Date: 5/3/2010
Congress Freezes Its Own Pay
by Ron Paul
Last week Congress did something fiscally responsible. It’s not very often I can say that. Granted, it was small in the grand scheme of things, but I was glad to be an original cosponsor, along with Congressman Harry Mitchell of Arizona, of a bill to block the automatic pay raise that Congress otherwise receives every year. Every Member of Congress gets this raise unless it is expressly voted down. For the second year in a row Congress has voted to freeze its own pay, which, in a time of skyrocketing deficits and high unemployment, is the very least Congress can do.
The country is in a serious recession, bordering on depression. Unemployment is grossly underreported, and not likely to get better anytime soon. American citizens and businesses are overtaxed, yet tax revenues still fall far short of our government’s voracious appetite for spending. This is no time to raise taxes. And since congressional salaries come from tax revenue, allowing ourselves a raise would fly in the face of economic reality.
Of course, Congress ignores economic reality all the time. But if Congress can freeze salaries as a first step towards fiscal sanity, it can freeze – if not drastically cut – a vast array of federal expenditures.
At the very least, Congress could freeze current spending levels, instead of constantly increasing them. We could stop increasing the debt ceiling every few months, as has become our habit. We could freeze regulations that add to the burden on our struggling small businesses. We could freeze intrusive bailouts that upset the balance of the market and cost us billions – billions we could instead use to eliminate the oppressive income tax! We could freeze the money supply and stave off the tsunami of inflation the Fed has been generating for years.
Furthermore, we could address the mismanagement and waste in foreign affairs which adds immensely to our budget. Like entitlements, militarism is expensive. We need to reject sanctions as a precursor to military action, and embrace free trade as the most effective method for spreading liberty. After all, as the great economist Frederic Bastiat said – when goods don’t cross borders, armies will. It is time to bring our troops home, instead of instigating expensive new wars when we’re already hopelessly mired in several conflicts already. We need to rethink the whole idea of pre-emptive war- not only because it’s wrong and counterproductive, but because we literally cannot afford it!
We could do much to restore fiscal sanity to this country simply by stopping the madness and bringing our troops home – from Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, Japan, Germany, and so many other places. This costly global empire does not serve the interests of the American people and we should end it peacefully and voluntarily now, lest it end in chaos later.
Though it may be wishful thinking on my part, I’m encouraged by the small step taken by Congress last week. Fiscal sanity can begin with a small step, and I want to encourage Congress to move in this direction.
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Congress freezing their pay raises is a start in the right direction, However if they really want to do the right thing they would repeal the regulation, statue or legislation that affords CONGRESS VIRTUALLY TO RETIRE WITH THE IDENTICAL BENEFITS FOR LIFE AS THEY ENJOYED FOR THE ONE TERM OF SERVICE! THEY DO NOT DESERVE ANY MORE THAN THE LAW ALLOWS FOR EVERY DAY ORDINARY CITIZENS OF THE COUNTRY.
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Mr. Ron Paul,
God Bless you for your love of our great country and having the courage to speak the truth! We need you to run for and be elected president of our great nation. I fear all will be lost without someone like you taking the helm and righting our ship! Again, God Bless and continued health and success. Thank you for caring!
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I’m a life long democrat who wants us to pull the troops our of the Middle East and Europe, cut defense spending by 50%, abolish the present social security system and switch to a personal account system, end all wefare for non handicap people, abolish the present income system replace it with a 15% vat.
I am active in the Washington State Democratic Party and a delegate to the 2010 convention.
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The FED owns the federal government. This is easily evidenced by the correlation between the United States Code (U.S.C.) and the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.): title 11 U.S.C., “Bankruptcy”, is implemented by title 11 C.F.R., “Federal Elections”. The federal government was bankrupted in the 1930′s by the FED’s counterfeit money loans. The C.F.R. was then created in the mid-1930′s to create the link between the statutes of the U.S.C. and the regulatory agencies that implement the regulations that support the statutes.
Once that happened, the FED moved to force Americans to pay the interest on its counterfeit money loans to the government. Since the American is sovereign in this country the FED had to do more – the federal government only has jurisdiction over foreign commerce, interstate commerce, and trade with the Indians.
The federal government created Social Security to finish the deal. The “Form SS-5″ is used to apply for an S.S.#. What the government failed to tell everyone was that the “Form SS-5″ is an employment form. Applying for a S.S. # made the applicant into a federal employee. After all, who is liable for federal employment taxes – federal employees!
