HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
2006 Ron Paul 52:1
I have been involved in politics for over 30 years and have never
seen the American people so angry.
It’s
not unusual to sense a modest amount of outrage, but it seems the anger
today is
unusually intense and quite possibly worse than ever.
It’s not easily explained, but I have some thoughts on this
matter.
Generally, anger and frustration among people are related to
economic
conditions; bread and butter issues.
Yet
today, according to government statistics, things are going well. We
have low
unemployment, low inflation, more homeowners than ever before, and
abundant
leisure with abundant luxuries.
Even
the poor have cell phones, televisions, and computers.
Public school is free, and anyone can get free medical care at
any
emergency room in the country. Almost all taxes are paid by the top 50%
of
income earners.
The lower 50% pay
essentially no income taxes, yet general dissatisfaction and anger are
commonplace.
The old slogan
“It’s the economy, stupid,” just doesn’t seem to explain things
2006 Ron Paul 52:2
Some say it’s the war, yet we’ve lived with war throughout the 20
th
century. The bigger they were the more
we pulled
together.
And the current war, by
comparison, has fewer American casualties than the rest.
So it can’t just be the war itself.
2006 Ron Paul 52:3
People complain about corruption, but what’s new about
government corruption?
In the 19
th
century we had railroad scandals; in the 20
th
century we
endured the
Teapot Dome scandal, Watergate, Koreagate, and many others without too
much
anger and resentment.
Yet today it
seems anger is pervasive and worse than we’ve experienced in the past.
2006 Ron Paul 52:4
Could it be that war, vague yet persistent economic
uncertainty, corruption, and the immigration problem all contribute to
the anger
we feel in America?
Perhaps, but
it’s almost as though people aren’t exactly sure why they are so uneasy.
They only know that they’ve had it and aren’t going to put up
with it
anymore.
2006 Ron Paul 52:5
High gasoline prices make a lot of people angry, though
there is little understanding of how deficits, inflation, and war in
the Middle
East all contribute to these higher prices.
2006 Ron Paul 52:6
Generally speaking, there are two controlling forces that
determine the nature of government: the people’s concern for their
economic
self interests; and the philosophy of those who hold positions of power
and
influence in any particular government.
Under
Soviet Communism the workers believed their economic best interests
were being
served, while a few dedicated theoreticians placed themselves in
positions of
power.
Likewise, the intellectual
leaders of the American Revolution were few, but rallied the colonists
to risk
all to overthrow a tyrannical king.
2006 Ron Paul 52:7
Since there’s never a perfect understanding between these
two forces, the people and the philosophical leaders, and because the
motivations of the intellectual leaders vary greatly, any transition
from one
system of government to another is unpredictable.
The
communist takeover by Lenin was violent and costly; the
demise of communism and the acceptance of a relatively open system in
the former
Soviet Union occurred in a miraculous manner.
Both
systems had intellectual underpinnings.
2006 Ron Paul 52:8
In the United States over the last century we have witnessed the coming and going of various intellectual influences by
proponents
of the free market, Keynesian welfarism, varieties of socialism, and
supply-side
economics.
In foreign policy
we’ve seen a transition from the founder’s vision of non-intervention
in the
affairs of others to internationalism, unilateral nation building, and
policing
the world.
We now have in place a
policy, driven by determined neo-conservatives, to promote American
“goodness” and democracy throughout the world by military force — with
particular emphasis on remaking the Middle East.
2006 Ron Paul 52:9
We all know that ideas do have consequences.
Bad ideas, even when supported naively by the people, will have
bad
results.
Could it be the people
sense, in a profound way, that the policies of recent decades are
unworkable — and thus they have instinctively lost confidence in their government
leaders?
This certainly happened in the final years of the Soviet system.
Though not fully understood, this sense of frustration may well
be the
source of anger we hear expressed on a daily basis by so many.
2006 Ron Paul 52:10
No matter how noble the motivations of political leaders
are, when they achieve positions of power the power itself inevitably
becomes
their driving force.
Government
officials too often yield to the temptations and corrupting influences
of power.
2006 Ron Paul 52:11
But there are many others who are not bashful about using
government power to do “good.”
