Why the Government Lies About Social Security
by Ron Paul
Perhaps the biggest media story of 2010 was the influence of Tea Party voters on the Congressional landscape. The new Congress comes to Capitol Hill with a mandate to end profligate spending and restore fiscal sanity in Washington, we are told. But when the House and Senate convene in January the newly elected members will face tremendous pressure to maintain spending levels for entitlement programs. Even the most modest proposals to trim Social Security or Medicare spending will be met with howls of indignation and threats of voter revolt. Legislators who propose any kind of means testing or increased retirement ages can expect angry visits from senior citizens and lobbyists ready to fund a candidate back home who supports the status quo.
But millions of Americans now realize that the status quo is an illusion that will not last even another 10 or 20 years. The federal government cannot continue to spend a trillion dollars more than it collects in revenue each year because we are running out of creditors. Fiscal reality is setting in and the consequences may be grim, even if Congress finds the courage to take decisive action now.
Courage begins with a commitment to see things as they are, rather than how we wish they were. When it comes to Social Security we must understand that the system does not represent an old age pension, an insurance program or even a forced savings program. It simply represents an enormous transfer of payment with younger workers paying taxes to benefit the other beneficiaries. There is no Social Security trust fund and you don’t have an account. Whether you win or lose the Social Security lottery is a function of when you happen to be born and how long you live to collect benefits. Of course young people today have every reason to believe they will never collect those benefits.
Notice that neither political party proposes letting people opt out of Social Security, which exposes the lie that your contributions are set aside and saved. After all, if your contributions are really set aside for your retirement, the money is there earning interest, right? If your money is in your account, what difference would it make if your neighbor chooses not to participate in the program?
The truth of course is that your contributions are not put aside. Social Security is a simple tax. Like all taxes, the money collected is spent immediately as general revenue to fund the federal government. But no administration will admit that Social Security is nothing more than an accounting ledger with no money. You will collect benefits only if future tax revenues remain high. The money you paid into the system is long gone.
My hope is that at least some members of the new Congress will cut through the distortions to see Social Security as it really is. The best way to fix the impending Social Security crisis is also the simplest: Allow younger individuals to opt out of the program and use their tax savings to invest privately as they see fit. This is the true private solution. Your money has never been safe in the government’s hands and it never will be.
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As a person living on Disability, I see Ron Paul much like a Jew does seeing Adolph Hitler running for office in 1933. I know that he has nothing but cruelty and death in store for me if he seizes power. He would tear away my Social Security Disability and leave me to rot in the street.
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Don’t be fooled by Ron Paul. He’d literally have you throw your own grandma on street. He is no hero just cause he harps on Fed. The REAL enemy is vacuum of government, when the Global Corp. Controllers send their own industrial military into your house, and total control is by them, not govt. Corrupt govt. is just helping them. Make a Firewall against Corp. Contributions, Max it out at $500, same with lobbies. Corp. Lobbies should be illegal. It is Military-INDUSTRIAL complex, not govt.
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Everyone please write RON PAUL 2012 on ALL bills you have. It WILL make a difference.
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Everyone please write RON PAUL 2012 on ALL bills you have. It WILL make a difference.
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Ron Paul lies about SSI, thus proving his statement that Government Lies About Social Security
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Let’s see if I got this straight. It’s against the law to tell a government official a lie, but it’s ok for the government to lie to “we the people”….constantly!
What kind of double standard is this? The truth is that we’re not really free, and the American way is not really about liberty and justice for all; that’s just another lie.
Our entire society is based on lies and UN-truth, and they’re never going to admit ONE lie because they know they’ll have to answer to all of the other lies.
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Let’s see if I got this straight. It’s against the law to tell a government official a lie, but it’s ok for the government to lie to “we the people”….constantly!
What kind of double standard is this? The truth is that we’re not really free, and the American way is not really about liberty and justice for all; that’s just another lie.
Our entire society is based on lies and UN-truth, and they’re never going to admit ONE lie because they know they’ll have to answer to all of the other lies.
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January 20, 2013
The END of Corruption!
