I figured I'd start this so none of us keep hijacking other's threads based on our political thoughts and opinions. So if anyone has comments on his ideas, policies, whether you'll vote for him or not, etc., post here .

Nobody has ANY Opinions on him here?

Who is this Ron Paul ?

Edit:
Ok, google answered me. Forget it.
I have to admit I don't feel much concerned...

Yeah, he probably won't get elected by a long shot, but I just wanted to hear what others thought of his ideas, positions, etc.

I have not had time to search any of his political stances, perhaps you could enlighten me.

Hes no Ross Perot

Here is his campaign site
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/

Originally Posted by jamestl2

Yeah, he probably won't get elected by a long shot, but I just wanted to hear what others thought of his ideas, positions, etc.

As long as he's unelectable, I like his positions. If he actually had power, it would be The Lord of the Flies. But, since he would be shot before he would be inaugurated, that takes the chaos of anarchy out of the question. As just a person running for president, and getting support, he can lend some of his ideas (like the constitution instead of gut feeling as law of the land, or having principals) to both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

As long as he's unelectable, I like his positions.

So if he were electable you'd change your mind about his positions?

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

If he actually had power, it would be The Lord of the Flies.

Honestly, I never read that story, so I can't make the connection between the two (Despite the link ).

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

But, since he would be shot before he would be inaugurated, that takes the chaos of anarchy out of the question.

Which organization would take him out? The Federal Reserve? The IRS?

Originally Posted by Learning Newbie

As just a person running for president, and getting support, he can lend some of his ideas (like the constitution instead of gut feeling as law of the land, or having principals) to both the Republican and Democratic parties.

Hmmm.......
You think if (OK, probably *when*) he loses, do you think he should be a running mate of that current elected candidate? OR at least a cabinet position?

Or do you mean just "lend his ideas" in a rhetorical sense?

I mean lend is ideas in a more rhetorical sense. While the Democrats are forcing Kucinich out of the debates, Ron Paul is showing up even at Black Republican debates, taking the opportunity to air his views. Many of them are critiques of things that are deeply wrong with American policy, and need to be fixed. Obama started talking about being the change guy, then Hillary started talking about change. A lot easier for that to happen with a word than with actual policy, but if he can "infect" the debate with some good ideas, that would help the entire country.

It sounds funny when you ask "So if he were electable you'd change your mind about his positions?". It's his on the whole stance that bothers me. A very lot of his positions are about as close as opinion can come to the truth. One of the biggest among them is that we have soldiers on duty in 140 or 160 nations out of about 200. Bush's adventure in Iraq has been disasterous and ruinous. We're having economic trouble, an exploding debt and deficit, a weakening dollar, and all that in large part because we've overextended ourselves like a kid with his first credit card, buying every heavy metal album there is on credit. Plus, the basic message of going back to the constitution and the rule of law is a good idea.

But the rule of law is a strange thing. Compared to where we're at now, he seems to support the idea. But Ron Paul is a libertarian - basically he wants there to be almost no law. We need "protection" from the government (who might be inept, but not by and large out to get us) and probably some laws against violent crime, but that's about it. Otherwise, folks should be free to do as they please.

Lord of the Flies is a story of a bunch of early teenage boys shipwrecked on an island, with no adult supervision. It evolved from the group trying to survive to beating the weaker members to death in a ritual to bond the group together. This is the type of chaos and anarchy that, if things go too far in the other direction, we don't want.

I kind of like the idea of pig's heads on stake at our borders, or something more effective....

Not that I like Ron Paul, just Lord of the Flies.

Am voting for either Huckabee or Mccain.

Welcome to the party!

What a nut job. Why would you even run for president if you had ever put words like this to paper with your name on it?

To summarize, Ron Paul, or at least the newsletter bearing his name printed the following little gems about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“We are supposed to honor this ‘Christian minister’ and lying socialist satyr with a holiday that puts him on a par with George Washington?”

“So now even the establishment press admits that Martin Luther King plagiarized his PhD dissertation, his academic articles, his speeches, and his sermons,” the December 1990 newsletter said. “He was also a comsymp [Communist sympathizer], if not an actual party member, and the man who replaced the evil of forced segregation with the evil of forced integration."

