Volume 2007 — The Book of Ron Paul
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 1
HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
January 5, 2007
3000 American Deaths in Iraq
Mr. Speaker, Saddam Hussein is Dead. So
are Three Thousand Americans.
2007 Ron Paul 1:1
The regime in Iraq has been changed.
Yet victory will not be declared: not only does the war go on,
it’s
about to escalate.
Obviously the
turmoil in Iraq is worse than ever, and most Americans no longer are
willing to
tolerate the costs, both human and economic, associated with this war.
2007 Ron Paul 1:2
We have been in Iraq for 45 months. Many
more Americans have been killed in Iraq than were killed in the first
45 months
of our war in Vietnam.
I was in the
U.S. Air Force in 1965, and I remember well when President Johnson
announced a
troop surge in Vietnam to hasten victory.
That
war went on for another decade, and by the time we finally got out
60,000
Americans had died.
God knows we
should have gotten out ten years earlier.
“Troop
surge” meant serious escalation.
2007 Ron Paul 1:3
The election is over and Americans have spoken.
Enough is enough!
They want
the war ended and our troops brought home.
But the opposite likely will occur, with bipartisan support.
Up to 50,000 more troops will be sent.
The goal no longer is to win, but simply to secure Baghdad! So
much has
been spent with so little to show for it.
2007 Ron Paul 1:4
Who possibly benefits from escalating chaos in Iraq?
Neoconservatives unabashedly have written about how chaos
presents opportunities for promoting their goals. Certainly Osama bin
Laden has
benefited from the turmoil in Iraq, as have the Iranian Shiites who now
are
better positioned to take control of southern Iraq.
2007 Ron Paul 1:5
Yes, Saddam Hussein is dead, and only the Sunnis mourn.
The Shiites and Kurds celebrate his death, as do the Iranians
and especially bin Laden — all enemies of Saddam Hussein.
We have performed a tremendous service for both bin Laden and
Ahmadinejad, and it will cost us plenty.
The
violent reaction to our complicity in the execution of Saddam Hussein
is yet to
come.
2007 Ron Paul 1:6
Three thousand American military personnel are dead, more than 22,000 are
wounded, and tens of thousands will be psychologically traumatized by
their
tours of duty in Iraq.
Little
concern is given to the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians killed
in this
war.
We’ve spent $400 billion so
far, with no end in sight.
2007 Ron Paul 1:7
This is money we don’t have. It
is all borrowed from countries like China, that increasingly succeed in
the
global economy while we drain wealth from our citizens through heavy
taxation
and insidious inflation.
Our
manufacturing base is now nearly extinct.
2007 Ron Paul 1:8
Where the additional U.S. troops in Iraq will come from is anybody’s guess.
But surely they won’t be redeployed from Japan, Korea, or Europe.
We at least must pretend that our bankrupt empire is intact.
But then again, the Soviet empire appeared
intact in 1988.
2007 Ron Paul 1:9
Some Members of Congress, intent on equitably distributing the suffering among
all Americans, want to bring back the draft.
Administration officials vehemently deny making any concrete
plans for a
draft.
But why should we believe
this?
Look what happened when so
many believed the reasons given for our preemptive invasion of Iraq.
2007 Ron Paul 1:10
Selective Service officials admit running a check of their lists of available
young men.
If the draft is
reinstated, we probably will include young women as well to serve the
god of
“equality.” Conscription is slavery, plain and simple.
And it was made illegal under the 13th amendment, which
prohibits
involuntary servitude.
One may well
be killed as a military draftee, which makes conscription a very
dangerous kind
of enslavement.
2007 Ron Paul 1:11
Instead of testing the efficacy of the Selective Service System and sending more
troops off to a war we’re losing, we ought to revive our love of
liberty.
We should repeal the Selective Service Act.
A free society should never depend on compulsory conscription to
defend
itself.
2007 Ron Paul 1:12
We get into trouble by not following the precepts of
liberty or obeying the rule of law.
Preemptive,
undeclared wars fought under false pretenses are a road to disaster.
If a full declaration of war by Congress had
been demanded as
the Constitution requires, this war never would have been fought.
If we did not create credit out of thin air as the Constitution
prohibits, we never would have convinced taxpayers to support this war
directly
from their pockets.
How long this
financial charade can go on is difficult to judge, but when the end
comes it
will not go unnoticed by any American.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 2
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
January 11, 2007
Escalation is Hardly the Answer
2007 Ron Paul 2:1
Mr. Speaker, A
military victory in Iraq is unattainable, just as it was in the Vietnam
war.
2007 Ron Paul 2:2
At the close of the Vietnam war in 1975, a telling conversation took place
between
an NVA Colonel named Tu and an American Colonel named Harry Summers.
Colonel Summers reportedly said, “You never beat us on the
battlefield.”
Tu replied, “That
may be so, but it is also irrelevant.”
It
is likewise irrelevant to seek military victory in Iraq.
2007 Ron Paul 2:3
As conditions deteriorate in Iraq, the American people are told more blood
must be
spilled to achieve just such a military victory. 20,000 additional
troops and
another $100 billion are needed for a “surge.” Yet the people remain
rightfully skeptical.
2007 Ron Paul 2:4
Though we’ve been in Iraq nearly four years, the meager goal today simply is
to
secure Baghdad.
This hardly shows
that the mission is even partly accomplished.
2007 Ron Paul 2:5
Astonishingly, American taxpayers now will be forced to finance a multi-billion dollar
jobs
program in Iraq.
Suddenly the war
is about jobs!
We export our
manufacturing jobs to Asia, and now we plan to export our welfare jobs
to Iraq — all at the expense of the poor and middle class here at home.
2007 Ron Paul 2:6
Plans are being made to become more ruthless in achieving stability in Iraq.
It appears Muqtada al Sadr will be on the receiving end of our
military
efforts, despite his overwhelming support among large segments of the
Iraqi
people.
2007 Ron Paul 2:7
It’s interesting to note that one excuse given for our failure is leveled at
the
Iraqis themselves.
They have not
done enough, we’re told, and are difficult to train.
2007 Ron Paul 2:8
Yet no one complains that Mahdi or Kurdish militias or the Badr Brigade
(the real
Iraq government, not our appointed government) are not well trained.
Our problems obviously have nothing to do with training Iraqis
to fight,
but instead with loyalties and motivations.
2007 Ron Paul 2:9
We claim to be spreading democracy in Iraq, but al Sadr has far more
democratic
support with the majority Shiites than our troops enjoy.
The problem is not a lack of democratic consensus; it is the
antipathy
toward our presence among most Iraqis.
2007 Ron Paul 2:10
In real estate the three important considerations are location, location,
location.
In Iraq the three conditions are occupation, occupation,
occupation.
Nothing can improve in Iraq until we understand that our
occupation is
the primary source of the chaos and killing.
We are a foreign occupying force, strongly resented by the
majority of
Iraq’s citizens.
2007 Ron Paul 2:11
Our inability to adapt to the tactics of 4
th
generation warfare
compounds
our military failure.
Unless we
understand this, even doubling our troop strength will not solve the
problems
created by our occupation.
2007 Ron Paul 2:12
The talk of a troop surge and jobs program in Iraq only distracts Americans
from the
very real possibility of an attack on Iran.
Our
growing naval presence in the region and our harsh
rhetoric toward Iran are unsettling.
Securing
the Horn of Africa and sending Ethiopian troops into Somalia do not
bode well
for world peace.
Yet these
developments are almost totally ignored by Congress.
2007 Ron Paul 2:13
Rumors are flying about when, not if, Iran will be bombed by either Israel or
the
U.S. — possibly with nuclear weapons.
Our
CIA says Iran is ten years away from producing a nuclear bomb and has
no
delivery system, but this does not impede our plans to keep “everything
on the
table” when dealing with Iran.
2007 Ron Paul 2:14
We should remember that Iran, like Iraq, is a third-world nation without a
significant military.
Nothing in
history hints that she is likely to invade a neighboring country, let
alone do
anything to America or Israel.
I am
concerned, however, that a contrived Gulf of Tonkin- type incident may
occur to
gain popular support for an attack on Iran.
2007 Ron Paul 2:15
Even if such an attack is carried out by Israel over U.S. objections, we
will be
politically and morally culpable since we provided the weapons and
dollars to
make it possible.
2007 Ron Paul 2:16
Mr. Speaker, let’s hope I’m wrong about this one.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 3
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
January 18, 2007
Everybody Supports the Troops
2007 Ron Paul 3:1
Mr. Speaker, I have never met anyone who did not support our troops.
Sometimes, however, we hear accusations that someone or some
group does
not support the men and women serving in our armed forces.
This is pure demagoguery, and it’s intellectually dishonest.
The accusers play on emotions to gain support for controversial
policies,
implying that those who disagree are unpatriotic.
But keeping our troops out of harm’s way, especially when war is
unnecessary, is never unpatriotic.
There’s no better way to support the troops.
2007 Ron Paul 3:2
Since we now know that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction
and was not
threatening anyone, we must come to terms with 3,000 American deaths
and 23,000
American casualties.
It’s disconcerting that those who never believed the
justifications
given for our invasion, and who now want the war ended, are still
accused of not
supporting the troops!
This is strange indeed!
2007 Ron Paul 3:3
Instead of questioning who has the best interests of our troops at heart, we should be debating which
policy is
best for our country.
Defensive wars to preserve our liberties, fought only with
proper
congressional declarations, are legitimate.
Casualties under such circumstances still are heartbreaking, but
they are
understandable.
Casualties that occur in undeclared, unnecessary wars, however,
are
bewildering.
Why
must so many Americans be killed or hurt in Iraq when our security and
our
liberty were not threatened?
2007 Ron Paul 3:4
Clichés about supporting the troops are designed to distract us from failed policies, policies
promoted by
powerful special interests that benefit from war.
Anything to steer the discussion away from the real reasons the
war in
Iraq will not end anytime soon.
2007 Ron Paul 3:5
Many now agree that we must change our policy and extricate ourselves from the
mess in Iraq.
They
cite a mandate from the American people for a new direction.
This opinion is now more popular, and thus now more widely held
by
politicians in Washington.
But there’s always a qualifier: We can’t simply stop funding the
war,
because we must support the troops.
I find this conclusion bizarre.
It means one either believes the “support the troops” propaganda
put
out by the original promoters of the war, or that one actually is for
the war
after all, despite the public protestations.
2007 Ron Paul 3:6
In reality, support for the status quo (and the president’s troop surge) in Iraq means expanding
the war
to include Syria and Iran.
The naval build up in the region, and the proxy war we just
fought to
take over Somalia, demonstrate the administration’s intentions to
escalate our
current war into something larger.
2007 Ron Paul 3:7
There’s just no legitimacy to the argument that voting against funding the war somehow harms our
troops.
Perpetuating and escalating the war only serve those whose egos
are
attached to some claimed victory in Iraq, and those with a
determination to
engineer regime change in Iran.
2007 Ron Paul 3:8
Don’t believe for a minute that additional congressional funding is needed so our troops can
defend
themselves or extricate themselves from the war zone.
That’s nonsense.
The DOD has hundreds of billions of dollars in the pipeline
available to
move troops anywhere on earth — including home.
2007 Ron Paul 3:9
We shouldn’t forget that the administration took $600 million from the war in Afghanistan and used
it in
Iraq, before any direct appropriations were made for the invasion of
Iraq.
Funds are always available to put our troops into harms way;
they are
always available for leaving a war zone.
2007 Ron Paul 3:10
Those in Congress who claim they want the war ended, yet feel compelled to keep
funding it, are badly misguided.
They either are wrong in their assessment that cutting funds
would hurt
the troops, or they need to be more honest about supporting a policy
destined to
dramatically increase the size and scope of this misadventure in the
Middle
East.
Rest
assured one can be patriotic and truly support the troops by denying
funds to
perpetuate and spread this ill-advised war.
2007 Ron Paul 3:11
The sooner we come to this realization, the better it will be for all of us.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 4
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
February 6, 2007
Don’t Do It, Mr. President
2007 Ron Paul 4:1
It’s a bad idea.
2007 Ron Paul 4:2
There’s no need for it.
There’s great danger in doing it.
2007 Ron Paul 4:3
America is against it, and Congress should be.
The United Nations is against it.
2007 Ron Paul 4:4
The Russians, the Chinese, the Indians, and the Pakistanis are against it.
2007 Ron Paul 4:5
The whole world is against it.
Our allies are against it.
2007 Ron Paul 4:6
Our enemies are against it.
The Arabs are against it.
2007 Ron Paul 4:7
The Europeans are against it.
The Muslims are against it.
2007 Ron Paul 4:8
We don’t need to do this.
The threat is overblown.
2007 Ron Paul 4:9
The plan is an hysterical reaction to a problem that does not yet exist.
Hysteria is never a good basis for foreign policy.
2007 Ron Paul 4:10
Don’t we ever learn?
Have we already forgotten Iraq?
2007 Ron Paul 4:11
The plan defies common sense.
If it’s carried out, the Middle East, and possibly the world, will
explode.
2007 Ron Paul 4:12
Oil will soar to over $100 a barrel, and gasoline will be over $5 a gallon.
2007 Ron Paul 4:13
Despite what some think, it won’t serve the interests of Israel.
Besides – it’s illegal.
2007 Ron Paul 4:14
It’s unconstitutional.
And you have no moral authority to do it.
2007 Ron Paul 4:15
We don’t need it.
We don’t want it.
2007 Ron Paul 4:16
So, Mr. President, don’t do it.
Don’t bomb Iran!
2007 Ron Paul 4:17
The moral of the story, Mr. Speaker, is this: if you don’t have a nuke, we’ll threaten to attack you.
If you do have a nuke, we’ll leave you alone.
In fact, we’ll probably subsidize you.
What makes us think Iran does not understand this?
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 5
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
February 14, 2007
Statement on the Iraq War Resolution
2007 Ron Paul 5:1
This grand debate is welcomed but it could be that this is nothing more than a distraction from the
dangerous
military confrontation approaching with Iran and supported by many in
leadership
on both sides of the aisle.
2007 Ron Paul 5:2
This resolution, unfortunately, does not address the disaster in Iraq. Instead, it seeks to
appear opposed to the war while at the same time offering no change of
the
status quo in Iraq. As such, it is not actually a vote against a troop
surge. A
real vote against a troop surge is a vote against the coming
supplemental
appropriation that finances it. I hope all of my colleagues who vote
against the
surge today will vote against the budgetary surge when it really
counts: when we
vote on the supplemental.
2007 Ron Paul 5:3
The
biggest red
herring in this debate is the constant innuendo that those who don’t
support
expanding the war are somehow opposing the troops.
It’s nothing more than a canard to claim that those of us
who struggled to prevent the bloodshed and now want it stopped are
somehow less
patriotic and less concerned about the welfare of our military
personnel.
2007 Ron Paul 5:4
Osama
bin Laden has
expressed sadistic pleasure with our invasion of Iraq and was surprised
that we
served his interests above and beyond his dreams on how we responded
after the
9/11 attacks.
His pleasure comes
from our policy of folly getting ourselves bogged down in the middle of
a
religious civil war, 7,000 miles from home that is financially bleeding
us to
death.
Total costs now are
reasonably estimated to exceed $2 trillion.
His recruitment of Islamic extremists has been greatly enhanced
by our
occupation of Iraq.
2007 Ron Paul 5:5
Unfortunately,
we
continue to concentrate on the obvious mismanagement of a war promoted
by false
information and ignore debating the real issue which is:
Why are we determined to follow a foreign policy of empire
building and
pre-emption which is unbecoming of a constitutional republic?
2007 Ron Paul 5:6
Those
on the right
should recall that the traditional conservative position of
non-intervention was
their position for most of the 20
th
Century-and they
benefited
politically from the wars carelessly entered into by the political left.
Seven years ago the Right benefited politically by condemning
the illegal
intervention in Kosovo and Somalia.
At
the time conservatives were outraged over the failed policy of nation
building.
2007 Ron Paul 5:7
It’s
important to
recall that the left, in 2003, offered little opposition to the
pre-emptive war
in Iraq, and many are now not willing to stop it by de-funding it or
work to
prevent an attack on Iran.
