February 21st, 2007
Ron Paul – An unheralded Presidential Candidate
I don’t agree with all of Ron Paul’s stances but, in general, I think he is on the right track in how he executes his job as a congressman. He is trying to win the Republican nomination for President and, while he probably doesn’t have a good chance, I would support him over any of the other candidates I have heard about. Paul is a Republican as I understand the term far more than any other congressman I have heard about.
Ron Paul seems to believe congress should do the job it was entrusted with by the constitution and that the federal government should get it’s noses out of the business that should belong to the states. He opposes the drug war, he opposes the Iraq war, he opposes a lot of different taxes, he is opposed to federal welfare (believes this is the state’s job), he does not support changing the constitution willy-nilly for the cause of the month (gay marriage, flag burning, etc). He does believe in gun ownership, not getting in the way of the courts, legal immigration, and far less spending by the federal government.
I have read some of his voting record and looked at how various groups “rate” him and overall I like where he stands. I like the fact that he wants the federal government to take care of federal issues and wants the states to take care of their issues. I wish more Republicans were like this (maybe even more so) then I wouldn’t have minded having a Republican controlled government.
I doubt he will stay in the running for the whole deal – but I hope he is around for a long time in the primary races. His stance on the issues will at least bring his position to the forefront and, perhaps, will force some of the other candidates to adopt some of them.
Paul isn’t exactly in compliance with the constitution but, based on the powers explicitly granted the federal government by the Constitution I can’t think of anyone else who is closer. What do you think of Paul? If you leave your ideological desires at the door and judge him just as a congressman against the powers granted by the Constitution (left column) what do you think of him? Is there anyone else I should be looking at who has a similar stance – or an even more literal Federalist?
Comments
Bill – the more I read your blogs the clearer picture I get of who you are. Now just think about this, if the full burden of welfare goes to the States. Oh I know you don’t even think welfare should exist in the form it is today…but then you really don’t know all that much about welfare to be able to express a really educated opinion on it…it’s just not your field of expertise. As for the “cause of the month”, I don’t believe any of these should be belittled in the way that you labeled them. People fight for what they think is just, and if the truth be told there is not equality in this country, much of the discrimmination is based on church values. There is supposed to be a legal seperation of church and state, but that is not the case. Just take a look at the decisions our President has made in his years in office, that were based on his religious belief systems. Take a look at the Constitutional Amendments that have taken place thus far in this country. Each and everyone was just. We can’t even have an equal rights amendment in this country because ‘why should women & men be treated equally?”. Well I happen to think all people should be treated with honesty, trust, respect, and empathy unless the person does something that shows me I shouldn’t treat him/her that way.
Mom
March 21st, 2008
I’m not entirely sure why you felt the need to attack me here but I think you misunderstand me a lot.
I’ll try to address each point you raised.
- I think the current welfare system sucks. I don’t think it helps as many people as it could and I don’t think it helps them as much as it should. I think state and city level programs would be better targeted at helping these people as opposed to a federal “blanket” one-size-fits all program. I do not think people who need help should just be ignored or left to flounder on their own; I just think the people closest to them politically should be the ones helping.
- I don’t think the Constitution should be changed to single out any group for discrimination ( such as an ammendment to ban Gay Marriage) I also don’t think it should be ammended to favor anyone. Setting any kind of precedent that intentionally singles out a group will just cause all sorts of nightmares. I think everyone should be treated fairly and equally. I don’t think Marriage should be a governmental concern. I think if the govt feels the need for there to exist a legal contract between a couple it should be a “civil union” regardless of the genders involved (or the number of people involved for that matter). I think the concept of “marriage” should stay in peoples faith/religion.
- I don’t think we should need an “Equal Rights Ammendment” for the same reasons I already stated. I think the Constitution already says we should all be treated equal. I just think we should have a govt than honors what is already in place.
You seem to have taken my comments as an attack on you’re side of the positions Mom – when in reality I don’t oppose you. I think a lot of things could and should be done a lot better in this country. I just don’t have faith that the Federal Govt can do a good job with it. They haven’t so far and I see no indication that it they will suddenly start to improve.
Bill
March 21st, 2008
Oh, to follow up on that – I think that the majority of our Tax dollars should go to the state and local govts too so that each of these states can actually afford to take care of their people and their needs. If the Fed govt would stop getting involved in everything it was never designed to do we wouldn’t need to give them so much that would then just be spent on the Military and a bullshit war.
Ron Paul is right on one thing – if we reduced our overseas military presence and actually worried about defending our own borders we would reduce federal spending by a trillion dollars a year. Imagine how much our nation could do either together, or as separate states, for our own people with that much money.
Bill
March 21st, 2008