Monthly Archives: November 2012

A Response to Congressman Ron Paul #39;s Farewell Speech to Congress
"Benjamin Franklin claimed "only a virtuous people are capable of freedom." John Adams concurred: "Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." A society that boos or ridicules the Golden Rule is not a moral society. All great religions endorse the Golden Rule. The same moral standards that individuals are required to follow should apply to all government officials. They cannot be exempt." Congressman Dr Ronald Ernest Paul, November 14th 2012 "Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD". God, Leviticus 19:18From:spike1138Views:10 0ratingsTime:07:20More inNonprofits Activism

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A Response to Congressman Ron Paul's Farewell Speech to Congress - Video

Ron Paul #39;s farewell speech to Congress in 2 minutes
Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) delivered a 48-minute farewell address on the House floor Wednesday after serving 30 years in Congress. The 77-year-old is wrapping up his seventh term representing the Lone Star State #39;s 14th District, and his 11th term overall in the House. http://www.washingtonpost.comFrom:politics2012worldViews:0 0ratingsTime:01:48More inNews Politics

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Ron Paul's farewell speech to Congress in 2 minutes - Video

ron paul smoking weed
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Ron Paul on Stossel: #39;It #39;s hard to divvy up loot when there #39;s none left to divvy up #39; - 11/15/2012
"It #39;s hard to divvy up loot when there #39;s none left to divvy up." Rep. Ron Paul, (R-Texas), on the current state of the economy and whether the administration can make corrections in the next four years. November 15, 2012 My Channel: http://www.youtube.com Fair Use Disclaimer: This video may contain copyrighted material. This material is made available for educational, research, and news reporting purposes only. This constitutes a #39;fair use #39; of any such copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 USC section 107 of the US Copyright Law which allows citizens to reproduce, distribute or exhibit portions of copyright motion pictures, video tapes, or video disks under certain circumstances without authorization of the copyright holder.From:Eduardo89rpViews:4 1ratingsTime:04:12More inNews Politics

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Ron Paul on Stossel: 'It's hard to divvy up loot when there's none left to divvy up' - 11/15/2012 - Video

by David Boaz

David Boaz is the executive vice president of the Cato Institute and has played a key role in the development of the Cato Institute and the libertarian movement.

Added to cato.org on November 16, 2012

This article appeared in The Blaze on November 16, 2012.

Rep. Ron Paul gave a farewell address to Congress on Wednesday. Ed Kilgore of the Progressive Policy Institute wrote in a Capitol Hill newspaper that he is "not going to miss Paul's tirades." Yes, establishment Washington is tired of hearing about peace and civil liberties, freedom and sound money.

The remarkable thing about Paul's farewell is how much it sounded just like what he's been saying since he was first elected to Congress in 1976: The federal government is spending too much, printing too much money, and launching too many wars.

For most of that time Paul labored in the semi-obscurity that befalls most members of the House of Representatives. But over the past six years he has become an Internet sensation, attracted college students like the Pied Piper, and made libertarianism part of the political debate.

David Boaz is the executive vice president of the Cato Institute and has played a key role in the development of the Cato Institute and the libertarian movement.

His 2008 presidential campaign exploded out of nowhere when he clashed over foreign policy with the now-forgotten Rudy Giuliani in a nationally televised debate. But his 2012 campaign was much more successful in attracting votes and delegates. Paul didn't change much in four years. What did?

In 2007 (which is when he got the most attention in the last cycle), Ron Paul warned that an economy based on debt and cheap money from the Federal Reserve was not sustainable, but the economy was booming and nobody wanted to listen. After the crash of 2008, they started listening.

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Farewell, Ron Paul

On Wednesday morning, Rep. Ron Paul gave his farewell speech to the House floor before leaving Congress. The often hopeful representative was anything but optimistic, explaining that his attempts to shrink the size of the government while restoring individual liberty was largely unsuccessful.

Paul explained that his goals for Congress when his political career began are the ones he still has today. The former member of the House of Representatives expressed his frustration with governmental leaders who struggle to understand the importance of individual liberty in reversing destructive financial trends.

"We need an intellectual awakening," Paul explained before painting a haunting picture of a future American if governmental leaders remain in its current trajectory, calling prosperity for the middle class in the future "an abstract dream." The Texas politician echoed the same rhetoric that earned him the passionate underground political movement that has remained ignored by both major political parties and the mainstream media.