2007 Ron Paul 5:8
The
catch-all
phrase, “War on Terrorism”, in all honesty, has no more meaning than if
one
wants to wage a war against criminal gangsterism.
It’s
deliberately vague and non definable to justify and
permit perpetual war anywhere, and under any circumstances.
Don’t forget: the Iraqis and Saddam Hussein
had absolutely
nothing to do with any terrorist attack against us including that on
9/11.
2007 Ron Paul 5:9
Special
interests
and the demented philosophy of conquest have driven most wars
throughout
history.
Rarely has the cause of
liberty, as it was in our own revolution, been the driving force.
In recent decades our policies have been driven by
neo-conservative
empire radicalism, profiteering in the military industrial complex,
misplaced
do-good internationalism, mercantilistic notions regarding the need to
control
natural resources, and blind loyalty to various governments in the
Middle East.
2007 Ron Paul 5:10
For all
the
misinformation given the American people to justify our invasion, such
as our
need for national security, enforcing UN resolutions, removing a
dictator,
establishing a democracy, protecting our oil, the argument has been
reduced to
this:
If we leave now Iraq will be
left in a mess-implying the implausible that if we stay it won’t be a
mess.
2007 Ron Paul 5:11
Since
it could go
badly when we leave, that blame must be placed on those who took us
there, not
on those of us who now insist that Americans no longer need be killed
or maimed
and that Americans no longer need to kill any more Iraqis.
We’ve had enough of both!
2007 Ron Paul 5:12
Resorting
to a
medical analogy, a wrong diagnosis was made at the beginning of the war
and the
wrong treatment was prescribed.
Refusing
to reassess our mistakes and insist on just more and more of a failed
remedy is
destined to kill the patient-in this case the casualties will be our
liberties
and prosperity here at home and peace abroad.
2007 Ron Paul 5:13
There’s
no
logical reason to reject the restraints placed in the Constitution
regarding our
engaging in foreign conflicts unrelated to our national security.
The advice of the founders and our early presidents was sound
then and
it’s sound today.
2007 Ron Paul 5:14
We
shouldn’t wait
until our financial system is completely ruined and we are forced to
change our
ways.
We should do it as quickly as
possible and stop the carnage and financial bleeding that will bring us
to our
knees and force us to stop that which we should have never started.
We all
know, in time, the war will be de-funded
one way or another and the troops will come home.
So
why not now?
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 6
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
February 15, 2007
Statement for Hearing before the House Financial Services Committee, “Monetary Policy and the State of the Economy”
2007 Ron Paul 6:1
Transparency in monetary policy is a goal we should all support.
I’ve often wondered why Congress so willingly has given up its
prerogative over monetary policy.
Astonishingly,
Congress in essence has ceded total control over the value of our money
to a
secretive central bank.
2007 Ron Paul 6:2
Congress created the Federal Reserve, yet it had no constitutional authority to
do so.
We forget that those powers
not explicitly granted to Congress by the Constitution are inherently
denied to
Congress — and thus the authority to establish a central bank never was
given.
Of course Jefferson and Hamilton had that debate early on, a
debate
seemingly settled in 1913.
2007 Ron Paul 6:3
But transparency and oversight
are something else, and they’re worth considering.
Congress, although not by law, essentially has given up all its
oversight
responsibility over the Federal Reserve.
There
are no true audits, and Congress knows nothing of the conversations,
plans, and
actions taken in concert with other central banks.
We get less and less information regarding the money supply each
year,
especially now that M3 is no longer reported.
2007 Ron Paul 6:4
The role the Fed plays in the President’s secretive Working Group on Financial
Markets goes unnoticed by members of Congress.
The Federal Reserve shows no willingness to inform Congress
voluntarily
about how often the Working Group meets, what actions it takes that
affect the
financial markets, or why it takes those actions.
2007 Ron Paul 6:5
But these actions, directed by the Federal Reserve, alter the purchasing power
of our money.
And that purchasing
power is always reduced.
The dollar
today is worth only four cents compared to the dollar in 1913, when the
Federal
Reserve started.
This has profound
consequences for our economy and our political stability.
All paper currencies are vulnerable to collapse, and history is
replete
with examples of great suffering caused by such collapses, especially
to a
nation’s poor and middle class.
This
leads to political turmoil.
2007 Ron Paul 6:6
Even before a currency collapse occurs, the damage done by a fiat system is
significant.
Our monetary system
insidiously transfers wealth from the poor and middle class to the
privileged
rich.
Wages never keep up with the
profits of Wall Street and the banks, thus sowing the seeds of class
discontent.
When economic trouble hits, free markets and free trade often
are blamed,
while the harmful effects of a fiat monetary system are ignored. We
deceive
ourselves that all is well with the economy, and ignore the fundamental
flaws
that are a source of growing discontent among those who have not shared
in the
abundance of recent years.
2007 Ron Paul 6:7
Few understand that our consumption and apparent wealth is dependent on a current account
deficit of
$800 billion per year.
This deficit
shows that much of our prosperity is based on borrowing rather than a
true
increase in production.
Statistics
show year after year that our productive manufacturing jobs continue to
go
overseas. This phenomenon is not seen as a consequence of the
international fiat monetary system, where the United States government
benefits
as the issuer of the world’s reserve currency.
2007 Ron Paul 6:8
Government officials consistently
claim that inflation is in check at barely 2%, but middle class
Americans know
that their purchasing power — especially when it comes to housing,
energy,
medical care, and school tuition — is shrinking much faster than 2%
each year.
2007 Ron Paul 6:9
Even if prices were held in check, in spite of our monetary inflation, concentrating on CPI distracts from the real issue.
We must address the important consequences of Fed manipulation
of
interest rates. When interests rates are artificially low, below market
rates,
insidious mal-investment and excessive indebtedness inevitably bring
about the
economic downturn that everyone dreads.
2007 Ron Paul 6:10
We look at GDP numbers to reassure ourselves that all is well, yet a growing
number of Americans still do not enjoy the higher standard of living
that
monetary inflation brings to the privileged few.
Those few have access to the newly created money first, before
its value
is diluted.
2007 Ron Paul 6:11
For example: Before the breakdown
of the Bretton Woods system, CEO income was about 30 times the average
worker’s pay.
Today, it’s
closer to 500 times.
It’s hard to
explain this simply by market forces and increases in productivity.
One Wall Street firm last year gave out bonuses totaling $16.5
billion.
There’s little evidence that this represents free market
capitalism.
2007 Ron Paul 6:12
In 2006 dollars, the minimum wage was $9.50 before the 1971 breakdown of Bretton
Woods.
Today that dollar is worth
$5.15.
Congress congratulates
itself for raising the minimum wage by mandate, but in reality it has
lowered
the minimum wage by allowing the Fed to devalue the dollar.
We must consider how the growing inequalities created by our
monetary
system will lead to social discord.
2007 Ron Paul 6:13
GDP purportedly is now growing at 3.5%, and everyone seems pleased. What we fail to understand is how much
government entitlement
spending contributes to the increase in the GDP.
Rebuilding
infrastructure destroyed by hurricanes, which
simply gets us back to even, is considered part of GDP growth.
Wall Street profits and salaries, pumped up by the Fed’s
increase in
money, also contribute to GDP statistical growth.
Just buying military weapons that contribute nothing to the well
being of
our citizens, sending money down a rat hole, contributes to GDP growth!
Simple price increases caused by Fed monetary inflation
contribute to
nominal GDP growth.
None of these
factors represent any kind of real increases in economic output.
So we should not carelessly cite misleading GDP figures which
don’t
truly reflect what is happening in the economy.
Bogus
GDP figures explain in part why so many people are
feeling squeezed despite our supposedly booming economy.
2007 Ron Paul 6:14
But since our fiat dollar system is not going away anytime soon, it would
benefit Congress and the American people to bring more transparency to
how and
why Fed monetary policy functions.
2007 Ron Paul 6:15
For starters, the Federal Reserve should:
Begin
publishing the M3 statistics again.
Let
us see the numbers that most accurately reveal how much new money the
Fed is
pumping into the world economy.
2007 Ron Paul 6:16
Tell us exactly what the President’s Working Group on
Financial
Markets does and why.
2007 Ron Paul 6:17
Explain how interest rates are set.
Conservatives
profess to support free markets, without wage and price controls.
Yet the most important price of all, the price of money as
determined by
interest rates, is set arbitrarily in secret by the Fed rather than by
markets!
Why is this policy written in stone? Why is there no
congressional input
at least?
2007 Ron Paul 6:18
Change legal tender laws to allow constitutional legal tender (commodity
money) to compete domestically with the dollar.
2007 Ron Paul 6:19
How can a policy of steadily debasing our currency be defended morally,
knowing
what harm it causes to those who still believe in saving money and
assuming
responsibility for themselves in their retirement years?
Is it any wonder we are a nation of debtors rather than savers?
2007 Ron Paul 6:20
We need more transparency in how the Federal Reserve carries out monetary
policy, and we need it soon.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 7
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
March 7, 2007
The Scandal at Walter Reed
2007 Ron Paul 7:1
The scandal at Walter Reed is not an isolated incident.
It is directly related to our foreign policy of
interventionism.
2007 Ron Paul 7:2
There is a pressing need to reassess our now widely accepted role as the
world’s
lone superpower.
If we don’t, we
are destined to reduce our nation to something far less powerful.
2007 Ron Paul 7:3
It has always been politically popular for politicians to promise they
will keep us
out of foreign wars, especially before World War I.
That hasn’t changed, even though many in Washington today don’t
understand it.
2007 Ron Paul 7:4
Likewise it has been popular to advocate ending prolonged and painful conflicts
like the
wars in Korea and Vietnam, and now Iraq.
2007 Ron Paul 7:5
In 2000, it was quite popular to condemn nation building and reject the
policy of
policing the world, in the wake of our involvement in Kosovo and
Somalia.
We were promised a more humble foreign policy.
2007 Ron Paul 7:6
Nobody wins elections by promising to take us to war.
But once elected, many politicians greatly exaggerate the threat
posed by
a potential enemy — and the people too often carelessly accept the
dubious
reasons given to justify wars.
Opposition
arises only when the true costs are felt here at home.
2007 Ron Paul 7:7
A foreign policy of interventionism costs so much money that we’re forced
to
close military bases in the U.S., even as we’re building them overseas.
Interventionism is never good fiscal policy.
2007 Ron Paul 7:8
Interventionism symbolizes an attitude of looking outward, toward empire, while
diminishing the
importance of maintaining a constitutional republic.
2007 Ron Paul 7:9
We close bases here at home — some want to close Walter Reed — while
building bases
in Arab and Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia.
We
worry about foreign borders while ignoring our own.
We build permanent outposts in Muslim holy lands, occupy
territory, and
prop up puppet governments.
This
motivates suicide terrorism against us.
2007 Ron Paul 7:10
Our policies naturally lead to resentment, which in turn leads to prolonged
wars and
increased casualties.
We spend
billions in Iraq, while bases like Walter Reed fall into disrepair.
This undermines our ability to care for the thousands of wounded
soldiers
we should have anticipated, despite the rosy predictions that we would
be
greeted as liberators in Iraq.
2007 Ron Paul 7:11
Now comes the outrage.
2007 Ron Paul 7:12
Now Congress holds hearings.
2007 Ron Paul 7:13
Now comes the wringing of hands.
Yes,
better late than never.
2007 Ron Paul 7:14
Clean it up, paint
the walls, make Walter Reed look neat and tidy!
But this won’t solve our problems.
We must someday look critically at the shortcomings of our
foreign
policy, a policy that needlessly and foolishly intervenes in places
where we
have no business being.
2007 Ron Paul 7:15
Voters spoke very
clearly in November: they want the war to end.
Yet Congress has taken no steps to defund or end a war it never
should
have condoned in the first place.
2007 Ron Paul 7:16
On the contrary,
Congress plans to spend another $100 billion or more in an upcoming
Iraq funding
bill — more even than the administration has requested.
The 2007 military budget, $700 billion, apparently is not enough.
And it’s all done under the slogan of “supporting the troops,”
even
as our policy guarantees more Americans will die and Walter Reed will
continue
to receive casualties.
2007 Ron Paul 7:17
Every
problem
Congress and the administration create requires more money to fix.
The mantra remains the same: spend more money we don’t have,
borrow
from the Chinese, or just print it.
2007 Ron Paul 7:18
This
policy of
interventionism is folly, and it cannot continue forever.
It will end, either because we wake up or because we go broke.
2007 Ron Paul 7:19
Interventionism always leads to unanticipated consequences and blowback, like:
2007 Ron Paul 7:30
These elements combine to create an environment that inevitably undermines
personal
liberty.
Virtually all American
wars have led to diminished civil liberties at home.
2007 Ron Paul 7:31
Most of our mistakes can be laid at the doorstep of our failure to follow
the
Constitution.
2007 Ron Paul 7:32
That Constitution, if we so desire, can provide needed guidance and a
roadmap to
restore our liberties and change our foreign policy.
This is critical if we truly seek peace and prosperity.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 8
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
March 20, 2007
The Upcoming Iraq War Funding Bill
2007 Ron Paul 8:1
The $124 billion supplemental
appropriation is a good bill to oppose. I am pleased that many of
my
colleagues will join me in voting against this measure.
2007 Ron Paul 8:2
If
one is unhappy with our progress in Iraq after four years of war,
voting to
de-fund the war makes sense.
If one
is unhappy with the manner in which we went to war, without a
constitutional
declaration, voting no makes equally good sense.
2007 Ron Paul 8:3
Voting
no also makes the legitimate point that the Constitution does not
authorize
Congress to direct the management of any military operation — the
president
clearly enjoys this authority as Commander in Chief.
2007 Ron Paul 8:4
But Congress just as clearly is
responsible for making
policy
, by debating and declaring war,
raising and
equipping armies, funding military operations, and ending conflicts
that do not
serve our national interests.
2007 Ron Paul 8:5
Congress failed to meet its
responsibilities four years ago, unconstitutionally transferring its
explicit
war power to the executive branch.
Even
though the administration started the subsequent pre-emptive war in
Iraq,
Congress bears the greatest responsibility for its lack of courage in
fulfilling
its duties.
Since then Congress has
obediently provided the funds and troops required to pursue this
illegitimate
war.
2007 Ron Paul 8:6
We
won’t solve the problems in Iraq until we confront our failed policy of
foreign interventionism.
This
latest appropriation does nothing to solve our dilemma.
Micromanaging the war while continuing to fund it won’t help our
troops.
2007 Ron Paul 8:7
Here’s a new approach: Congress should admit its mistake and repeal the
authority wrongfully given to the executive branch in 2002.
Repeal the congressional sanction and disavow presidential
discretion in
starting wars.
Then start bringing
our troops home.
2007 Ron Paul 8:8
If anyone charges that this
approach does not support the troops, take a poll. Find out how
reservists,
guardsmen, and their families — many on their second or third tour in
Iraq — feel
about it.
2007 Ron Paul 8:9
The constant refrain that bringing our troops home would demonstrate a lack of
support for them must be one of the most amazing distortions ever
foisted on the
American public.
We’re so
concerned about saving face, but whose face are we saving?
A sensible policy would save American lives and follow the rules
laid out
for Congress in the Constitution—and avoid wars that have no purpose.
2007 Ron Paul 8:10
The claim that it’s unpatriotic
to oppose spending more money in Iraq must be laid to rest as
fraudulent.
2007 Ron Paul 8:11
We should pass a resolution that
expresses congressional opposition to any more undeclared,
unconstitutional,
unnecessary, pre-emptive wars.
We
should be building a consensus for the future that makes it easier to
end our
current troubles in Iraq.
2007 Ron Paul 8:12
It’s amazing to me that this
Congress is more intimidated by political propagandists and special
interests
than the American electorate, who sent a loud, clear message about the
war in
November.
The large majority of
Americans now want us out of Iraq.
2007 Ron Paul 8:13
Our leaders cannot grasp the
tragic consequence of our policies toward Iraq for the past 25 years.
It’s time we woke them up.
2007 Ron Paul 8:14
We are still by far the greatest
military power on earth.
But since
we stubbornly refuse to understand the nature of our foes, we are
literally
defeating ourselves.
2007 Ron Paul 8:15
In 2004, bin Laden stated that Al
Qaeda’s goal was to bankrupt the United States.
