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Representative Ron Paul – Republican (Texas) - Campaign Website 
Ron Paul, born August 20, 1935, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. |
The political positions of Ron Paul have been called conservative, Constitutionalist, and libertarian. Paul gained his reputation as "Dr. No" with his contrarian insistence on "never vot[ing] for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution", along with his medical degree. Paul's foreign policy of nonintervention made him the only 2008 Republican presidential candidate to have voted against the Iraq War Resolution in 2002. He voted for the Authorization for Use of Military Force in response to the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, but suggested war alternatives such as authorizing the president to grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal targeting specific terrorists. He advocates withdrawal from the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization for reasons of maintaining strong national sovereignty. Civil liberties concerns have led him to oppose the Patriot Act, a national ID card, federal government use of torture, domestic surveillance, and presidential autonomy; he supports free trade, rejecting membership in NAFTA and the World Trade Organization as "managed trade". He supports tighter border security and ending welfare benefits for illegal aliens, and opposes birthright citizenship and amnesty; he voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006. Paul adheres to the economic philosophy of the Austrian School of economics, which holds that increasing the amount of money in circulation eventually leads to economic ruin; he has authored several books on the subject. He has pictures of classical liberal economists Friedrich Hayek and Ludwig von Mises hanging on his office wall. Paul regularly votes against almost all proposals for new government spending, initiatives, or taxes. He has pledged never to raise taxes, and states he has never voted to approve an unbalanced budget. He would totally abolish the individual income tax while achieving revenue neutrality, by scaling back the federal budget seven years. He would substantially reduce the government's role in individual lives and in the functions of foreign and domestic states; he says Republicans have lost their commitment to limited government and have become the party of big government. Paul supports elimination of most federal government agencies, such as the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Emergency Management Administration, and the Interstate Commerce Commission, calling them unnecessary bureacracies. He argues for hard money such as some form of silver or gold standard, and advocates gradual elimination of the Federal Reserve central bank for many reasons, believing that economic volatility is decreased when the free market determines interest rates and money supply. Paul supports states' rights, gun ownership, habeas corpus for political detainees, jury nullification rights, and a Constitutional amendment allowing voluntary and unofficial school prayer; he also favors allowing workers to opt out of Social Security, expanding the free market in health care, recognizing private property rights for pollution prevention, and increasing ballot access. Paul opposes the draft, the federal War on Drugs, socialized health care, the welfare state, foreign aid, judicial activism, federal death penalties, and federal regulation of marriage, of education, and of the Internet. He supports revising enforcement of the military "don't ask, don't tell" policy, which he calls "decent", to focus on disruptive behavior and include members with heterosexual as well as homosexual behavior issues. He has voted against federal funding of joint adoption by unmarried couples, including same-sex adoption. Paul calls himself "an unshakable foe of abortion", and believes regulation of medical decisions about maternal or fetal health is "best handled at the state level". |
| On Abortion - |
Abortion * Paul is pro-life, and calls himself an "unshakable foe of abortion." He believes that, for the most part, states should retain jurisdiction - in accordance with the federal Constitution. Paul refers to his background as an obstetrician as being influential on his view, recalling a late abortion performed during his residency, "It was pretty dramatic for me to see a two-and-a-half-pound baby taken out crying and breathing and put in a bucket." During a May 15, 2007, appearance on the Fox News talk show Hannity and Colmes, Ron Paul argued that his pro-life position was consistent with his libertarian values, asking, "If you can't protect life then how can you protect liberty?" Furthermore, Paul argued in this appearance that since he believes libertarians support non-aggression, libertarians should oppose abortion because abortion is "an act of aggression" against a fetus, which he believes to be alive, human, and possessing legal rights. Paul has said that the 9th and 10th amendment to the United States Constitution do not grant the federal government any authority to legalize or ban abortion, stating that "the federal government has no authority whatsoever to involve itself in the abortion issue". Paul introduced The Sanctity of Life Act of 2005, a bill that would have defined human life to begin at