You’ve heard the name of the federal employee that you became a million times without realizing what it meant – the “taxpayer”. A “taxpayer” is defined as a member of the Merchant Marine at 26 C.F.R. 2.1-1(a)(5). At 26 C.F.R. 2.1-1(b) it states that this is the definition of the term used throughout the Internal Revenue Code and the regulations for all calculations of taxes!
Under the Declaration of Independence it first states that “all men are created equal”. In such a society, no person or group of people may initiate force or fraud against another person or group of people. The FED and the federal government realize that, so that’s the reason for the Social Security Scam. The government may use force over its own employees.
To understand the entire scam see LLSTULER.wordpress.com or http://wp.me/PCW6e-E and find out much, much more about why Americans are losing their constitutionally guaranteed freedoms daily.
A “U.S. citizen” is exemplified at 26 C.F.R. 25.2501-1(c) as an American born in one of the sovereign States who then establishes a residence in Puerto Rico and, further, acquires Puerto Rican citizenship. The Constitution grants the federal government jurisdiction over its possessions and the citizens born there. The regulation at 26 C.F.R. 25.2501-1(c) then references back to 26 U.S.C. 2501(b) where it states that this is the definition of “citizen” “wherever used in this title”.
The U.S. possessions are treated as foreign countries (26 USC Sec. 865(i)(3), Sec. 872(b)(7), and Sec. 2014(g)). This means that a “U.S. citizen” is treated as a foreigner. That falls within the foreign commerce clause. By checking the box marked “U.S. citizen” on the “Form SS-5”, you claimed to be such a person.
Internal revenue is a subset of the customs. Customs gains revenue for the government by collecting importing duties from foreign countries. Internal revenue collects importing duties from the U.S. possessions – thus a source of “internal revenue”. See http://wp.me/pCW6e-3Z for more information.
By becoming a member of the Merchant Marine, you gave away all sovereignty and became both a “U.S. citizen” and a “taxpayer”.
The census recently sent you a form to fill out addressed to RESIDENT. The term “U.S. resident” includes the terms “taxpayer” and “U.S. citizen” in its definition. “U.S. resident” and “taxpayer” and “U.S. citizen” are legal terms. Once the government defines a “term” the definition in the dictionary has no relevance. See http://wp.me/pCW6e-3g for more on this.
The Bureau of the Census is part of the Department of Commerce. Title 15 U.S.C., “Commerce and Trade”, is implemented by title 15 C.F.R., “Commerce and Foreign Trade”. The government has been slowly moving through the auspices of foreign trade to make it appear that it has powers over sovereign Americans.
Once you understand the above, you can now understand why there is a great resistance to any audit of the FED.
By the way, F.I.C.A. and the self-employment tax are U.S. possession taxes – see 26 U.S.C. section 7655.
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A five year old makes more sense and knows better than little Freddie here who still is in diapers being the little crybaby that he is and not looking at reality. He makes my eyes hurt reading his comments on here.
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I found Fred’s picture.
http://media.photobucket.com/image/troll%20doll/oothbrush/troll-1.jpg?o=20
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I like the prisoner costume he’s wearing. It looks good on him. ;^)
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LOL. Fred must be up on trolling charges. Hope his state doesn’t have the three strikes and you’re out law.
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That is picture of him is hilarious. LOL!
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I noticed the five thumbs-down on my posted warning. I read these assorted “comments”.
I would suggest that this has become an infected site (much like “Topix”). Trolls do abound….and it appears that people like that butt-head Peter you-know-who (wanting to be a Senator) have indeed become a cancer in the Ron Paul garden.
They infiltrate with great experience…and use the trojan horse principle….to continue to run the country….un-deterred. The great Mexican migration of new “constituents” is hot on today’s agenda.
Bye, Bye to the USA you thought you knew and loved. Sad.
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Ron Paul may or may not ever be president. What he has accomplished is much more important. Ron Paul has enlightened many people to the importance of our Constitution and the understanding of it. It is the rule of law in America. Rather than a “living,breathing document” as our president calls it, I prefer to see it as “written in stone” until ammended.
P.S…..Don’t feed Fred.
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Fred is a resident troll feeding on arguements. Please don’t feed Fred. Ignore him and he will go away or change his name.
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I just tried to post a link to Fred with photos of troll dolls, but the website wouldn’t let me do it. LOL.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mgkk9P3vNtg
Bring the boys back home!
Don’t leave the children on their own own own!
