by Ron Paul
Grover Norquist, the influential conservative activist, recently made some very frank and sobering remarks about the U.S. military budget. Unlike many conservatives, Mr. Norquist understands that American national security interests are not served by the interventionist foreign policy mindset that has dominated both political parties in recent decades. He also understands that there is nothing “conservative” about incurring trillions of dollars in debt to engage in hopeless nation building exercises overseas.
Speaking at the Center for the National interest last week, Norquist stated that “We can afford to have an adequate national defense which keeps us free and safe and keeps everybody afraid to throw a punch at us, as long as we don’t make some of the decisions that previous administrations have, which is to over extend ourselves overseas and think we can run foreign governments.”
He continued: “Bush decided to be the mayor of Baghdad rather than the president of the United States. He decided to occupy Iraq and Afghanistan rather than reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That had tremendous consequences… Richard Nixon said that America’s national defense needs are set in Moscow, meaning that we wouldn’t have to spend so much if they weren’t shooting at us. The guys who followed didn’t notice that the Soviet Union disappeared.”
When a prominent DC conservative like Grover Norquist makes such bold statements, it shows that public support for a truly conservative foreign policy is growing. The American people simply cannot stomach more wars and more debt, especially with our domestic economy in tatters.
The American people should reject the hype about so called defense “cuts” from both side of the political spectrum. When the Obama administration calls for an 18% increase in 2013 military spending, those who propose a 20% increase portray this as a reduction!
Even the supposedly draconian cuts called for in the “sequestration” budget bill would keep military spending at 2006 levels when adjusted for inflation, which is about as high in terms of GDP as during World War II. It’s also more than the top 13 foreign countries spend on defense combined. Furthermore, sequestration only cuts military spending for one year after taking effect. In future years Congress is free to reinstate higher military spending levels– so under sequestration the most drastic case would mean spending $5.2 trillion instead of $5.7 trillion over the next decade.
Is there any amount of money that would satisfy the Pentagon hawks? Even if we were to slash our military budget in half, America easily would remain the world’s dominant military power. Our problems don’t result from a lack of spending. They result from a lack of vision and a profound misunderstanding of the single biggest threat to every American man, woman, and child: the federal debt.
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Please sign the petition for Ron Paul to be given voice in the RNC.
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can you show me some pictures of people starving to death in Detroit?
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saying I support Mitt Romney therefore I support the debt is like saying you support Ron Paul therefore you support Osama Bin Laden because Ron Paul defended Osama Bin Laden during the debates. How ignorant can you be.
I am disappointed that you couldnt get me the number of military donations to Ron Paul. I was looking forward to you posting your ignorance on the commenting sections.
We need Pakistani land to get to Afghanistan. It makes perfect sense to give money to Pakistan.
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Ron Paul 2012 No war for oil
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Thank god. That old hyprocritical kook needs to be tossed in the old folks home.
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More exmaples of Paul’s pork spending. Tell me again what he accomplished?
18 mil for a Commuter Rail Preliminary Engineering Phase (light rail).
4 mil for the “Trails and Sidewalks Connectivity Initiative.”
11 million for a Community-Based Job Training Program.
2 million for a “Clean Energy” pilot project.
5 million from federal taxpayers in order to build a parking garage.
1.2 million for a “Low-income working families Day Care Program”
4.5 million for a new Youth Fair facility.
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More exmaples of Paul’s pork spending. Tell me again what he accomplished?
18 mil for a Commuter Rail Preliminary Engineering Phase (light rail).
4 mil for the “Trails and Sidewalks Connectivity Initiative.”
11 million for a Community-Based Job Training Program.
2 million for a “Clean Energy” pilot project.
5 million from federal taxpayers in order to build a parking garage.
1.2 million for a “Low-income working families Day Care Program”
4.5 million for a new Youth Fair facility.
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Some examples of Paul’s wasteful spending for you
8 mil. from federal taxpayers for Recreational Fishing Phase Piers.
2.5 mil. from taxpayers for new benches, trash receptacles, bike racks, decorative street lighting.
2.5 mil. from taxpayers to modify sidewalks for an Economically Disadvantaged area.
2.5 mil. from federal taxpayers for a “Revelation Missionary Baptist Community Outreach Center
38 mil. in requests for literacy programs to encourage parents to read to their children.
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Some examples of wasteful spending for you.
-16 million to help students in Indonesia get masters degrees
-25 billion a year maintaining vacant government buildings
-30 million to help Pakistani farmers grow more mangoes
-17 million on china environmental programs (yes even while borrowing from them)
-2 billion a year paid to farmers to not farm their land
-500,000 given to Alaska airlines to paint “Chinook salmon” on a plane
-3 million on researching video games effects on people
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Sadly, this RNC, there will be a video tribute to Ron Paul because he will be rapping up his final presidential campaign.
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I know its simple logic the highest 35% tax rate paid for 90s spending. Today the government spends 5 times as much. We would need a tax rate of 175% to fund this government. Impossible.
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If you factor in more people paying taxes today.The government would still need an 80% tax rate on the rich to keep up with spending. 80% would be an outrageous rate and the thing is the government continues to grow. Therefore taxes must rise if reform isn’t made. No one wants an 80% tax rate.
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Yes the rich were taxed higher during the 90′s BUT the government spends 5 times more today then in the 90s. The highest tax rate is 35% that worked fine in the 90s. Today you would have to multiply that by 5 to keep up with spending that’s 175%. Obviously impossible. Wasteful spending is anything we couldn’t afford in the first place. This is why we need something different. With programs like financial aid everyone has the opportunity to earn $30,000 the current poverty level is abt $12,000.