conception, and removed challenges to prohibitions on abortion from federal court jurisdiction. In 2005, Paul introduced the We the People Act, which would have removed "any claim based upon the right of privacy, including any such claim related to any issue of ... reproduction" from the jurisdiction of federal courts. If made law, either of these acts would allow states to prohibit abortion. In 2005, Paul voted against restricting interstate transport of minors to get abortions. In order to "offset the effects of Roe v. Wade," Paul voted in favor of the federal Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003. He has described partial birth abortion as a "barbaric procedure". He also introduced H.R. 4379 that would prohibit the Supreme Court from ruling on issues relating to abortion, birth control, the definition of marriage and homosexuality and would cause the court's precedents in these areas to no longer be binding. He once said, "The best solution, of course, is not now available to us. That would be a Supreme Court that recognizes that for all criminal laws, the several states retain jurisdiction." Stem cell research * Paul considers the stem cell debate to be another divisive issue over which the federal government has no jurisdiction: Ron Paul voted NO on a bill banning human cloning at the federal level. |
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| On Civil Rights - |
Civil liberties * Paul broke with his party by voting against the Patriot Act in 2001; he also voted against its 2005 enactment. He has said, "Everything we have done in response to the 9-11 attacks, from the Patriot Act to the war in Iraq, has reduced freedom in America." Paul opposes reintroducing the draft, and has spoken against torture and the apparent abuse of executive authority during the Iraq War to override Constitutional rights. Habeas corpus * In the first Republican debate in California, Paul stated that he would never violate habeas corpus, through which detainees can seek relief from unlawful imprisonment. This is also a pledge in the American Freedom Agenda signed by Paul. Domestic surveillance * Paul has spoken against the domestic surveillance program conducted by the National Security Agency on American citizens. He believes the role of government is to protect American citizens' privacy, not violate it. He has signed the American Freedom Agenda pledge not to violate Americans' rights through domestic wiretapping. LGBT issues Adoption * In 1999, Paul voted in favor of prohibiting the allocation of federal funds on four unrelated amendments to a House appropriations bill for the government of the District of Columbia. One of these amendments (H.AMDT.356 to HR 2587) would have prohibited "any [federal] funding for the joint adoption of a child between individuals who are not related by blood or marriage." The amendment would have prevented federal money from being spent on vetting or registering the adoption of a child to any unmarried couple, same sex or heterosexual, in the District of Columbia. Marriage * Paul opposes "federal efforts to redefine marriage as something other than a union between one man and one woman." He believes that recognizing or legislating marriages should be left to the states. For this reason, Paul voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004. He spoke in support of the Defense of Marriage Act, passed in 1996, which limited the Constitution's Full Faith and Credit Clause by allowing states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. He co-sponsored the Marriage Protection Act, which would have barred judges from hearing cases pertaining to the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. Paul has said that federal officials changing the definition of marriage to allow same-sex marriage is "an act of social engineering profoundly hostile to liberty." Paul stated that "Americans understandably fear" the nationwide legalization of same-sex marriage. He says that in a best case scenario, governments would enforce contracts and grant divorces but otherwise have no say in marriage. In 2005, Paul introduced the We the People Act, which would have removed from the jurisdiction of federal courts "any claim based upon the right of privacy, including any such claim related to any issue of sexual practices, orientation, or reproduction" and "any claim based upon equal protection of the laws to the extent such claim is based upon the right to marry without regard to sex or sexual orientation." If made law, these provisions would allow states to prohibit sexual practices and same-sex marriage. Don't Ask, Don't Tell * In the third Republican debate on June 5, 2007, Rep. Paul said about the United States military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy: Paul elaborated his position in a 65-minute interview at Google, stating that he would not discharge troops for being homosexual if their behavior was not disruptive. |
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| On Crime - |
Capital Punishment * Paul stated in August 2007 that at the state level "capital punishment is a deserving penalty for those who commit crime," but that he does not believe that the federal government should use it as a penalty. In Tavis Smiley's All-American Forum debate at Morgan State in September 2007, Paul stated: "Over the years I've held pretty rigid to all my beliefs, but I've changed my opinion of the death penalty. For federal purposes I no longer believe in the death penalty. I believe it has been issued unjustly. If you're rich, you get away with it; if you're poor and you're from the inner city you're more likely to be prosecuted and convicted, and today, with the DNA evidence, there've been too many mistakes, and I am now opposed to the federal death penalty." |
