Please. He's the only guy making any sense anymore. Check out his website. Read his history and where he stands on issues. Google him. Vote in online polls for him. Anything!

A sampling of Ron Paul quotes from www.brainyquote.com:

A system of capitalism presumes sound money, not fiat money manipulated by a central bank. Capitalism cherishes voluntary contracts and interest rates that are determined by savings, not credit creation by a central bank.
*********
All initiation of force is a violation of someone else's rights, whether initiated by an individual or the state, for the benefit of an individual or group of individuals, even if it's supposed to be for the benefit of another individual or group of individuals.
*********
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 the middle class here at home.
*********
Capitalism should not be condemned, since we haven't had capitalism.
*********
Cliches about supporting the troops are designed to distract 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.
*********
How did we win the election in the year 2000? We talked about a humble foreign policy: No nation-building; don't police the world. That's conservative, it's Republican, it's pro-American - it follows the founding fathers. And, besides, it follows the Constitution.
*********
I am absolutely opposed to a national ID card. This is a total contradiction of what a free society is all about. The purpose of government is to protect the secrecy and the privacy of all individuals, not the secrecy of government. We don't need a national ID card.
*********
I believe that when we overdo our military aggressiveness, it actually weakens our national defense. I mean, we stood up to the Soviets. They had 40,000 nuclear weapons. Now we're fretting day in and day and night about third-world countries that have no army, navy or air force.
*********
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. But this is pure demagoguery, and it is intellectually dishonest.
*********
Legitimate use of violence can only be that which is required in self-defense.
*********
Our country's founders cherished liberty, not democracy.
*********
Setting a good example is a far better way to spread ideals than through force of arms.
*********
The moral and constitutional obligations of our representatives in Washington are to protect our liberty, not coddle the world, precipitating no-win wars, while bringing bankruptcy and economic turmoil to our people.
*********
The most important element of a free society, where individual rights are held in the highest esteem, is the rejection of the initiation of violence.
*********
Throughout the 20th century, the Republican Party benefited from a non-interventionist foreign policy. Think of how Eisenhower came in to stop the Korean War. Think of how Nixon was elected to stop the mess in Vietnam.
*********
War is never economically beneficial except for those in position to profit from war expenditures.
*********
When one gets in bed with government, one must expect the diseases it spreads.
*********
You wanna get rid of drug crime in this country? Fine, let's just get rid of all the drug laws.
Ron Paul

So what do you think? I love this guy. What he has to say paints red circles around the rest of them, complete with slanty line through the middle.

I'm not normally very political as far as stumping for a candidate or being involved in a particular party. But frankly I've had it. I want a change. I want our country back. Don't you? Ron Paul wants to give it back to you and I. I want people to once more be confident enough in their country and leadership that they don't feel the need to vote for control freaks for protection. I want Ron Paul for president.

Holiday

- green day

You had to do it, Bully.... sucked me right in. You KNOW I must respond... But, then you knew that when you posted this didn't you. :)

Okay all -- as a former member of the Republican Party and former Party Official I must speak.

Please listen to what I am saying, as this is really what goes on in both the democrat and republican parties. There are people who financially support the party with a great many big bucks. People who spend their weekends by a pool and drive cars that cost more than most of our houses. These people choose who is going to win the nomination. These people back those they want to win and do all they can to thwart those who truly speak for the people.

Do we want the status quo? Or do we want to send a message and make a difference. This guy is not preaching to the dark smokey rooms of the party powerhouses. He is speaking to you, the little guy. The voter!!!

Do you want to send a message? Then take the time to register to vote republican and vote for this guy. I truly believe that the only way we will stop the bush machine from running our country into the ground is to vote for the guy they don't like. And when I see what Hannity and Colmes tried to do to this guy on the fox news channel it makes me certain... This guy is dangerous to the rich people who run the republican party.

Just think, if everyone who decided to not go out and vote in 2004 had spent the 5 minutes to vote, where would we be?

Australia is one of two countries in the world who require everyone to vote and this country is very different from America. In a good way!!

