Posts Tagged ‘Ron Paul’
Primary Day in New Hampshire
Today, residents of New Hampshire head to the polls to vote in the nation’s first
presidential primary. The Democrats failed to field a legitimate primary challenger to Obama, pledging their implicit support for his foreign intervention and disregard for civil liberties at home. Glenn Greenwald confronts this hypocrisy masterfully.
On the Republican side, though, things are a bit more interesting. Polling suggests that Mitt Romney will easily win the state, followed by a possible second place finish for Ron Paul and Huntsman in third.
- Tom Woods, who spoke to Ole Miss YAL after the release of his book Meltdown, is on the ground in New Hampshire.
- A recent Politico piece suggests that Ron Paul’s libertarian message is failing to inspire voters, referring to his stump speech as “a grim, thousand-points-of-darkness jeremiad that makes the rest of the GOP field’s somber depiction of Obama-era America seem sunny.”
- In light of the current election season, A. Barton Hinkle discusses the liberal backlash against Citizens United and why the Supreme Court made the right decision.
- Now that Romney is the established front-runner of the Republican field, several of his opponents are laying it on. Both Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman have criticized Romney for firing workers while working at Bain Capital. As James Pethokoukis from the American Enterprise Institute notes, the attacks are purely political and suggest that the Republicans’ understanding of free markets is superficial at best.
“Of course, Romney and Bain weren’t in the game to create jobs. They were in it to make money for their investors and themselves. Then again, the same would go for Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell, Warren Buffett, and just about every other successful entrepreneur and investor you could name. But that is the miracle of free-market capitalism. The pursuit of profits by creating value benefits the rest of society through higher incomes, more jobs, and better products and services.”
- On an unrelated note, Reason’s Brian Dougherty has a fascinating post which asserts that Haiti’s lack of prosperity stems from their insecure property rights.
Join us back here tomorrow to discuss the New Hampshire results!
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James Robertson currently attends the University of Mississippi, where he plans to receive degrees in Political Science and English. He is the President of the Ole Miss Chapter of Young Americans for Liberty. He can be contacted at jrrobert@olemiss.edu.
Ron Paul Returns $100,000 to the Treasury
Ron Paul truly walks the walk on fiscal conservatism:
Like him or hate him, Dr. Ron Paul doesn’t just talk a big game about fiscal conservatism, he lives it. In 2008, his congressional office returned $58,000 to the Treasury. In 2009, his office returned $90,000. Now, according to an official press release, Dr. Ron Paul’s congressional office has just paid back $100,000.
Not that $100,000 is going to make a serious dent in our fiscal imbalances, but Paul demonstrates the responsibility our government needs. The article also suggests:
If President Obama claims that he is serious about reigning in the runaway debt, perhaps he should install Dr. Ron Paul as the CEO of the bipartisan deficit commission. It appears he’s the only one in the federal government with the track record to speak with the highest degree of credibility.
By Preston Mui
GOP Riding the Wave of Libertarian Enthusiasm
Glenn Greenwald is definitely one of the most indispensable commentators around when it comes to exposing horrible atrocities carried out by the United States government. I have always been impressed by his ability to see through partisan politics and call out democrats and republicans alike in areas dealing with the most important of civil liberties. However, I was even more impressed with his insight in one of his more recent articles, The GOP’s “Small Government” Tea-Party Fraud.
In it, Greenwald, once again, exposes the GOP for its latest attempt at deception in order to gain power. I guess it shouldn’t come as a surprise when you consider Greenwald was the man who saw through every national security lie that sprang forth from the GOP’s mouth during the Bush years. However, Greenwald expresses a clear understanding of what the GOP is up to:
There’s a major political fraud underway: the GOP is once again donning their libertarian, limited-government masks in order to re-invent itself and, more important, to co-opt the energy and passion of the Ron-Paul-faction that spawned and sustains the ”tea party” movement. The Party that spat contempt at Paul during the Bush years and was diametrically opposed to most of his platform now pretends to share his views. Standard-issue Republicans and Ron Paul libertarians are as incompatible as two factions can be…
Right-wing mavens like Ann Coulter, Sarah Palin and National Review are suddenly feigning great respect for Ron Paul and like-minded activists because they’re eager that the sham will be maintained: the blatant sham that the modern GOP and its movement conservatives are a coherent vehicle for those who believe in small government principles.
I’m sure we’re all aware of this, but I thought Greenwald did a great job of putting it into words.