His
second in command, Zawahari, is quoted as saying that the
9/11 attack would cause Americans to, “come and fight the war
personally on
our sand where they are within rifle range.”
2007 Ron Paul 8:16
Sadly, we are playing into their
hands.
This $124 billion
appropriation is only part of the nearly $1 trillion in military
spending for
this year’s budget alone.
We
should be concerned about the coming bankruptcy and the crisis facing
the U.S.
dollar.
2007 Ron Paul 8:17
We have totally failed to adapt
to modern warfare.
We’re dealing
with a small, nearly invisible enemy — an enemy without a country, a
government,
an army, a navy, an air force, or missiles. Yet our enemy is armed with
suicidal
determination, and motivated by our meddling in their regional affairs,
to
destroy us.
2007 Ron Paul 8:18
And as we bleed financially, our
men and women in Iraq die needlessly while the injured swell Walter
Reed
hospital.
Our government
systematically undermines the Constitution and the liberties it’s
supposed to
protect — for which it is claimed our soldiers are dying in faraway
places.
2007 Ron Paul 8:19
Only with the complicity of
Congress have we become a nation of pre-emptive war, secret military
tribunals,
torture, rejection of habeas corpus, warrantless searches, undue
government
secrecy, extraordinary renditions, and uncontrollable spying on the
American
people.
The greatest danger we face
is ourselves: what we are doing in the name of providing security for a
people
made fearful by distortions of facts.
Fighting
over there has nothing to do with preserving freedoms here at home.
More likely the opposite is true.
2007 Ron Paul 8:20
Surely we can do better than this supplemental authorization.
I plan to vote no.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 9
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of Representatives
April 17, 2007
We Just Marched In (So We Can Just March Out)
2007 Ron Paul 9:1
All the reasons given to justify a preemptive strike
against Iraq were wrong.
Congress
and the American people were misled.
2007 Ron Paul 9:2
Support for the war came from various special interests
that had agitated for an invasion of Iraq since 1998.
The Iraq Liberation Act, passed by Congress and signed into
law by President Clinton, stated that getting rid of Saddam Hussein was
official
U.S. policy.
This policy was
carried out in 2003.
2007 Ron Paul 9:3
Congress failed miserably in meeting its crucial obligations as the branch of government charged with deciding whether
to declare
war.
It wrongly and
unconstitutionally transferred this power to the president, and the
president
did not hesitate to use it.
2007 Ron Paul 9:4
Although it is clear there was no cause for war, we just
marched in.
Our leaders deceived
themselves and the public with assurances that the war was righteous
and would
be over quickly. Their justifications were false, and they failed to
grasp even
basic facts about the chaotic political and religious history of the
region.
2007 Ron Paul 9:5
Congress bears the greater blame for this fiasco.
It reneged on its responsibility to declare or not declare war.
It transferred this decision-making power to the executive
branch, and
gave open sanction to anything the president did.
In fact the founders diligently tried to prevent the executive
from
possessing this power, granting it to Congress alone in Article 1
Section 8 of
the Constitution.
2007 Ron Paul 9:6
Today just about everyone acknowledges the war has gone
badly, and 70% of the American people want it to end.
Our national defense is weakened, the financial costs
continue to drain us, our allies have deserted us, and our enemies are
multiplying – not to mention the tragic toll of death and injury
suffered by
American forces.
2007 Ron Paul 9:7
Iraq is a mess, and we urgently need a new direction – but
our leaders offer only hand wringing and platitudes.
They have no clear-cut ideas to end the suffering and war.
Even the most ardent war hawks cannot begin to define victory in
Iraq.
2007 Ron Paul 9:8
As an Air Force
officer
serving from 1963-1968, I heard the same agonizing pleas from the
American
people.
These pleas were met with
the same excuses about why we could not change a deeply flawed policy
and
rethink the war in Vietnam.
That
bloody conflict, also undeclared and unconstitutional, seems to have
taught us
little despite the horrific costs.
2007 Ron Paul 9:9
Once again, though everyone now accepts that the original
justifications for invading Iraq were not legitimate, we are given
excuses for
not leaving.
We flaunt our power by
building permanent military bases and an enormous billion-dollar
embassy, yet
claim we have no plans to stay in Iraq permanently.
Assurances that our presence in Iraq has nothing to do with
oil are not believed in the Middle East.
2007 Ron Paul 9:10
The argument for staying – to prevent civil war and bring
stability to the region – logically falls on deaf ears.
2007 Ron Paul 9:11
If the justifications for war were wrong;
2007 Ron Paul 9:12
If the war is going badly;
2007 Ron Paul 9:13
If we can’t afford the costs, both human and economic;
2007 Ron Paul 9:14
If civil war and chaos have resulted from our occupation;
2007 Ron Paul 9:15
If the reasons for staying are no more credible than the reasons for going;
2007 Ron Paul 9:16
THEN…..
Why the dilemma?
The American
people have spoken, and continue to speak out, against this war. So why
not end
it?
How do we end it?
Why not exactly the way we went in?
We just marched in, and we can just march out.
2007 Ron Paul 9:17
More good things may come of it than anyone can imagine.
Consider our relationship with Vietnam, now our friendly trading
partner.
Certainly we are doing better with her than when we tried to
impose our
will by force.
It is time to march
out of Iraq and march home.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 10
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the U.S. House of
Representatives
May 2, 2007
Introducing the Health Freedom Protection Act
2007 Ron Paul 10:1
Madam Speaker, I rise to introduce the Health Freedom Protection Act. This bill
restores the First Amendment rights of consumers to receive truthful
information
regarding the benefits of foods and dietary supplements by codifying
the First
Amendment standards used by federal courts to strike down the Food and
Drug
Administration (FDA) efforts to censor truthful health claims. The
Health
Freedom Protection Act also stops the Federal Trade Commissions (FTC)
from
censoring truthful health care claims.
2007 Ron Paul 10:2
The American people have made it clear they do not want the federal government to interfere with their access to dietary supplements, yet
the FDA
and the FTC continue to engage in heavy-handed attempts to restrict
such access.
The FDA continues to frustrate consumers’ efforts to learn how they can
improve their health even after Congress, responding to a record number
of
constituents’ comments, passed the Dietary Supplement and Health and
Education
Act of 1994 (DSHEA). FDA bureaucrats are so determined to frustrate
consumers’
access to truthful information that they are even evading their duty to
comply
with four federal court decisions vindicating consumers’ First
Amendment
rights to discover the health benefits of foods and dietary supplements.
2007 Ron Paul 10:3
FDA bureaucrats have even refused to abide by the DSHEA section allowing the
public to have access to scientific articles and publications regarding
the role
of nutrients in protecting against diseases by claiming that every
article
concerning this topic is evidence of intent to sell a drug.
2007 Ron Paul 10:4
Because of the FDA’s censorship of truthful health claims, millions of
Americans may suffer with diseases and other health care problems they
may have
avoided by using dietary supplements. For example, the FDA prohibited
consumers
from learning how folic acid reduces the risk of neural tube defects
for four
years after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended
every
woman of childbearing age take folic acid supplements to reduce neural
tube
defects. This FDA action contributed to an estimated 10,000 cases of
preventable
neutral tube defects!
2007 Ron Paul 10:5
The FDA also continues to prohibit consumers from learning about the scientific
evidence that glucosamine and chondroitin sulfate are effective in the
treatment
of osteoarthritis; that omega-3 fatty acids may reduce the risk of
sudden death
heart attack; and that calcium may reduce the risk of bone fractures.
2007 Ron Paul 10:6
The Health Freedom Protection Act will force the FDA to at last comply with
the commands of Congress, the First Amendment, and the American people
by
codifying the First Amendment standards adopted by the federal courts.
Specifically, the Health Freedom Protection Act stops the FDA from
censoring
truthful claims about the curative, mitigative, or preventative effects
of
dietary supplements, and adopts the federal court’s suggested use of
disclaimers as an alternative to censorship. The Health Freedom
Protection Act
also stops the FDA from prohibiting the distribution of scientific
articles and
publications regarding the role of nutrients in protecting against
disease.
2007 Ron Paul 10:7
This legislation also addresses the FTC’s violations of the First Amendment. Under traditional First Amendment jurisprudence, the federal
government bears the burden of proving an advertising statement false
before
censoring that statement. However, the FTC has reversed the standard in
the case
of dietary supplements by requiring supplement manufactures to satisfy
an
unobtainable standard of proof that their statement is true. The FTC’s
standards are blocking innovation in the marketplace.
2007 Ron Paul 10:8
The Health Freedom Protection Act requires the government bear the burden of
proving that speech could be censored. This is how it should be in a
free,
dynamic society. The bill also requires that the FTC warn parties that
their
advertising is false and give them a chance to correct their mistakes.
2007 Ron Paul 10:9
Madam Speaker, if we are serious about putting people in charge of their health
care, then shouldn’t we stop federal bureaucrats from preventing
Americans
from learning about simple ways to improve their health. I therefore
call on my
colleagues to stand up for good health care and the First Amendment by
cosponsoring the Health Freedom Protection Act.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 11
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Before the Committee on Financial Services
2007 Ron Paul 11:1
May 9, 2007
Statement on Chinese Currency
2007 Ron Paul 11:2
The imbalances in international trade, and in particular trade between China and the
United States, have prompted many to demand a realignment of the
Chinese yuan
and the American dollar.
Since we are running a huge trade deficit with China the call
now is for
a stronger yuan and a weaker dollar.
This trade imbalance problem will not be solved so easily.
2007 Ron Paul 11:3
If
a stronger yuan is implemented, increased exports to China from the US
may or
may not result.
The weaker dollar
will lead to higher US prices and crowd out the hoped-for benefits of a
realignment of the two currencies.
2007 Ron Paul 11:4
One
thing certain is that the immediate impact would be higher prices for
consumer
goods for middle class Americans.
In
many ways a weaker dollar would act as an import tax just as if it were
a
tariff.
Both are considered
protectionist in nature.
2007 Ron Paul 11:5
The
fact that the Chinese keep their currency artificially weak is a
benefit to
American consumers and long term is inflationary for the Chinese.
2007 Ron Paul 11:6
This
deep and legitimate concern for the trade imbalance between China and
the US
will fall short if the issue of fluctuating, world-wide fiat
currencies, is not
addressed.
2007 Ron Paul 11:7
The
fact that the US dollar is the principal reserve currency of the world
gives us
a benefit that others do not enjoy.
It
allows us to export paper dollars and import goods manufactured in
countries
with cheap labor.
It also allows us
to finance the welfare/warfare state with cheap loans from China and
Japan.
It’s a good deal for us but according to economic law must come
to an
end, and the end will be messy for the US consumer and for world trade.
2007 Ron Paul 11:8
The
current system can only last as long as the trust in the dollar is
maintained
and foreigners are willing to accept them as if they had real value.
2007 Ron Paul 11:9
Ironically, the most serious problem we face is a sharply weakening dollar, in
danger of
collapse, and yet many are now asking for a policy, dealing with the
Chinese,
that would accelerate the dollar’s decline.
And yet we’re told that we maintain a strong dollar policy.
2007 Ron Paul 11:10
Financing deficits with monetary inflation is in itself a weak dollar policy in
the long
term.
Trust in our currency due to
our economic and military strength artificially props up the dollar on
international exchange markets.
Since
these benefits come not from production or sound money policies, they
only
contribute to the instability and imbalances in international trade.
2007 Ron Paul 11:11
Neither tariffs nor forced devaluations can solve the problem.
2007 Ron Paul 11:12
Our current account deficit and huge foreign indebtedness is a reflection
of the
world monetary system of fiat money.
The
longer the trade imbalances last, the more difficult the adjustment
will be.
The market will eventually force these adjustments on us.
2007 Ron Paul 11:13
Eventually it will be necessary to consider commodity-based money to solve the
trade imbalances that concern so many here in the Congress.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 12
Statement on Immigration Agreement
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
May 18, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 12:1
I remain very skeptical about the idea of so-called comprehensive immigration
reform and the Senate compromise now being discussed. I will oppose any
legislation that in any way, shape, or form grants amnesty to the
millions of
people who are in this country illegally. I have advocated that we
should
tighten citizenship requirements, and I still believe that. Moreover,
the
argument that we need to start a guest worker program is simply a shell
game, we
already have a generous guest worker program that the American people
support.
Support for such a program should not be used as a back door to amnesty
for
illegals.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 13
HONORABLE
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Opening Statement Committee on Financial Services
World Bank Hearing
May 22, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 13:1
Of all the elements of the Bretton Woods system, perhaps the most enduring has
been the World Bank and its associated institutions.
Although highly regarded in some circles, the Bank has been a
significant
failure in helping the residents of poor and developing nations.
2007 Ron Paul 13:2
Like many
bureaucracies, the World Bank has constantly attempted to reinvent
itself and
redefine its mission.
Some critics
have referred to this as “mission creep.”
It is the reaction of self-interested bureaucrats who are intent
on
saving their jobs at all costs.
The
non-institutional elements of Bretton Woods, such as the gold-backed
dollar
standard, have gone by the wayside, but the World Bank and the IMF
soldier on.
2007 Ron Paul 13:3
What is most annoying
about the World Bank are the criticisms alleging that the Bank and its
actions
demonstrate the negative side of free-market capitalism.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
The World Bank is not an organization devoted to capitalism, or
to the
free market, but to state-run corporate capitalism.
Established and managed by a multitude of national governments,
the World
Bank promotes managed trade, by which politically connected individuals
and
corporation enrich themselves at the expense of the poor and middle
class.
2007 Ron Paul 13:4
Western governments
tax their citizens to fund the World Bank, lend this money to corrupt
Third
World dictators who abscond with the funds, and then demand repayment
which is
extracted through taxation from poor
Third World citizens, rather than from the government
officials responsible for the
embezzlement.
It is in essence a
global transfer of wealth from the poor to the rich. Taxpayers around
the world
are forced to subsidize the lavish lifestyles of
Third World dictators and highly-paid World Bank
bureaucrats who don’t even pay income tax.
2007 Ron Paul 13:5
The World Bank has
outlived its intended purpose.
Capital
markets are flush with money and well-developed enough to lend money
not just to
national governments but to local and regional development projects, at
competitive market rates.
In the
aftermath of Mr. Wolfowitz’s departure, much will be made of the
question of his
successor, when the questioning instead should be directed towards the
phasing
out of the organization.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 14
In the Name of Patriotism (Who are the Patriots?)
June 6, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 14:1
For some, patriotism is “the last refuge of a scoundrel.”
For others, it means dissent against a government’s abuse of the
people’s rights.
2007 Ron Paul 14:2
I have never met a politician in Washington, or any American for that
matter,
who chose to be called “unpatriotic.”
Nor
have I met anyone who did not believe he wholeheartedly supported our
troops
wherever they may be.
2007 Ron Paul 14:3
What I have heard all too
frequently from various individuals is sharp accusations that because
their
political opponents disagree with them on the need for foreign military
entanglements, they were “unpatriotic, un-American, evil doers
deserving
contempt.”
2007 Ron Paul 14:4
The original American patriots
were those individuals brave enough to resist with force the oppressive
power of
King George.
I accept the definition
of patriotism as that effort to resist oppressive state power.
The true patriot is motivated by a sense of responsibility, and
out of
self interest — for himself, his family, and the future of his country — to
resist government abuse of power.
He
rejects the notion that patriotism means obedience to the state.
2007 Ron Paul 14:5
Resistance need not be violent,
but the civil disobedience that might be required involves
confrontation with
the state and invites possible imprisonment.
2007 Ron Paul 14:6
Peaceful non-violent revolutions
against tyranny have been every bit as successful as those involving
military
confrontation.
Mahatma Gandhi and
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. achieved great political successes by
practicing
non-violence, yet they themselves suffered physically at the hands of
the state.
2007 Ron Paul 14:7
But whether the resistance
against government tyrants is non-violent or physically violent, the
effort to
overthrow state oppression qualifies as true patriotism.
2007 Ron Paul 14:8
True patriotism today has gotten
a bad name—at least from the government and the press. Those who now
challenge
the unconstitutional methods of imposing an income tax on us, or force
us to use
a monetary system designed to serve the rich at the expense of the
poor, are
routinely condemned.