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It seems some viewers have it partially correct; There is no mention of abolishing Social Security, only improving it and allowing yourger people to opt out. Remeber, you don’t have to opt. I am assuming it is going to be reorganized or protectected from the current abuses so that it can work like it was initially intended to be. I am assuming that if our America is restored and our tax revenues improve there wil be no problem. Rember there are always forms of taxes some good and some not good. I am assuming Dr. Paul will be taking all of this in to consideration and I think that is what this message is all about. How Social Security will be affected is something we will find out in the not so far future, but my beleif is that what ever solution Dr. Paul impliments will be the best one as he is always looking out for the well being of the people. I have to trust him that it will be the right thing. So do you. If you think I have it all wrong and my intepretation is all wrong, please let me know, I am the last person that wants to be clueless, how ever I do think my interpretation is some what correct. Jen
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I another lifitimate concern from one of the Bloggers was about opting out and saving. I can certainly understand your concern about your savings. I have been in the financial industry for many years and I support Ron Pauls END THE FED. I believe improvements/changes in our monetary policies along with getting rid of income tax, will give us more money to save, a more stable currency, interest rates returning to healthy normal levels, will help improve the economic envronment greatly including jobs of course, thus giving a person a far better likelyhood that they can reach a financial goal. Right now everything is such a mess there is not much you can count on. I am a middle aged person and a business proffesional yet my dollars are worth so much less, as is my house and my portfolio grown is hard to achieve given the volitile stock market and global fears. I think any changes Ron Paul achieves will accomplish the positives mentioned above.
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How could they not? What we have now is definately not working. Have faith my fellow blogger If RON PAUL is our president in 2012 you will have less to worry about than you can imagine, and you will know what you can count on and soon. Media Analysts are so off the mark, the majority of the time. Being in the Financial industry for so long I have seen how they guess report time and time again and it DOES affect the market and people’s willingness to invest which is just another drag on the economy. We have support RON PAUL, spread the word and continue to have hope and our lives along with many others will improve. We have to be patient
Jen
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Why just like communists you may ask? Ron Paul’s economic philosophy is the opposite, but in terms of the reliance of his philosophy on the reason and fairness of a mostly apathetic and selfishly disinterest species he falls into the same damn trap.
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Ron Paul hates social security because he’ll never have to worry about his retirement, he’s a wall street gold bond business tycoon, he’s got millions to retire on. Meanwhile you’re all going to get old, and any one of you could be rendered infirmed or disabled due to injury or illness, and most of you can’t afford to put money back because you’re living from paycheck to paycheck.
Ron Paul is an economic social darwinist who would have you rely on churches and charity, just like communists.
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This was a very disturbing read which begs the question; Without Social Security, what’s to become of our seniors? How will they survive?
Ok, now that that’s out of the way, let’s tackle the “opt out” statements.
A person opts out at age twenty and opens a bank account. Every week he deposits one hundred dollars. What happens when he turns sixty-five? He has a nice little nest egg with interest compounded quarterly. Right? WRONG!!!!
Inflation eats it all up and he gets taxed on the interest paid on the inflated dollars when he withdraws it.
Point of interest: One hundred dollars today is worth less than ten dollars in 1911 dollars.
Inflation is the ultimate tax. You can never recover from it.
Back to the origional question. What happens to our seniors? Well, if you have family, perhaps they will support you. If not, hell they will not even be able to buy cat food. Maybe there is still some Jim Jones kool-aid left around.
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Thats shocking, the Government never lies, they just never tell you the truth lol.
Seriously what is with Social security, border security it’s always so Melodramatic on titles.
How about Social care allowance, or border maintenance. I think some folks need to take a vacation & chillout.
Go Ron Paul
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I’m 28, I’m disabled, and I’m collecting SS. This extremist view of SS is bullshit…I urge you all to pay a visit to your local social security office and see what they have to offer for yourselves.
Although, I do believe you should have the option to opt out of SS if you plan to never use it.
But the abolishment of SS would be the makings of a huge disaster which would send millions of disabled/elderly persons on to the streets thus creating a massive crime wave& overwhelming homelessness
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I’m 28, I’m disabled, and I’m collecting SS. This extremist view of SS is bullshit…I urge you all to pay a visit to your local social security office and see what they have to offer for yourselves.
Although, I do believe you should have the option to opt out of SS if you plan to never use it.
But the abolishment of SS would be the makings of a huge disaster which would send millions of disabled/elderly persons on to the streets thus creating a massive crime wave & overwhelming homelessness
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Let’s call the opt-out of SS to invest privately exactly what it is:
Another bailout for Wall Street. You remember those folks don’t you?
