VIDEO: Ron Paul at CPAC 2011

Once again Ron Paul looses me on foreign policy. In some aspects, I think Ron Paul is correct. Why are we still paying for defense in Europe and Japan?  Let these nations pay for their own military needs. We can no longer afford to pick up their slack.  I also agree that when we prop up dictators we pay for it in the end. The number one reason why America plays footsie with dictators is because we lack energy independence. It is this lack of independence why we must compromise our principles of freedom and democracy .

However, even if we were energy independent, America simply cannot bury its head in the sand.  As we retreat from the world stage others rush in to fill the void. In our absence the world gets shaped into ways unlike our own and eventually those conflicting views will come knocking on our door. It would be far better to get our energy independence and then engage the world with true principles of freedom and democracy.

Foreign policy aside, I think Ron Paul is a man ahead of his time on the spending issue and the Federal Reserve. Sadly though, Donald Trump is right, Ron Paul will never be president. I think on of the biggest stumbling blocks for Ron Paul getting elected is his supporters.  It seems so many of them are brash and cult like.  Some of them refuse to realize that winning a campaign means building a coalition. You cannot build a coalition by shouting down those you disagree with or insulting those you do not share your vision.  If Ron Paul supporters truly want their guy in the White House, then they will have to take the time to win over some hearts and minds in the Republican Party.  It's not impossible, they are a dedicated lot.

Video: Ron Paul supporters heckle Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld at CPAC

Talking Points Memo: Dick Cheney just popped up here at CPAC to introduce his old pal and Bush administration colleague Donald Rumsfeld. Fans of Ron Paul turned what should have been a friendly moment before an audience of fellow conservatives into a screaming match and protest action that resembled what a Cheney-Rumsfeld hug at the Netroots Nation convention might look like.

Rumsfeld is being given CPAC's "Defender Of The Constitution" award, a concept that apparently rankled Paul supporters in the crowd. Many of them got up and walked out en masse at the mention of Rumsfeld, though some stayed behind in the conference hall to heckle the architects of the invasion of Iraq.

One shout of "where's Bin Laden?" rang out as Cheney spoke of Rumsfeld.

That led to the pro-Cheney contingent (which it should be said greatly outnumbers the opposition) to shout the hecklers down with the familiar "USA, USA" chant.

Methinks the Ron Paul supporters were still chaffing over Donald Trump saying Ron Paul can't win.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Talking Points Memo

Via: The Hill

Say What? Rasmussen Obama 42 Ron Paul 41

I was pretty tied up with work today, but when this alert came over my BlackBerry this afternoon, my eyes bugged out. 

Rasmussen: A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of likely voters finds Obama with 42% support and Paul with 41% of the vote. Eleven percent (11%) prefer some other candidate, and six percent (6%) are undecided. 

My initial thought was how the heck did that happen? Upon reflection though, I think it kind of makes sense. Ron Paul has always been known as the guy ringing the bell about much of our financial woes. Now that he has been proven right on that score, more people are willing to take him seriously.

In addition, as a libertarian, Ron Paul is a complete 180 from Obama. As we watch Obama’s poll numbers hit new lows his ideological opposite looks more and more appealing.

I for one never had a problem with Ron Paul’s economic views. He still hasn’t sold me on his foreign policy views. However, if the choice in 2012 was four more years of Obama or Ron Paul’s isolationist tendencies, then I am vote for Ron Paul!

The Rasmussen Report also has some rather interesting findings for the Tea Parties. 

When it comes to major issues confronting the nation, 48% of voters now say theaverage Tea Party member is closer to their views than Obama is. Forty-four percent (44%) hold the opposite view and believe the president’s views are closer to their own.

Fifty-two percent (52%) believe the average member of the Tea Party movement has a better understanding of the issues facing America today than the average member of Congress. Thirty-five percent (35%) of voters now think Republicans and Democrats are so much alike that an entirely new political party is needed to represent the American people. Nearly half (47%) of voters disagree and say a new party is not needed 

Humm, perhaps the media’s demonizing the Tea Parties isn’t really working.

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Rasmussen Reports

Ron Paul: Obama is not a socialist

Yesterday during his speech at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, Ron Paul defines Obama as a corporatist rather than a socialist. 

"The question has been raised about whether or not our president is a socialist," Paul said. "I am sure there are some people here who believe it. But in the technical sense, in the economic definition of a what a socialist is, no, he's not a socialist."

"He's a corporatist," Paul continued. "And unfortunately we have corporatists inside the Republican party and that means you take care of corporations and corporations take over and run the country."

Paul said examples of President Obama's "corporatism" were evident in the heath care reform bill he signed into law last month. He said the mandate in the bill put the power over health care in the hands of corporations rather than private citizens. But he said the bill wasn't the only place where corporatism is creeping into Washington.

I cannot really agree with Ron Paul on this one. Sure Obama has taken care of some corporations GE and Goldman Sachs readily come to mind. However, there are some corporations that clearly did not fare very well under Obama policies.

Ron Paul is wrong about the mandates in ObamaCare, while the mandates look like a boon to the insurance companies; everything else about ObamaCare is design to collapse them.

Ron Paul also said that repealing ObamaCare is unlikely: 

Despite his opposition to the bill, and despite Republican calls to repeal it, Paul said that when it comes to the landmark health care bill, "throwing it all out is probably not going to happen."

He said the only hope Republicans have is to change the bill for the better. Paul said he will introduce his own legislative fix when the Congress returns from recess next week.

"There's one piece of legislation that I'm going to introduce, it's going to be one page long," he said. "It will be to remove the mandate so you don't have to participate if you don't want to."

Tinkering around the edges? I totally not feeling this!  Since this is only a quote, I will wait until I can see all of Ron Paul’s speech before I comment on this idea.  If anyone stumbles across video of Ron Paul’s full speech, please provide the link.

UPDATE: Full Video Ron Paul's SRLC speech


H/t to follower Teresa for quickly finding the link for me. 

Via: Memeorandum

Via: Talking Points Memo