tagged w/ Limited Government
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It is often said that a convert to a cause is more fervent than those born to it. That is probably true about me and my "conversion" as an immigrant to this great country.
In that spirit of passionate desire for my adoptive land to become everything it was meant to be, may I humbly suggest, America, that Ron Paul is Your Man.
Just a few years ago, I was excited to follow Obama's success in the hope that he would undo the worst of the un-American shenanigans of the Bush administration, including the abrogation of rights of American citizens, the killing of citizens of lands that don't threaten us and the wholesale transfer of wealth from those that create it and play by the rules to those that do neither of those two things.
Perhaps I was a little caught up in the excitement, but my intentions were good.
As it has turned out, in most things that matter, Obama is not even Bush-lite: he's more like Bush-plus. I'm not questioning his moral intent, but simply looking around me at new wars, continuation of laws that remove Americans' basic rights, mass transfer of wealth from the working man to the large subsidized groups, including financial corporations and unions, that fund the old political game.
The old, tired, self-defeating left-right paradigm of American politics is about two teams that want to shape the world in one way or another, but both sharing the desire to impose their view on others, and both, therefore, with an interest in maintaining those fundamental aspects of the modern political settlement that allow politicians and their favored institutions to operate outside the most basic confines of the Constitution that was supposed to make the USA a Republic that protects life, liberty and property of all individuals.
Indeed, the two-party system, and all the unstated assumptions shared by both sides, does more to undermine practically the principles gifted by the nation's Founding Fathers than any other single political structure in the USA (except perhaps the Federal Reserve, which acts secretly and without political accountability).
Ron Paul transcends the left-right pseudo-divide.
He is almost unique in that he doesn't want to make a country of the left or a country of the right. Unlike every other politician, he doesn't need me to agree with him on anything -- except that I should be free to decide on what to agree or disagree with him about.
Ron Paul's world is quite different from that offered by almost any other American politician. In his world, neither the president nor the Congress gets to impose their preferences on 300 million citizens through the monopoly of force that is government, because Paul knows that the government has no such authority. Paul's world is a world based fundamentally on the principle of non-aggression, which is simply, "I may disagree with you but I do not get to use force, including the force of law, to impose my will on you as long as you harm no one." This principle is a philosophical one. It precedes politics -- and that is why it allows Paul to transcend the bankrupt left-right paradigm.
It is this true freedom that, paradoxically (given how most of us disagree about most things) promotes true unity, as division arises only when some people feel imposed upon by others. The promise of a more united nation under Obama (remember?) came to nothing, because Obama's politics, like Bush's, are as much about promoting a particular kind of world, which inevitably benefits some at the expense of others.
Ron Paul is one man who doesn't want to do that, because America was not created for that purpose.
Moreover, if one were to score American politicians on a) integrity, b) philosophical understanding of humanity and governance, and c) understanding of economics by looking at their speeches, votes, books and predictions, Paul would be among America's Very Best.
The huge movement behind Paul is demographically diverse, and has attracted people who used to think that they were on the left, as well as people who used to think they were on the right -- before they found out that what really matters, and what America was designed to preserve, is bigger than both left and right.
But here is the most unlikely, telling, astonishing, and ignored fact about Ron Paul: Paul's campaign logo (one of a few created spontaneously by his supporters for his 2008 run) has the word LOVE in it.
It actually has the word LOVE, picked out in big red letters from the word "Revolution." "Love Revolution," no less.
Politics based on Love?! Can you imagine any Western politician putting that in a speech and not having his or her audience shift in their seats uncomfortably at the strangeness of what they were hearing?
And yet, there it is, "LOVE," right in the middle of his logo in big red letters.
Love is expansive, accepting, free. It is also kind. (When did you last hear that word in politics?) Love says to its object, "As you wish," and a Paul presidency would say to its citizens just that: "It's not government's job to decide for you. Your life should be as you wish."
Now, that is true "free love," 2012 style.
As I ache to see America become the nation that was always meant to be, since 2012 will be the last American presidential election that I will not be permitted to vote in, I can only hope that my adoptive countrymen will take their astonishing opportunity to choose not just a political revolutionary, but also a philosophical one.
In electing Paul, Americans have the chance to say to each other, live and let love -- a politics of non-aggression in its profoundest sense.It is often said that a convert to a cause is more fervent than those born to it. That... more
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(The video below is of Ron Paul's speech at the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference. He would go on to win the CPAC straw poll for the second year in a row doing so in a dominant fashion, receiving 30% of the vote.)
The National Inflation Association (NIA) today officially declared Ron Paul the front-runner to win the upcoming 2012 presidential election. NIA is very pleased that Ron Paul won the 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll of who attendees want to receive the GOP nomination to run for President in 2012. This is the second year in a row that Ron Paul won the CPAC straw poll. He received 30% of the vote compared to Mitt Romney, who came in second with 23%. Sarah Palin received only 3% of the vote. 3,742 total people voted in the straw poll, which was twice as much as four years ago.