They
truly believe they can make the economy fair through a redistributive
tax and
spending system; make the people moral by regulating personal behavior
and
choices; and remake the world in our image using armies.
They argue that the use of force to achieve good is legitimate
and proper
for government — always speaking of the noble goals while ignoring the
inevitable failures and evils caused by coercion.
2006 Ron Paul 52:12
Not only do they justify government force, they believe
they have a moral obligation to do so.
2006 Ron Paul 52:13
Once we concede government has this “legitimate” function and can be manipulated by a majority vote, the various special
interests move in quickly.
They
gain control to direct government largesse for their own benefit.
Too often it is corporate interests who learn how to manipulate
every
contract, regulation and tax policy.
Likewise,
promoters of the “progressive” agenda, always hostile to property
rights,
compete for government power through safety, health, and environmental
initiatives.
Both groups resort to
using government power — and abuse this power — in an effort to serve
their
narrow interests.
In the meantime,
constitutional limits on power and its mandate to protect liberty are
totally
forgotten.
2006 Ron Paul 52:14
Since the use of power to achieve political ends is
accepted, pervasive, and ever expanding, popular support for various
programs is
achieved by creating fear.
Sometimes
the fear is concocted out of thin air, but usually it’s created by
wildly
exaggerating a problem or incident that does not warrant the proposed
government
“solution.”
Often government
caused the problem in the first place.
The
irony, of course, is that government action rarely solves any problem,
but
rather worsens existing problems or creates altogether new ones.
2006 Ron Paul 52:15
Fear is generated to garner popular support for the
proposed government action, even when some liberty has to be sacrificed.
This leads to a society that is systemically driven toward
fear — fear
that gives the monstrous government more and more authority and control
over our
lives and property.
2006 Ron Paul 52:16
Fear is constantly generated by politicians to rally the
support of the people.
2006 Ron Paul 52:17
Environmentalists go back and forth, from warning about a
coming ice age to arguing the grave dangers of global warming.
2006 Ron Paul 52:18
It is said that without an economic safety net — for everyone, from cradle to
grave — people would starve and many would become homeless.
2006 Ron Paul 52:19
It is said that without government health care, the poor
would not receive treatment.
Medical
care would be available only to the rich.
2006 Ron Paul 52:20
Without government insuring pensions, all private pensions would be threatened.
2006 Ron Paul 52:21
Without federal assistance, there would be no funds for
public education, and the quality of our public schools would
diminish — ignoring recent history to the contrary.
2006 Ron Paul 52:22
It is argued that without government surveillance of every
American, even without search warrants, security cannot be achieved.
The sacrifice of some liberty is required for security of our
citizens,
they claim.
2006 Ron Paul 52:23
We are constantly told that the next terrorist attack could
come at any moment.
Rather than
questioning why we might be attacked, this atmosphere of fear instead
prompts
giving up liberty and privacy.
9/11
has been conveniently used to generate the fear necessary to expand
both our
foreign intervention and domestic surveillance.
2006 Ron Paul 52:24
Fear of nuclear power is used to assure shortages and
highly expensive energy.
2006 Ron Paul 52:25
In all instances where fear is generated and used to expand
government control, it’s safe to say the problems behind the fears were
not
caused by the free market economy, or too much privacy, or excessive
liberty.
2006 Ron Paul 52:26
It’s easy to generate fear, fear that too often becomes
excessive, unrealistic, and difficult to curb.
This is important: It leads to even more demands for government
action
than the perpetrators of the fear actually anticipated.
2006 Ron Paul 52:27
Once people look to government to alleviate their fears and
make them safe, expectations exceed reality.
FEMA originally had a small role, but its current mission is to
centrally
manage every natural disaster that befalls us. This mission was
exposed as
a fraud during last year’s hurricanes; incompetence and corruption are
now
FEMA’s legacy.
This generates
anger among those who have to pay the bills, and among those who didn’t
receive the handouts promised to them quickly enough.
2006 Ron Paul 52:28
Generating exaggerated fear to justify and promote attacks
on private property is commonplace.
It
serves to inflame resentment between the producers in society and the
so-called
victims, whose demands grow exponentially.
2006 Ron Paul 52:29
The economic impossibility of this system guarantees that
the harder government tries to satisfy the unlimited demands, the worse
the
problems become.