Go vote for this guy and give the powers that be something to think about!!

And,,, oh ya.... AMEN Sista!!!

Shaza

Amen, amen!

Thank you for the commentary, you rock as usual! Why aren't you writing a blog anymore?! xoxo

PS Shaz, can't you vote in the primaries in absentia?

I can vote if I am here, I just have to register and obtain an absentee ballot. But, isn't the voting in January? I am supposed to be home by then.

I was kind of amazed, yet not amazed at how some stations, I won't name names, seemed to shun "American Idiot" (the song) even though many shows like Hannity and Colmes constantly whine about the 'liberal media.' The media is owned by a handful of corporations and corporations only push for things that benefit them. Others who got shunned were Neil Young's CD on war. Merl Haggard, Tom Waits and obviously the Dixie Chicks, but only by their own genre. If there truly was a "liberal media" they'd be playing the hell out of that stuff.

Is Ron Paul a Libertarian or a Republican? Or both? Is there a difference? He seems like a breath of fresh air from the typical Republican. I like a lot of what he says:

'Lighten up on drug penalties.' It would make shows like "To Catch a Predator" more than just going through the motions. They say 80% or prison space of hogged by drug offenses.

'When we overdo military aggressiveness it actually weakens our national defense.' Anyone who has to balance a checkbook can get that one.

'Opposed to national ID.' They are still trying to blame 9/11 on lack of something like that, when it was really exacerbated by poor or no communication between departments. It's time for them to admit thier mistakes.

'Don't police the world.' When al-Quaeda has networks in about 60 countries, how can you? This is why being in Iraq is such a joke. Use violence for self defense. Doh! Homeland Security is also a joke. It has relatively little financial support, but makes a great political slogan.

Sorry for the typos.

Now having said all that, I just turned 50 so I have the right to be grumpy and cynical. :) Even though my views are more to the left, I used to like John McCain when he seemed to be working together with Bill Bradley in a futile effort to eliminate the money in politics. But he's moved back to the far right.

I also voted for Ralph Nader once when I was disappointed in both parties, but then I heard that Republicans were quietly pushing him because he was stealing votes from the Democrats, I was further disgusted.

Right now my mind is open to people who seem to be saying what I'm thinking. Most recently that's been Dennis Kucinich. He sounds a lot like Ron Paul except, he's also against the WTO. I think that was Bill Clinton's truely biggest mistake. But Republicans don't criticize him for that because it benefits corporations. Corporations love cheap overseas labor. That's why I'm so surprised that Republicans aren't more in favor of letting immigrants come into the country to help drive wages down. They'd also help Social Security by having more people paying in to cover the babyboomers.

There's no danger of Kucinich getting elected though because he's too short and funny looking. Let's be honest, the election is really just a fashion show if noboby messes up like Howard Dean going: YEEHAW!
That should have been George Bush's line. :)

Amen for somebody thinking outside the box!

Dennis "the Menace" Kucinich ~~ I remember him well when he was mayor of Cleveland. I grew up in Cleveland about the time he was mayor and remember the city and surrounding suburbs turning into ghost towns as many companys fled the bankrupt city. We were so happy to see him go. Yes, he has little chance of winning the nomination. BUT, people like him are good, in that they point out the obvious cracks in the status quo.

Ah..... Dennis "the menace" Kucinich. Didn't he bring Cleveland into bankruptcy when he was mayor?

ooopsss sorry... thought my last post didn't make it. my bad....

What did he do? That's the trouble with most politicians, most people don't know the stories. All you have to go on are words and expensive ads. It's why the richest one usually wins. He can afford to buy the spin and gloss over everything. Hold a baby with a flag waving behind you and say "God Bless America." Play that during primetime 5 times an hour and you got votes. In Rochester, NH a woman got reelected even though she was found to be in violation of fundraising rules. People don't care.
Kucinich caught my ear because he seemed to be ahead of the curve on many issues before some became popular. And it also makes me suspicious when the media downplays a guy. I'm not under any illusions that he'll be elected. The media pushes their faves keeping them up front.