Is there anybody out there?
DoooooOOEEEE hello hello hello… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHk6clzLeMM Great, I got to listen to the whole thing now.
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A troll with a personality disorder; I would have never guessed. Thanks
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Yeah, there was one photo of a troll doll with bright green hair wearing a speedo. I fear it was Fred.
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Let’s do the easy stuff first. Why do we still have 100,000 troops stationed in Europe 21 years after the fall of the Iron Curtain and 19 years after the dissolution of the Soviet Union?
Why do we have 70,000 troops on South Korea and Japan? Are we to believe that the ROK is incapable of handling a country that can’t fed it’s people or keep the lights on?
The United States has gone above and beyond the call of duty since WW II. Is it too much to ask those countries for which we have spent so much blood and treasure to do the same?
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Why why why?
Because trade expands American interests.
Why aren’t there US troops involved in that African genocide? Cause there’s no trade (or very little trade) with that African nation. No trade, no American interests, no US military presence. It’s quite simple.
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I take it Fred never heard the quote ‘if goods don’t cross borders, troops will”. Peace is more likely to be maintained among nations who trade with one another. Trade generally reduces the need for military action.
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I agree, good points. And, like you said, those are easy things we can and should do, a good place to start.
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Roads and bridges are mostly funded through property taxes, gasoline/fuel taxes and road use taxes on big trucks.Public education is funded almost entirely by the states. The miltary and national defense is normally funded(or supposed to be) through excise taxes and tarriffs except in wars. Most hospitals and emergency rooms are private businesses except for the Veterans Hospitals. Social Security is funded by the FICA tax you may notice on your pay stub. Other hidden taxes such as alcohol tax, tobacco tax, license fees, permits, etc, etc are tossed into the funding. All the other things “we enjoy as Americans” are mostly funded by borrowing from the next generation. Presently income tax pays for the interest on our debt to the Federal Reserve which keeps the ponzi scheme going. Now you may see why it is important to AUDIT THE FED.
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And, now they want to add a 10 percent VAT tax on top of income taxes. It would be one thing if they did away with income taxes and did a flat sales tax, but this group of Dems wants to do away with the Bush tax cuts, keep the income tax and add a 10 percent tax on everything we buy. I live in CA, we have a high state tax already, so we would be paying over 16 percent just in sales taxes everytime we buy something. And, for what? CA just went bankrupt over welfare, the prisons, Medicaid, they pay people $400 a month on SSI, it’s the only state that does so, so people in CA get over 1,000 a month for SSI and full free health care, and they are eligible for over $1,000 a month in free rent. Yet, there are many cities in CA that don’t have jobs that, after taxes, pay anywhere near that. And, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Many people went off of welfare onto SSI and also got many of their children on it, so they draw down 3-4,000 a month net, free health care for all and free housing. How many people can work and make 6-7,000 a month, which is what you would have to make gross, before income taxes, to equal what many people are making by never working?
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Wrong, the Federal Reserve has nothing to do with deficit spending.
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Fred said “Wrong, the Federal Reserve has nothing to do with deficit spending.”
Right, and that guy driving the getaway car had nothing to do with that burglary.
The Fed enables deficit spending to exist far longer than it normally would by debasing the currency and therefore postponing the day of reckoning.
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Wrong, the Federal Reserve has nothing to do with deficit spending, conspiracy theorist.
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It needs to be said:
Jews take-over every party. I hope it is not too late for Your Organization.
When it begins to smell bad….I vote against it….and I voted for You in Ohio….where you were not allowed to win.
I know the difficulties….being a Politician in Jewish-Controlled America….
Never give-in.
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I don’t dislike Jewish people, but I did find a couple of things out by accident about two well known pro-Israel people hijacking the Tea Party people, and the Tea Party people don’t even realize it. I took out a book from the library that Ben Stein wrote about four years ago, called Can America Survive? In that book, he writes the exact same things that Glenn Beck did his documentary on about socialist and communist dictators. They are good friends, Beck’s show had only been on the air for about six months when he did that. I’m sure Stein told Beck all of those things. Remember the two of them on air eating Chinese food together, joking and laughing right around the time Beck made that documentary? Right after Beck showed that documentary, the Tea Party people started protesting against socialism, against socialized medicine, while protesting to keep their two social programs. So, Stein used Beck to get them to hate the Dems by saying they are evil socialists because Stein wants to make sure Obama doesn’t get reelected because Stein wants the U.S. to defend Israel. Stein later said on Larry King that Ron Paul is against Jewish people because he would stay out of the conflict in Israel and end all foreign aid.