| On Drugs - |
Medical Marijuana * Paul was Co-Sponsor of H.R. 2592, the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana and is affirmative to the question "Should marijuana be a medical option?" The federal government's involvement in this industry has led to regulatory conflict with the states that have made it an option, such as California after passage of Proposition 215. Industrial Hemp * Paul believes that states should be able to decide whether to allow hemp farming. He contends that this would help North Dakota and other agriculture states, where farmers have requested the ability to farm hemp for years. In 2005 he introduced H.R. 3037, the Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2005, "to amend the Controlled Substances Act to exclude industrial hemp from the definition of marijuana, and for other purposes". This bill would have given the states the power to regulate farming of hemp. The measure would be a first since the national prohibition of industrial hemp farming in the United States. On February 13, 2007 Paul introduced H.R. 1009, the "Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2007", with nine original co-sponsors: Representatives Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Barney Frank (D-MA), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY), Dennis Kucinich (D-OH), Jim McDermott (D-WA), George Miller (D-CA), Pete Stark (D-CA), and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA). The Economist wrote that his support for hemp farming could appeal to farmers in Iowa. Prohibition * Paul sees prohibition of drugs as ineffective. "Prohibition doesn’t work. Prohibition causes crime." He believes that drug abuse should be treated as a medical problem, "We treat alcoholism now as a medical problem and I, as a physician, think we should treat drug addiction as a medical problem and not as a crime." The Constitution does not enumerate or delegate to Congress the authority to ban or regulate drugs in general. Ron Paul believes in personal responsibility, but also sees inequity in the current application of drug enforcement laws. "...when people commit violence whether they’re under the influence of drugs, prescription drugs, illegal drugs or alcohol they should be punished severely. We shouldn’t be putting people in prison for life with no chance of getting out… that never have committed a violent crime. At the same time we hear of cases where murderers or rapists get out after five or ten years or never even go to prison, it doesn’t make any sense." When asked about his position on implementing the 10th Amendment Republican Congressman Ron Paul explained, "Certain medical procedures and medical choices, I would allow the states to determine that. The state law should prevail not the Federal Government." Speaking specifically about DEA raids on medical marijuana clinics Paul said, "They’re unconstitutional..." He went on to advocate states' rights and personal choice; "You’re not being compassionate by taking medical marijuana from someone who’s suffering from cancer or AIDS… People should have freedom of choice. We certainly should respect the law and the law says that states should be able to determine this." |
| On Education - |
* Rep. Paul has asserted that he does not think there should be any federal control over education and education should be handled at a local and state level. He opposes the federal No Child Left Behind Act, voting against it in 2001 and remaining opposed to it as an ineffective federal program. * Paul has rejected government-issued vouchers in favor of education tax credits. Paul supports the right of state and local school districts to implement education vouchers according to the 10th Amendment of the Constitution, but he does not believe they should exist on a federal level. He says that vouchers are given to certain students favored over others, and it is not fair for some middle-class parents to have to pay their child's own way at a private school while other parents' children are selected for government voucher programs. He says that in their current form, vouchers are a form of welfare given to some over others; they would be worthwhile if they resulted in an equal amount of money being taken out of the public school system, but the end result is usually more money on both vouchers for private schools and more money for the public school system. He says that vouchers would only work if they gave public schools some competition and forced public schools to get better, but when the public school gets all the money it would have and more even with vouchers as competition, the public system has no reason to get better. * Congressman Paul says that when voucher proponents say that students have a right to a good education and give vouchers as the answer, it means that private schools must fall under federal regulations to ensure that they are meeting students' rights. He says that if given the choice of which private school to attend, parents may choose to use