The ones that ruined the economy three years ago with their gambling on derivatives and “speculating” on oil.
George “Dumbya” Bush found out that’s a politically toxic idea. No way it’s going to happen.
And just how the hell is something I contributed an “entitlement”?
It’s not in any way,shape, or form!
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like we can trust wall street with social security???!!!!!!hell they want to short sell it and ron paul is total fucking scumbag for even proposing it!!he is only now paying for his own healthcare and was getting free healthcare paid by our taxes for decades!gop are just slime,greedy,evil,SLIME!!!dems really fucked up in 2008.if they would have focused on jobs and taxes and not obamacare this shit would not be happening.some change hussein sotero!!!!!!!!!
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Ron Paul telling it just how it is,as always. Ron Paul 2012
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In 1965 Congress passed a little known law allowing citizens of certain religions to opt out of Social Security. You must be Amish, Mennonite, Anabaptist or part of a very small religious sect and can prove that your group has been against SSI since 1950. You also need to file IRS form 4029.
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Bullshit! This whole government cover-up over Social Security is a national tragedy! These motherfuckers stole the peoples Retirement/Disability money! Now they want to claim that Social Security is an entitlement how fucking arrogant of them! Social security is a retirement plan that we all paid into for years. There should be plenty of money in there but they stole it to pay for other things! So what do they do? They blame the disabled and the elderly how pathetic! We should sue the them!
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Keynankeys1960, if the Republic of the U.S.A. ultimately fails, it will probably be due to individuals who harbor the false belief that they are morally entitled to cast their votes as you would — to politically empower the government to continue to steal from future generations in order to compensate you for the losses you have incurred as as a consequence of your having been victimized by Uncle Sam’s ponzi scheme.
You and I are both the victims of theft, the thief has already spent our money, the thief is flat broke, and the thief has no means of recovering the squandered funds other than to steal from our grandchildren. That’s a fact, just as it’s a fact that 2 + 2 = 4.
Apparently you prefer to vote for a politician who will tell you that 2 + 2 = 5. Apparently you choose to believe that 2 + 2 = 5, so that you can pretend that you are not an advocate of the immoral victimization of our grandchildren.
Politicians like Newt Gingrich are making it clear that they are willing to lie to you — they are willing to brand as “too radical” any politician who is honest enough to tell you that 2 + 2 = 4.
You have the right to hold your false belief and “go quietly into the night.” However, you do NOT have any right to hold your false belief and act on it. You do not have the right to become a thief just by having been a victim of theft yourself and having chosen to believe that 2 + 2 = 5.
Unless you and others who share your false belief either “go quietly into the night” or else renounce your false belief and shed the light of day on those who would steal from our grandchildren by perpetuating Uncle Sam’s role as thief in chief, then the prospect of the downfall of the republic loams ominously on the horizon.
If you persist in your attempts to recover your losses by voting for politicians who would perpetuate the governments role of stealing from our grandchildren, I and our grandchildren will not go quietly into the night. If you are joined in your persistence by a democratic majority, the Republic will fall and the blood of patriots will be on your hands.
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. WE WILL NOT GO QUIETLY INTO THE NIGHT!! YOU JUST LOST ANOTHER VOTE !
If the government cannot give me what they have said is mine all these years I have paid into it then they can give me a cash sum offer voted on by the people.
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No we don’t need to steel from our grandchildren.
Honest Government has checks and balences. Those who have
over the years stolen from SS should have to repay it with
penilitys. That is, both those who as Representatives voted
or signed for that money to be taken, and from those who
directly benifited from the taking of the money.
Forget about Uncle Sam, let’s get the cartoons (legal lies)
out of the picture.
Secondly, I will agree 100% with giving up SS as soon as all
Politions give up their Retirement Benifits. Retirement Benifits
that are way better then any of us that pay for such, could
ever dream of getting
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Firstly, neither those who have stolen or borrowed from the SS “trust fund” nor those who have been the recipients of the stolen proceeds have the capacity to repay it. Let’s face facts. We’ve been victimized by deadbeat thieves. Suing deadbeats for damages would yield little more than suing Nature for damages cause by natural disasters.
Even if the U. S. Government were to divest itself of all of its real assets and to cease all but the minimal constitutionally required functions of government, victims of the Social Security and Medicare schemes would still be standing in line behind the heirs/descendants of those bound in chattel slavery (at least from the ratification of the Constitution to the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment), whose claims against the government take precedence.