The other one who hijacked the Tea Party is Charles Krauthammer. He writes articles everyday and talks on Fox News everyday about how the U.S. must help Israel. He never stops talking about it. He is involved in a website where the Tea Party people, the Glenn Beck followers, go and chat. That website checks people’s ISP’s before they will let you in, and, if anyone goes in there and questions the Tea Party people saying no socialism, but give us 85 trilion in unfunded Medicare and SS, or goes in there and is against the U.S. helping Israel, they are put out of the place in 3-4 posts. I saw several Middle Eastern people say, “yes, Chuck put me out of there too.” Then, Krauthammer goes on Fox and tells the Tea Party people it’s fine they want this entitlement and that entitlement, but not new ones for other groups of people, and keeps preaching to them that we must help Israel. He is very clever in that most of the things he says are very credible so when he slips in the Israel stuff all of the time, people believe him. Both Stein and Krauthammer are Jewish, and both know Wall Street hurt us, that it wasn’t just social programs, they both know the corporations have taken millions of jobs out of this country, so why are they preaching to the Tea Party people that socialism is our only evil enemy? To make sure Obama doesn’t get reelected because he isn’t helping Israel so much.
I found these things out by accident, by accidently taking a book out of the library that I had no idea what it said, and by going into that website Krauthammer is associated with, my making some comments, getting put out in 4 posts and then seeing Krauthammer on Fox the next night, on Bill O’Reilly’s show, addressing what I was saying the day before in that website. I looked in the website right after I saw Krauthammer defending my questions to the Tea Party people, and here was a big front page article praising Krauthamer, that’s how I found out he is connected to it. I emailed O’Reilly and told him Krauthammer snowed him, and to his credit, O’Reilly did come out the next night on air and state that Wall Street tanked the country, not socialism. That showed me he’s a pretty honest guy and he has no dog in the fight.
I had no clue things like this go on.
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End the income tax?
But then who will pay for:
Roads and Bridges
Public Education
Our Military and National Security
Hospitals and Emergency Rooms
Social Security
And all of those other things that we enjoy as Americans?
Please, explain this to me.
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My honest opinions and some concern!
Cut spending on the non sense expense that sound good.
But others promises not that easy, what about Iran and N. Korea?
How to run a government system without generate an income tax?
Isn’t it about time to bring troops home? ? Who will fight terrorists, pirates…
Obama said “bring troop from Iraq Home” but a hustle, he send to Afghanistan!
His poor diplomacy outrun all Allies!
Now BRIC economy foundation why not include USA?
How to solve unemployment problems? I suggest creating jobs is the most important today!
Good luck Mr. Ron Paul!
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I agree with many Libertarian ideas, but I’m not sure about cutting defense. There are a lot of people who would like to see entitlemment programs end, income tax end, end the IRS, set up a flat tax instead, but who don’t totally agree about not having a strong miliary. It depends on people’s ideas, some think if we bring our troops home from all countries, mind our own business, and are not a military power, we not only save money, but that way other countries would leave us alone. Other people believe we should show strength, push back on crazy leaders like in Iran, hold the line, and that’s the best way to prevent nuclear war and keep peace. Lou Dobbs talks about bringing the troops home all the time, whereas, people like Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly would be for things like ending welfare, lower taxes, but a strong military. It depends what you think other countries will do and what’s the best way to deal with rouge nations, nulear weapons threats, terrorism. I personally think the crazies understand people like Bush and Chenny the best, it’s better to have the president of Iran scared of us than to play nice-nice with him. Just my opinion.
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Again Thank You Dr. Ron Paul
A Neutral America,
The rule of law
An American with a simple “Defense” and not an Offensive military industrial complex to exploit every world crisis.
A Government that is kept to only 3% of GDP would need a whole lot less taxes.
That’s a Dream I can support!
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Smartest comment I’ve read on here. We need to focus on American needs and stop pouring money into “Defense” which turns out to be subsides for other rich nations and wealthy defense corporations. As Thomas Jefferson said: “Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.”
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And Thomas Jefferson started the first international venture for the US military.
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Thank You sir, for your weekly messages it is very informative and very geniuine. Congress did something right even though it was a small step. I couldn’t agree more on all of the other suggestions you have mentioned. Keep up the fight and I will continue my support for you and your policies.
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Highly rated. What do you think?
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