their taxpayer-voucher to attend a school objectionable to some, such as one run by, for example, the Nation of Islam, and for that situation not to happen, government control over which schools are acceptable for vouchers would have to be injected. He asserts that colleagues have mentioned before that to take vouchers, religious schools would have to seek government accreditation under the Department of Education. He argues that this would in effect be a forced accreditation process because schools that choose not to take part will not be seen as having the "government's seal of approval" and may go out of business. He points to how the federal government has used federal funding for universities to tell universities what policies they must accept, and that the government would try to do the same with private schools. * Paul has sponsored a Constitutional amendment which would allow students to pray privately in public schools, but would not allow anyone to be forced to pray against their will or allow the state to compose any type of prayer or officially sanction any prayer to be said in schools. |
| On Energy & Oil - |
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| On Environment - |
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| On Families & Children - |
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| On Foreign Policy - |
Nonintervention * Paul upholds George Washington's foreign policy of nonintervention, which avoids "entangling alliances". Under this policy, war must be fought only to protect citizens, it must be declared by Congress, and it must be concluded when the victory is complete as planned: "The American public deserves clear goals and a definite exit strategy in Iraq." Because Paul favors free trade rather than protectionism, by definition, he is not an isolationist but a classical noninterventionist in the tradition of Thomas Jefferson: "At the same time, we must not isolate ourselves." |
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* Paul is a proponent of free trade, but has opposed some "free trade agreements" (FTA's). He calls NAFTA and similar proposals "international managed trade" agreements, saying they serve special interests and big business, not citizens. He often proposes instead that the U.S. engage in unilateral free trade by the simple abolition of trade barriers at home (similar to Hong Kong's approach). * He voted against the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), holding that it increased the size of government, eroded U.S. sovereignty, and was unconstitutional. He has also voted against the Australia – U.S. FTA, the U.S. – Singapore FTA, and the U.S. – Chile FTA, and voted to withdraw from the WTO. He believes that "fast track" powers, given by Congress to the President to devise and negotiate FTA's on the country's behalf, are unconstitutional, and that Congress, rather than the executive branch, should construct FTA's. |
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| On Gun Control - |
Second Amendment Rights * The only 2008 presidential candidate to earn Gun Owners of America's (GOA) A+ rating, Paul has authored and sponsored pro-Second Amendment legislation in Congress. He has also fought for the right of pilots to be armed. In the first chapter of his book, Freedom Under Siege, Paul argued that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to place a check on government tyranny, not to merely grant hunting rights or allow self-defense. When asked whether individuals should be allowed to own machine guns, Paul responded, "Whether it's an automatic weapon or not is, I think, irrelevant." Paul believes that a weapons ban at the federal or state level does not work either. "Of course true military-style automatic rifles remain widely available to criminals on the black market. So practically speaking, the assault weapons ban does nothing to make us safer. " Rather, he sees school shootings, plane hijackings, and other such events as a result of prohibitions on self-defense. |
| On Health Care - |
* Paul has called for passage of tax relief bills to reduce health care costs for families: Paul voted for the Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation Act, which would allow the government to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to get the best price for drugs provided in the Medicare Part D prescription drug program. * Rep. Paul believes that the more government interferes in medicine, the higher prices rise and the less efficient care becomes. He points to how many people today are upset with the HMO system, but few people realize that HMOs came about because of a federal mandate in 1973. He also points to the 1974 ERISA law that grants tax benefits to employers for providing insurance but not individuals; he prefers a system which grants tax credits to individuals. He supports the U.S. converting to a free market health care system, saying in an interview on New Hampshire NPR that the present system is akin to a "corporatist-fascist" system which keeps prices high. He says that in industries with freer markets prices go down due to technological innovation, but because of the corporatist system, this is prevented from happening in health care. He opposes socialized health care promoted by Democrats as being harmful because they lead to bigger and less efficient government. * Paul has said that although he prefers tax credits to socialized medicine, he would be willing to "prop up" the current systems of Medicare and Medicaid with money saved by bringing troops home from foreign bases in places such as those in South Korea. |