Secondly, as for your setting conditions under which you would “agree 100% with giving up SS” (or Medicare) claims, given the facts of the government’s negative net worth and lack of earning capacity, one should only take your assertion of those conditions as a threat (albeit unwitting) against our grandchildren.
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I love seniors and I think the social security program is a great “idea” but it is not working anymore and this is probably the last generation of seniors that had the good sense to own homes, save for retirement and be prepared on their own for their later years so if we’re going to end the system this is probably the best time. People from the generation above me and all the way down are in too much debt to even consider saving for retirement so it would be nice to have the option to opt out of social security to pay off some of this debt and think about the future. Sad…but true.
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There was a social security trust fund! I paid into the system for many years and now that I need the money its not there whatever we’ll just rob the damn rich and get our damn money!!! I paid manys way while I worked and now that Im disabeled its my turn that is the way it was set up I dont get why these tea party dumb asses dont get that lol. Take my cheese and Ill be at your door I promise!!!
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Your cheese has already been squandered by Uncle Sam. It’s gone!!
Being a disabled victim of a ponzi scheme doesn’t entitle you to become a thief or a receiver of stolen goods.
Keep your hand’s off our grandchildren’s cheese!
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Dr. Paul, after watching an interview with Obama’s aunt I wondered how she was able to live in government housing receiving Social Security disability for many years without a SSN, so I went to the Social Security Admin website and learned that the SSA issues 3 types of cards. the third type is “not valid for employment: and is issued to people:
* Who are lawfully admitted to the United States without work authorization from DHS, but with a valid nonwork reason for needing a Social Security number; or
* Who need a number because of a federal law requiring a Social Security number to get a benefit or service.
Doesn’t the “or” preceding the second type of person this card is issued to give illegal aliens access to Social Security cards to get government benefits? And since when does any foreigner who is not a legal resident of the United States need a Social Security card for a purpose other than work? Has our government sold us as slaves who exist for the sole purpose of working to support foreigners?
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Dr. Paul, after watching an interview with Obama’s aunt I wondered how she was able to live in government housing receiving Social Security disability for many years without a SSN, so I went to the Social Security Admin website and learned that the SSA issues 3 types of cards. the third type is “not valid for employment and is issued to people
*Who are lawfully admitted to the United States without work authorization from DHS, but with a valid nonwork reason for needing a Social Security number; or
* Who need a number because of a federal law requiring a Social Security number to get a benefit or service.
Doesn’t the “or” preceding the second type of person this card is issued to give illegal aliens access to Social Security cards to get government benefits? And since when does any foreigner who is not a legal resident of the United States need a Social Security card for a purpose other than work? Has our government sold us as slaves who exist for the sole purpose of working to support foreigners?
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You want to get rid of Social Security, buy me out. Give me back every penny that I have paid over the last 30 years, with interest, then you can do what you want.
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HemiHead66:
Every penny that you paid over the last 30 years, with interest?
Had your money not been collected by the government as payroll taxes, had you invested it instead in a private fund, expecting to collect it in your retirement years, and had the private fund managers fraudulently squandered your money elsewhere and had no honest means of ever recovering the money they lost, then neither they nor you would have have any moral right whatsoever to steal from your grandchildren (or rob the rich) in order to cover your living and medical expenses? To survive, you would simply have to come out of retirement and get a job (the best job you could handle given your physical condition) or rely on charity (private, voluntary charity).
Being a victim of Uncle Sam’s ponzi scheme doesn’t entitle you, regardless of your age, to steal from your grandchildren (or rob the rich)!
Wake up and smell the coffee! You were robbed! So was I. The thief was a deadbeat, Uncle Sam, who has no means of earning an honest dime. Government doesn’t produce wealth; it only steals wealth and buys the favor of those of who are willing to be the receivers of stolen wealth.
Being a victim doesn’t entitle you to steal from innocent victims in order to recover your losses; it doesn’t entitle you to hire a back alley thug to steal for you; and it doesn’t entitle you to vote for beltway politicians who promise to hire a thug carrying a badge to steal on your behalf.