It is funny how when Ron Paul wins the straw poll, CPAC organizers are sure to say right before the results are read that, "It's not a Gallup poll." However, if it was Mitt Romney winning the straw poll, they would say no such thing. This reminds us of the mainstream media's all out efforts to marginalize Ron Paul during the 2008 election season. Every time the GOP candidates would have a televised debate, FOX News would have a text message poll where viewers can send a text to vote on who they thought won the debate. Whenever Ron Paul would perform favorably in these FOX News text message polls and receive a large percentage of the text message vote, FOX News would unbelievably make up excuses to try and discredit their own polling technology!
After a GOP candidate debate on May 15th, 2007, FOX News conducted one of these text message polls on who won the debate. In this particular instance, Ron Paul didn't even win the text message vote. Mitt Romney won with 29% and Ron Paul came in a close second with a respectable 25%. However, even when finishing in second place, FOX News felt the need to say, "How is Ron Paul's numbers so high? We've had so many emailers say that clearly some online communities are messing with the outcome." (While one FOX News host was saying this, the other one was saying "absolutely" in the background.)
Please see the NIA blog for a video we just posted of this incidence, as well as a video we posted of how FOX News worked overtime to try and downplay and discredit Ron Paul's 2010 CPAC straw poll win. We also posted a video from this year's CPAC showing the ignorant comments of Donald Trump, who claims Ron Paul can't get elected. (How many elections has Donald Trump won? Ron Paul has been elected to Congress eleven times.)
NIA believes that Ron Paul's beliefs reflect the majority of educated Americans. In our opinion, Ron Paul's CPAC straw poll win two years in a row is very significant and suggests that our country is ready to move away from the Republican establishment that acts exactly like Democrats once in power. Mitt Romney is a part of the Republican establishment that has bankrupted our nation and put it on the brink of hyperinflation. Ron Paul is the only real candidate who would implement real change.
It is not Ron Paul supporters who are somehow able to manipulate the CPAC straw polls and FOX News text message polls, but it is the mainstream media who is able to continuously manipulate the minds of Americans into believing Ron Paul is some kind of a "radical" candidate who is unfit for office and has no chance of being elected. Ron Paul is the only sane candidate in an insane Washington, DC, which thinks it is OK to print $4.6 trillion out of thin air in order to bailout investment banks on Wall Street that produce nothing and Americans would be better off without.
During the MSNBC GOP debate back on January 24th of 2008 in Boca Raton, FL, Mitt Romney was given the opportunity to make 13 comments totaling 21 minutes and 11 seconds, while Ron Paul was only allowed to make 6 comments totaling 6 minutes and 31 seconds. At least MSNBC allowed Ron Paul to debate. He was banned from the January 6th, 2008, FOX News GOP debate in Milford, NH. Despite being banned, Ron Paul still received 10% of the GOP vote in NH. Rudy Giuliani, who was allowed to debate, ended up only receiving just 3% of the vote.
In the 4Q of 2007, Ron Paul was able to raise $20 million and ended the year with $7.8 million in cash on hand. Ron Paul doubled John McCain's fund raising during the quarter of $10 million. In fact, John McCain's campaign was broke at the end of 2007 and had $1.6 million in debt.
(Read on at this link)
http://dailypaul.com/157051/nia-declares-ron-paul-2012-presidential-front-runner-says-the-political-establishment-is-afraid-of-ron-paul(The video below is of Ron Paul's speech at the 2011 Conservative Political... more
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Conservatives and their tea partying faction are yelling, “Hell no! We won’t grow!” in their quest for government with a microscopic “G”. The solution? Shed all regulations and regulators because big corporations obviously do a bang up job regulating themselves.Conservatives and their tea partying faction are yelling, “Hell no! We... more
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A funny thing is happening on the way to the ballot box. Voters of all stripes decry the excesses of big government and say it is inherently bad. But, it's curious that the louder the screams about government size, the fewer practical suggestions the screamers give regarding how to make it smaller.A funny thing is happening on the way to the ballot box. Voters of all stripes decry... more
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By David P Shirk
In the mid 1700’s, there lay on a new continent clusters of colonies from many countries populated by many different people. Some were there as outcasts from their parent nation, and some to escape tyranny or oppression. Some came seeking to make a new life, and some in service of another. Battles were fought on this relatively new land as extensions of hostilities of the parenting nations. When the dust settled and the fighting stopped, the colonists for the most part became united in the populated areas under English rule. People of every origin and background were now merged together under the rule of the English crown and sought to make their own fortunes as best they co....
...We learn, and we seek solutions. Do any of you now understand why it is that those whom are either anarchical or voluntary in nature are far more beneficial to the real American ideal then statism or a corruptible republic could ever be? Do you see how the cries of a democracy can bring so much damage when those who raise their voices do so in ignorance? It has been well over 200 years since all this came about, and it is inexcusable to continue following 200 year old mistakes! All I can say is that if people don’t open their eyes soon, then their collective voices will bring us all to ruin.
http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?p=3696By David P Shirk
In the mid 1700’s, there lay on a new continent clusters of... more
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By David P Shirk
It is foolish to attack what you do not understand. Being foolish is being ignorant of the facts and acting upon your limited knowledge. It is not possible for one person to know everything, and therefore foolish to act more than they have too. However whenever you place a power over you to make decision that you could not, than you are twice the fool.
