Ron Paul on the Census 2010

By tmartin on March 8, 2010

Census: A Little Too Personal

by Ron Paul

Last week Congress voted to encourage participation in the 2010 census. I voted “No” on this resolution for the simple, obvious reason that the census – like so many government programs – has grown far beyond what the framers of our Constitution intended. The invasive nature of the current census raises serious questions about how and why government will use the collected information. It also demonstrates how the federal bureaucracy consistently encourages citizens to think of themselves in terms of groups, rather than as individual Americans. The not so subtle implication is that each group, whether ethnic, religious, social, or geographic, should speak up and demand its “fair share” of federal largesse.

Article I, section 2 of the Constitution calls for an enumeration of citizens every ten years, for the purpose of apportioning congressional seats among the various states. In other words, the census should be nothing more than a headcount. It was never intended to serve as a vehicle for gathering personal information on citizens.

But our voracious federal government thrives on collecting information. In fact, to prepare for the 2010 census state employees recorded GPS coordinates for every front door in the United States so they could locate individuals with greater accuracy! Once duly located, individuals are asked detailed questions concerning their name, address, race, home ownership, and whether they periodically spend time in prison or a nursing home – just to name a few examples.

From a constitutional perspective, of course, the answer to each of these questions is: “None of your business.” But the bigger question is – why government is so intent on compiling this information in the first place?

The Census Bureau claims that collected information is not shared with any federal agency; but rather is kept under lock and key for 72 years. It also claims that no information provided to census takers can be used against you by the government.

However, these promises can and have been abused in the past. Census data has been used to locate men who had not registered for the draft. Census data also was used to find Japanese-Americans for internment camps during World War II. Furthermore, the IRS has applied census information to detect alleged tax evaders. Some local governments even have used census data to check for compliance with zoning regulations.

It is not hard to imagine that information compiled by the census could be used against people in the future, despite claims to the contrary and the best intentions of those currently in charge of the Census Bureau. The government can and does change its mind about these things, and people have a right to be skeptical about government promises.

Yet there are consequences for not submitting to the census and its intrusive questions. If the form is not mailed back in time, households will experience the “pleasure” of a visit by a government worker asking the questions in person. If the government still does not get the information it wants, it can issue a fine of up to $5000.

If the federal government really wants to increase compliance with the census, it should abide by the Constitution and limit its inquiry to one simple question: How many people live here?

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Ron Paul to Congress: Don’t “Stir the Pot” with Armenian Genocide Resolution

By tmartin on March 4, 2010

Ron Paul spoke out in opposition to a resolution in the House Foreign Affairs Committee that would recognize as “genocide” the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces during World War I.

The Congressman argued that America should remain neutral on the subject and let the involved countries work it out themselves. He then encouraged other opponents of the resolution to apply their non-interventionist position not just to the past, but also to the present and the future.

The resolution was later approved 23-22.

Location: House Foreign Affairs Committee
Date: 03/04/2010

Transcript coming soon

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Ron Paul: If the Fed didn’t exist there would be no deficits

By tmartin on March 3, 2010

Ron Paul spoke with Bob Schieffer of CBS News about his primary victory and his allegations against the Federal Reserve.

Channel: CBS News
Date: 03/03/2010

Transcript coming soon

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Landslide Victory for Ron Paul in Texas Primary

By tmartin on March 3, 2010

Congressman Ron Paul won today’s Republican primary election in Texas’s 14th district in a landslide.

With all 271 precincts reporting, 80.76% of voters expressed their desire for Ron Paul to remain in office.

END RESULTS
John Gay – 3,003 votes – 5.27%
Tim Graney – 5,536 votes – 9.73%
Ron Paul – 45,947 votes – 80.76%
Gerald D. Wall – 2,402 votes – 4.22%

Congratulations, Dr. Ron Paul!

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20,000+ Say “Yes” to Ron Paul 2012

By admin on March 2, 2010

We asked the question that’s on everyone’s mind: “Should Ron Paul should run for President in 2012?”

Our readers submitted 21,796 votes and 490 comments while the poll was open from Feb. 18 – March 1. The results are displayed below.

Should Ron Paul run for President in 2012?

  • Yes. (92%, 20,060 Votes)
  • No. (4%, 912 Votes)
  • I don’t know. (2%, 346 Votes)
  • It depends. (2%, 475 Votes)

Total Voters: 21,796

The percentage results are virtually unchanged from our three 2009 polls (February 2009, June 2009, November 2009):

  • 92% (down from 94%) of our readers want Ron Paul to run for President in 2012.
  • 4% (up from 3%) want him to stay out of the race.
  • And 4% (up from 3%) are undecided or said “it depends”.

Participation surged dramatically. In February 2009, our first Ron Paul 2012 poll attracted 6,337 votes. 6,617 voters participated in our June 2009 poll, and the November 2009 poll drew 9,312 votes. With 21,796 votes, the most recent poll received almost as many votes as the first three polls combined.

In light of these exciting numbers it is important to emphasize that Ron Paul recently said that he hasn’t come to a decision yet. We hope he considers the results of this poll when he makes his choice for 2012!

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Ron Paul Returns Over $100,000 to Treasury

By tmartin on March 1, 2010

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Ron Paul has continued to run his Congressional office in a frugal manner, and was able to return more than $100,000 from his allotted office budget to the Treasury this year, an increase over the $90,000 returned last year.

“Since my first year in Congress representing the 14th district I have managed my office in a frugal manner, instructing staff to provide the greatest possible service to the people of the 14th district at the least possible cost to taxpayers,” said Paul.

