Category Archives: Ron Paul

By Ben Levin

Published as a part of Maneater v. 79, Issue 12

The opinions expressed by The Maneater columnists do not represent the opinions of The Maneater editorial board.

Ron Paul is never going to be the president of the United States. He didnt win the Republican nomination, and there wasnt a fight at the convention. Im sorry. I know, I know, Ron Pauls a great American hero. Hes not a politician. He delivers babies in his spare time, for goodness sake! I saw him help a grandma cross the street the other day. Whats that, you say? Ron Paul is old? Wrong: Within his blood courses the youthful life force of the American dream.

Yet before we sink any further into hero worship of Americans favorite libertarian, I want you to stand back for a moment and ask yourself, honestly, what it is you like about Ron Paul. You hear it all the time: Ron Paul is the voice of the college student. During his visit to MU last March, Rep. Paul drew the loudest cheer for his endorsement of marijuana legalization. Youll get no argument from me about the point the war on drugs should end. But the drug war is not the most pressing problem facing college students. Its not even in the top five. If you support Ron Paul because of his antiestablishment message and opposition to the drug war, you owe it to yourself to re-examine both his positions and your priorities.

Heres a priority: health care. Obamacare allows young adult students to continue receiving coverage under their parents health insurance plans until the age of 26. According to the Department of Health and Human Services, three million young adults now have access to health care who otherwise would not. Are you one of them? Under President Paul, that policy would be gone, along with the rest of the Affordable Care Act. Goodbye, easy access to health care.

Or maybe you have diabetes. Assuming youre not insured under your parents health plan (remember, weve repealed Obamacare), youre going to need some insurance. So on top of rent, food and tuition, youre going to need to find some insurance company willing to pay for your health care. Its alternately impossible or impossibly expensive, and its real life under President Paul. Obamacare, for comparison, forbids insurance companies from turning you away based on your preexisting conditions.

I can hear you now: Wait, Ben! College students are a mostly healthy bunch! Why should we care about those few poor suckers that arent us? Fair question, friend. Young adults are, on average, healthier than any other age group. We are united by two things: our general health and our general poverty. Many college-age people are in the unique position of not being supported by their parents and not having the time to pay for both their expenses and their tuition. Pell Grants, Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and federal subsidization of college loans allow thousands of students at MU to continue their educations. These programs, more integral to college students than any drug policy, would be abolished under a libertarian philosophy. You would suffer. Your friends would suffer.

Its almost funny Ron Paul is known for his rabid support from college students. It betrays a deep ignorance on the part of those students an ignorance toward the issues that affect students most. Maybe you have your tuition paid by your parents. Maybe you fall under your mothers insurance plan. Maybe even your credit card statements are sent to a faraway mailbox. For those not so lucky, Ron Pauls platform poses an insurmountable obstacle to their health and future. Remembering those students, and that their concerns are greater than the need for a legal joint, will help you decide which politicians deserve your worship.

Concurrence or rebuttal, if you have a strong opinion, let's hear it. The Maneater Forum seeks to publish a diversity of opinions and foster meaningful decision. Readers are encourages to actively contribute to and develop new discussions. Add to ours, or make your own point.

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Ron Paul’s underserved cult

28-09-2012 23:12 Rep. Ron Paul, (R-Texas), on the lack of effort in Washington to address the fiscal cliff and its impact on the economy.

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Ron Paul on Cavuto 9/28/12 - Video

27-09-2012 21:15 Request a Write-in ballot - Vote Ron Paul The Ron Paul Revolution is On Visit:

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WILD CARD - RON PAUL STILL IN RACE REVOLUTION ON - - Video

24-09-2012 18:03 - Please like, share, subscribe & comment! Facebook Backup YouTube channel: Email updates: 9 Ron Paul is America's leading voice for limited, constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, sound money, and a pro-America foreign policy. To spread the message, visit and promote the following websites: (grassroots website) http (official campaign) (Ron Paul in Congress) (grassroots site) http (discussion forum) (latest Ron Paul videos) Disclaimer This video is not-for-profit clip that is uploaded for the purpose of education, teaching, and research, which falls under fair use according to the Copyright Act of 1976 and tips the balance in favor of fair use; all intellectual content within the video remains property of its respective owners.