These American
patriots are sadly looked down upon by many.
They are never praised as champions of liberty as Gandhi and
Martin
Luther King Jr. have been.
2007 Ron Paul 14:9
Liberals, who withhold their
taxes as a protest against war, are vilified as well—especially by
conservative statists.
2007 Ron Paul 14:10
Unquestioned loyalty to the state
is especially demanded in times of war.
Lack
of support for a war policy is said to be unpatriotic.
Arguments against a particular policy that endorses a war once
started,
are always said to be endangering the troops in the field.
This, they blatantly claim, is unpatriotic and all dissent must
stop. Yet
it is dissent from government policies that defines the true patriot
and
champion of liberty.
2007 Ron Paul 14:11
It is conveniently ignored that
the only authentic way to best support the troops is to keep them out
of
dangerous, undeclared, no-win wars that are politically inspired.
Sending troops off to war for reasons that are not truly related
to
national security — and for that matter may even damage our security — is
hardly a way to “patriotically” support the troops.
2007 Ron Paul 14:12
Who are the true patriots: those
who conform or those who protest against wars without purpose?
How can it be said that blind support for war, no matter how
misdirected
the policy, is the duty of the patriot?
2007 Ron Paul 14:13
Randolph
Bourne said that “war is the health of the state.”
With war, he argued, the state thrives.
Those who believe in the powerful state see war as an
opportunity.
Those who mistrust the people and the market for solving
problems have no
trouble promoting a “war psychology” to justify the expansive role of
the
state.
2007 Ron Paul 14:14
This includes the role the
federal government plays in our personal lives as well as in all our
economic
transactions.
And certainly the
neo-conservative belief that we have a moral obligation to spread
American
values worldwide, through force, justifies the conditions of war in
order to
rally support at home for the heavy hand of government.
It is through this policy, it should surprise no one, that our
liberties
are undermined, the economy becomes overextended, and our involvement
worldwide
becomes prohibitive.
2007 Ron Paul 14:15
Out of fear of being labeled
unpatriotic, most citizens become compliant and accept the argument
that some
loss of liberty is required to fight the war in order to remain safe.
This is a bad trade-off in my estimation, especially when done
in the
name of patriotism.
2007 Ron Paul 14:16
Loyalty to the state and to
autocratic leaders is substituted for true patriotism—that is, a
willingness
to challenge the state and defend the country, the people, and the
culture.
The more difficult the times, the stronger the admonition
becomes that
the leaders be not criticized.
2007 Ron Paul 14:17
Because the crisis atmosphere of
war supports the growth of the state, any problem invites an answer by
declaring
“war” — even on social and economic issues.
This elicits patriotism in support of various government
solutions while
enhancing the power of the state.
Faith
in government coercion and a lack of understanding of how free
societies
operate, encourages big government liberals and big government
conservatives to
manufacture a war psychology to demand political loyalty for domestic
policy
just as is required in foreign affairs.
The
long term cost in dollars spent and liberties lost is neglected as
immediate
needs are emphasized.
2007 Ron Paul 14:18
It is for this reason that we
have multiple perpetual wars going on simultaneously.
Thus the war on drugs, against gun ownership, poverty,
illiteracy, and
terrorism, as well as our foreign military entanglements, are endless.
2007 Ron Paul 14:19
All this effort promotes the
growth of statism at the expense of liberty.
A government designed for a free society should do the opposite:
prevent
the growth of statism and preserve liberty.
Once a war of any sort is declared, the message is sent out not
to object
or you will be declared unpatriotic.
Yet,
we must not forget that the true patriot is the one who protests in
spite of the
consequences, condemnation or ostracism, or even imprisonment that may
result.
2007 Ron Paul 14:20
Non-violent protesters of the tax
code are frequently imprisoned—whether they are protesting the code’s
unconstitutionality or the war that the tax revenues are funding.
2007 Ron Paul 14:21
Resisters to the military draft,
or even to selective service registration, are threatened and
imprisoned for
challenging this threat to liberty.
2007 Ron Paul 14:22
Statism depends on the idea that
the government owns us and citizens must obey.
Confiscating the fruits of our labor through the income tax is
crucial to
the health of the state.
The draft,
or even the mere existence of the selective service, emphasizes that we
will
march off to war at the state’s pleasure.
A free society rejects all notions of involuntary servitude
whether by
draft or the confiscation of the fruits of our labor through the
personal income
tax.
2007 Ron Paul 14:23
A more sophisticated and less
well known technique for enhancing the state is the manipulation and
transfer of
wealth through the fiat monetary system operated by the secretive
Federal
Reserve.
Protestors against this
unconstitutional system of paper money are considered unpatriotic
criminals and
at times are imprisoned for their beliefs.
The
fact that, according to the Constitution, only gold and silver are
legal tender
and paper money is outlawed, matters little.
The principle of patriotism is turned on its head.
2007 Ron Paul 14:24
Whether it’s with regard to the
defense of welfare spending at home, confiscatory income tax, an
immoral
monetary system, or support for a war fought under false pretense
without a
legal declaration, the defenders of liberty and the Constitution are
portrayed
as unpatriotic while those who support these programs are seen as the
patriots.
If there’s a “war” going on, supporting the state’s efforts to
win the war is expected at all costs.
No
dissent!
2007 Ron Paul 14:25
The real problem is that those
who love the state too often advocate policies that lead to military
action.
At home they are quite willing to produce a crisis atmosphere
and claim a
war is needed to solve the problem.
Under
these conditions the people are more willing to bear the burden of
paying for
the war, and to carelessly sacrifice liberties which they are told is
necessary.
2007 Ron Paul 14:26
The last six years have been
quite beneficial to the “health of the state,” which comes at the
expense of
personal liberty.
Every enhanced
unconstitutional power of the state can only be achieved at the expense
of
individual liberty.
2007 Ron Paul 14:27
Even though every war in which we
have been engaged civil liberties have suffered, some have been
restored after
the war ended, but never completely.
This
has resulted in a steady erosion of our liberties over the past 200
years.
Our government was originally designed to protect our liberties,
but it
has now instead become the usurper of those liberties.
2007 Ron Paul 14:28
We currently live in the most
difficult of times for guarding against an expanding central government
with a
steady erosion of our freedoms.
2007 Ron Paul 14:29
We are continually being reminded
that “9/11 has changed everything.”
Unfortunately,
the policy that needed most to be changed—that is our policy of foreign
interventionism—has only been expanded.
There
is no pretense any longer that a policy of humility in foreign affairs,
without
being the world’s policeman and engaging in nation building, is worthy
of
consideration.
We now live in a post
9/11
America
where our government is going to make us safe no
matter what it takes.
We’re expected to grin and bear it and adjust to every loss of
our
liberties in the name of patriotism and security.
2007 Ron Paul 14:30
Though the majority of Americans
initially welcomed this declared effort to make us safe, and were
willing to
sacrifice for the cause, more and more Americans are now becoming
concerned
about civil liberties being needlessly and dangerously sacrificed.
The problem is that the
Iraq
war continues to drag on and a real danger of its
spreading exists.
There’s no evidence that a truce will soon be signed in
Iraq
, or in the war on terror or drugs.
Victory
is not even definable.
If Congress
is incapable of declaring an official war, it’s impossible to know when
it
will end.
We have been fully
forewarned that the world conflict in which we’re now engaged will last
a
long, long time.
2007 Ron Paul 14:31
The war mentality, and the
pervasive fear of an unidentified enemy, allows for a steady erosion of
our
liberties, and with this our respect for self reliance and confidence
is lost.
Just think of the self sacrifice and the humiliation we go
through at the
airport screening process on a routine basis.
Though there’s no scientific evidence of any likelihood of
liquids and
gels being mixed on an airplane to make a bomb, billions of dollars are
wasted
throwing away toothpaste and hairspray and searching old women in
wheelchairs.
2007 Ron Paul 14:32
Our enemies say boo, and we jump,
we panic, and then we punish ourselves.
We’re
worse than a child being afraid of the dark.
But in a way, the fear of indefinable terrorism is based on our
inability
to admit the truth about why there is a desire by a small number of
angry
radical Islamics to kill Americans.
It’s
certainly not all because they are jealous of our wealth and freedoms.
2007 Ron Paul 14:33
We fail to realize that the
extremists, willing to sacrifice their own lives to kill their enemies,
do so
out of a sense of weakness and desperation over real and perceived
attacks on
their way of life, their religion, their country and their natural
resources.
Without the conventional diplomatic or military means to
retaliate
against these attacks, and an unwillingness of their own government to
address
the issue, they resort to the desperation tactic of suicide terrorism.
Their anger toward their own governments, which they believe are
co-conspirators with the American government, is equal to or greater
than that
directed toward us.
These errors in
judgment in understanding the motive of the enemy and the constant fear
that is
generated have brought us to this crisis where our civil liberties and
privacy
are being steadily eroded in the name of preserving national security.
We may be the economic and military giant of the world, but the
effort to
stop this war on our liberties here at home in the name of patriotism,
is being
lost.
2007 Ron Paul 14:34
The erosion of our personal
liberties started long before 9/11, but 9/11 accelerated the process.
There are many things that motivate those who pursue this
course—both
well-intentioned and malevolent.
But
it would not happen if the people remained vigilant, understood the
importance
of individual rights, and were unpersuaded that a need for security
justifies
the sacrifice of liberty—even if it’s just now and then.
2007 Ron Paul 14:35
The true patriot challenges the
state when the state embarks on enhancing its power at the expense of
the
individual.
Without a better
understanding and a greater determination to reign in the state, the
rights of
Americans that resulted from the revolutionary break from the British
and the
writing of the Constitution, will disappear.
2007 Ron Paul 14:36
The record since September 11,
2001, is dismal.
Respect for liberty
has rapidly deteriorated.
2007 Ron Paul 14:37
Many of the new laws passed after
9/11 had in fact been proposed long before that attack. The political
atmosphere
after that attack simply made it more possible to pass such
legislation. The
fear generated by 9/11 became an opportunity for those seeking to
promote the
power of the state domestically, just as it served to falsely justify
the long
planned-for invasion of
Iraq.
2007 Ron Paul 14:38
The war mentality was generated
by the
Iraq
war in combination with the constant drum beat of
fear at home.
Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden, who is now likely residing in
Pakistan, our supposed ally, are ignored, as our troops fight and die in
Iraq
and are made easier targets for the terrorists in
their backyard.
While
our leaders constantly use the mess we created to further justify the
erosion of
our constitutional rights here at home, we forget about our own borders
and
support the inexorable move toward global government—hardly a good plan
for
America.
2007 Ron Paul 14:39
The accelerated attacks on
liberty started quickly after 9/11.
Within
weeks the Patriot Act was overwhelmingly passed by Congress.
Though the final version was unavailable up to a few hours
before the
vote—no Member had sufficient time to read or understand it—political
fear
of “not doing something,” even something harmful, drove Members of
Congress
to not question the contents and just vote for it.
A little less freedom for a little more perceived safety was
considered a
fair tradeoff—and the majority of Americans applauded.
2007 Ron Paul 14:40
The Patriot Act, though, severely
eroded the system of checks and balances by giving the state the power
to spy on
law abiding citizens without judicial supervision.
The several provisions that undermine the liberties of all
Americans
include:
sneak and peak searches; a
broadened and more vague definition of domestic terrorism; allowing the
FBI
access to libraries and bookstore records without search warrants or
probable
cause; easier FBI initiation of wiretaps and searches, as well as
roving
wiretaps; easier access to information on American citizens’ use of the
internet; and easier access to e-mail and financial records of all
American
citizens.
2007 Ron Paul 14:41
The attack on privacy has not
relented over the past six years.
The
Military Commissions Act is a particularly egregious piece of
legislation and,
if not repealed, will change
America
for the worse as the powers unconstitutionally
granted to the Executive Branch
are used and abused.
2007 Ron Paul 14:42
This act grants excessive
authority to use secretive military commissions outside of places where
active
hostilities are going on.
The
Military Commissions Act permits torture, arbitrary detention of
American
citizens as unlawful enemy combatants at the full discretion of the
president
and without the right of Habeas Corpus, and warrantless searches by the
NSA
(National Security Agency).
It also
gives to the president the power to imprison individuals based on
secret
testimony.
2007 Ron Paul 14:43
Since 9/11, Presidential signing
statements designating portions of legislation that the President does
not
intend to follow, though not legal under the Constitution, have
enormously
multiplied.
Unconstitutional
Executive Orders are numerous and mischievous and need to be curtailed.
2007 Ron Paul 14:44
Extraordinary rendition to secret
prisons around the world has been widely engaged in, though obviously
extra-legal.
2007 Ron Paul 14:45
A growing concern in the post
9/11 environment is the federal government’s lists of potential
terrorists
based on secret evidence.
Mistakes
are made and sometimes it is virtually impossible to get one’s name
removed,
even though the accused is totally innocent of any wrongdoing.
2007 Ron Paul 14:46
A national ID card is now in the
process of being implemented.
It’s
called the Real ID card and it’s tied to our Social Security numbers
and our
state driver’s license.
If Real ID
is not stopped it will become a national driver’s license/ID for all
America.
2007 Ron Paul 14:47
Some of the least noticed and
least discussed changes in the law were the changes made to the
Insurrection Act
of 1807 and to Posse Comitatus by the Defense Authorization Act of 2007.
2007 Ron Paul 14:48
These changes pose a threat to
the survival of our republic by giving the president the power to
declare
martial law for as little reason as to restore “public order.”
The 1807 Act severely restricted the president in his use of the
military
within the
United States
borders, and the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878
strengthened these restrictions
with strict oversight by Congress.
The
new law allows the president to circumvent the restrictions of both
laws.
The Insurrection Act has now become the “Enforcement of the Laws
to
Restore Public Order Act”.
This is
hardly a title that suggests that the authors cared about or understood
the
nature of a constitutional republic.
2007 Ron Paul 14:49
Now, martial law can be declared
not just for “insurrection” but also for “natural disasters, public
health
reasons, terrorist attacks or incidents” or for the vague reason called
“other conditions.”
The
President can call up the National Guard without Congressional approval
or the
governors’ approval and even send these state guard troops into other
states.
The American republic is in remnant status.
The stage is set for our country eventually devolving into a
military
dictatorship and few seem to care.
2007 Ron Paul 14:50
These precedent setting changes
in the law are extremely dangerous and will change American
jurisprudence
forever if not reversed.
The
beneficial results of our revolt against the king’s abuses are about to
be
eliminated and few Members of Congress and few Americans are aware of
the
seriousness of the situation.
Complacency
and fear drive our legislation without any serious objection by our
elected
leaders.
2007 Ron Paul 14:51
Sadly, those few who do object to
this self evident trend away from personal liberty and empire building
overseas
are portrayed as unpatriotic and uncaring.
2007 Ron Paul 14:52
Though welfare and socialism
always fails, opponents of them are labeled uncaring.
Though opposition to totally unnecessary war should be the only
moral
position, the rhetoric is twisted to claim that patriots who oppose the
war are
not “supporting the troops”.
The
cliché “support the troops” is incessantly used as a substitute
for the
unacceptable notion of “supporting the policy” no matter how flawed it
may
be.
Unsound policy can never help
the troops.
Keeping the troops out
of harm’s way and out of wars unrelated to our national security is the
only
real way of protecting the troops.
With
this understanding, just who can claim the title of “patriot”?
2007 Ron Paul 14:53
Before the war in the Middle East spreads and becomes a world conflict, for which
we’ll be held responsible, or
the liberties of all Americans become so suppressed we can no longer
resist,
much has to be done.
Time is short
but our course of action should be clear.
Resistance
to illegal and unconstitutional usurpation of our rights is required.
Each of us must choose which course of action we should
take—education,
conventional political action, or even peaceful civil disobedience, to
bring
about the necessary changes.
2007 Ron Paul 14:54
But let it not be said that we
did nothing.
2007 Ron Paul 14:55
Let not those who love the power
of the welfare/warfare state label the dissenters of authoritarianism
as
unpatriotic or uncaring.
Patriotism
is more closely linked to dissent than it is to conformity and a blind
desire
for safety and security.
