Spending Sprees & Liberty Trees
By Drew Hall
Monday 28th September 2009
Monday 28th September 2009
It is no news that America faces a financial and political crisis. The federal government has currently racked up nearly $12 trillion in debt, in addition to $60 trillion in Medicare and Social Security obligations. President Obama offered “change,” but is currently continuing on the destructive path of deficit spending that made George W. Bush so unpopular. The current administration also seeks to add to the country’s 50,000 page tax code. America needs someone to balance the budget, but the people must be careful what they wish for. The “conservative” choices have been nothing of the sort. Bush was applauded by Hugo Chavez for nationalizing the banks, and Senator McCain was one of the many who voted for the ineffective stimulus packages; hardly “limited government” moves by the GOP. Many are leaving a party base that no longer stands for its former ideals.
Fortunately, there is one man who says he has the answers - Congressman Ron Paul. “The Most Honest Man in Congress” has an impeccable voting record and a curriculum vitae to boot. An OB/GYN from Texas, Dr Paul has delivered over four thousand babies, and is an outspoken critic of abortion. He volunteered as a flight surgeon in Vietnam, has written a #1 New York Times Bestseller and has been a member of Congress for over thirty years. The two-time presidential candidate has never once voted to raise taxes, and has long advocated a return to the government intended by America’s Founding Fathers in the 1780s. His mantra: the United States Constitution is very limited in its design, giving the federal government only a few specific roles. Congressman Paul argues that most of the Federal government’s expansion is unconstitutional and unnecessary. More government creates more restrictions and less individual liberty. “Freedom,” Paul states, “is not defined by safety. Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference.” Ron Paul is a strong critic of the Iraq War and advocates an immediate withdrawal. He feels that the Republican Party previously supported a non-interventionist foreign policy, but has since abandoned such a stance. Repeating the words of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams, Paul calls for “peace, commerce, honest friendship with all, entangling alliances with none” and “America must not go in search of monsters to destroy.”
Most recently Ron Paul has focused his freedom efforts on America’s central bank, known as the Federal Reserve. A strong proponent of Austrian School economics, the Congressman has pointed out numerous faults in the Keynesian theory of central economic planning. Austrian School theory states that central banks’ attempts to lower interest rates and inflationary spending has created the prolonged boom-bust cycles that have led to the Great Depression and other recessions since that time. Put very simply, the manipulation of credit distorts real-market prices, creating imaginary market prices that lead to mal-investment by consumers. The numbers are hard to ignore. To date the dollar has lost over 95% of its value since 1913 due to inflationary measures. Ron Paul now sponsors a bill that would permit audits of the Federal Reserve, which currently withholds all information on how taxpayer money is being spent. “Americans deserve to know where their money is going,” he claims. The highly popular bill has majority support in the House, including over 100 Democrats.
In 2008 Dr Paul used his leftover presidential campaign money (a rare feat) to start a non-profit organization based on spreading the fundamentals of liberty and sound money. His “Campaign for Liberty” is quickly growing and has over 200,000 members from around the world. This grassroots movement has gained serious momentum, thanks to members contacting their Representatives, urging them to co-sponsor Paul’s bill. Thousands of TEA (Taxed Enough Already) rallies have been held this year alone. These rallies echo the sentiments of the 1773 Boston Tea Party, when colonists, upset with King George’s high taxes on goods, raided a merchant ship and dumped its contents into Boston harbor. Violence excluded, the TEA parties today advocate a return to a smaller national government with lower taxes, and include numerous local and state issues. Colonial Boston was also home to the revered Liberty Tree, an elm tree that served as a meeting place for liberty-minded individuals to gather and organize for the cause of freedom. Today Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty does much the same thing; Americans seeking a freer society and individual liberty can participate in one of the hundreds of Campaign for Liberty chapters nationwide. “We must legalize freedom to the maximum extent possible,” says Paul. “Let the revolution begin!”
Fortunately, there is one man who says he has the answers - Congressman Ron Paul. “The Most Honest Man in Congress” has an impeccable voting record and a curriculum vitae to boot. An OB/GYN from Texas, Dr Paul has delivered over four thousand babies, and is an outspoken critic of abortion. He volunteered as a flight surgeon in Vietnam, has written a #1 New York Times Bestseller and has been a member of Congress for over thirty years. The two-time presidential candidate has never once voted to raise taxes, and has long advocated a return to the government intended by America’s Founding Fathers in the 1780s. His mantra: the United States Constitution is very limited in its design, giving the federal government only a few specific roles. Congressman Paul argues that most of the Federal government’s expansion is unconstitutional and unnecessary. More government creates more restrictions and less individual liberty. “Freedom,” Paul states, “is not defined by safety. Freedom is defined by the ability of citizens to live without government interference.” Ron Paul is a strong critic of the Iraq War and advocates an immediate withdrawal. He feels that the Republican Party previously supported a non-interventionist foreign policy, but has since abandoned such a stance. Repeating the words of Presidents Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams, Paul calls for “peace, commerce, honest friendship with all, entangling alliances with none” and “America must not go in search of monsters to destroy.”
Most recently Ron Paul has focused his freedom efforts on America’s central bank, known as the Federal Reserve. A strong proponent of Austrian School economics, the Congressman has pointed out numerous faults in the Keynesian theory of central economic planning. Austrian School theory states that central banks’ attempts to lower interest rates and inflationary spending has created the prolonged boom-bust cycles that have led to the Great Depression and other recessions since that time. Put very simply, the manipulation of credit distorts real-market prices, creating imaginary market prices that lead to mal-investment by consumers. The numbers are hard to ignore. To date the dollar has lost over 95% of its value since 1913 due to inflationary measures. Ron Paul now sponsors a bill that would permit audits of the Federal Reserve, which currently withholds all information on how taxpayer money is being spent. “Americans deserve to know where their money is going,” he claims. The highly popular bill has majority support in the House, including over 100 Democrats.
In 2008 Dr Paul used his leftover presidential campaign money (a rare feat) to start a non-profit organization based on spreading the fundamentals of liberty and sound money. His “Campaign for Liberty” is quickly growing and has over 200,000 members from around the world. This grassroots movement has gained serious momentum, thanks to members contacting their Representatives, urging them to co-sponsor Paul’s bill. Thousands of TEA (Taxed Enough Already) rallies have been held this year alone. These rallies echo the sentiments of the 1773 Boston Tea Party, when colonists, upset with King George’s high taxes on goods, raided a merchant ship and dumped its contents into Boston harbor. Violence excluded, the TEA parties today advocate a return to a smaller national government with lower taxes, and include numerous local and state issues. Colonial Boston was also home to the revered Liberty Tree, an elm tree that served as a meeting place for liberty-minded individuals to gather and organize for the cause of freedom. Today Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty does much the same thing; Americans seeking a freer society and individual liberty can participate in one of the hundreds of Campaign for Liberty chapters nationwide. “We must legalize freedom to the maximum extent possible,” says Paul. “Let the revolution begin!”