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Ron Paul: How the Fed's "Wise Gurus" Devastate America - Video

By: Alex Bruns

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Jayel Aheram.

When Brian Doherty, senior editor of the Libertarian magazine Reason, wrote "Radicals for Capitalism: A History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement" in 2007, Texas Rep. Ron Paul's name appeared on only three pages. Concerning political movements, "politicians are lagging indicators, not leading indicators," Doherty said.

Even though his back-to-back presidential campaigns in 2008 and 2012 failed, Paul managed to win a victory of sorts: using some of the money he raised campaigning, he started a political advocacy organization, the Campaign for Liberty.

"Since the world is imperfect, we'll never have perfect liberty," Paul said at the group's September annual conference in Northern Virginia. "But if we don't campaign for liberty the other side is going to keep campaigning for statism and big government and they are our enemy and we must stop them."

Campaign for Liberty is focused mostly on grassroots organizing. Supporters came from as far away as Arizona to take part in the three-day, second annual Liberty Political Action Conference.

Over the last few decades the two main American political parties have diverged, shifting to the left and right. The ranks of self-identified, and disenfranchised, independents swelled. Even though the so-called liberty movement has always had its core supporters, the crowds showing up at Paul rallies during the Republican presidential primary represented a newer, younger sort of Libertarian enthusiasm.

"I am trying to attach to the movement because I have strong feelings about their core argument," said Kareem El-Heneidi, a technology consultant from New York. "I'm in a quagmire because originally I was a Republican, defected to Democrat, and now seeking Libertarianism but without reversing the important progress this country made in protecting the poor and the weak."

At the conference it was clear there is a divide. When Paul delivered the keynote address, the crowd cheered with the same level of enthusiasm for a line about a laissez-faire approach to government and leaving those with less power to suffer their own losses, as they hooted for calls for a compassionate sort of Libertarianism -- one that protects the worst off.

Paul was indeed the rock star of the event. Republican Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky, and Jim DeMint of South Carolina, and GOP Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan each spoke to the gathering on Thursday. But the elder Paul was the main attraction.

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At Liberty Conference, Ron Paul Supporters Move Forward

Ron Pauls presidential hopes have long been over, but hes still spending cash like a candidate.

Paul spent more than $588,000 in August to fund a range of activities and initiatives, from travel to consultants to maintaining a sizable staff, new federal financial disclosures show.

His presidential campaign ended August with more than $2 million in reserve, even taking in about $103,000 worth of contributions for the month, his report indicates.

That stands in stark contrast to fellow GOP also-rans Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, both of whom continue to carry seven-figure debt from their presidential runs.

Paul never officially dropped out of the Republican presidential primary; only on Aug. 28, when delegates at the Republican National Convention enshrined Mitt Romney as the party nominee, did Pauls campaign officially cease.

It ended with a loud, if ultimately futile bang, too, with Paul appearing at a rally in his honor and his delegates staging protests and walk-outs at the convention itself. Paul received 190 votes by convention delegates to Romneys 2,061.

Among Pauls August expenditures, according to his filing: $48,474 for rental fees at the Republican convention, nearly $25,000 in air charter expenses, about $21,000 for email services and $15,000 for a sponsorship for the Republican Party of Iowa.

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Ron Paul camp had busy August

(Op-ed) Ron Paul Tuesday 18th September, 2012

The attack on the US consulate in Libya and the killing of the US Ambassador and several aides is another tragic example of how our interventionist foreign policy undermines our national security.

The more the US tries to control the rest of the world, either by democracy promotion, aid to foreign governments, or by bombs, the more events spin out of control into chaos, unintended consequences, and blowback.

Unfortunately, what we saw in Libya last week is nothing new.

In 1980s Afghanistan, the US supported Islamic radicals in their efforts to expel the invading Soviet military. These radicals became what is known to be al-Qaeda, and our one-times allies turned on us most spectacularly on September 11, 2001.

Iraq did not have a significant al Qaeda presence before the 2003 US invasion, but our occupation of that country and attempt to remake it in our image caused a massive reaction that opened the door to al Qaeda, leading to thousands of US soldiers dead, a country destroyed, and instability that shows no sign of diminishing.