People in New Mexico don't like the politicians there. My dad is disgusted with the ones in Conneticut. I don't blame him. Just visit West Hartford and see how they've ruined it.

I remember when Portsmouth seemed like it was headed toward being a ghost town in the 70's. Everyone graduating was talking about leaving, look at it now. I believe Eileen Foley had a hand in it. And she did so while maintaining some compassion for the underpriviledged.

He was basically in over his head.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayoral_administration_of_Dennis_Kucinich

It sounds as if Kucinich was just a pup back then with lofty dreams and hadn't had the world chew him up and spit him out yet. Perhaps appointing too young a cabinet was a bad idea. But back then probably most of his colleages were that age.

Thanks for bringing this up. I learned SO much! This is the story about the 2 electric companies and the bank the way I understand it: Correct me if I'm wrong. The Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company (CEI) broke antitrust laws and used unethical business practices to force its competitor, Muny Light, to purchase power from them. Then it gouged prices forcing them into debt. The Cleveland Trust Bank which had a relationship with CEI tried to blackmail the city into selling Muny Light by withholding credit to the city and force them into default. Kucinich refused sell Muny Light and to allow them to form a monopoly. Which would free them to gouge the general population.

In Kucinich's words:

TRUTHDIG: Twenty-eight years ago, you were the “Boy Mayor” of Cleveland—the youngest-ever mayor of any major U.S. city. And you were also the first mayor to put a city into default since the Great Depression. What happened there?

KUCINICH: When people find out the nature of the default, they’re pretty shocked.

I saved the municipal electric system because I refused to accept this bargain that was offered me by the city’s lead bank, which was: You sell the city’s electric system, and the bank will give you—the city—$50 million worth of new credit. But if you don’t sell, we’re going to put the city of Cleveland into default. And so this was a moment when I had to determine who I was, what I was made of. Was I ready to take a stand on behalf of the people, or was I just about to become like anyone else who caves in and goes along to get along?

TRUTHDIG: Do you consider yourself a rebel? What made you do this?

KUCINICH: Integrity, clarity, a willingness to see exactly what was going on in the moment.
I was elected mayor of the city of Cleveland on a platform of saving the people’s electric system. My first act in office was to cancel a sale that had already been consummated by the City Council and the preceding mayor. I had blocked the sale with a citizens’ petition drive and ran for mayor while the sale was in limbo. This was a movement which brought me into the mayor’s office; people insisted that they not give up an electric system that provided savings on electric rates of anywhere from 20 to 30 percent, and provided electric utility service to at least a third of the city.

I knew at that moment, I knew absolutely, that my career was on the line. I knew that if I refused to sell, the banks would put the city of Cleveland into default and I would likely lose the next election because people wouldn’t understand what happened. But any of us have to decide at some point in our lives what we stand for—whether we have integrity, whether we really believe that there is such a thing as a government by the people, of the people and for the people.

TRUTHDIG: Did the press vindicate you? Does the municipal power system right now have a lower rate than the privately owned one?

KUCINICH: It’s still competitive. The answer to the first part of your question is that 15 years after I refused the bank’s deal to take Muny Light off the hands of the city of Cleveland, Cleveland Municipal Electric System undertook the largest expansion of any municipal electric system in America. It had saved the people of Cleveland hundreds of millions of dollars in lower electric rates and also in tax dollars, by providing electricity for street lighting and for city facilities. And this year, 2006, Muny Light, now called Cleveland Public Power, observed its 100th anniversary.

TRUTHDIG: Thanks for shedding light on this; because when you read encapsulations of your public career, you usually only read that you ended your mayorship in controversy.

KUCINICH: When people look at the issue of default and they connect it with my name, they should also connect with my name a “Not for Sale” sign. They should connect with my name the essence of public power.

Anyway, as I was saying, my mind is open, he just caught my ear. My favorite people aren't even running.