The problem with being a governed people is that we all too often want our politicians to fix the injustices of this world as we see them. The problem is that in the pursuance of this, we are often blissfully unaware of the collateral damage until it becomes too late. This has a multitude of unintended consequences that only serves to further divide our nation. This creates a very diverse set of rules that attempts to please everyone, but only has one conclusion – a collapse.
For instance, Hamilton thought that the only way to protect the newly formed union was by making a standing army with a solid navy. At the time, there was only one way to accomplish this, and that was to create a fiscal military state. This means that the lion’s share of the national income goes to paying for said entities. However he recognized from earlier examples of other nations that the only way to build a sizable military was to institute a central bank that could fund such a debt that is inevitably created by having standing armies.
In this particular case he met well, but was blissfully naive as t...
http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?p=3604By David P Shirk
It is foolish to attack what you do not understand. Being foolish... more
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Our federal government is controlled by an Administration that believes deficits don’t matter. They think that we can continue to borrow, print and spend our way to prosperity. I stand here to say that deficits and debts do matter. Dr. Dan EichenbaumOur federal government is controlled by an Administration that believes deficits... more
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time for liberty
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gooma2
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added this
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3 years ago
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Where to even start.
This is going to be a rant, but I encourage you all to read it and spread it along. I understand that I'm preaching to the choir but this should be a marketplace of ideas that we can share in our fight against the right.
Anyway, here we go.
Right-wingers are enitrely hypocritical. Allow me to explain. They love the phrase "limited government". We all know this is shit. We can look at the government under George W Bush and see that the Federal Gov't expanded it's power exponentially with no outrage from the right.
What right-wingers actually mean when they say "limited government" is "selective government". They love big gov't as long is it does what they want.
Ask a right winger you know the following things and the conversation is sure to sound like this:
You: So, you believe in limited government and keeping the gov't out of people's lives?
RW: Yes!
You: OK Great! So I can get stoned today! I've been holding on to this joint for awhile and I can't wait to get home and smoke it!
RW: Well, no. No, that's illegal.
You: Um, ok. So I have a gay friend and he wants to marry his boyfriend, is that OK?
RW: No, no, not that either. We want the government to make that illegal. In fact, we want it to be put into the constitution that only a man and woman can get married.
You: Ok, well, that doesn't sound like you support limited government, but Ok. So can my girlfriend choose to get an abortion if she gets pregnant?
RW: No, no way! That should be illegal too.
So the right-wingers want the government to tell me what state of mind I can be in! And they want to tell me who I can and can't marry! And they want to tell my girlfriend or wife and other women that they can't get abortions! How is that "limited government" or "keeping government out of people's lives"? It's horse shit! It's a ridiculous catchphrase.
You know, if someone talks about supporting national healthcare, or increasing benefits for people, or giving people homes and jobs, because it's for the good of society and it's good for the country, what does a right winger do? Goes for the guns and screams "SOCIALISM!!!!"
They love to talk about how there is no such thing as "for the good of society". Margaret Thatcher even said "there is no such thing as society".
What a crock!
And what magically appears whenever you ask a right winger about gay marriage, abortion, national healthcare, etc? Society!!! They think gay marriage will destroy society! They think abortion will cause the collapse of families and society! They say drugs will cause the collapse of society!!
So it's just hypocritical nonsense. They DO NOT support limited government and don't let them get away with it, either! They support selective government, invading people's lives and telling them what to do whenever they feel something is bad for the "society" that they don't believe exists!
So the next time you hear some idiot right winger talking about "limited government", ask them if drugs should be legal along with gay marriage and abortion. After all, you want the government out of people's lives too!
:)Where to even start.
This is going to be a rant, but I encourage you all to read it... more
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“Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to vote away the rights of a minority; the political function of rights is precisely to protect minorities from oppression by majorities (and the smallest minority on earth is the individual).”
~ Ayn Rand“Individual rights are not subject to a public vote; a majority has no right to... more
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Virginia Liberty Defense will lead a coalition of 11 other organizations to rally in support of Delegate Bob Marshall's H.B.1587 to stop the implementation of Dangerous ID, the so-called Real ID scam, in Virginia.Virginia Liberty Defense will lead a coalition of 11 other organizations to rally in... more
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This is only ONE story of the horrors families and children all over are facing each day. In Orange County California alone, over 3000 children are taken each month. I’ve been told that number is conservative, and is more like 4700, though I haven’t verified that as of yet.
I was also told by a CPS (Social Worker) that over 50% of the children come from average, good homes.This is only ONE story of the horrors families and children all over are facing each... more
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John Stossel goes to Washington and turns the idea of “consumer reporting” on government itself. We are all consumers of government services, so why not ask if things can be done better? Stossel starts by taking a look at taxes and learns Americans pay more in taxes than in food, clothing and shelter combined.
His investigation finds some federal programs have trouble even keeping track of their funds, much less spending them wisely.John Stossel goes to Washington and turns the idea of “consumer reporting”... more
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