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Happy Birthday Ron Paul on the Aug 20th. Hope you had a good one.
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“What do you do when the rich have no more money?”
You know the rich were taxed at a higher rate during the 90s and I didn’t hear the wealthy complaining.
I agree military spending must be cut. But what else would you identify as “wasteful spending”?
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Obama is spending just as much as Romney would. Under Obama the government tripled in size. You would have to increase taxes every year to keep the debt down. What do you do when the rich have no more money? It would be much easier to cut wasteful pointless spending. Then every American wins Rich, middle class, and the poor. The last major country that needed to cut military spending and didn’t was the soviet union. The country failed because they didn’t change there ways when they needed to.
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Good thing I’m not supporting Romney then. And I support raising taxes on the rich to help pay down the debt. Still I have to ask, what did Ron Paul accomplish?
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I wish Ron Paul would win..it would get people back to work and government out of our personal lives/homes…however I fear the majority of Americans have become complacent with Mitt or Obama..both of which I feel fall short in different areas from what the people really NEED.
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People die everyday from hunger in Detroit
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You support Mitt Romney you support debt and hard times in America. Because he will not cut spending. It’s just that simple.
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Military personal can support anyone they want while out of uniform.Ron Paul’s average donation was $20 by many people making up a large sum together.That is not an entire paycheck. Times are tough in America therefore it is absurd to give aid to Pakistan. 20 trillion in debt. YOU CANT SPEND MORE THAN YOU MAKE AND END UP EVEN. How ignorant can you be.
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Should we give these countries money and is it legal to give them money are two completely different topics. We can do it through treaties which makes it legal. Stop mindlessly repeating that we cant give them money when we can. Read the Constitution rather than listening to Ron Paul cherry pick to push his libertarian agenda.
Every American has food on the table. Go find me someone who starved to death in the streets. You wont find it.
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Soldiers dont make lots of money. So when you say Ron Paul got mostly small donations, that would be consistent with what I said with a few soldiers donating most of their paychecks to Ron Paul. Why dont you tell me the number of military personnel that donated to Ron Paul then go pull up soldiers pay charts and you will see that I am right.
BTW, soldiers dont have freedom of speech. How are you going to tell me they take part in politics. Look at why General McChrystal was fired.
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IAMWHOIAM w.e the fuc*. All your opinions on why he shouldn’t be president is because of the way he looks??? PLZ JUMP OFF A CLIFF! He has years of experience. BUT THEY MAY LET HIM WIN SO HE CAN TAKE THE JOB OF DEALING WITH ANGRY AMERICANS WHEN THE SHIT HITS THE FAN b c of their corrupt actions.
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True conservatives like Ron Paul and Barry Goldwaters though they might not agree on many issues but they both are true fiscal conservatives! The GOP has turned into this far right monster! They are misleading people with lies fear and ignorance. Mitt Romney is a corporate scumbag! I really want to see his tax returns! The GOP is trying to buy this government!
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Look at this shit that the GOP is trying to pull at the RNC to keep Ron Paul from being nominated or even an allotted time to speak:
/watch?v=cQvszfnOSY8
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Mitt Romney has no intentions to cut military spending. He thinks its ok to continue going into debt.So does everyone else running besides Ron Paul. Soon it will be to late this amount of spending CANNOT be sustained without raising taxes at least 25% and no one wants that.
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We all know in the end Paul is supporting Romney. His son has already jumped on board.If Paul was serious he would have run 3rd party, not in a primary where he knew he didn’t have a chance.
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Then I heartily welcome you into the fold of the anarcho-capitalists. Smash the state.
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WronG PAUL IS A BIG FUCKIN’ JOKE!
HE’S A FUCKIN’ SCARY LOOKING CRACKPOT!
HE’S TOO FUCKIN’ CRAZY TO BE PRESIDENT!
HE’S TOO FUCKIN’ UGLY TO BE PRESIDENT!
HE’S TOO FUCKIN’ OLD TO BE PRESIDENT!
HE’S TOO FUCKED IN THE HEAD TO BE PRESIDENT!
HE’S TOO FUCKIN’ PSYCHO TO BE PRESIDENT!
AND YOU’RE TOO FUCKIN’ WACKO TO EVEN SEE IT!
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Yes we all know it’s well known. Why wouldn’t he strike a deal in his favor? why wouldn’t he want to take 17 of the 46 delegates?
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Ron Paul gets the most from the military because the military doesnt take part in politics. Most of the donations were a few soldiers giving most of their paychecks to Ron Paul. Go to places like Fayettville North Carolina, Fort Benning, Fort Cambell, where large amounts of soldiers live. Soldiers barely take part in politics and you see very FEW political signs. A small minority of soldiers donated most of their paychecks to Ron Paul.
Romney is a Conservative not a libertartian.
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America isnt a democracy, we r a Republic. We elect representatives on our behalf and they go to Washington. Who cares if Congress has a 9% approval rating. If you like your Congressman vote for them, if not vote for someone else. To say its about policing the world is narrow minded.
Yes we can make treaties with dictators to give them money. The Constitution allows for that. Tell me where it says we cant. Just b/c violates Ron Pauls libertarian principles doesnt make it unconstitutional
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lol that is odd.
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Ron paul is a FREEMASON, one of the persons funding him is Peter Thiel, a BILDERBERG group member, and he’s very good friends with Mitt Romney. Webster Tarpley, the man who’s warning us about WW3 and who warned people about Obama being a bilderberg and being funded by goldman saches before he was elected has articles on Ron Paul don’t be fooled again. Elections are FAKE wake up already..
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