Originally Posted by cbwm

Welcome to the party!

What a nut job. Why would you even run for president if you had ever put words like this to paper with your name on it?

To summarize, Ron Paul, or at least the newsletter bearing his name printed the following little gems about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“We are supposed to honor this ‘Christian minister’ and lying socialist satyr with a holiday that puts him on a par with George Washington?”

“So now even the establishment press admits that Martin Luther King plagiarized his PhD dissertation, his academic articles, his speeches, and his sermons,” the December 1990 newsletter said. “He was also a comsymp [Communist sympathizer], if not an actual party member, and the man who replaced the evil of forced segregation with the evil of forced integration."

I made a Google search for "martin luther king plagiarist" and got this webpage:

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/mlking.asp

Alas, it is true.

The webpage also discusses his connections with communists.

Despite not living in the United States, I have been following the progress of Ron Paul intently as he seems to be the only hope America has of avoiding a serious depression. And a depression in America will inevitably affect us in Europe as well.

The last president that attempted such radical economical policy reforms was Kennedy when he passed Executive Order 11110 which abolished the federal reserve... We all know what happened to him a few months later.

From what I see on the internet and what I here from many of my American colleagues, Ron Paul's campaign has stirred up quite an "awakening" across the pond. Although the MSM and establishment will not allow Ron Paul a fair election (as was proven by the many cases of voter fraud ie. NH) leading to his inevitable defeat, Ron Paul has still won.

His campaign's goals supercede a simple victory in 2008. They represent a national and from the looks of it, a global awakening to some of the ugly, yet undeniable realities of the way our world is governed.

Originally Posted by EuroVPS

Kennedy when he passed Executive Order 11110 which abolished the federal reserve

You may want to go back and re-check what history books you get your information from, because the above is not found in any of them. You will find, however, that Kennedy was the great president who brought us the bay of pigs and the Vietnam war. God bless Camelot.

I'm no economist, but I do know the stock market favors stability. I also totally agree with your characterizations of Ron Paul's economic policies. They are indeed radical today (Maybe not so much 150 years ago). I have yet to see an economist of any note give them the nod. Perhaps you know of one...

Also, if you are going to use the words "Proven by the many cases of voter fraud i.e. NH", you should cite an example. From what I've seen Ron Pauls positions are what got him 10% of the vote, and I was surprised to see him get that much.

>>>>You may want to go back and re-check what history books you get your information from, because the above is not found in any of them.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=59049

You are right.

This bill does not "abolish" the federal reserve...

BUT, if it was carried through as JFK intended (allowing the Treasury to print money backed by silver bullion, note $4.3 billion of this Silver backed currency was printed but then withdrawn from circulation after LBJ's inauguration) then by virtue of simple economics, demand for Federal Reserve notes would dissolve completely because they are quite simply, backed by thin air, whereas JFK's notes would be backed by silver.

Sorry for the confusion, I didn't mean to mislead.

>>>but I do know the stock market favors stability.

Remember that regardless of what the DOW index is at the moment, the value of the stock market is 60% less than what it was 5 years ago because the dollar is worth 60% less. Looks like markets are favoring a "stable" decline to me.

>>>Perhaps you know of one...

I'm assuming you mean economists in favor of the gold standard because that is the economic policy which Ron Paul's campaign is built upon.

Well first of all I can point to you the former head of the Fed, Mr. Alan Greenspan believe it or not. Check out his views before he was recruited into the world of the banking elites. http://www.usagold.com/gildedopinion/greenspan.html

But the most prominent advocate of the Ron Paul's economic's is Ludwig von Mises, founder of the Austrian School.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_von_Mises

>>>you should cite an example

Didn't you hear about the districts that supposedly had 0 votes for Ron Paul and then an entire family that voted for Paul went public saying they voted? The voting authorities then said they accidentally wrote down 0. Sure...

Also the discrepencies between the voting results of the machines and the hand counts is very fishy as is the fact that a voting machine contractor executive is a convicted cocaine smuggler http://www.bbvdocs.org/LHS/hajjar.png who in a recent interview http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5320 revealed that he totes memory cards around in the trunk of his car and defends the concept of swapping out memory cards during live elections!

