What has Ron Paul accomplished?
Well, I've been away for quite a while, busy with house stuff and work stuff. But now the holidays are here, and it is my goal to blog each and every day until I return to work, sometime the first week of January.
For my first Holiday 2007 post, I altruistically seek information from the Paulaholics. So, for you Paulaholics out there, please answer this question: what has Ron Paul accomplished?
Some disclosure is appropriate: I cannot lay claim to the originality of this line of questioning. I hear the unbeatable Edd Hendee and Pat Gray on AM 700 KSEV and AM 1160 KVCE ask this question every time a Paulaholic calls in. But they never answer the question. They'll start out with "Ron Paul has defended the Constitution..." or "Ron Paul has stood for American principles..." or some other platitudinous drivel. Never do they list an accomplishment.
Therefore, I ask of you, dear Paulaholics on the internet, with sincerity, what has Ron Paul accomplished?
By the way . . . by "accomplished" I mean something in government, not fund raising. He's an incredible fundraiser, no one can deny that.
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4 comments:
Hi--
You are asking the wrong question of Paul supporters. If we wanted an activist government to go out and achieve things, we'd support Socialists like Hilary and Rudy.
I'd say in general, Ron Paul supporters hope that he will bring the size of government down in line with its present level of effectiveness, and the cost of that government down in line with that size.
What Ron Paul did in his career was to stand firm for the philosophy of limited government as his own party stampeded away from it the moment they took power. By definition, the voice in the wilderness is not the leader of the pack. But if we ever find ourselves in a country where a politician can say, "Government is not the solution to the problem, government *is* the problem," without being derided as a racist kook, Ron Paul will be remembered as a great keeper of that flame.
Hey M.,
I am not the man to answer the question posed; I know next to nothing about Dr. Paul. But I have found reading his essays and speeches to be a refreshing change. He has an interesting take on so many things, and presents some persuasive arguments, many on points where he and I (and you) agree. I especially enjoyed his articles on power and the definitions of true liberty, of the distinction between a Republic and a Democracy, and others. (See http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/)
He'll never reach the Oval O, but I'd enjoy hearing/reading him in some pulpit larger than that he now occupies. (Maybe he needs a morning show, something after Ed and Paul, perhaps?)
Nice job on the stuffed mushrooms today, by the way. MMMM!
Here is a few interesting things he did.
In 1982, Dr. Paul co-authored with Lewis Lehrman The Case For Gold, which was a monetary history of money and banking in America. Magisterial in its scope, the book brilliantly lays out the reasons why a commodity money such as gold is mandatory if freedom and economic stability are to be our goals.
1996
He successfully won the seat from the 14th Congressional district of Texas. In the seven years since then, he has reasserted himself as America's foremost patriot-constitutionalist and advocate of a return to the Founders' vision of limited government.
He has personally sponsored over 40 legislative bills designed to reduce government, strengthen the bulwarks of freedom, and restore sound monetary policy to the country. Some of his notable legislative bills are: 1) H.J. RES. 15: To abolish personal income, estate, and gift taxes.2) H.R. 220: To ban the Federal Government from use of National ID numbers for citizens.3) H.R. 1146: To end membership of the United States in the United Nations.4) H.R. 1547: To restore first amendment protections of religion and religious speech.
He has voted repeatedly for term limits. He has pushed for a repeal of the withholding tax function of the Federal Government. He has sought to get the U.S. to leave the phony World Trade Organization. He was one of only 67 who voted against the USA Patriot Act. He doggedly assails the Orwellian Greenspan upon his every visit to Capitol Hill. And about four years ago, he organized 20 of his colleagues in Congress into The Liberty Committee to fight the authoritarians on all fronts -- legislative, educational, and activist.
http://www.afr.org/Hultberg/cincinnatus.html
There is more info on that link but if you just take the time to google it you could have saved yourself the time it took to write this post.
Once again, yet another comment that proves my point.
He wrote a book in 1982.
"He successfully won ..."
"He has personally sponsored ..."
"He has voted repeatedly ..."
"He has pushed for ..."
"He has sought ..."
"He was one ... who voted against ..."
"He doggedly assails ..."
"... he organized 20 of his colleagues ..."
Unamazingly, the question remains unanswered: what has he accomplished?
I'll tell you one thing he could do - how about debating Chris Peden?
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