Understanding
the magnificent rewards of a free society makes us unbashful in its
promotion,
fully realizing that maximum wealth is created and the greatest chance
for peace
comes from a society respectful of individual liberty.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 15
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Statement Introducing a Bill to Establish a Sunset for the
Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002 (Public Law 107-243)
June 7, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 15:1
Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a bill to establish a sunset for the 2002
Authorization for the Use of Force Against Iraq (PL 107-243). There are
several
active pieces of legislation that would rescind the authorization to
use force
against
Iraq , but the approach of this legislation is quite different. This
legislation
would sunset the original authorization six months after it is in
enacted, which
would give Congress plenty of time to consider anew the authority for
Iraq.
2007 Ron Paul 15:2
The rationale for this sunset is that according to the 2002 authorization
for
Iraq , the president was authorized to use
military force against
Iraq
to achieve the following two specific objectives only:
2007 Ron Paul 15:3
“(1) defend the national security of the
United States against the continuing threat posed
by
Iraq
; and
(2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions
regarding
Iraq
”
2007 Ron Paul 15:4
It should be obvious to both supporters and critics of our military action in
Iraq
that our military has achieved both legal objectives. Our military
quickly
removed the regime of Saddam Hussein, against whom the United Nations
resolutions were targeted. And a government has been elected in
post-Saddam
Iraq that has met with
US
approval, fulfilling the first objective of the authorization.
2007 Ron Paul 15:5
With both objectives of the original authorization completely satisfied,
Congress has
a Constitutional obligation to revisit this issue and provide needed
oversight
and policy guidance. We ignore this obligation at risk to the
United States and, very importantly, to our
soldiers in harm’s way in
Iraq
.
2007 Ron Paul 15:6
Unlike other proposals, this bill does not criticize the president’s handling
of the
war. It does not cut off funds for the troops. Nor does this bill set a
timetable for our withdrawal. I strongly believe that this legislation
will
enjoy broad support among both those in favor of our action in
Iraq
and those who favor ending the war, and I am encouraged by the
bi-partisan
support I have received when seeking original co-sponsors. Congress is
obligated
to consider anew the authority for
Iraq
sooner rather than later and I hope more of my colleagues will join me
as
co-sponsors of this legislation.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 16
HON. RON PAUL OF TEXAS
BEFORE THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
June 13, 2007
Statement on NICS Improvement Amendments Act
2007 Ron Paul 16:1
Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.R. 2640, the National Instant Criminal
Background Check System (NICS) Improvement Amendments Act, and I urge
caution.
2007 Ron Paul 16:2
In my opinion, H.R. 2640 is a flagrantly unconstitutional expansion of
restriction on the exercise of the right to bear arms protected under
the Second
Amendment.
2007 Ron Paul 16:3
H.R. 2640 also seriously undermines the privacy rights of all Americans — gun
owners and non-gun owners alike — by creating and expanding massive
federal
government databases, including medical and other private records of
every
American.
2007 Ron Paul 16:4
H.R. 2640 illustrates how placing restrictions on the exercise of one
right — in this case, the right to bear arms — inevitably leads to
expanded
restriction on other rights as well. In an effort to make the Brady
background
check on gun purchases more efficient, H.R. 2640 pressures states and
mandates
federal agencies to dump massive amounts of information about the
private lives
of all Americans into a central federal government database.
2007 Ron Paul 16:5
Among the information that must be submitted to the database are medical,
psychological, and drug treatment records that have traditionally been
considered protected from disclosure under the physician-patient
relationship,
as well as records related to misdemeanor domestic violence. While
supporters of
H.R. 2640 say that there are restrictions on the use of this personal
information, such restrictions did not stop the well-publicized IRS and
FBI
files privacy abuses by both Democratic and Republican administrations.
Neither
have such restrictions prevented children from being barred from
flights because
their names appeared on the massive terrorist watch list. We should not
trick
ourselves into believing that we can pick and choose which part of the
Bill of
Rights we support.
2007 Ron Paul 16:6
I urge my colleagues to join me in opposing this bill.
Mr. Speaker, in addition, the NICS Improvement Amendments Act
illustrates how
laws creating new infringements on liberty often also impose large
financial
burdens on taxpayers. In just its first three years of operation, the
bill
authorizes new yearly spending of $375 million plus additional spending
“as may
be necessary.” This new spending is not offset by any decrease in
other
government spending.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 17
HONORABLE
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Opening Statement
Committee on Financial Services
Subcommittee:
Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade and Technology
Remittance Hearing
2007 Ron Paul 17:1
June 17, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 17:2
It is clear to most people that remittances provide a significant
economic boost to many South American and Latin American countries.
Remittance flows to some countries dwarf foreign direct
investment and
foreign aid and have a beneficial effect on economic development,
enabling
low-income families to better their situations.
The effect of remittances on development showcases the
beneficial effects
of market-based interaction to improve peoples’ lives.
2007 Ron Paul 17:3
Some legislative proposals would require wire transfer services and other money
services businesses to comply with elements of the REAL ID Act.
While often well-intentioned, such measures, aside from
infringing
constitutional liberties, would have the effect of creating a thriving
black
market financial system which would make it even more difficult for law
enforcement to track truly criminal financial transfers.
2007 Ron Paul 17:4
Heavy-handed government intrusion into the operation and regulation of
money services businesses would also have the effect of raising the
costs of
doing business.
Money service
businesses have done a good job of identifying and serving their
customers’
needs.
Healthy competition has led
to a reduction in fees over the years so that money services businesses
are
accessible to more and more consumers.
As
some of our witnesses will attest, even the threat of regulation can
have a
chilling effect on the operation of money services businesses.
The money services market has done an admirable job of
self-regulation so
far.
The worst thing Congress could
do is intervene in an overly forceful manner and undo all the good
things that
have been done so far.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 18
HON.
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Statement on H Con Res 21
June 20, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 18:1
Madam Speaker: I rise in strong opposition to this resolution. This
resolution is an exercise in propaganda that serves one purpose: to
move us
closer to initiating a war against Iran. Citing various controversial
statements
by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, this legislation demands that
the
United Nations Security Council charge Ahmadinejad with violating the
1948
Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
2007 Ron Paul 18:2
Having already initiated a disastrous war against Iraq citing UN
resolutions as
justification, this resolution is like
déja-vu
. Have we
forgotten 2003
already? Do we really want to go to war again for UN resolutions? That
is where
this resolution, and the many others we have passed over the last
several years
on Iran, is leading us. I hope my colleagues understand that a vote for
this
bill is a vote to move us closer to war with Iran.
2007 Ron Paul 18:3
Clearly, language threatening to wipe a nation or a group of people off
the map
is to be condemned by all civilized people. And I do condemn any such
language.
But why does threatening Iran with a pre-emptive nuclear strike, as
many here
have done, not also deserve the same kind of condemnation? Does anyone
believe
that dropping nuclear weapons on Iran will not wipe a people off the
map? When
it is said that nothing, including a nuclear strike, is off the table
on Iran,
are those who say it not also threatening genocide? And we wonder why
the rest
of the world accuses us of behaving hypocritically, of telling the rest
of the
world “do as we say, not as we do.”
2007 Ron Paul 18:4
I strongly urge my colleagues to consider a different
approach to Iran, and to foreign policy in general. General William
Odom,
President Reagan’s director of the National Security Agency, outlined a
much
more sensible approach in a recent article titled “Exit From Iraq
Should Be
Through Iran.” General Odom wrote: “Increasingly bogged down in the
sands of
Iraq, the US thrashes about looking for an honorable exit. Restoring
cooperation
between Washington and Tehran is the single most important step that
could be
taken to rescue the US from its predicament in Iraq.” General Odom
makes good
sense. We need to engage the rest of the world, including Iran and
Syria,
through diplomacy, trade, and travel rather than pass threatening
legislation
like this that paves the way to war. We have seen the limitations of
force as a
tool of US foreign policy. It is time to try a more traditional and
conservative
approach. I urge a “no” vote on this resolution.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 19
HONORABLE
RON PAUL OF TEXAS
Opening Statement Committee on Financial Services Paulson Hearing
June 20, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 19:1
A strong case can be made that our economy is not nearly as
robust as our government statistics claim.
2007 Ron Paul 19:2
Unemployment numbers, inflation rates, tax revenues, and
GDP growth all indicate there is little to worry about.
2007 Ron Paul 19:3
Yet underemployment and a lower standard of living for many
Americans hit with significant price inflation leave them fearful of
their
economic future.
2007 Ron Paul 19:4
The shake up in the sub prime mortgage market which is now
spreading, as the housing bubble deflates, has a long way to go.
The same problem exists in the high-yield corporate debt market
and will
surely add to the economic uncertainty we now face.
It’s deceptive to merely blame “abusive lending practices” for
these problems.
2007 Ron Paul 19:5
The recent sharp rise in interest rates may well be
signaling the end to the painless easy money decade that has allowed us
to
finance our extravagant welfare/warfare spending with minimal
productive effort
and no savings.
Monetary inflation
and foreign borrowing have allowed us to live far beyond our means – a
type of
monetary arrangement that always comes to a painful end.
2007 Ron Paul 19:6
As our problems worsen, the blame game will certainly
accelerate.
Claiming it is all due
to China’s manipulation of its currency and demanding protectionist
measures
will unfortunately continue to gain considerable attention.
Unfortunately, there
is little or no concern for how our own policies - monetary, tax, and
regulatory- have contributed to the problems we face.
2007 Ron Paul 19:7
Too often officials ignore and even distort important
economic information that could be beneficial in making market
decisions.
2007 Ron Paul 19:8
Accurate money supply growth rates are vital in anticipating future price levels, the degree of malinvestment, and
chances for
financial bubbles to form.
Since
March of 2006 M3 reports have been discontinued.
Private sources now report that M3 is increasing at a
significantly high
13% rate.
2007 Ron Paul 19:9
It is said that the CPI is now increasing at the rate of
2.5%, yet if we use the original method of calculation we find that the
CPI is
growing at a rate of over 10%.
2007 Ron Paul 19:10
Since money growth statistics are key to calculating
currency depreciation it is interesting to note, in this era of global
financial
markets, in a world engulfed with only fiat currencies, what total
world wide
money supply is doing.
2007 Ron Paul 19:11
Since 1997 the world money supply has doubled.
And money growth IS inflation which is the enemy of the poor and
the
middle class but a friend to the banks and Wall Street.
2007 Ron Paul 19:12
Monetary depreciation is clearly a sinister tax placed on
the unsuspecting poor.
Too many well
meaning individuals falsely believe that deficit financed assistance
programs
can help the poor, while instead the results are opposite.
2007 Ron Paul 19:13
Welfare and warfare – guns and butter philosophy always
leads to harmful inflation.
We had
severe problems in the 60’s and 70’s and we are doing the same thing
once
again.
We have only started to pay
for the extravagance of financing the current war and rapidly expanding
the
entitlement system by foreign borrowing and creating money and credit
out of
thin air.
There are reasons to
believe that the conditions we have created will be much worse than
they were in
1979 when interest rates of 21% were required to settle the markets and
reverse
the stagflation process.
2007 Ron Paul 19:14
Congress, and especially the Financial Services Committee,
must insist on total transparency and accuracy of all government
financial
statistics.
Any market interference
by government agencies must be done in full public view.
2007 Ron Paul 19:15
All meetings and decision and actions by the Presidents
Working Group on Financial Markets must be fully open to public
scrutiny.
If our government is artificially propping up the dollar by
directly
manipulating gold prices, or colluding with other central banks, it is
information that belongs in the public domain.
The same is true about any interference in the stock, bond, or
commodity
markets.
2007 Ron Paul 19:16
A free market economy requires that government keeps its
hands off and allows the consumers to exert their rightful control over
the
economy.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 20
Honorable
Ron Paul of Texas
Statement on HR 2956, the Responsible Redeployment From Iraq Act
12 July 2007
2007 Ron Paul 20:1
Madam Speaker, I rise in opposition to HR 2956 which, while a well-intended
attempt to reduce our nation’s seemingly unlimited military commitment
in Iraq, is in so many respects deeply flawed.
2007 Ron Paul 20:2
I have been one of the strongest opponents of military action against Iraq. I voted against the initial authorization in 2002 and I
have voted against
every supplemental appropriations bill to fund the war. I even voted
against the
initial “
Iraq
regime change” legislation back in 1998. I believe our
troops should be
brought back to the
United States
without delay. Unfortunately, one of the reasons I oppose
this legislation is
that it masquerades as a troop withdrawal measure but in reality may
well end up
increasing US commitments in the
Middle East
.
2007 Ron Paul 20:3
Mr. Speaker, this is precisely the debate we should have had four years
ago,
before Congress voted to abrogate its Constitutional obligation to
declare war
and transfer that authority to the president. Some in this body were
rather glib
in declaring the constitution antiquated while voting to cede the
ability to
initiate hostilities to the President. Now we see the result of
ignoring
the Constitution, and we are bringing even more mayhem to the process
with this
legislation.
2007 Ron Paul 20:4
To
those who believe this act would some how end the war, I simply point
to the
title for Section 3 of the bill, which states, “REQUIREMENT TO REDUCE
THE
NUMBER OF ARMED FORCES IN IRAQ AND TRANSITION TO A LIMITED PRESENCE OF
THE ARMED
FORCES IN IRAQ.” However the number of troops are limited, this
legislation nevertheless will permit an ongoing American military
presence in
Iraq
with our soldiers continuing to be engaged in hostilities.
2007 Ron Paul 20:5
I
also wish to draw attention to Section 4(b)(1), which mandates the
President to
submit a “Strategy for
Iraq
” by the beginning of next year. This “strategy” is
to include:
2007 Ron Paul 20:6
“A
discussion of
United States national security interests in
Iraq and the broader Middle East region and
the diplomatic, political,
economic, and military components of a comprehensive strategy to
maintain and
advance such interests as the Armed Forces are redeployed from
Iraq
pursuant to section 3 of this Act.”
2007 Ron Paul 20:7
In other words, far from extricating ourselves from the debacle in
Iraq
, this bill would set in motion a policy that could lead to
a wider regional
commitment, both financially and militarily. Such a policy would
be
disastrous for both our overextended national security forces and
beleaguered
taxpayers. This could, in fact, amount to an authorization for a
region-wide “surge.”
2007 Ron Paul 20:8
Congress’ job is to change the policy on
Iraq
, not to tell the military leaders how many troops they
should have. I have
attempted to do this with HR 2605, a bill to sunset after a six month
period the
authorization for military activity in
Iraq
. During this period a new plan for
Iraq
could be discussed and agreed. Plan first, authorization
next, execution
afterward. That is what we should be doing in
Iraq
.
2007 Ron Paul 20:9
In summary, Mr. Speaker, this legislation brings us no closer to ending
the war in
Iraq
. It brings us no closer to bringing our troops home. It
says nothing about
withdrawal, only about redeployment. It says nothing about reducing
US presence in the Middle East, and may actually
lead to an expanded
US
presence in the region. We have no guarantee the new
strategy demanded by this
legislation would not actually expand our military activities to
Iran and
Syria
and beyond. I urge my colleagues to reject this
legislation and put forth an
effective strategy to end the war in
Iraq
and to bring our troops home.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 21
Honorable
Ron Paul of Texas
Statement before the Financial Services Committee
Humphrey Hawkins Prequel Hearing
July 17, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 21:1
During the 30
th
year of the Humphrey-Hawkins hearings, it would be
helpful
for Congress to reassess the usefulness of the Humphrey-Hawkins mandate.
The dual mandate calls for full employment and stable prices.
Humphrey-Hawkins assumes that the Federal Reserve has unique
insights
into the United States economy that no one else possesses, that the
Federal
Reserve knows what prices should be and how much unemployment there
should be.
Full employment which is brought about through rising inflation
will
eventually lead to a stagnant economy which will lead to more
unemployment.
30+ years after the stagflation era, I would hope that Phillips
curves
are one of those barbarous relics of the past that have been sent to
their
graves, along with wage and price controls
and
bans on the private ownership of gold.
2007 Ron Paul 21:2
But
what I wish to highlight the most is the most pernicious part of the
Humphrey-Hawkins mandate is the mandate for price stability.
This objective overlooks the natural tendency of prices to fall
over
time.
As new production technologies
are brought on line, factories gear up, economies of scale are reached,
and the
prices of goods will decrease.