Come on, the establishment will never let a candidate like Ron Paul win and they'll do anything in their powers to stop him. Frauding an election is easy for these guys, come on, it wasn't such a long time ago when they last did it. Florida ring any bells?

For not wanting to mislead, you do a wonderful job.

Originally Posted by EuroVPS

then by virtue of simple economics, demand for Federal Reserve notes would dissolve completely because they are quite simply, backed by thin air, whereas JFK's notes would be backed by silver.

Two problems with that statement. 1) You again need to go back and re-read the text of the Kennedy executive order, as well as the reasons for it's existence. It was never to do away with the Fed, and in fact authorized the Fed to issue the same currency. The law was created because the silver in the coins we were minting was becoming more valuable than the coins themselves and had nothing to do with the conspiracy theory you cite. 2) The idea that any notes printed on the silver standard by the Fed or the U.S. treasury would replace greenbacks was obviously erroneous. History has already proven this wrong (Why can I just sense another conspiracy theory coming).

Originally Posted by EuroVPS

Remember that regardless of what the DOW index is at the moment, the value of the stock market is 60% less than what it was 5 years ago because the dollar is worth 60% less. Looks like markets are favoring a "stable" decline to me.

Only to foreign buyers. Rising DOW and stable U.S. inflation means more money to pay for a car that still costs the same within the U.S.. Cheap U.S. dollar means influx of foreign capital buying assets in the U.S. which, interestingly enough, will have a stabilizing effect on the dollar.

Originally Posted by EuroVPS

I'm assuming you mean economists in favor of the gold standard because that is the economic policy which Ron Paul's campaign is built upon.

Uh, no, I wasn't talking about the gold standard. I was talking about the abolishment of the Fed, IRS, FAA, and the large number of other federal agencies Ron Paul wants to abolish. I was talking about an isolationist foreign policy coupled with a global economy. I'm not saying his ideas are wrong, they are just radical, and you are going to be hard pressed to find an economist who agrees they are good for us.

Originally Posted by EuroVPS

Didn't you hear about the districts that supposedly had 0 votes for Ron Paul and then an entire family that voted for Paul went public saying they voted? The voting authorities then said they accidentally wrote down 0. Sure...

Also the discrepencies between the voting results of the machines and the hand counts is very fishy as is the fact that a voting machine contractor executive is a convicted cocaine smuggler http://www.bbvdocs.org/LHS/hajjar.png who in a recent interview http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5320 revealed that he totes memory cards around in the trunk of his car and defends the concept of swapping out memory cards during live elections!

Come on, the establishment will never let a candidate like Ron Paul win and they'll do anything in their powers to stop him.

It seems some losers love to cry foul. Every piece of real polling data out there shows that Paul never really had a shot. Are the pollsters paid off too? He'd have done much better to run as a libertarian or independent. God knows he raised enough money to compete.

Originally Posted by EuroVPS

Frauding an election is easy for these guys, come on, it wasn't such a long time ago when they last did it. Florida ring any bells?

Well you've got a point there. Al Gore nearly did defraud the people of Florida of their voice in 2000. Talk about sore losers, that pr*ck's refusal to accept recount after recount made the web 1.0 bubble burst much worse than it should have been. All the while his henchmen bar-punched ballots creating double votes and hanging chads, stealing votes from Bush and bringing the margin of victory closer. The real audacity was to cry that he was robbed of the election by the supreme court, when they decided after several recounts, NONE of which had him in the lead, that the continuous recounting process was bad for the nation. You didn't see that kind of childish behavior from Nixon in 1960, when Kennedy really did use voting fraud to steal the election.

Originally Posted by cbwm

I have yet to see an economist of any note give them the nod. Perhaps you know of one...

Have you read any economics books? Macroeconomics looks like pseudoscience to me.

Originally Posted by Mikhail Simkin

Have you read any economics books? Macroeconomics looks like pseudoscience to me.

Bah, you are one of those "Dont spend more than you make" people? What kind of silly philosophy is that?