Interesting.... goes to show, there are always two sides of the story. :)

Ron Paul will be on New Hampshire Public Radio tuesday morning June 5 at 9am on The Exchange.

http://www.nhpr.org/node/13016

89.1 fm in Concord,
104.3 fm in Dover,
103.9 fm in Portsmouth

Sorry if I got off the subject there. I like this quote best of all I think:

"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. But this is pure demagoguery, and it is intellectually dishonest."

I listened to Ron Paul on NHPR and during the debate and I like him very much. If every Republican were like him I might be a Republican.

There's only one thing he mentioned on NHPR I didn't get. Not having any health insurance at all and everyone just paying out of their pockets. I'm not sure how that would work.

I like Kucinich's plan of a non-commercial not-for-profit single payor insurance plan for all. It would be cheaper than a for-profit company and we all have to pay for uninsured citizens who go to the hospital anyway. We pay through the higher costs they cause.

But Ron Paul is exactly right that we shouldn't paying the oil companies for research and development when they are reaping record profits. That's the worst kind of welfare. They should be reinvesting thier own money.

Here in OZ there is a nationalized healthcare system. This is how it works. Each qualifying resident gets a "card" which they show when they go to the doctor or hospital. If the person needs an operation, it is assessed how urgent it is and if urgent is attended to immediately. If not, the person is put on a list for the next available doctor.

If you happen to be rich, you get to have any operation you want just by paying or by having your own supplementary insurance, otherwise you wait like everyone else. Some may say this is not really socialized medicine, but the supplementary insurance thing seems to be a new idea to alleviate the need to wait, should you have the money.

If you don't have the "card" and no insurance, you have to pay cash when service is rendered. i.e. if you are not a qualifying resident and don't have insurance.

What makes Australia different than us with regards to medical insurance?

If you are poor, can't pay and critically injured, you get care. In the US, you do also. But, the hospital passes on their loss to paying patients, thus driving up the cost of insurance. Don't forget that our healthcare system is depending on the goodness of businessmen in dark smokey rooms to do the right thing. Well, that makes me feel safe.... NOT!!

The other thing is, that if you are poor in the US and need a non-critical procedure (meaning, you won't die today if you don't get it, but you will if you don't ever get it), there is no waiting line other than the waiting line for a quick death.

Anyway, no matter what healthcare system we end up with, the rich are going to be taken good care of, don't you worry. It's the poor we need to think of. I am all for socialized medical care,,,, I know that shocks the be-jeezus out of all who know me.

I'll have to break with Ron Paul on this one.

However, Ron Paul is right about the oil companies... oh, wait..... don't we get most of our oil from the middle east? And don't we subsidize them too? There is another can of worms.

Shaz

OMG I'm falling out of my chair, Shaz is for socialized medicine... omg, just omg!! :)

Kidding, I don't believe anyone is 100% across the board on issues. I have some liberal ideas, I also have some conservative ideas.

I'm not really for socialized medicine. We talk of passing along the bill to insured people via higher costs but listen to this.

Doctors jack up the cost of appointments & services to uninsured persons in order to be able to give that price to the insurance companies, because the insurance companies tend to only "allow" so much. So if the doctor says his normal office visit is $100, then the insurance company will only "allow" him, say, $50. So, the doctor tells the insurance company his normal office visit is $300, so the insurance will "allow" $100 to the insured patient.

How do I know this? I went with my uninsured 21 year old son to a doctor who charged him $298 for five minutes of his time. The same doctor accepts $80 from my insurance & me ($60 from the insurance company, $20 from me).

Sure there are lots of people who cannot pay, but there are lots of people who are uninsured and can pay, and they are the ones getting the baloney pony*. The blame lies not with uninsured patients, insured patients or even with the doctors. It lies squarely on the insurance companies' shoulders. They are the ones who are in charge.

And who just opened that oil can of worms!? Shaz why don't you write a blog entry and I'll post it here. I'm very interested in what you have to say about that particular can of worms. :)

*a phrase I stole from a friend on the seacoast connects forums Thanks, Snake. He is too funny.