2007 Ron Paul 21:3
Goods
which originally are affordable only by the very rich, over the course
of time
and because of the fall in prices will become available to the poor and
the
middle class, raising the standard of living of all Americans.
100 years ago a rich person might have driven a car and a poor
person
would have walked barefoot.
Today a
rich person might drive a Lexus, while a poor person drives a Kia, but
they both
have cars, and shoes.
2007 Ron Paul 21:4
Price
stability attempts to disadvantage consumers by keeping prices stable,
rather
than allowing them to take their natural course of decline.
This policy comes from two misguided notions: that lower prices
lead to
lower profits, and that lower prices lead to deflation.
In its effort to ensure price stability, the Federal Reserve
resorts to inflation targeting, using the federal funds rate and
open
market operations to increase the money supply at an ostensible low
rate,
introducing a subtle but pernicious inflation into the monetary system.
Inflation benefits the government and the well-off, the first
users of
the new money, but harms those who receive the new money last, those
who are
predominantly poor and middle class.
2007 Ron Paul 21:5
But
prices do not just apply to goods, they also apply to the price of
labor, or
wages.
Wage raises are often indexed
to government CPI figures, which are notoriously prone to manipulation.
While official government figures show a CPI under 3%, according
to the
methods used when CPI was first calculated the current rate of
inflation is over
10%.
What this means is that while
wages will remain stable in real terms, the price of goods and services
will
increase at a faster rate, leading to a decrease in the real standard
of living.
The Fed’s loose money policy then leads to the lure of easy
credit, which
will hook more and more families, who will find themselves falling
deeper and
deeper into debt to finance their lifestyles.
Until
the Congress realizes that the economy cannot be managed by a group of
economists, no matter how large or how brilliant the group may be, the
result
will be the same.
Inflation will
continue to rise, and the American people will continue to grow poorer.
We would be far better off if the Congress were to reassert its
Constitutional authority over the monetary system, establish a sound
currency,
and eliminate its
meddling in the free
market.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 22
Statement of Congressman Paul on HR 180 Darfur Accountability and Divestment Act
July 30, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 22:1
Madam Speaker, HR 180 is premised on the assumption that
divestment,
sanctions, and other punitive measures are effective in influencing
repressive
regimes, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.
Proponents of such methods fail to remember that where goods
cannot cross
borders, troops will.
Sanctions
against Cuba, Iraq, and numerous other countries failed to topple their
governments.
Rather than weakening
dictators, these sanctions strengthened their hold on power and led to
more
suffering on the part of the Cuban and Iraqi people.
To the extent that divestment effected change in South
Africa, it was brought about by private individuals working through the
market
to influence others.
2007 Ron Paul 22:2
No one denies that the humanitarian situation in Darfur is dire,
but the
United States government has no business entangling itself in this
situation,
nor in forcing divestment on unwilling parties.
Any further divestment action should be undertaken through
voluntary
means and not by government fiat.
2007 Ron Paul 22:3
HR 180 is an interventionist piece of legislation which will extend the
power of
the federal government over American businesses, force this country
into yet
another foreign policy debacle, and do nothing to alleviate the
suffering of the
residents of Darfur.
By allowing
state and local governments to label pension and retirement funds as
state
assets, the federal government is giving the go-ahead for state and
local
governments to play politics with the savings upon which millions of
Americans
depend for security in their old age.
The
safe harbor provision opens another dangerous loophole, allowing fund
managers
to escape responsibility for any potential financial mismanagement, and
it sets
a dangerous precedent.
Would the
Congress offer the same safe harbor provision to fund managers who wish
to
divest from firms offering fatty foods, growing tobacco, or doing
business in
Europe?
2007 Ron Paul 22:4
This bill would fail in its aim of influencing the government of
the
Sudan, and would likely result in the exact opposite of its intended
effects.
The regime in Khartoum would see no loss of oil revenues, and
the civil
conflict will eventually flare up again.
The
unintended consequences of this bill on American workers, investors,
and
companies need to be considered as well.
Forcing
American workers to divest from companies which may only be
tangentially related
to supporting the Sudanese government could have serious economic
repercussions
which need to be taken into account.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 23
Statement on Public Safety Tax Cut Act
August 1, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 23:1
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the Public Safety Tax Cut Act. This
legislation will achieve two important public policy goals. First, it
will
effectively overturn a ruling of the Internal Revenue Service which has
declared
as taxable income the waiving of fees by local governments who provide
service
for public safety volunteers.
2007 Ron Paul 23:2
Many local governments use volunteer firefighters and auxiliary police either
in place of, or as a supplement to, their public safety professionals.
Often as
an incentive to would-be volunteers, the local entities might waive all
or a
portion of the fees typically charged for city services such as the
provision of
drinking water, sewerage charges, or debris pick up. Local entities
make these
decisions for the purpose of encouraging folks to volunteer, and seldom
do these
benefits come anywhere near the level of a true compensation for the
many hours
of training and service required of the volunteers. This, of course,
not even to
mention the fact that these volunteers could very possibly be called
into a
situation where they may have to put their lives on the line.
2007 Ron Paul 23:3
Rather than encouraging this type of volunteerism, which is so crucial,
particularly to America’s rural communities, the IRS has decided that
the
provision of the benefits described above amount to taxable income. Not
only
does this adversely affect the financial position of the volunteer by
foisting
new taxes about him or her, it has in fact led local entities to stop
providing
these benefits, thus taking away a key tool they have used to recruit
volunteers. That is why the IRS ruling in this instance has a
substantial
deleterious impact on the spirit of American volunteerism. How far
could this
go? For example, would consistent application mean that a local
Salvation Army
volunteer be taxed for the value of a complimentary ticket to that
organization’s annual county dinner? This is obviously bad policy.
2007 Ron Paul 23:4
This legislation would rectify this situation by specifically exempting these
types of benefits from federal taxation.
2007 Ron Paul 23:5
Next, this legislation would also provide paid professional police and fire
officers with a $1,000 per year tax credit. These professional public
safety
officers put their lives on the line each and every day, and I think we
all
agree that there is no way to properly compensate them for the fabulous
services
they provide. In America we have a tradition of local law enforcement
and public
safety provision. So, while it is not the role of our federal
government to
increase the salaries of these, it certainly is within our authority to
increase
their take-home pay by reducing the amount of money that we take from
their
pockets via federal taxation, and that is something this bill
specifically does
as well.
2007 Ron Paul 23:6
President George Bush has called on Americans to volunteer their time and
energy to enhancing public safety. Shouldn’t Congress do its part by
reducing
taxes that discourage public safety volunteerism? Shouldn’t Congress
also show
its appreciation to police officers and fire fighters by reducing their
taxes? I
believe the answer to both of these questions is a resounding “Yes”
and
therefore I am proud to introduce the Public Safety Tax Cut Act. I
request that
my fellow Members join in support of this key legislation.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 24
Statement on Police Security Protection Act
August 1, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 24:1
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to help America’s law enforcement officers by
introducing the Police Security Protection Act. This legislation
provides police
officers a tax credit for the purchase of armored vests.
2007 Ron Paul 24:2
Professional law enforcement officers put their lives on the line each and
every day. Reducing the tax liability of law enforcement officers so
they can
afford armored vests is one of the best ways Congress can help and
encourage
these brave men and women. After all, an armored vest could literally
make the
difference between life or death for a police officer, I hope my
colleagues will
join me in helping our nation’s law enforcement officers by
cosponsoring the
Police Security Protection Act.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 25
Statement on Introduction of the Congressional Responsibility and Accountability Act
August 1, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 25:1
Madame Speaker, I rise to introduce the Congressional Responsibility and
Accountability Act. This bill requires Congress to specifically
authorize via
legislation any proposed federal regulation that will impose costs on
any
individual of at least $5,000, impose costs on a business or other
private
organization of at least $25,000, impose aggregate costs on the
American people
of at least $250,000, or cause any American to lose his or her job.
2007 Ron Paul 25:2
According to some legal experts, at least three-quarters of all federal laws
consist of regulations promulgated by federal agencies without the
consent, or
even the review of, Congress. Allowing unelected, and thus
unaccountable,
executive agencies to make law undermines democracy. Law-making by
executive
agencies also violates the intent of the drafters of the Constitution
to
separate legislative and executive powers. The drafters of the
Constitution
correctly viewed separation of powers as a cornerstone of republican
government
and a key to protecting individual liberty from excessive and arbitrary
government power.
2007 Ron Paul 25:3
Congress’s delegation of law-making authority to unelected bureaucrats has
created a system that seems to owe more to the writings of Franz Kafka
than to
the writings of James Madison. The volume of regulations promulgated by
federal
agencies and the constant introduction of new rules makes it impossible
for most
Americans to know with any certainty the federal laws, regulations, and
rules
they are required to obey. Thus, almost all Americans live with the
danger that
they may be hauled before a federal agency for an infraction they have
no
reasonable way of knowing is against the law.
2007 Ron Paul 25:4
While it is easy for members of Congress to complain about out of control
federal bureaucrats, it was Congress that gave these agencies the
ability to
create laws. Since Congress created the problem of lawmaking by
regulatory
agencies, it is up to Congress to fix the problem and make certain that
all
federal laws are passed by the people’s elected representatives.
Therefore,
Madame Speaker, I urge my colleagues to cosponsor the Congressional
Responsibility and Accountability Act.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 26
Statement of Ron Paul on introducing the Comprehensive Health Care Act
August 2, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 26:1
Madame Speaker, America faces a crisis in health care. Health care costs
continue to rise, leaving many Americans unable to afford health
insurance,
while those with health care coverage, and their physicians, struggle
under the
control of managed-care “gatekeepers.” Obviously, fundamental health
care reform should be one of Congress’ top priorities.
2007 Ron Paul 26:2
Unfortunately, most health care “reform” proposals either make marginal changes or exacerbate the problem. This is because they fail
to address
the root of the problem with health care, which is that government
polices
encourage excessive reliance on third-party payers. The excessive
reliance on
third-party payers removes all incentive from individual patients to
concern
themselves with health care costs. Laws and policies promoting Health
Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) resulted from a desperate attempt to
control
spiraling costs. However, instead of promoting an efficient health care
system,
HMOs further took control over health care away from the individual
patient and
physician.
2007 Ron Paul 26:3
Furthermore, the predominance of third-party payers means there is effectively no market for individual health insurance polices, thus
those whose
employers cannot offer them health benefits must either pay exorbitant
fees for
health insurance or do without health insurance. Since most health care
providers cater to those with health insurance, it is very difficult
for the
uninsured to find health care that meets their needs at an affordable
price. The
result is many of the uninsured turn to government-funded health care
systems,
or use their local emergency room as their primary care physician. The
result of
this is declining health for the uninsured and increased burden on
taxpayer-financed health care system.
2007 Ron Paul 26:4
Returning control over health care to the individual is the key to true health care reform.
2007 Ron Paul 26:5
The Comprehensive Health Care Reform Act puts control of health care back
into the hands of the individual through tax credits, tax deductions,
Health
Care Savings Accounts (HSA), and Flexible Savings Accounts. By giving
individuals tax incentives to purchase their own health care, the
Comprehensive
Health Care Act will help more Americans obtain quality health
insurance and
health care. Specifically, the Comprehensive Health Care Act:
2007 Ron Paul 26:6
A. Provides all Americans with a tax credit for 100% of health care expenses.
The tax credit is fully refundable against both income and payroll
taxes.
2007 Ron Paul 26:7
B. Allows individuals to roll over unused amounts in cafeteria plans and
Flexible Savings Accounts (FSA).
2007 Ron Paul 26:8
C. Makes every American eligible for an Health Savings Account (HSA), removes
the requirement that individuals must obtain a high-deductible
insurance policy
to open an HSA; allows individuals to use their HSA to make premiums
payments
for high-deductible policy; and allows senior citizens to use their HSA
to
purchase Medigap policies.
2007 Ron Paul 26:9
D. Repeals the 7.5% threshold for the deduction of medical expenses, thus
making all medical expenses tax deductible.
2007 Ron Paul 26:10
By providing a wide range of options, this bill allows individual Americans
to choose the method of financing health care that best suits their
individual
needs. Increasing frustration with the current health care system is
leading
more and more Americans to embrace this approach to health care reform.
For
example, a poll by the respected Zogby firm showed that over 80% of
Americans
support providing all Americans with access to a Health Savings
Account. I hope
all my colleagues will join this effort to put individuals back in
control of
health care by cosponsoring the Comprehensive Health Care Reform Act.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 27
Statement of Ron Paul on Introduction of the Freedom from Unnecessary Litigation Act
August 2, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 27:1
Madame Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the Freedom from Unnecessary
Litigation Act. As its title suggests, this bill provides an effective
means of
ensuring that those harmed during medical treatment receive fair
compensation
while reducing the burden of costly malpractice litigation on the
health care
system. This bill achieves its goal by providing a tax credit for
negative
outcomes insurance purchased before medical treatment. The insurance
will
provide compensation for any negative outcomes of the medical
treatment.
Patients can receive this insurance without having to go through
lengthy
litigation and without having to give away a large portion of their
award to a
trial lawyer.
2007 Ron Paul 27:2
Relying on negative outcomes insurance instead of litigation will also reduce
the costs imposed on physicians, other health care providers, and
hospitals by
malpractice litigation. The Freedom from Unnecessary Litigation Act
also
promotes effective solutions to the malpractice crisis by making
malpractice
awards obtained through binding, voluntary arbitration tax-free.
2007 Ron Paul 27:3
The malpractice crisis has contributed to the closing of a maternity ward in
Philadelphia and a trauma center in Nevada. Meanwhile, earlier this
year,
surgeons in West Virginia walked off the job to protest increasing
liability
rates. These are a few of the examples of how access to quality health
care is
jeopardized by the epidemic of large (and medically questionable)
malpractice
awards, and the resulting increase in insurance rates.
2007 Ron Paul 27:4
As is typical of Washington, most of the proposed solutions to the malpractice problem involve unconstitutional usurpations of areas best
left to
the states. These solutions also ignore the root cause of the
litigation crisis:
the shift away from treating the doctor-patient relationship as a
contractual
one to viewing it as one governed by regulations imposed by insurance
company
functionaries, politicians, government bureaucrats, and trial lawyers.
There is
no reason why questions of the assessment of liability and compensation
cannot
be determined by a private contractual agreement between physicians and
patients. The Freedom from Unnecessary Litigation Act is designed to
take a step
toward resolving these problems through private contracts.
2007 Ron Paul 27:5
Using insurance, private contracts, and binding arbitration to resolve
medical disputes benefits patients, who receive full compensation in a
timelier
manner than under the current system. It also benefits physicians and
hospitals,
which are relieved of the costs associated with litigation. Since it
will not
cost as much to provide full compensation to an injured patient, these
bills
should result in a reduction of malpractice premiums. The Freedom from
Unnecessary Litigation Act benefits everybody except those trial
lawyers who
profit from the current system. I hope all my colleagues will help end
the
malpractice crises while ensuring those harmed by medical injuries
receive just
compensation by cosponsoring my Freedom from Unnecessary Litigation Act.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 28
Statement on the Treat Physicians Fairly Act
August 2, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 28:1
Madame Speaker, I rise today to introduce the Treat Physicians Fairly Act,
legislation providing tax credits to physicians to compensate for the
costs of
providing uncompensated care. This legislation helps compensate medical
professionals for the costs imposed on them by federal laws forcing
doctors to
provide uncompensated medical care. The legislation also provides a tax
deduction for hospitals who incur costs related to providing
uncompensated care.
2007 Ron Paul 28:2
Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) physicians who work in emergency rooms, as well as the hospitals, are
required
to provide care without seeking compensation to anyone who comes into
an
emergency room. Thus, EMTLA forces medical professionals and hospitals
to bear
the entire cost of caring for the indigent. According to the June 2/9,
2003
edition of
AM News
,
emergency physicians lose an average
of
$138,000 per year because of EMTLA. EMTALA also forces physicians and
hospitals
to follow costly rules and regulations, and can be fined $50,000 for
failure to
be in technical compliance with EMTALA!