We won’t be able
to pay the bills forever, and eventually our ability to borrow and
print new
money must end.
This dependency on
government will guarantee anger when the money runs out.
Today we’re still able to borrow and inflate, but budgets are
getting
tighter and people sense serious problems lurking in the future.
This fear is legitimate.
No
easy solution to our fiscal problems is readily apparent, and this
ignites anger
and apprehension.
2006 Ron Paul 52:30
Disenchantment is directed at the politicians and their
false promises, made in order to secure reelection and exert power that
so many
of them enjoy.
2006 Ron Paul 52:31
It is, however, in foreign affairs that governments have
most abused fear to generate support for an agenda that under normal
circumstances would have been rejected.
For
decades our administrations have targeted one supposed “Hitler” after
another to gain support for military action against a particular
country.
Today we have three choices termed the axis of evil: Iran, Iraq
or North
Korea.
2006 Ron Paul 52:32
We recently witnessed how unfounded fear was generated
concerning Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction to justify our
first
ever pre-emptive war.
It is now
universally known the fear was based on falsehoods.
And yet the war goes on; the death and destruction continue.
2006 Ron Paul 52:33
This is not a new phenomenon.
General Douglas MacArthur understood the political use of
fear when he made this famous statement:
2006 Ron Paul 52:34
“Always there has been some
terrible evil at home or some monstrous foreign power that was going to
gobble
us up if we did not blindly rally behind it.”
2006 Ron Paul 52:35
We should be ever vigilant when we hear the fear mongers
preparing us for the next military conflict our young men and women
will be
expected to fight.
We’re being
told of the great danger posed by Almadinejad in Iran and Kim Jung Il
in North
Korea.
Even Russia and China
bashing is in vogue again.
And
we’re still not able to trade with or travel to Cuba.
A constant enemy is required to expand the state.
More and more news stories blame Iran for the bad results in
Iraq.
Does this mean Iran is next
on the hit list?
2006 Ron Paul 52:36
The world is much too dangerous, we’re told, and therefore we must be prepared to fight at a moment’s notice, regardless
of the
cost.
If the public could not be
manipulated by politicians’ efforts to instill needless fear, fewer
wars would
be fought and far fewer lives would be lost.
2006 Ron Paul 52:38
Though the American people are fed up for a lot of
legitimate reasons, almost all polls show the mess in Iraq leads the
list of why
the anger is so intense.
2006 Ron Paul 52:39
Short wars, with well-defined victories, are tolerated by
the American people even when they are misled as to the reasons for the
war.
Wars entered into without a proper declaration tend to be
politically
motivated and not for national security reasons.
These wars, by their very nature, are prolonged, costly, and
usually
require a new administration to finally end them.
This certainly was true with the Korean and Vietnam wars.
The lack of a quick military success, the loss of life and limb,
and the
huge economic costs of lengthy wars precipitate anger.
This is overwhelmingly true when the war propaganda that stirred
up
illegitimate fears is exposed as a fraud.
Most
soon come to realize the promise of guns and butter is an illusion.
They come to understand that inflation, a weak economy, and a
prolonged
war without real success are the reality.
2006 Ron Paul 52:40
The anger over the Iraq war is multifaceted.
Some are angry believing they were lied to in order to gain
their support
at the beginning.
Others are angry that
the forty billion dollars we spend
every year on intelligence gathering failed to provide good information.
Proponents of the war too often are unable to admit the truth.
They become frustrated with the progress of the war and then
turn on
those wanting to change course, angrily denouncing them as unpatriotic
and
un-American.
2006 Ron Paul 52:41
Those accused are quick to respond to the insulting charges
made by those who want to fight on forever without regard to casualties.
Proponents of the war do not hesitate to challenge the manhood
of war
critics, accusing them of wanting to cut and run.
Some war supporters ducked military service themselves while
others
fought and died, only adding to the anger of those who have seen battle
up close
and now question our campaign in Iraq.
2006 Ron Paul 52:42
When people see a $600 million embassy being built in
Baghdad, while funding for services here in the United States is hard
to obtain,
they become angry.
They can’t
understand why the money is being spent, especially when they are told
by our
government that we have no intention of remaining permanently in Iraq.