PS I missed the NPR interview. :(

You can listen to the interview here:
http://www.nhpr.org/node/13016

One of the candidates in the Republican debate said (I've heard this before) that we're actually paying about $7 a gallon for gas, we just don't know it. Because of costs related to protecting it, subsidies, the war etc.

Another Republican candidate said we could save a lot on health care by more preventative care. I have a good example:
My elderly mother has weak legs. But when she has physical therapy she gets stronger and has less tendency to fall. But the state won't pay for her to have PT until after she has a fall as part of her recovery. So instead they pay for the ambulance, the ER, the Xrays, the doctor and hospital stay and all the care and PT afterwards. As a matter of fact, the reason she is in a nursing home now is because she broke her leg in 5 places from a fall, because her legs were too weak.

I listened to both debates, Democrat and Republican, and I was kind of disappointed. It seemed that the majority of the questions and discussion involved Iraq, religion and sexuality. Oh, and immigration. I know everyone wants to hear thier comments about the war, but other real issues that directly affect real people got obscured by these 'hot button' issues designed just to ignite frivolous argument.

What about social security, the deficit, or corporate money influencing in lawmakers in thier favor?: Like the insurance companies, the credit card companies, the drug companies, the oil companies... If State Farm Insurance did their job we might not even need FEMA in places like New Orleans. What about the flaws in Medicare Plan "D", no child left behind, the Pariot Act, NSPS? What about all the American jobs being exported overseas with no penalty to the companies? Noone even mentioned the CIA security leak or the Department of Justice political firings. They were pretty benign, polite 'debates' in my book.

One question was why drugs are cheaper in Europe, Mexico and Canada. The reply was that the drug companies pay a lot for R&D here then sell drugs cheaper to third world countries. Excuse me, when did Canada become a third world country? Do they know that?

SHHH.... we don't want Canada to know that. :)

BTW - this is where our hard earned tax dollars go over seas...

http://www.gopusa.com/opinion/aw_1021.shtml

And that from a republican think tank

Yes and it bothers me that countries auttomatically expect us to help in times of crisis. I don't consider us wealthy when we're in such astounding debt. Where are all those countries when we could use some help in Iraq? Where were all the volunteers when Katrina hit?

Here is another one - http://www.wrmea.com/html/us_aid_to_israel.htm.

The amount of money we give Isreal is astounding, but it isn't like Isreal is a poor nation. They aren't, in fact our contribution is less than 10% of their GNP.

The defense of Israel can only have to do with religion. I saw the reporter Helen Thomas on TV yesterday describing how she was scolded for having the gall to ask the President a question about the separation of church and state.

You are absolutely correct. Many of the laws and policies that we have in the states can be directly assiciated with the Christian religion.

Yes and hypocracy abounds. I heard a discussion on a local radio station about breastfeeding mothers and the term sex offender actually entered the conversation. Yet pornography abounds on the internet. Somebody is supporting it.

Today at work a friend was talking about the how insurance company workers make life and death decisions about which terminally i'll patient will be covered and who won't. Nobody cares and its not newsworthy. But Dr. Kevorkian attempts to relieve a suffering patient and people start waving the Bible. We get concerned over the suffering of a race horse, yet we will watch our parent slowly suffer and die for days and weeks or more. This is not true freedom.

I think that if the media had made a decision that the insurance story you state above was newsworthy and the Dr. Kavorkian story was not, there would be a totally different reaction to those two issues.

Things become issues because someone reports it. Who makes the decisions on what is reported? Again - follow the money. The media is owned by very wealthy individuals. I am guessing, the same ones who make the decisions on who gets elected. Or, at the very least, their buddies.... :)

This is why I think the Jack Abramhoff story is very significant. It's a classic story of how the power of money tramples over the voice of the people. Bill Moyers calls it a 'cancer growing on democracy'. Did you notice how blatantly the subject was avoided in the debates? Just the same old cliche arguments over race, religion and sexuality.

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)