2007 Ron Paul 28:3
Forcing physicians to offer their services without providing any form of
compensation is a blatant violation of the takings clause of the Fifth
Amendment. After all, the professional skills with which one’s earns a
living
are a form of property. Therefore, legislation, such as EMTALA, which
forces
individuals to use their professional skills without compensation is a
taking of
private property. Regardless of whether the federal government has the
constitutional authority to establish programs providing
free-or-reduced health
care for the indignant, the clear language of the takings clause
prevents
Congress from placing the entire burden of these programs on the
medical
profession.
2007 Ron Paul 28:4
Ironically, the perceived need to force doctors to provide medical care is
itself the result of prior government interventions into the health
care market.
When I began practicing, it was common for doctors to provide
uncompensated care
as a matter of charity. However, government laws and regulations
inflating the
cost of medical services and imposing unreasonable liability standards
on
medical professionals even when they where acting in a volunteer
capacity made
offering free care cost prohibitive. At the same time, the increase
health care
costs associated with the government-facilitated over-reliance in third
party
payments priced more and more people out of the health care market.
Thus, the
government responded to problems created by their interventions by
imposing
EMTALA mandate on physicians, in effect making the health care
profession
scapegoats for the unintended consequences of failed government health
care
polices.
2007 Ron Paul 28:5
EMTALA itself is having unintended consequences that could result in less
care availability for low-income Americans at emergency rooms. This is
because
EMTALA provides a disincentive for physicians form offering any
emergency care.
Many physicians have told me in my district that they are considering
curtail
their practices, in part because of the costs associated with the
EMTALA
mandates. Many other physicians are even counseling younger people
against
entering the medical profession because of the way the federal
government treats
medical professionals! The tax credit of the Treat Physicians Fairly
Act will
help mitigate some of these unintended consequences.
2007 Ron Paul 28:6
The Treat Physicians Fairly Act does not remove any of EMTALA’s mandates;
it simply provides that physicians can receive a tax credit for the
costs of
providing uncompensated care. This is a small step toward resorting
fairness to
the physicians. Furthermore, by providing some compensation in the form
of tax
credits, the Treat Physicians Fairly Act helps remove the dincentives
to
remaining active in the medical profession built into the current
EMTALA law. I
hope my colleagues will take the first step toward removing the
unconstitutional
burden of providing uncompensated care by cosponsoring the Treat
Physicians
Fairly Act.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 29
Statement of Ron Paul on Introducing the Quality Health Care Coalition Act
August 2, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 29:1
Madame Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the Quality Health Care Coalition
Act, which takes a first step towards restoring a true free market in
health
care by restoring the rights of freedom of contract and association to
health
care professionals. Over the past few years, we have had much debate in
Congress
about the difficulties medical professionals and patients are having
with Health
Maintenance Organizations (HMOs).
2007 Ron Paul 29:2
HMOs are devices used by insurance industries to ration health care. While it
is politically popular for members of Congress to bash the HMOs and the
insurance industry, the growth of the HMOs are rooted in past
government
interventions in the health care market though the tax code, the
Employment
Retirement Security Act (ERSIA), and the federal anti-trust laws. These
interventions took control of the health care dollar away from
individual
patients and providers, thus making it inevitable that something like
the HMOs
would emerge as a means to control costs.
2007 Ron Paul 29:3
Many of my well-meaning colleagues would deal with the problems created by
the HMOs by expanding the federal government’s control over the health
care
market. These interventions will inevitably drive up the cost of health
care and
further erode the ability of patents and providers to determine the
best health
treatments free of government and third-party interference. In
contrast, the
Quality Health Care Coalition Act addresses the problems associated
with HMOs by
restoring medical professionals’ freedom to form voluntary
organizations for the
purpose of negotiating contracts with an HMO or an insurance company.
2007 Ron Paul 29:4
As an OB-GYN who spent over 30 years practicing medicine, I am well aware of
how young physicians coming out of medical school feel compelled to
sign
contracts with HMOs that may contain clauses that compromise their
professional
integrity. For example, many physicians are contractually forbidden
from
discussing all available treatment options with their patients because
the HMO
gatekeeper has deemed certain treatment options too expensive. In my
own
practice, I tried hard not to sign contracts with any health insurance
company
that infringed on my ability to practice medicine in the best interests
of my
patients and I always counseled my professional colleagues to do the
same.
Unfortunately, because of the dominance of the HMO in today’s health
care
market, many health care professionals cannot sustain a medical
practice unless
they agree to conform their practice to the dictates of some HMO.
2007 Ron Paul 29:5
One way health care professionals could counter the power of the HMOs would
be to form a voluntary association for the purpose of negotiating with
an HMO or
an insurance company. However, health care professionals who attempt to
form
such a group run the risk of persecution under federal anti-trust laws.
This not
only reduces the ability of health care professionals to negotiate with
HMOs on
a level playing field, but also constitutes an unconstitutional
violation of
medical professionals’ freedom of contract and association.
2007 Ron Paul 29:6
Under the United States Constitution, the federal government has no authority
to interfere with the private contracts of American citizens.
Furthermore, the
prohibitions on contracting contained in the Sherman antitrust laws are
based on
a flawed economic theory which holds that federal regulators can
improve upon
market outcomes by restricting the rights of certain market
participants deemed
too powerful by the government. In fact, anti-trust laws harm consumers
by
preventing the operation of the free-market, causing prices to rise,
quality to
suffer, and, as is certainly the case with the relationship between the
HMOs and
medical professionals, favoring certain industries over others.
2007 Ron Paul 29:7
By restoring the freedom of medical professionals to voluntarily come
together to negotiate as a group with HMOs and insurance companies,
this bill
removes a government-imposed barrier to a true free market in health
care. Of
course, this bill does not infringe on the rights of health care
professionals
by forcing them to join a bargaining
2007 Ron Paul 29:8
organization against their will. While Congress should protect the rights of
2007 Ron Paul 29:9
all Americans to join organizations for the purpose of bargaining collectively, Congress also has a moral responsibility to ensure that
no worker
is forced by law to join or financially support such an organization.
2007 Ron Paul 29:10
Madame Speaker, it is my hope that Congress will not only remove the restraints on medical professionals’ freedom of contract, but will also
empower patients to control their health care by passing my
Comprehensive Health
Care Reform Act. The Comprehensive Health Care Reform Act puts
individuals back
in charge of their own health care by providing Americans with large
tax credits
and tax deductions for their health care expenses, including a
deduction for
premiums for a high-deductible insurance policy purchased in
combination with a
Health Savings Account. Putting individuals back in charge of their own
health
care decisions will enable patients to work with providers to ensure
they
receive the best possible health care at the lowest possible price. If
providers
and patients have the ability to form the contractual arrangements that
they
find most beneficial to them, the HMO monster will wither on the vine
without
the imposition of new federal regulations on the insurance industry.
2007 Ron Paul 29:11
In conclusion, I urge my colleagues to support the Quality Health Care
Coalition Act and restore the freedom of contract and association to
America’s
health care professionals. I also urge my colleagues to join me in
working to
promote a true free market in health care by putting patients back in
charge of
the health care dollar by supporting my Comprehensive Health Care
Reform Act.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 30
Statement on HR 3159, the Ensuring Military Readiness through Stability and Predictability Deployment Policy Act
2 August 2007
2007 Ron Paul 30:1
Madame Speaker: I rise in support of this legislation to provide some
Congressional
oversight over the deployment and maintenance of our troops stationed
overseas.
As the Constitution states in Article I Section 8., Congress has the
power
“to make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval
forces,” and therefore Congress has an obligation to speak on such
matters.
I have been and remain extremely concerned about the deployment
extensions and
stop-loss programs that have kept our troops deployed and engaged for
increasingly extended periods of time. My constituents who are affected
by this
policy have contacted me with their concerns as well.
2007 Ron Paul 30:2
The
legislation at least seeks to provide some guidance and relief to our
troops who
have been stretched to the limit by the increasing duration of
deployment
overseas and the decreasing duration of time back home between
deployments.
Several military experts, including General Barry McCaffrey, have
commented on
this problem and the challenges it poses to the health and safety of
our troops.
2007 Ron Paul 30:3
Although
I am voting for this bill, I am increasingly concerned about Congress’s
approach
to the issue of our continued involvement in
Iraq
. Rather than a substantive move to end the
US military presence in
Iraq
, this bill and others that have passed recently seem to be merely
symbolic
moves to further politicize the war in
Iraq
. Clearly the American public is overwhelmingly in
favor of a withdrawal from
Iraq
, but Congress is not listening. At best, the
House seems willing to consider
only such half-measures as so-called re-deployment. We need a real
solution that
puts the safety of our troops above politics. We need to simply bring
them home.
As I said recently on the Floor of the House, we just marched in so we
can just
march out.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 31
Congressman Paul’s Statement in Opposition to H.Res. 552
September 4, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 31:1
Madame Speaker, I rise in opposition to H.Res. 552, “Calling on the Government
of the
People’s Republic of China to remove barriers to United States
financial
services firms doing business in China.”
2007 Ron Paul 31:2
Attempting
to force the hand of the Chinese government by requiring them to open
their
markets to US financial services firms is akin to playing with fire.
Politicians today fail to realize just how deeply our profligate
fiscal
and monetary policies of the past three decades have left us in debt to
China.
The Chinese government holds over one trillion dollars in
reserves,
leaving the future of the dollar highly vulnerable to the continued
Chinese
demand.
2007 Ron Paul 31:3
While
I am in favor of unencumbered free trade, free trade cannot be enforced
through
threats or by resorting to international protectionist organizations
such as the
WTO.
Even if the Chinese are
recalcitrant in opening up their markets, it is not the role of the
United
States government to lecture the Chinese government on what it should
or should
not do in its own economy.
2007 Ron Paul 31:4
H.Res.
552 is a blatant encroachment on the sovereignty of the Chinese
government.
Were the Chinese government to pressure us into allowing greater
access
to the US market for Chinese financial services firms, or to pressure
us into
allowing the sale of firms in strategic sectors of the market, we would
justifiably resist this pressure.
2007 Ron Paul 31:5
Diplomatic
efforts cannot work through blustering language and vague retaliatory
threats.
It requires an awareness both of the many benefits of trade with
China
and the fact that our current trade imbalances are largely the
responsibility of
our trade policies.
We must
understand that China is not a 98-pound weakling who can be bossed
around.
If we treat other countries with respect and as equal partners,
we might
be pleased to find that our requests receive a more attentive ear.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 32
Statement before the Financial Services Committee
September 20, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 32:1
Mr. Chairman, the situation facing us now in the mortgage industry has its
roots in
the Federal Reserve’s inflationary monetary policy.
Without addressing the roots of the current crisis, any measures
undertaken to improve the situation will be doomed to fail.
2007 Ron Paul 32:2
As with asset bubbles and investment manias in past history, the fuel for
the
current housing bubble had its origins in monetary manipulation.
The housing boom was caused by the Federal Reserve’s policy
resulting in
artificially low interest rates.
Consumers,
misled by low interest rates, were looking to consume, while
homebuilders saw
the low interest rates as a signal to build, and build they did.
2007 Ron Paul 32:3
One
of the primary means the Federal Reserve uses to stimulate the economy
is
manipulation of the federal funds rate and the discount rates, which
are used as
benchmark rates throughout the economy.
The
interest rate is the price of time, as the value of a dollar today and
the value
of a dollar one year from now are not the same.
Just like any price in the market, interest rates have an
important
informational signaling purpose.
Government
price fixing of the interest rate has the same deleterious effects as
price
controls in other areas.
2007 Ron Paul 32:4
Reduction
in the interest rate has two major effects: it encourages consumption
over
saving; and it makes long-term, capital-intensive projects cheaper to
undertake.
Under Chairman Greenspan’s tenure, the federal funds rate was so
low that
the real interest rate (that is the nominal interest rate minus
inflation) was
negative.
With a negative real
interest rate, someone who saves money will literally lose the value of
that
money.
2007 Ron Paul 32:5
The
Federal Reserve continued and still continues to increase the money
supply.
After ceasing the publication of M3 last February, private
economists
have calculated that M3 has risen at an annual rate of almost 12%,
which is
faster than we have seen since the 1970’s.
2007 Ron Paul 32:6
Millions
of Americans now find themselves stuck in a financial quandary that is
not their
fault.
The result of manipulation of
the interest rate, money supply, and mortgage markets are the recently
popped
housing bubble.
Further
regulation of the banking sector, of mortgage brokers, mortgage
lenders, or
credit rating agencies will fail to improve the current situation, and
will do
nothing to prevent future real estate bubbles.
Any proposed solutions which fail to take into account the
economic
intervention that laid the ground for the bubble are merely window
dressing, and
will not ease the suffering of millions of American homeowners.
I urge my colleagues to strike at the root of the problem and
address the
Federal Reserve’s inflationary monetary policy.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 33
Statement on the Tax Free Tips Act
September 26, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 33:1
Madame Speaker, I rise to help millions of working Americans by introducing
the Tax Free Tips Act. As the title suggests, this legislation makes
tips exempt
from federal income and payroll taxes. Tips often compose a substantial
portion
of the earnings of waiters, waitresses, and other service-sector
employees.
However, unlike regular wages, a service-sector employee usually has no
guarantee of, or legal right to, a tip. Instead, the amount of a tip
usually
depends on how well an employee satisfies a client. Since the amount of
taxes
one pays increases along with the size of tip, taxing tips punishes
workers for
doing a superior job!
2007 Ron Paul 33:2
Many service-sector employers are young people trying to make money to pay
for their education, or single parents struggling to provide for their
children.
Oftentimes, these workers work two jobs in hopes of making a better
life for
themselves and their families. The Tax Free Tips Act gives these
hard-working
Americans an immediate pay raise. People may use this pay raise to
devote more
resources to their children’s, or their own, education, or to save for
a home,
retirement, or to start their own businesses.
2007 Ron Paul 33:3
Helping Americans improve themselves by reducing their taxes will make our
country stronger. I, therefore, hope all my colleges will join me in
cosponsoring the Tax Free Tips Act.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 34
Statement on Burma, H Con Res 200
October 2, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 34:1
Madame Speaker,
I
rise in opposition to this legislation not because I do not sympathize
with the
plight of the oppressed people of
Burma
, particularly as demonstrated by the continued confinement
of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Any time a government represses its citizenry it is reprehensible. My
objection
to this legislation is twofold. First, the legislation calls on the
United
Nations Security Council to “take appropriate action” with regard to
Burma and its internal conditions. This sounds like an open door
for an outside
military intervention under the auspices of the United Nations, which
is
something I do not support.
2007 Ron Paul 34:2
More importantly, perhaps, I am concerned that while going around the world
criticizing admittedly abhorrent governmental actions abroad we are
ignoring the
very dangerous erosions of our own civil liberties and way of life at
home.
Certainly it is objectionable that the Burmese government holds its own
citizens
in jails without trial. But what about the secret prisons that our own
CIA
operates around the globe that hold thousands of individuals
indefinitely and
without trial? Certainly it is objectionable that the government of
Burma
can declare Aung San Suu Kyi a political prisoner to be
held in confinement.
But what about the power that Congress has given the president to
declare anyone
around the world, including American citizens, “enemy combatants”
subject to
indefinite detention without trial? What about the “military
commissions
act” that may well subject Americans to military trial with secret
evidence
permitted and
habeas corpus
suspended?
2007 Ron Paul 34:3
So while I am by no means unsympathetic to the current situation in
Burma
, as an elected Member of the United States House of
Representatives I strongly
believe that we would do better to promote freedom around the world by
paying
better attention to our rapidly eroding freedom here at home. I urge my
colleagues to consider their priorities more closely and to consider
the much
more effective approach of leading by example.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 35
Statement Introducing the American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007
October 15, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 35:1
Dr PAUL: Mr. Speaker, today I am introducing a comprehensive piece of legislation to restore the American Constitution
and to
restore the liberties that have been sadly eroded over the past several
years.
2007 Ron Paul 35:2
This legislation seeks to restore the checks and balances
enshrined in the Constitution by our Founding Fathers to prevent abuse
of
Americans by their government. This proposed legislation would repeal
the
Military Commissions Act of 2006 and re-establish the traditional
practice that
military commissions may be used to try war crimes in places of active
hostility
where a rapid trial is necessary to preserve evidence or prevent chaos.