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I’m so sick of hearing his bullshit. There is a way to fix Social Security and Medicare, get rid of this fucking Mafia Govt. that has been robbing the shit out of us. These fuckers took Defense spending from 200+ billion a year before those bogus attacks on 9,11, to 1+ trillion a year today. That’s where our retirement is being spent, on crony contracts for their fucking friends. And on massive tax breaks for the rich. Fuck, those multi-nationals don’t even pay taxes. Time to clean house!
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I would like to opt-out of Social Security. Is there any way to do this?
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I don’t know of a single member of Congress who has the integrity to us tell that being victims of Uncle Sam’s ponzi scheme doesn’t entitle any of us, regardless of our age, to steal from our grandchildren. None of us are entitled to be “grandfathered” out of the abolition of Social Security and Medicare. The money is gone — period — and Uncle Sam has no right to steal from our grandchildren in order to pay us benefits.
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Which members of Congress have the integrity to tell those of us who have been subjected to payroll taxes all our lives that the money is gone, that it was not securely invested so that it would be available for us to collect as pensions or medical insurance benefits in our retirement years, that it was stolen by the US Congress to pay for government programs?
Which members of Congress have the integrity to us tell that, had the money not been collected by the government as payroll taxes, had we invested it instead in private funds, expecting to collect it in our retirement years, and had the private fund managers fraudulently squandered our money elsewhere and had no honest means of ever recovering the money they lost, then neither they nor we would have have any moral right whatsoever to steal from our grandchildren in order to cover our living and medical expenses? To survive, we would simply have to come out of retirement and get jobs — the best jobs we could handle given our physical condition, or rely on charity — private, voluntary charity.
Which members of Congress have the integrity to us tell that being victims of Uncle Sam’s ponzi scheme doesn’t entitle any of us, regardless of our age, to steal from our grandchildren?
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Which members of Congress have the integrity to tell those of us who have been subjected to payroll taxes all our lives that the money is gone, that it was not securely invested so that it would be available for us to collect as pensions or medical insurance benefits in our retirement years, that it was stolen by the US Congress to pay for government programs.
Which members of Congress have the integrity to us tell that, had the money not been collected by the government as payroll taxes, had we invested it instead in private funds, expecting to collect it in our retirement years, and had the private fund managers fraudulently squandered our money elsewhere and had no honest means of ever recovering the money they lost, then neither they nor we would have have any moral right whatsoever to steal from our grandchildren in order to cover our living and medical expenses. To survive, we would simply have to come out of retirement and get jobs — the best jobs we could handle given our physical condition, or rely on charity — private, voluntary charity.
Which members of Congress have the integrity to us tell that being victims of Uncle Sam’s ponzi scheme doesn’t entitle any of us, regardless of our age, to steal from our grandchildren?
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Boomers, are you angry yet?? WE should be protesting instead of the teachers!! They didn’t spend one penny to contribute to the retirement benefits they are demanding. YOU did!! Soc Sec was a HUGE ponzi scam perpetrated on us by the Govt. They spent OUR money. It’s gone. Get even…vote for INTEGRITY. RP loves America. He represents the Constitution and the US Citizens. Vote RP for 2012. This isn’t about party affiliations, it’s about America. It’s time to vote to save our Country!!
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Social Security was a HUGE Ponzi scam by the Federal Govt. perpetrated upon the largest segment of our population. Many will never get to collect on the retirement they paid for and depended upon for their retirement. Trust Ron Paul to tell the truth!!
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Social Security was a HUGE Ponzi scam by the Federal Govt. perpetrated upon the largest segment of our population. Many will never get to collect on the retirement they paid for and depended upon for their retirement. Trust Ron Paul to tell the truth!!
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some of the comments here reflect a true lack of evolution!! You are of course kidding that we should continue to allow all people to cross our borders illegally because they are poor. Watch the gumball video and try and learn something! We cannot continue to try and sustain more than our country can support. We are broke and still trying to be big shots and “pick up the tab”. Ron Paul is right. we need to cut up our “no limits” credit cards and live within our means.
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some of the comments here reflect a true lack of evolution!! You are of course kidding that we should continue to allow all people to cross our borders illegally because they are poor. Watch the gumball video and try and learn something! We cannot continue to try and sustain more than our country can support. We are broke and still trying to be big shots and “pick up the tab”. Ron Paul is right. we need to cut up our “no limits” credit cards and live within our means.
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Has Ron Paul addressed Sept 11?
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