2006 Ron Paul 52:43
The bickering and anger will not subside soon, since
victory in Iraq is not on the horizon and a change in policy is not
likely
either.
2006 Ron Paul 52:44
The neoconservative instigators of the war are angry at
everyone: at the people who want to get out of Iraq; and especially at
those
prosecuting the war for not bombing more aggressively, sending in more
troops, and
expanding the war into Iran.
2006 Ron Paul 52:45
As our country becomes poorer due to the cost of the war,
anger surely will escalate. Much of it will be justified.
2006 Ron Paul 52:46
It seems bizarre that it’s so unthinkable to change
course if the current policy is failing.
Our
leaders are like a physician who makes a wrong diagnosis and prescribes
the
wrong medicine, but because of his ego can’t tell the patient he made a
mistake.
Instead he hopes the
patient will get better on his own.
But
instead of improving, the patient gets worse from the medication
wrongly
prescribed.
This would be abhorrent
behavior in medicine, but tragically it is commonplace in politics.
2006 Ron Paul 52:47
If the truth is admitted, it would appear that the lives
lost and the money spent have been in vain.
Instead, more casualties must be sustained to prove a false
premise. What a tragedy! If the truth is admitted, imagine
the anger of all the families that
already have suffered such a burden.
That
burden is softened when the families and the wounded are told their
great
sacrifice was worthy, and required to preserve our freedoms and our
Constitution.
2006 Ron Paul 52:48
But no one is allowed to ask the obvious.
How have the 2,500 plus deaths, and the 18,500 wounded, made us
more
free?
What in the world does Iraq
have to do with protecting our civil liberties here at home?
What national security threat prompted America’s first
pre-emptive
war?
How does our unilateral
enforcement of UN resolutions enhance our freedoms?
2006 Ron Paul 52:49
These questions aren’t permitted.
They are not politically correct.
I
agree that the truth hurts, and these questions are terribly
hurtful to the families that have suffered so much.
What a horrible thought it would be to find out the cause for
which we fight is not quite so noble.
2006 Ron Paul 52:50
I don’t believe those who hide from the truth and refuse
to face the reality of the war do so deliberately.
The pain is too great. Deep down, psychologically, many are
incapable of admitting such a costly and emotionally damaging error.
They instead become even greater and more determined supporters
of the
failed policy.
2006 Ron Paul 52:51
I would concede that there are some — especially the
die-hard neoconservatives, who believe it is our moral duty to spread
American
goodness through force and remake the Middle East — who neither suffer
regrets
nor are bothered by the casualties.
They
continue to argue for more war without remorse, as long as they
themselves do
not have to fight. Criticism is reserved for the wimps who want to “cut
and
run.”
2006 Ron Paul 52:52
Due to the psychological need to persist with the failed policy, the war
proponents must remain in denial of many facts staring them in the face.
2006 Ron Paul 52:53
They refuse to accept that the real reason for our invasion
and occupation of Iraq was not related to terrorism.
2006 Ron Paul 52:54
They deny that our military is weaker as a consequence of
this war.
2006 Ron Paul 52:55
They won’t admit that our invasion has served the interests of Osama Bin Laden.
They
continue to blame our image problems around the world on a few bad
apples.
2006 Ron Paul 52:56
They won’t admit that our invasion has served the interests of Iran’s radical regime.
2006 Ron Paul 52:57
The cost in lives lost and dollars spent is glossed over,
and the deficit spirals up without concern.
2006 Ron Paul 52:58
They ridicule those who point out that our relationships
with our allies have been significantly damaged.
2006 Ron Paul 52:59
We have provided a tremendous incentive for Russia and
China, and others like Iran, to organize through the Shanghai
Cooperation
Organization.
They entertain future
challenges to our plans to dominate South East Asia, the Middle East,
and all
its oil.
2006 Ron Paul 52:60
Radicalizing the Middle East will in the long term jeopardize Israel’s security, and increase the odds of this war
spreading.
2006 Ron Paul 52:61
War supporters cannot see that for every Iraqi killed,
another family turns on us — regardless of who did the killing. We are
and will
continue to be blamed for every wrong done in Iraq: all deaths,
illness, water
problems, food shortages, and electricity outages.