2007 Ron Paul 35:3
The legislation clarifies that no information shall be
admitted as evidence if it is obtained from the defendant through the
use of
torture or coercion. It codifies the FISA process as the means by which
foreign
intelligence may be obtained and it gives members of the Senate and the
House of
Representatives standing in court to challenge presidential signing
statements
that declares the president’s intent to disregard certain aspects of a
law
passed in the US Congress. It prohibits kidnapping and extraordinary
rendition
of prisoners to foreign countries on the president’s unilateral
determination
that the suspect is an enemy combatant. It defends the first amendment
by
clarifying that journalists are not to be prevented from publishing
information
received from the legislative or executive branch unless such
publication would
cause immediate, direct, and irreparable harm to the
United States
.
2007 Ron Paul 35:4
Finally, the legislation would prohibit the use of secret
evidence to designate an individual or organization with a
United States
presence to be a foreign terrorist or foreign terrorist
organization.
2007 Ron Paul 35:5
I invite my colleagues to join my efforts to restore the US
Constitution by enacting the American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 36
Statement Before the House Financial Services Committee
Subcommittee
on Domestic and International Monetary Policy
October 17, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 36:1
Mr. Chairman, as you know, I have consistently favored a policy of
non-intervention
with regard both to foreign affairs and to economic policy.
While there may well be problems with the Russian economy in
terms of
failed privatization, government expropriation of assets, etc., there
is no
reason that these issues should concern the United States government.
2007 Ron Paul 36:2
Foreign nations could easily criticize the United States for its weak dollar
policy
which favors our exporting industries while harming the exporting
industries of
our trading partners; for our eminent domain policies which make a
mockery of
property rights; and for Sarbanes-Oxley, which unfairly burdens
companies
operating in this country and causes companies to move to foreign
capital
markets.
We would understandably
resent this intrusion into our affairs.
2007 Ron Paul 36:3
While I empathize with the investors who have lost money through the Yukos
incident,
the fact remains that markets are fraught with risk.
Our loose monetary policy and stimulation of credit have led to
expectations of permanent positive economic growth.
The technology bubble and the housing bubble have caused many to
believe
that markets can only go up.
When
bubbles burst, when stocks decline, something must have gone awry, and
the
government is called upon to right the wrong.
2007 Ron Paul 36:4
While many innocent investors are lured into the stock market as a result of
our
flawed expansionary government policies leading to visions of
ever-increasing
wealth, and may not be entirely at fault for their losses, the
principle of
caveat
emptor
seems to have been forgotten.
In
the case of a burst asset bubble or a stock’s decline in price, some
investors
will lose out.
It might be painful,
it may have come about through injustice and government meddling, but
government
wrongdoing cannot be undone by more government wrongdoing.
2007 Ron Paul 36:5
Neither a bailout, as in the case of the housing bubble, nor attempted
government
pressure on a foreign government, as in the case of Yukos, are
appropriate
reactions to the losses of investors.
I
wish the investors affected in the Yukos incident well, but urge my
colleagues
to resist the temptation to intervene in Russia’s internal affairs.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 37
Introducing HR 4077 to Allow the Interstate Shipment of Unpasteurized Milk
November 6, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 37:1
Madame Speaker, I rise to introduce legislation that allows the transportation and sale in interstate commerce of unpasteurized milk
and milk products, as long as the milk both originates from and is
shipped to states that allow the sale of unpasteurized milk and milk
products. This legislation removes an unconstitutional restraint on
farmers who wish to sell unpasteurized milk and milk products, and
people who wish to consume unpasteurized milk and milk products.
2007 Ron Paul 37:2
My office has heard from numerous people who would like to purchase unpasteurized milk. Many of these people have done their own
research and come to the conclusion that unpasteurized milk is
healthier than pasteurized milk. These Americans have the right to
consume these products without having the federal government
second-guess their judgment about what products best promote health. If
there are legitimate concerns about the safety of unpasteurized milk,
those concerns should be addressed at the state and local level.
2007 Ron Paul 37:3
I urge my colleagues to join me in promoting consumers’ rights, the original intent of the Constitution, and
federalism by cosponsoring my legislation to allow the interstate sale
of unpasteurized milk and milk products.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 38
Statement Before the Joint Economic Committee
November 8, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 38:1
Mr. Chairman, our economy finds itself in a precarious
state.
Oil prices are rising, gold
is nearing all-time highs, and the dollar is nearing all-time lows.
The root of this crisis, as with past financial and economic
crises,
results from federal government intervention into the economy, not to
anything
endemic to the market, nor to the the actions of market participants.
2007 Ron Paul 38:2
The collapse of the housing market has served as a catalyst
for the economy’s latest bust.
For
years the federal government has made it one of its prime aims to
encourage
homeownership among people who otherwise would not be able to afford
homes.
Various federal mortgage programs through the FHA, Fannie Mae,
and
Freddie Mac have distorted the normal workings of the housing market.
2007 Ron Paul 38:3
The implicit government backing of Fannie Mae and Freddie
Mac provides investors an incentive to provide funds to Fannie and
Freddie that
otherwise would have been put to use in other sectors of the economy.
It was this flood of investor capital that helped to fuel the
housing
bubble.
2007 Ron Paul 38:4
Legislation such as the Zero Downpayment Act and the
misnamed American Dream Downpayment Act made it possible for people who
could
not afford down payments on houses to receive assistance from the
federal
government, or even to pay no down payment at all, courtesy of the
taxpayers.
The requirement of a down payment has always helped to ascertain
the
ability of a buyer to pay off a mortgage.
It
requires the buyer to show hard work and thrift, the ability to delay
present
consumption in order to make a larger acquisition in the future.
2007 Ron Paul 38:5
When this requirement is minimized or eliminated, you
introduce a new class of homebuyers, people who are unable to budget
and save
for the purchase of a home, or who should wait for a few years until
they have
saved enough to purchase a home.
Federal
policies have encouraged investors, lenders, and brokers to cater to
these
people, so it is no surprise that market actors came up with ever more
sophisticated means of bringing these people into the real estate
market.
2007 Ron Paul 38:6
Finally, the Federal Reserve’s loose monetary policy and
lowering of interest rates were a major spur to the housing boom.
Low interest rates influence marginal buyers, those who are
sitting on
the fence, and encourage them to take on a mortgage that they otherwise
would
not.
Even when interest rates are
raised, no one expects them to stay high for long, as there is always
pressure
from politicians and investors to keep rates low, as no one wants the
cheap
credit to end.
2007 Ron Paul 38:7
Thinking that interest rates will cycle from low to higher,
back to low, lenders begin to offer adjustable rate mortgages, 2/28’s,
3/27’s,
and other sophisticated mortgages that may trap many unsavvy buyers.
Buyers go short, lenders go long, and many people have been
burned as a
result.
2007 Ron Paul 38:8
It is time that the federal government get out of the
housing business.
Through our
interventionist legislation we have caused the boom and bust, and any
attempts
at reform that fail to address the causes of our current problem will
only sow
the seeds for the next bubble.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 39
Statement to Introduce the Make No Cents Until It Makes Sense Act
November 9, 2007
2007 Ron Paul 39:1
Mr. Chairman, I am
introducing this bill in response to HR 3956, which would
unconstitutionally
delegate the
authority to
determine the
metal content of coins to the Secretary of the Treasury. While I am
concerned
at the high cost of minting pennies, I am not entirely convinced that
the Mint
needs to mint
as many pennies as
it does.
Over the past 30 years, over 300 billion pennies have been minted, more
than
twice as many coins as all other denominations combined. This is over
1,000
pennies for each
man, woman, and
child in
this country.
2007 Ron Paul 39:2
I find it hard to believe that with this many pennies having
been minted, we still have a shortage of
pennies.
My bill would prohibit the minting of pennies until the Treasury and
Federal
Reserve certify
that there is no
surplus
of pennies. If there is a surplus of pennies, it makes no sense for the
Mint to continue to coin them if each penny
costs more
than one cent to produce. If there really were a
shortage,
the onus would be on the Treasury and Fed to conduct their survey in a
timely
fashion in
order to facilitate
further
penny production.
2007 Ron Paul 39:3
In the event of a shortage I would urge my colleagues to
consider Mr. Roskam’s HR 4036, which
addresses
the cost issue by changing the composition of pennies while maintaining
the
Congressional
control and
oversight
mandated by the Constitution.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 40
Remarks on Violent Radicalization & Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, HR 1955
5 December 2007
Rep.
Ron Paul, M.D.
2007 Ron Paul 40:1
Madame Speaker, I regret that I was unavoidably out of town on October 23,
2007, when a
vote was taken on HR 1955, the Violent Radicalization &
Homegrown
Terrorism Prevention Act. Had I been able to vote, I would have
voted
against this misguided and dangerous piece of legislation. This
legislation
focuses the weight of the US
government inward toward its own citizens under the guise of protecting
us
against “violent radicalization.”
2007 Ron Paul 40:2
I would like to note
that this legislation was brought to the floor for a vote under
suspension of
regular order. These so-called “suspension” bills are meant to be
non-controversial, thereby negating the need for the more complete and
open
debate allowed under regular order. It is difficult for me to believe
that none
of my colleagues in Congress view HR 1955, with its troubling civil
liberties
implications, as “non-controversial.”
2007 Ron Paul 40:3
There are many causes
for concern in HR 1955. The legislation specifically singles out the
Internet
for “facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence,
and
the homegrown terrorism process” in the
United States. Such
language may well be the first step toward US
government regulation of what we are allowed to access on the Internet.
Are we,
for our own good, to be subjected to the kind of governmental control
of the
Internet that we see in unfree societies? This bill certainly
sets us on that
course.
2007 Ron Paul 40:4
This seems to be an
unwise and dangerous solution in search of a real problem.
Previous acts of
ideologically-motivated violence, though rare, have been resolved
successfully
using law enforcement techniques, existing laws against violence, and
our court
system. Even if there were a surge of “violent radicalization” — a
claim
for which there is no evidence — there is no reason to believe that
our
criminal justice system is so flawed and weak as to be incapable of
trying and
punishing those who perpetrate violent acts.
2007 Ron Paul 40:5
This legislation will set up a new government bureaucracy to monitor and further
study the as-yet undemonstrated pressing problem of homegrown terrorism
and
radicalization. It will no doubt prove to be another bureaucracy that
artificially inflates problems so as to guarantee its future existence
and
funding. But it may do so at great further expense to our civil
liberties. What
disturbs me most about this legislation is that it leaves the door wide
open for
the broadest definition of what constitutes “radicalization.”
Could
otherwise non-violent anti-tax, antiwar, or anti-abortion groups fall
under the
watchful eye of this new government commission? Assurances
otherwise in this
legislation are unconvincing.
2007 Ron Paul 40:6
In addition, this
legislation will create a Department of Homeland Security-established
university-based body to further study radicalization and to
“contribute to
the establishment of training, written materials, information,
analytical
assistance and professional resources to aid in combating violent
radicalization
and homegrown terrorism.” I wonder whether this is really a legitimate
role
for institutes of higher learning in a free society.
2007 Ron Paul 40:7
Legislation such as
this demands heavy-handed governmental action against American citizens
where no
crime has been committed. It is yet another attack on our
Constitutionally-protected civil liberties. It is my sincere hope
that we will
reject such approaches to security, which will fail at their stated
goal at a
great cost to our way of life.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 41
Statement on Property Tax Deduction for All Act
5 December 2007
2007 Ron Paul 41:1
Rep.
Ron Paul, M.D.
2007 Ron Paul 41:2
Madame Speaker, I rise to introduce the
Property Tax Deduction for All Act, legislation making the property tax
deduction an “above-the-line” deduction. This simple change makes the
property tax deduction available to homeowners who do not file an
itemized tax
return.
2007 Ron Paul 41:3
The Property Tax Deduction for
All Act
will help millions of Americans who struggle with high property taxes,
but,
because they do not itemize, are unable to take advantage of the
federal
deduction for property taxes. Extending the property tax deduction to
all
homeowners will especially benefit senior citizens, whose homes often
are the
major part of their wealth, and young families struggling to cope with
the costs
of owning a new home. I respectfully urge my colleagues to help ensure
all
homeowners can take advantage of the tax deduction for property taxes
by
cosponsoring this legislation.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 42
Statement Introducing the Free Competition in Currency Act
13 December 2007
Rep.
Ron Paul, M.D.
2007 Ron Paul 42:1
Madame Speaker, I rise to introduce the
Free Competition in Currency Act.
This act would eliminate two sections of US Code that, although
ostensibly intended to punish counterfeiters, have instead been used by
the
government to shut down private mints.
As
anti-counterfeiting measures, these sections are superfluous, as 18 USC
485,
490, and 491 already grant sufficient authority to punish
counterfeiters.
2007 Ron Paul 42:2
The
two sections this bill repeals, 18 USC 486 and 489, are so broadly
written as to
effectively restrict any form of private coinage from competing with
the
products of the United States Mint.
Allowing
such statutes to remain in force as a catch-all provision merely
encourages
prosecutorial abuse.
One particular
egregious recent example is that of the Liberty Dollar, in which
federal agents
seized millions of dollars worth of private currency held by a private
mint on
behalf of thousands of people across the country.
2007 Ron Paul 42:3
Due to nearly a century of inflationary monetary policy on the part of the
Federal
Reserve, the US dollar stands at historically low levels.
Investors around the world are shunning the dollar, and millions
of
Americans see their salaries, savings accounts, and pensions eroded
away by
rising inflation.
We stand on the
precipice of an unprecedented monetary collapse, and as a result many
people
have begun to look for alternatives to the dollar.
2007 Ron Paul 42:4
As a proponent of competition in currencies, I believe that the American
people
should be free to choose the type of currency they prefer to use.
The ability of consumers to adopt alternative currencies can
help to keep
the government and the Federal Reserve honest, as the threat that
further
inflation will cause more and more people to opt out of using the
dollar may
restrain the government from debasing the currency.
As
monopolists, however, the
Federal Reserve and the Mint fear competition, and would rather force
competitors out using the federal court system and the threat of asset
forfeiture than compete in the market.
2007 Ron Paul 42:5
A free society should shun this type of strong-arm action, and the Free
Competition in Currency Act would take the necessary first steps to
freeing the
market for competing currencies.
I
urge my colleagues to support this bill.
2007 Ron Paul Chapter 43
Statement of Ron Paul on Introducing the Cancer and Terminal Illness Patient Health Care Act
18 December 2007
Rep. Ron Paul, M.D.
2007 Ron Paul 43:1
Madame Speaker, I rise to help working Americans stricken with cancer or
other terminal illnesses, and their families, by introducing the Cancer
and
Terminal Illness Patient Health Care Act. This act exempts people with
terminal
illnesses from the employee portion of payroll taxes while they are
suffering
from such illnesses or are incurring significant medical costs
associated with
their conditions. The Cancer and Terminal Illness Patient Health Care
Act also
provides a payroll deduction to any worker who is the primary caregiver
for a
spouse, parent, or child with a terminal illness.
2007 Ron Paul 43:2
When stricken with cancer or another terminal disease, many Americans
struggle to pay for the treatment necessary to save, or extend, their
lives.
Even employees with health insurance incur costs such as for
transportation to
and from care centers, prescription drugs not covered by their
insurance, or for
child care while they are receiving treatment. Yet, the federal
government
continues to force these employees to pay for retirement benefits they
may never
live to see!
2007 Ron Paul 43:3
Many Americans struggle to pay the costs of treating children, a spouse, or a
parent with a terminal illness. My bill also provides much needed tax
relief for
those who are providing care to a loved one with a terminal disease.
2007 Ron Paul 43:4
As a physician who has specialized in women’s health issues for decades, I
know how critical it is that cancer patients and others suffering from
terminal
illnesses have the resources they need to combat these illnesses. The
Cancer and
Terminal Illness Patient Health Care Act provides a realistic way to
help people
suffering from cancer or other terminal illnesses receive quality
health care.
2007 Ron Paul 43:5
It is hard to think of a more compassionate tax policy this Congress could
enact than to stop taking the resources away from working Americans
that could
help them treat cancer, AIDS, or other terrible health problems. I hope
all my
colleagues will help people suffering from terminal illnesses, and
their
caregivers, by cosponsoring the Cancer and Terminal Illness Patent
Health Care
Act.