Analyst Observes “Quiet Libertarian Victories”
RealClearPolitics posted an article this morning pointing out how recent court decisions have upheld libertarian values in the areas of campaign finance, gun control, climate change legistlation, and drug policy. These judicial victories coupled with Rep. Ron Paul’s, R-Texas, straw poll victory at CPAC offer a hopeful future for liberty in American politics. Below is an excerpt from the article; follow the accompanying link to read more.
“The last several years have not been easy for libertarians to stomach. The U.S. government, which had bloated under President George W. Bush and a Republican Congress – the annual budget had climbed from $2 to $3 trillion under Bush and that didn’t count much off-budget military spending – has grown even more under President Barack Obama and his Democrats.
The U.S. now has nationalized industries, out-of-control deficits, and a looming entitlement crunch to deal with. And that’s before we factor in Obama’s calls for even more stimulus and new programs. America, the joke goes, doesn’t have the change to afford hope any more. So why are so many libertarians smiling?”
Read the full article here.
The article is written by Jeremy Lott, who has worked with the Cato Institute and currently co-hosts the Competitive Enterprise Institute‘s Liberty Week podcast.
Audit the Fed, Then End It!
There are not too many topics that Americans seem to shy away from politically. Unfortunately, however, one of those topics we don’t like to talk about just happens to be the most important. The monetary system in this country receives absolutely no airtime on the major media networks. There is no debate about monetary creation during the presidential races. And, amazingly, most Americans don’t even know where their money comes from and how it receives its value. This is a trend that truly needs to change before America will be able to break the horrid boom and bust cycle of our economy.
House ‘Guts’ H.R. 1207, Bill to Audit the Fed
Rep. Mel Watt, of North Carolina stripped H.R. 1207 of its most important provisions.
In a not-too-surprising move, House leaders have stripped House Bill 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, of all its most meaningful legislation. Rep. Mel Watt, of North Carolina was tasked with “preparing the legislation for formal consideration.” In his new, stripped version of the bill, there is no longer an audit of the Federal Reserve’s dealings with foreign central banks, no audit of their deliberations about monetary policy decisions, and no audit of Federal Open Market Committee and its communications with members, banks, and staff.
Congressman Ron Paul said that when the bill comes to the floor, he will introduce an amendment that would attempt to restore the bill to its former, unaltered state. As my congressman, Travis Childers, sits on the Financial Services Committee, I will be giving his office a call to let him know how disastrous this is to any attempt at transparency and truth with regard to the Federal Reserve, and urge him to support the original language and intent of H.R. 1207.
UPDATE: Congressman Paul Responds to these breaking events:
Get Your Copy of End the Fed by Ron Paul
Amazon is now selling Ron Paul’s brand new book, End the Fed. We encourage everybody to pick up a copy for themselves. How amazing would it be, during hard economic times and in the middle of an intense debate to give the Federal Reserve its very first full-scale audit, a book entitled End the Fed would surge to the top of the New York Times bestseller list.
On top of sending a message to the world that the American people will no longer tolerate being robbed of their savings by rich bankers, you will get to read what promises to be a very informative and well written book. Let’s send a message!
Federal Reserve Transparency Act Reaches Majority Sponsorship
As of today, Ron Paul‘s Federal Reserve Transparency Bill has received its 222nd co-sponsor. It only takes 218 to pass, so presumably the bill should pass the House. We now need to work on the Senate.
The idea that the Fed should continue to operate in complete secrecy is baffling. Consider this: Big Government and Big Business enjoy an incestuous relationship….The Chairman of the Fed can (and does) expand the money supply at will…. The Fed rigs the banking industry……all in secret. Congress literally is not entitled to demand information. It’s hard to imagine something more inimical to republican government.
213 Sponsors of H.R. 1207 in House of Representatives!
218 is a majority!
HR 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, is Ron Paul’s bill to audit the Federal Reserve.
“…Federal Reserve, you have a lot of power, you have too much power, you’re spending a lot of money, we have no idea what you’re doing. We and the Congress have a responsibility to know exactly what you’re doing. This bill, HR 1207, will allow us once and for all, to have some supervision of the Federal Reserve.”
-Congressman Ron Paul
To learn more, watch this video:
And check out this website.
HR 1207 is now in the House Committee on Financial Services. This is THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP in this legislation! If it doesn’t get out of committee it will not come to a vote! There are 71 members on this committee and they are all listed below. Read the rest of this entry »