2006 Ron Paul 52:62
As long as our political leaders persist in these denials,
the war won’t end. The problem is that this is the source of the anger,
because the American people are not in denial and want a change in
policy.
2006 Ron Paul 52:63
Policy changes in wartime are difficult, for it is almost
impossible for the administration to change course since so much
emotional
energy has been invested in the effort. That’s why Eisenhower ended the
Korean
War, and not Truman. That’s why Nixon ended the Vietnam War, and not
LBJ. Even
in the case of Vietnam the end was too slow and costly, as more then
30,000
military deaths came after Nixon’s election in 1968.
It makes a lot more sense to avoid unnecessary wars than to
overcome the politics involved in stopping them once started. I
personally am
convinced that many of our wars could be prevented by paying stricter
attention
to the method whereby our troops are committed to battle.
I also am convinced that when Congress does not declare war,
victory is
unlikely.
2006 Ron Paul 52:64
The most important thing Congress can do to prevent
needless and foolish wars is for every member to take seriously his or
her oath
to obey the Constitution. Wars should be entered into only after great
deliberation and caution. Wars that are declared by Congress should
reflect the
support of the people, and the goal should be a quick and successful
resolution.
2006 Ron Paul 52:65
Our undeclared wars over the past 65 years have dragged on
without precise victories. We fight to spread American values, to
enforce UN
resolutions, and to slay supposed Hitlers.
We forget that we once spread American values by persuasion and
setting
an example — not by bombs and preemptive invasions.
Nowhere in the Constitution are we permitted to go to war on
behalf of the United Nations at the sacrifice of our national
sovereignty.
We repeatedly use military force against former allies, thugs we
helped
empower—like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden—even when they pose no
danger to us.
2006 Ron Paul 52:66
The 2002 resolution allowing the president to decide when
and if to invade Iraq is an embarrassment. The Constitution authorizes
only
Congress to declare war. Our refusal to declare war transferred power
to the
president illegally, without a constitutional amendment. Congress did
this with
a simple resolution, passed by majority vote. This means Congress
reneged on its
responsibility as a separate branch of government, and should be held
accountable for the bad policy in Iraq that the majority of Americans
are now
upset about. Congress is every bit as much at fault as the president.
2006 Ron Paul 52:67
Constitutional questions aside, the American people should
have demanded more answers from their government before they supported
the
invasion and occupation of a foreign country.
2006 Ron Paul 52:68
Some of the strongest supporters of the war declare that we
are a Christian nation, yet use their religious beliefs to justify the
war. They
claim it is our Christian duty to remake the Middle East and attack the
Muslim
infidels. Evidently I have been reading from a different Bible.
I remember something about “Blessed are the peacemakers.”
2006 Ron Paul 52:69
My beliefs aside, Christian teaching of nearly a thousand
years reinforces the concept of “The Just War Theory.” This Christian
theory
emphasizes six criteria needed to justify Christian participation in
war.
Briefly the six points are as follows:
War should be fought only in self
defense;
War should be undertaken only as a
last resort;
A decision to enter war should be made
only by a legitimate authority;
All military responses must be
proportional to the threat;
There must be a reasonable chance of
success; and
A public declaration notifying all
parties concerned is required.
2006 Ron Paul 52:70
The war in Iraq fails to meet almost all of these requirements. This discrepancy has generated anger and division within
the
Christian community.
2006 Ron Paul 52:71
Some are angry because the war is being fought out of
Christian duty, yet does not have uniform support from all Christians.
Others are angry because they see Christianity as a religion as
peace and
forgiveness, not war and annihilation of enemies.
2006 Ron Paul 52:72
Constitutional and moral restraints on war should be
strictly followed.
It is
understandable when kings, dictators, and tyrants take their people
into war,
since it serves their selfish interests — and those sent to fight have
no say in
the matter.
It is more difficult to
understand why democracies and democratic legislative bodies, which
have a say
over the issue of war, so readily submit to the executive branch of
government.
The determined effort of the authors of our Constitution to
firmly place
the power to declare war in the legislative branch has been ignored in
the
decades following WWII.
2006 Ron Paul 52:73
Many members have confided in me that they are quite
comfortable with this arrangement.
They
flatly do not expect, in this modern age, to formally declare war ever
again.