In Libya we worked with, among others, the rebel Libyan Fighting Group (LIFG) which included foreign elements of al-Qaeda. It has been pointed out that the al-Qaeda affiliated radicals we fought in Iraq were some of the same groups we worked with to overthrow Gaddafi in Libya. Last year in a television interview I predicted that the result of NATO's bombing of Libya would likely be an increased al-Qaeda presence in the country. I said at the time that we may be delivering al-Qaeda another prize.

Not long after NATO overthrew Gaddafi, the al Qaeda flag was flown over the courthouse in Benghazi. Should we be surprised, then, that less than a year later there would be an attack on our consulate in Benghazi? We have been told for at least the past eleven years that these people are the enemy who seeks to do us harm.

There is danger in the belief we can remake the world by bribing some countries and bombing others. But that is precisely what the interventionists be they liberal or conservative seem to believe. When the world does not conform to their image, they seem genuinely shocked. The secretary of state's reaction to the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi was one of confusion. "How could this happen in a country we helped liberate, in a city we helped save from destruction," she asked.

The problem is that we do not know and we cannot know enough about these societies we are seeking to remake. We never try to see through the eyes of those we seek to liberate. Libya is in utter chaos, the infrastructure has been bombed to rubble, the economy has ceased to exist, gangs and militias rule by brutal force, the government is seen as a completely illegitimate and powerless US puppet. How could anyone be shocked that the Libyans do not see our bombing their country as saving it from destruction?

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Ron Paul says interventionist foreign policy undermining U.S. national security

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, the Libertarian presidential candidate, said Wednesday that writing in Rep. Ron Pauls name on the November ballot will effectively be meaningless.

But that didnt stop Johnson from using his second Reddit Ask Me Anything, an online Q&A, to champion many of the foreign policy doctrines that have made Paul, the Texas Republican and former presidential nominee, a star among libertarian-minded voters.

As much as I support Ron Paul, I think writing in his name will effectively be meaningless, Johnson wrote.

(Also on POLITICO: Johnson has best haul ever)

He also took a hard line against U.S.-led military interventions and said it would be very problematic if Israel bombed nuclear sites in Iran without American backing.

I think that with out U.S. support, that bombing by Israel becomes very problematic, he wrote, adding elsewhere, I would use the bully pulpit of the presidency to point out that bombing Iran would result in another 100 million enemies to the country, that otherwise would not have existed. STOP MILITARY INTERVENTIONS!

Johnson, a two-term former governor, dropped his bid for the GOP presidential nomination after he was shut out of the nationally televised primary debates earlier this year. He later decided to pursue the Libertarian Partys nomination, which he won in May. He will appear on the November ballots in 47 states, including Washington, D.C., and the party is litigating in Michigan, Oklahoma and Pennsylvania to appear on ballots there.

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Johnson: Paul write-in 'meaningless'

24-09-2012 18:02 -Please like, share, subscribe & comment! Facebook Backup YouTube channel: Email updates: 9 Ron Paul is America's leading voice for limited, constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, sound money, and a pro-America foreign policy. To spread the message, visit and promote the following websites: (grassroots website) http (official campaign) (Ron Paul in Congress) (grassroots site) http (discussion forum) (latest Ron Paul videos) Disclaimer This video is not-for-profit clip that is uploaded for the purpose of education, teaching, and research, which falls under fair use according to the Copyright Act of 1976 and tips the balance in favor of fair use; all intellectual content within the video remains property of its respective owners.

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Ron Paul: Foreign Aid Leads to 'More Trouble, More Debt' - Video

20-09-2012 19:43 - Please like, share, subscribe & comment! Facebook Backup YouTube channel: Email updates: 9 Ron Paul is America's leading voice for limited, constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, sound money, and a pro-America foreign policy. To spread the message, visit and promote the following websites: (grassroots website) http (official campaign) (Ron Paul in Congress) (grassroots site) http (discussion forum) (latest Ron Paul videos) Disclaimer This video is not-for-profit clip that is uploaded for the purpose of education, teaching, and research, which falls under fair use according to the Copyright Act of 1976 and tips the balance in favor of fair use; all intellectual content within the video remains property of its respective owners.

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Ron Paul: We Can't Remake the World with Bribes and Bombs! - Video