This is a really good web page that brings together what Ron Paul stands for. The more I hear about him, the more I believe he's the kind of leader this country needs.Brief Overview of Congressman Paul’s Record:
- He has never voted to raise taxes.
- He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
- He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
- He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
- He has never taken a government-paid junket.
- He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
- He voted against the Patriot Act.
- He voted against regulating the Internet.
- He voted against the Iraq war.
- He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
- He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
5 comments:
Though he does sound interesting, Luke, I'm not yet convinced. I like libertarianism or classical liberalism (nice, easy, clean solutions), but life doesn't reflect that simplicity. That approach is philosophically tighter than many others, but it's often not able to stomach the complexity and ambiguity of everyday life. Instead of hearing about how he's never raised taxes, I'd like to hear about why he had to that once (even though he didn't want to). I'd also like to see him stand up, but at those times when he must stand up against himself (vis-a-vis standing up against our own fallen-ness).
However, (and I should say something good because he is a good candidate) his bent towards small government is testament to the brokenness of every politician that walks across those floors. It also beckons the nation to smallness, to community, and to relationship.
Ok...I suppose that I'm just rambling now. Sorry.
While our government's a big entity to take chances with, but I think it would be more than worth it to see what a "constitution man" could do with it.
The reason he's never had to vote to raise taxes is because we've always been completely capable of living within our budget. Washington just refuses to for varying reasons.
The same could be said for much of the rest of his voting record. It might seem that he's just voting "no" because he knows it won't make a difference and things will still "get done", but in reality there are always alternative solutions that the rest of Washington refuses to acknowledge for varied reasons.
Ron Paul has introduced a lot of legislation with good sound "fixes" to many of our problems. Do a Google search on "legislation introduced by Ron Paul". There's some interesting stuff in there.
This page also gives a great example of where Ron Paul had an excellent constitutional idea that was rejected with consequences that are obvious today. The text of his remarks to the house are in the link at the bottom of the linked page.
It would certainly be difficult for anyone to impeach the congressman's constitutionalism, particularly since he sees the system acting on a regulative principle of government. Obviously, this would severely limit government actions that go far beyond their purview. Though I'm not really sure that it wouldn't limit some actions that remain within their purview.
But for me, other little tidbits seem more impressive than his consistency: namely, his inconsistency. For example, he's a libertarian who voted against NAFTA. I might not agree with his reasons for doing so (I don't know why he didn't), but this would suggest that he's a better politician than he is a libertarian. That is a man I'd consider voting for. A man who knows when to stand upon his principles, and who knows when to stand against them (even though he's undoubtedly standing on other ones). Confusing, maybe, but very humane.
After I see that, then it's just his character that I don't know, and that's something that is not within my sphere. But this leads me into another different rant, so perhaps I'll just let it go.
Thanks for the discussion (and the suggestion), Luke.
Speaking of inconsistency...he bills himself a Republican.
Go figure.
As a member of the Old Right (ie 1920s style Republicanism), I'm sure there's also really no where else for him to go.
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