul attracts more than 1,200 voters at Tri-cities Town Hall Meeting

University of Idaho - Moscow, Idaho
February 17, 2012



Ron Paul draws more than 2,000 voters to Moscow, Idaho - Doubling Expectations

Capacity-Crowd of 1,200 attend rally inside University of Idaho student Union Ballroom, plus hundreds more in overflow areas and outside.

King Country Rally - Bellevue, WA
February 17, 2012



Ron Paul attracts over 1,800 voters at King Country Rally, Bellevue WA.
2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul drew another staggering crowd today, this time attracting more than 1,800 supporters to his King County Rally.

Ron Paul Spokane Rally - Spokane, WA
February 17, 2012



Ron Paul attracts 2,300 voters at Spokane, Washington campaign rally. Overflows city's convention center, continuing a memorable Pacific Northwest campaign tour.

Ron Paul Rally - Twin Falls, Idaho
February 16, 2012



2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul draw a remarkable crowd of more than 1,350 supporters in Twin Falls, Idaho

Bethel University - Minnesota
February 4, 2012



"Ron Paul spoke to a standing room only crowd at Bethel on Saturday evening. The event attracted students and Paul supporters in addition to local and national media with live streaming on CNN.

Paul, who spoke earlier on Saturday in Chanhassen, Minn., arrived on Bethel's campus around 4:30 p.m. to a growing crowd that had already filled most of the campus parking spots. Doors opened at 4:45 p.m. and soon after 5 p.m., the 1,600-seat Benson Great Hall was at full capacity."

Iowa State University
December 8, 2011



More than 1,300 people showed up to see presidential candidate Ron Paul Iowa State University, a crowd too big even for the Memorial Union's Great Hall.

Ron Paul Rally - University of TX - Austin, TX
2008



Rally for the Republic
September 2, 2008

Ron Paul's historic Rally for the Republic took place in Minneapolis on September 2, 2008. More than 10,000 lovers of liberty gathered in the Target Center in Minneapolis across the river from the RNC convention that same day. The Rally was was not a protest, or a "counter convention" - it was a celebration. And it was not the end of the Ron Paul Revolution - it was the beginning.



AMES Straw Poll Ralley



Ron Paul Freedom March
July 2008



The List is Growing!

Got some good photos? Let me know!

This list is an ongoing work-in-progress and continues to grow as more photos are found, and events happen. If you know of events that occur, and impressive photos surface, let me know and I will add them!

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End The Fed

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Ron Paul: A Politician's Journey

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The Case for Gold

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Impressive Ron Paul Crowd Pictures - Don't Believe the deceptions of the Mainstream Media - Ron Paul is drawing HUGE numbers! | Ron Paul 2012 | Peace . Gold . Liberty

Ron Paul Rocks Michigan State

The headline at Drudge right now reads “Ron Paul draws 4000 at Michigan State.” Kudos to Drudge for reporting what most don’t: That Ron Paul continues to draw the largest and most enthusiastic crowds of any candidate in this election. “Freedom is popular” says Paul. Indeed. Perhaps photos tell the story better than words ever could:




Ron Paul Rocks Michigan State*|*Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee

How Santorum Helped Fuel the Housing Bubble

Writes Charles C. Johnson at BigGovernment.com:

One of the consistent refrains from the Rick Santorum campaign is that he opposes government bailouts, but as a senator, he supported the something-for-nothing policy most responsible for the housing bubble. Like George W. Bush and other “compassionate conservatives,” he was naively obsessed with affordable housing for low-income potential home buyers, a mismanaged cause that led to billions in loan defaults and which the IRS called a “scam.”

In his book It Takes A Family (2005), Santorum wrote at length and approvingly of the Nehemiah Project, a Sacramento faith-based nonprofit that helped mostly black low-income buyers get access to home ownership through its down-payment assistance program. (The name Nehemiah, who rebuilt Jerusalem, comes from the Bible.)

But as Jeff Horwitz and Dave Jamieson report from the Huffington Post’s Investigative Fund, down-payment aid programs like Nehemiah effectively “pav[ed] the way for even riskier subprime loans by private lenders.” How did this happen? Horwitz and Jamieson explained in 2009.

A home builder would agree to make a “gift” to the nonprofit in an amount equal to the down payment. The nonprofit would give the cash to the buyer, often earning a generous fee for its role as middleman. In less than a decade, nonprofits had arranged more than a million no-money-down house sales around the country. By 2008, they represented more than a third of all loans backed by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).

The Santorum-endorsed Nehemiah Project and its nearest competitor, AmeriDream, according to Horwitz and Jamieson, helped set up 392,000 mortgages worth $54 billion, earning tens of millions in fees for itself—and nearly a billion dollars each for Centex, D.R. Horton, and Dominion Homes, the builders who made the donations that made the shaky mortgages possible. The loans to the buyers, which ended up with triple the default rate of other FHA loans, often required no down payment at all from them, something of which Rick Santorum specifically approved. Indeed, Santorum proudly worked with Senator Dianne Feinstein (recipient of $1000 from Nehemiah’s CEO in 2006) and other Democrats to protect the Nehemiah Project from oversight from the IRS and HUD.

Santorum wrote in It Takes a Family that until the project got underway in 1997, some of the experts at HUD considered buying a home without a down payment “unwise, even dangerous … They feared it would make it possible for so-called ‘unworthy’ people to buy homes, and, as a result, push up default rates.” (14

But even as he scoffed at the old-fashioned idea, it was being vindicated. HUD had warned years before, in 2000, that borrowers who participated in the then-new Nehemiah Project had default rates well above average. Worse yet, a GAO investigation released in November 2005 concluded that the home builders who were part of the program were simply raising their prices to recoup the down-payment grants.