In the 48-minute speech, the former practicing physician gave a defeated speech outlining the growth of the government's power despite his long-winded efforts. Paul boldly criticized the political leaders that he believes will result in the dystopian future that he so vividly described. Many of those corrupt political leaders were present on the House floor during Paul's speech.

According to former Texas congressman Ron Paul, the problems of the current American political system are rooted in:

Sound familiar? Calling the financial crisis a "moral crisis," Paul offered the same solution that he has offered all throughout his 36-year political career- limiting the power of the government and deregulating the free market, and inspiring a sense of tolerance and self-reliance.

His speech marked the end of an era. Despite being discounted for being naive and outdated, Paul's rhetoric has inspired libertarian politicians to rise within local elections and for so many "Ronulans" to engage their peers in honest conversation about the trajectory of our economy and social climate.

"The best chance for achieving peace and prosperity for the maximum number of people worldwide, is to pursue the cause of liberty. If you find this to be a worth-while message, spread it throughout the land," Paul concluded.

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Ron Paul Gives Defeated Farewell Speech to Congress

The steadfast libertarian captain, U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, is bidding farewell to Congress and has a call-to-arms for his legions of tech-savvy followers: The Internet is the savior of liberty. The internet will provide the alternative to the government/media complex that controls the news and most political propaganda. This is why its essential that the internet remains free of government regulation, he said, in his farewell address. After 23 years in Americas most esteemed body [Pointless editorializing], Paul is leaving his work to a vocal minority of small government digital warriors.

I have thought a lot about why those of us who believe in liberty, as a solution, have done so poorly in convincing others of its benefits, he admitted. History has shown that the masses have been quite receptive to the promises of authoritarians which are rarely if ever fulfilled.

More importantly, he says, reversing a downward spiral depends on accepting a new approach.

The solution, he implies in the sober note, are digital tools that can substitute for government services. Perhaps in a strange irony, Pauls Republican colleagues have embraced the philosophy. Because technology has the potential of making government more efficient, less expensive to run, and more accountable, its not surprising that the Republicans are ahead of the Democrats in the use of technology in governing, said Andrew Rasiej, publisher of Tech President.

Republican oversight Chairman, Darrell Issa, for instance, has proposed a bill to make federal spending transparent and traceable, through the DATA act. Majority Leader Eric Cantor has experimented with a direct democracy online tool for reducing government programs, YouCut, which allows citizens to vote down programs through SMS voting.

On a more local level, governments have begun cooperating with volunteer civil programmers, or hacktivists, to design cheaper and more efficient solutions. In San Francisco, hackers solved the citys ongoing need for a public transportation software infrastructure.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has every intention of spending a few years and untold dollars creating its own, more robust version of the tool. But the team hacked together the basic parameters of the SMART Muni app in a 48-hour stretch in late July, fueled by pizza and beer, wrote the San Francisco Chronicle.

Technology substitution still exists as a relatively fringe idea by the geekier members of government, but is steadily growing support in high places.

Thus, in the-ever optimistic style that is Ron Paul, he concluded, If you find this to be a worthwhile message, spread it throughout the land.

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Ron Paul ’s Farewell Address: The Internet Can Stop Big Government

November 15, 2012

This may well be the last time I speak on the House Floor. At the end of the year Ill leave Congress after 23 years in office over a 36 year period. My goals in 1976 were the same as they are today: promote peace and prosperity by a strict adherence to the principles of individual liberty.

It was my opinion, that the course the US embarked on in the latter part of the 20th Century would bring us a major financial crisis and engulf us in a foreign policy that would overextend us and undermine our national security.

To achieve the goals I sought, government would have had to shrink in size and scope, reduce spending, change the monetary system, and reject the unsustainable costs of policing the world and expanding the American Empire.

The problems seemed to be overwhelming and impossible to solve, yet from my view point, just following the constraints placed on the federal government by the Constitution would have been a good place to start.

How much did I accomplish?

In many ways, according to conventional wisdom, my off-and-on career in Congress, from 1976 to 2012, accomplished very little. No named legislation, no named federal buildings or highwaysthank goodness. In spite of my efforts, the government has grown exponentially, taxes remain excessive, and the prolific increase of incomprehensible regulations continues. Wars are constant and pursued without Congressional declaration, deficits rise to the sky, poverty is rampant and dependency on the federal government is now worse than any time in our history.