Yet no one predicts there will be fewer wars fought.
It is instead assumed they will be ordered by the executive
branch or the
United Nations — a rather sad commentary.
2006 Ron Paul 52:74
What about the practical arguments against war, since no
one seems interested in exerting constitutional or moral restraints?
Why do we continue to fight prolonged, political wars when the
practical
results are so bad?
Our undeclared wars
since 1945 have been very costly, to put
it mildly.
We have suffered over
one hundred thousand military deaths, and even more serious casualties.
Tens of thousands have suffered from serious war-related
illnesses.
Sadly, we as a nation express essentially no concern for the millions
of
civilian casualties in the countries where we fought.
2006 Ron Paul 52:75
The cost of war since 1945, and our military presence in
over 100 countries, exceeds two trillion dollars in today’s dollars.
The cost
in higher taxes, debt, and persistent inflation is immeasurable.
Likewise, the economic opportunities lost by diverting trillions
of
dollars into war is impossible to measure, but it is huge. Yet our
presidents
persist in picking fights with countries that pose no threat to us,
refusing to
participate in true diplomacy to resolve differences. Congress over the
decades
has never resisted the political pressures to send our troops abroad on
missions
that defy imagination.
2006 Ron Paul 52:76
When the people object to a new adventure, the propaganda
machine goes into action to make sure critics are seen as unpatriotic
Americans
or even traitors.
2006 Ron Paul 52:77
The military-industrial complex we were warned about has
been transformed into a military-media-industrial-government complex
that is
capable of silencing the dissenters and cheerleading for war.
It’s only after years of failure that people are able to
overcome the
propaganda for war and pressure their representatives in Congress to
stop the
needless killing. Many times the economic costs of war stir people to
demand an
end.
This time around the war might
be brought to a halt by our actual inability to pay the bills due to a
dollar
crisis.
A dollar crisis will make
borrowing 2.5 billion dollars per day from foreign powers like China
and Japan
virtually impossible, at least at affordable interest rates.
2006 Ron Paul 52:78
That’s when we will be forced to reassess the spending
spree, both at home and abroad.
2006 Ron Paul 52:79
The solution to this mess is not complicated; but the
changes needed are nearly impossible for political reasons. Sound free
market
economics, sound money, and a sensible foreign policy would all result
from
strict adherence to the Constitution.
If
the people desired it, and Congress was filled with responsible
members, a
smooth although challenging transition could be achieved.
Since this is unlikely, we can only hope that the rule of law
and the
goal of liberty can be reestablished without chaos.
2006 Ron Paul 52:80
We must move quickly toward a more traditional American
foreign policy of peace, friendship, and trade with all nations;
entangling
alliances with none.
We must reject
the notion that we can or should make the world safe for democracy.
We must forget about being the world’s policeman. We should
disengage
from the unworkable and unforgiving task of nation building.
We must reject the notion that our military should be used to
protect
natural resources, private investments, or serve the interest of any
foreign
government or the United Nations. Our military should be designed for
one
purpose: defending our national security.
It’s
time to come home now, before financial conditions or military weakness
dictates
it.
2006 Ron Paul 52:81
The major obstacle to a sensible foreign policy is the
fiction about what patriotism means. Today patriotism has come to mean
blind
support for the government and its policies. In earlier times
patriotism meant
having the willingness and courage to challenge government policies
regardless
of popular perceptions.
2006 Ron Paul 52:82
Today we constantly hear innuendos and direct insults aimed
at those who dare to challenge current foreign policy, no matter how
flawed that
policy may be.
I would suggest it
takes more courage to admit the truth, to admit mistakes, than to
attack others
as unpatriotic for disagreeing with the war in Iraq.
2006 Ron Paul 52:83
Remember, the original American patriots challenged the
abuses of King George, and wrote and carried out the Declaration of
Independence.
2006 Ron Paul 52:84
Yes Mr. Speaker, there is a lot of anger in this country.
Much of it is justified; some of it is totally unnecessary and
misdirected.
The only thing that
can lessen this anger is an informed public, a better understanding of
economic
principles, a rejection of foreign intervention, and a strict adherence
to the
constitutional rule of law.
This
will be difficult to achieve, but it’s not impossible and well worth
the
effort.