Santorum ignored such warnings…

How Santorum Helped Fuel the Housing Bubble*|*Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee

Paul the Only “Anti-Romney” Who Can Beat Obama

Just a reminder that no matter what happens tonight, the latest Rasmussen poll has Ron Paul as the only GOP presidential candidate who could actually beat President Obama in the general election. If Republicans don’t want Mitt but still want to beat Obama, Ron is their best practical bet. I found the words used in this Christian Science Monitor report about this latest poll to be some of the most amusing:

How about this for a poll shocker: While everybody in US politics has been preoccupied with theMichigan primary, Ron Paul has sneaked up on President Obama and for the first time leads the incumbent in a head-to-head survey. (note: “first time” is not exactly true depending on the margin of error)

That’s right, leads – as in, ahead of, out front, winning, and so forth. According to a Rasmussen Reports poll released Tuesday, at the moment Representative Paul bests Mr. Obama in a head-to-head matchup by 43 to 41 percent.

The same poll has Mitt Romney tied with Obama, at 44 percent each. Rick Santorum is three points behind the president, according to Rasmussen, and Newt Gingrichis 10 points behind.

Paul the Only "Anti-Romney" Who Can Beat Obama*|*Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee

Ron Paul Issues Statement on Obama’s Proposed Tricare Cuts

“Failing to meet the promises we have made to our troops would be unjust and immoral


LAKE JACKSON, Texas – 2012 Republican Presidential candidate and Texas Congressman Ron Paul issued the following statement regarding the Obama administration’s latest proposal to seek cuts in Tricare benefits for veterans and active military. See comments below.

“As a Doctor, an Air Force Veteran, and Congressman, who serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee and has always fought for the best interest of our troops, I am appalled at President Obama’s disregard for the health and well-being of America’s military families and his continued fealty to union boss special interests.

“The Obama administration’s proposed defense budget would require military families and retirees to pay exceedingly more for their healthcare, while leaving unionized civilian defense workers’ benefits untouched. This is unacceptable.

“Our military men and women have fought bravely, and in exchange, our country made a promise to them that we must honor. There are trillions of dollars in unwise and unconstitutional spending we must cut. And there are few other leaders in Washington willing to cut spending as deeply as I am and truly balance our budget. But we must make sure we take care of our veterans and military personnel who fight to take care of us.

“We have put our troops in harm’s way, and we must honor our promises. Our troops have paid a heavy price these past 10 years. Over 5,000 have lost their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, 40,000 have seen crushing injuries, and hundreds of thousands more suffer from brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Failing to meet the promises we have made to our troops would be unjust and immoral.

“Instead of cutting our veterans’ benefits, President Obama should truly support our troops by bringing them home to protect our borders and defend our country. Re-unite them with their families and make sure they no longer play policeman in dangerous foreign civil wars. Cutting the benefits of our veterans while we subsidize the security of other wealthy nations like Germany and Japan and play ‘world policeman’ makes no sense.

“As a Congressman, I have taken very seriously my duty to ensure that our fighting men and women are well taken care of and given the respect, dignity, and appreciation they have earned. That is why I introduced H.R. 1092, the Military Retirees Health Care Protection Act, which prohibits the Department of Defense from increasing Tricare fees without congressional approval. I urge my fellow members of Congress, and the other GOP presidential candidates to support this action and support our troops.
“As President, I intend to keep the promises and commitments we have made as a nation to our troops, because they are the ones that sacrifice everything to keep us free.”

Ron Paul Issues Statement on Obama

Ron Paul Endorsed by Prominent Pro-Life Leader from North Dakota


Paul Maloney says Paul “has been on the front lines of the pro-life fight not only in Congress but as an obstetrician who has delivered over 4,000 babies”


BISMARCK, North Dakota – 2012 Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul was endorsed today by Paul Maloney, one of North Dakota’s most prominent pro-life leaders.

Mr. Maloney serves as Executive Director of the North Dakota Right to Life Association. Established in May 1971, North Dakota Right to Life is the largest and oldest pro-life organization in North Dakota. In making his endorsement, Mr. Maloney stated he was doing so as a private citizen and not on behalf of any prolife organization.

“I endorse Ron Paul, because he has been on the front lines of the pro-life fight not only in Congress but as an obstetrician who has delivered over 4,000 babies. Ron Paul knows that our individual rights stem from the value we have for all human life, especially innocent human life, and that a disregard for human life will not expand human freedom,” said Mr. Maloney of Mandan.

News of the endorsement was well received from the Paul campaign’s North Dakota operation.

“Congressman Ron Paul is a man of faith who understands that our rights come from our Creator and that the right to life stands above all other rights. Dr. Paul delivered more than 4,000 babies during his distinguished medical career as an OB/GYN. The experience of bringing new babies into the world profoundly affirmed his view on the sanctity of all human life. By conviction and by science, Dr. Paul understands that we should foster a society with a far greater respect for life,” said Jared Hendrix, North Dakota State Director for the Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign.

North Dakota is ranked the seventh most prolife state in America according to Americans United for Life’s latest-available annual scoring.

Ron Paul Endorsed by Prominent Pro-Life Leader from North Dakota*|*Ron Paul 2012 Presidential Campaign Committee