All this with minimal concerns for the deficits and unfunded liabilities that common sense tells us cannot go on much longer. A grand, but never mentioned, bipartisan agreement allows for the well-kept secret that keeps the spending going. One side doesnt give up one penny on military spending, the other side doesnt give up one penny on welfare spending, while both sides support the bailouts and subsidies for the banking and corporate elite. And the spending continues as the economy weakens and the downward spiral continues. As the government continues fiddling around, our liberties and our wealth burn in the flames of a foreign policy that makes us less safe.

The major stumbling block to real change in Washington is the total resistance to admitting that the country is broke. This has made compromising, just to agree to increase spending, inevitable since neither side has any intention of cutting spending.

The country and the Congress will remain divisive since theres no loot left to divvy up.

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Comment on Dr. Ron Paul ’s Farewell Speech to Congress by Isa Manteqi

Libertarian icon and three-time presidential hopeful Ron Paul delivered his final address on the House floor Wednesday, admitting that while he sees little progress in favor of his defined cause of freedom, he sees a chance the tide can turn as he steps away from Congress.

Paul, a Republican who leans heavily toward libertarianism and has served Texas 22nd District intermittently since 1976, admitted that according to conventional wisdom, his tenure on Capitol Hill has accomplished very little.

No named legislation, no named federal buildings or highways thank goodness. In spite of my efforts, the government has grown exponentially, taxes remain excessive and the prolific increase of incomprehensible regulations continues, Paul said. Wars are constant and pursued without congressional declaration, deficits rise to the sky, poverty is rampant and dependency on the federal government is now worse than any time in our history.

PHOTOS: 2016 presidential possibilities

Paul painted a portrait of a country with no loot left to divvy up, approaching a fiscal cliff much bigger than the one looming Jan. 1 and impending authoritarianism. Doom accompanied gloom in spades, with Pauls frustration with his inability to stem what he sees as the constriction of freedom evident as he spoke.

Its rare to find a member of Congress speaking from the floor and condemning the nations trajectory over the last century, accusing the populace of becoming beguiled by endless wealth, but there Paul was.

As long as most people believed the material abundance would last forever, worrying about protecting a competitive productive economy and individual liberty seemed unnecessary, he said.

The only solution Paul sees, as he makes a transition from lawmaker to figurehead, is an intellectual awakening, one that hearkens back to the founders views on civil liberties and eschews what Paul sees as the collusion between Democrats and Republicans.

Everyone claims support for freedom. But too often its for ones own freedom and not for others. Too many believe that there must be limits to freedom, Paul said. They argue that freedom must be directed and managed to achieve fairness and equality, thus making it acceptable to curtail, through force, certain liberties.

PHOTOS: Reactions to Obama's victory

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Ron Paul calls for 'love,' 'free market economics' in final address

Rep. Ron Paul's farewell to Congress, which took place a short time ago, is worth seeking out online to watch.

We have, for the past five years, occasionally devoted this space to issues regarding the Texas Republican, most of the time arguing that he has been unfairly marginalized because much of what he says isn't comfortable to hear - even if we happen to think it's true.

He was marginalized by his own party because he was always his own man. He was marginalized by the media because he was marginalized by his party and because he wasn't hesitant to use new media to drive his message and his fundraising. The salt in the wound was that the approach was effective.

The problem is that Paul cleaves closer to the ideals upon which the nation was founded - that the individual, not the government, is paramount. There are many who understand that to be the truth, but they are helpless against a government that has long overstepped its bounds and for whom individual rights are inconveniences to be shaved whenever possible in order to expand that government's power.

And we Americans have long let government get away with it, because the lockstep assurance from those sitting in the political chairs is that such actions are in our best and the nation's best interests.

But Ron Paul has repeatedly stood up and said, "not necessarily so," which has for long years been our stance as well.

We'll let him say a few things now:

"Many are now acknowledging that a financial crisis looms, but few understand it is, in reality, a moral crisis. It's the moral crisis that has allowed our liberties to be undermined and permits the exponential growth of illegal government power," Rep. Paul declared on the floor of the House of Representatives on Wednesday.

"If it's not accepted that big government, fiat money, ignoring liberty, central economic planning, welfarism, and warfarism caused our crisis we can expect a continuous and dangerous march toward corporatism and even fascism with even more loss of our liberties."

Paul never much worried about rankling his fellows in Congress, but this is gloves-off, riding-into-the-sunset artillery fire.

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Ron Paul makes last call for freedom in farewell to Congress