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Ron Paul Exposes Bizarre Spending Habits at the Federal Reserve & State Department

By tmartin on March 1, 2010

Bizarre Spending Habits

by Ron Paul

Last week I had the opportunity to bring up spending and transparency in two important hearings. On Wednesday I questioned Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on some highly questionable uses of funds at the Federal Reserve, and on Thursday I asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about exorbitant spending at the State Department.

It is extremely important to continue bringing these issues up, especially in light of our difficult economic times, when so many are out of work, as I saw up close in my district at the Oceans of Opportunity Job Fair in Galveston two weeks ago. Those who are working live with the fear of losing their jobs as they struggle to pay bills. Meanwhile, Washington is talking of increasing their taxes, something voters were promised, clearly and adamantly, would not happen in this administration.

Government also struggles with money, but the struggle centers on how to get more of your money into government coffers. Rather than expanding the Federal budget in the face of economic downturn, we should be focusing on eliminating waste and being the very best stewards of public funds that we can possibly be. Most businesses have had to streamline and cut back in order to survive, and so it is only fair for our government to do the same.

Instead, the State Department is building a $1 billion embassy in London, the most expensive ever built. The plans even include surrounding it with a moat! I asked the Secretary of State about this massive expenditure, and she claimed the funds for this were coming from the sale of other properties. If money can be saved, then save it! Don’t spend it on such an extravagant structure overseas when people back home can’t find jobs or pay bills. Not only that, but the administration has committed to doubling foreign aid. That is one promise that is likely to be kept, despite our economic crisis.

I asked Chairman Bernanke about Federal Reserve agreements with foreign central banks and if he had had any conversations about bailing out Greece, which he flatly denied. However, he recently announced that the Federal Reserve will be looking into Goldman Sachs’ derivative agreements with Greece. Goldman Sachs, as we know, has “too big to fail” status with the Fed, so it is conceivable that any Greece-related catastrophic losses at Goldman Sachs will once again be passed on to taxpayers.

Perhaps most sinister are the revelations in Robert Auerbach’s book “Deception and Abuse at the Fed” that $5.5 billion was sent to Saddam Hussein in the 1980s – money that allowed Iraq to build up its military machine to fight Iran prior to the first Gulf War, the very machine turned against our brave men and women within just a few years! I agree with Bernanke’s characterization of this – it is indeed “bizarre” to think that Americans at the Federal Reserve could engage in this type of behavior, which some have called “criminal”. However, Professor Auerbach served as a banking committee investigator, and as an economist at the Treasury Department and at the Federal Reserve. His claims are hardly without merit. In fact, they are solidly backed by court rulings and other evidence.

The lack of accountability and transparency in our leaders on government spending is appalling. We simply must keep pressing these issues and voicing our objections if we are ever to reverse our failed policies.

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Ron Paul: The US Government’s Debt Can Never Be Repaid

By tmartin on February 28, 2010

Is big government necessarily bad government? Ron Paul says “yes” and explains the reasons to Jack Cafferty.

Date: 02/26/2010
Channel: CNN
Host: Jack Cafferty

Transcript coming soon

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Antiwar.com: Ron Paul vs. the Naysayers (02/26/2010) Ron Paul's Victory: How Sweet It Is! (02/24/2010) Ron Paul! (02/22/2010)

February 27, 2010 (4 comments)

Ron Paul Responds to Ben Bernanke’s “Bizarre” Comments

By tmartin on February 26, 2010

Statement of Congressman Ron Paul
United States House of Representatives
Statement for the Record
February 25, 2010

Madame Speaker, I would like to enter into the record the following letter from Professor Robert D. Auerbach, a professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas. This letter provides additional information regarding remarks I made at yesterday’s Financial Services Committee Humphrey-Hawkins hearing, remarks which Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke categorized as “bizarre.”

I thank Congressman Ron Paul for bringing to the public’s attention the Federal Reserve coverup of the source of the Watergate burglars’ source of funding and the defective audit by the Federal Reserve of the bank that transferred $5.5 billion from the U.S. government to Saddam Hussein in the 1980s. Congressman Paul directed these comments to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke at the House Financial Services Hearing February 24, 2010. I question Chairman Bernanke’s dismissive response.

BERNANKE: “Well, Congressman, these specific allegations you’ve made I think are absolutely bizarre, and I have absolutely no knowledge of anything remotely like what you just described.”

The evidence Congressman Ron Paul mentioned is well documented in my recent book, Deception and Abuse at the Fed (University of Texas Press: 2008). The head of the Federal Reserve bureaucracy should become familiar with its dismal practices.

First, consider the Fed’s coverup of the source of the $6300 in hundred dollar bills found on the Watergate burglars when they were arrested at approximately 2:30 A.M. on June 17, 1972 after they had broken into the Watergate offices of the Democratic Party. Five days after the break-in, June 22, 1972, at a board of directors’ meeting of officials at the Philadelphia Fed Bank, it was recorded in the minutes [shown on page 23 of my book] that false or misleading information had been provided to a reporter from the Washington Post about the $6,300. Bob Woodward told me he thought he was the Washington Post reporter who had made the phone inquiry. The reporter “had called to verify a rumor that these bills were stolen from this Bank” according to the Philadelphia Fed minutes. The Philadelphia Fed Bank had informed the Board on June 20 that the notes were “shipped from the Reserve Bank to Girard Trust Company in Philadelphia on April 3, 1972.” The Washington Post was incorrectly informed of “thefts but told they involved old bills that were ready for destruction.” Continue reading “Ron Paul Responds to Ben Bernanke’s “Bizarre” Comments”

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