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| On Immigration - |
* Paul believes that the government, neglecting a Constitutional responsibility to protect its borders, has concentrated instead on unconstitutionally policing foreign countries. During the Cold War, he supported Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, intended to replace the "strategic offense" doctrine of mutual assured destruction with strategic defense. * Paul's immigration positions sometimes differ with libertarian think tanks and the official platform of the U.S. Libertarian Party. He believes illegal immigrants take a toll on welfare and Social Security, concerned that such programs make the U.S. a magnet for illegal aliens, and that uncontrolled immigration increases welfare payments and exacerbates the strain on an already highly unbalanced federal budget. Paul's Congressional voting record earned a lifetime grade of B and a recent grade of B+ from Americans for Better Immigration. |
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| On Principles & Values - |
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| On Social Security - |
Paul says that Social Security is in "bad shape... the numbers aren't there"; funds are depleting because Congress borrows from the Social Security fund every year to fund its budget. He says that he is one of the few members of Congress who has voted for so little spending that he has never voted to borrow from existing Social Security funds. He believes that to stem the Social Security crisis, Congress should cut down on spending, but even with that, the commitment cannot be met. He thinks the only way to meet the commitment to elderly citizens who depend on Social Security is to reassess monetary policies and spending and stop borrowing so much from foreign investors, such as those in China, who hold US treasury bonds. He believes that young Americans should have the opportunity to opt out of the system if they would like to not pay Social Security taxes. |
| On Tax Reform - |
Lower Taxes and Smaller Government * Paul believes the size of federal government must be decreased substantially. He supports the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service, most Cabinet departments and the Federal Reserve. Paul's campaign slogan for 2004 was "The Taxpayers' Best Friend!'". He has said that he would completely eliminate the income tax, and would accomplish this by shrinking the size and scope of government to its constitutional limits. As Congressman, Paul has asserted that Congress had no power to impose a direct income tax and supports the repeal of the 16th Amendment. Paul has signed a pledge not to raise taxes or create new taxes, given by Americans for Tax Freedom. Paul has also been an advocate of Employee-owned corporations (ESOP). In 1999, he co-sponsored a bill titled The Employee Ownership Act of 1999 which would have created a new type of employee owned and controlled corporation (EOCC). This new type of corporation would have been exempt from most federal taxes.John Berthoud, president of the National Taxpayers Union, an organization that promotes lower tax rates, has said, "Ron Paul has always proven himself to be a leader in the fight for taxpayer rights and fiscal responsibility... No one can match his record on behalf of taxpayers." Paul has been called a "Taxpayer's Friend" by Berthoud's organization every year since he returned to Congress in 1996, scoring an average percentage of 100%, tying for the highest score (averaged from 1992 to 2005) among all 2008 Presidential candidates who have served in Congress, along with Tom Tancredo. National Federation of Independent Business president Jack Farris has said, "Congressman Ron Paul is a true friend of small business.... He is committed to a pro-small-business agenda of affordable health insurance, lower taxes, tort reform, and the elimination of burdensome mandates." Paul has stated: "I agree on getting rid of the IRS, but I want to replace it with nothing, not another tax. But let's not forget the inflation tax." He has advocated that the reduction of government will make an income tax unnecessary. In other statements he has suggested that a national sales tax may be one possibility if all taxes can not be eliminated. *Paul's opposition to the Federal Reserve is supported by the Austrian Business Cycle Theory, which holds that instead of containing inflation, the Federal Reserve, in theory and in practice, is responsible for causing inflation. In addition to eroding the value of individual savings, this creation of inflation leads to booms and busts in the economy. Thus Paul argues that government, via a central bank (the Federal Reserve), is the primary cause of economic recessions and depressions. He has stated in numerous speeches that most of his colleagues in Congress are unwilling to abolish the central bank because it funds many government activities. He says that to compensate for eliminating the "hidden tax" of inflation, Congress and the president would instead have to raise taxes or cut government services, either of which could be politically damaging to their reputations. He states that the "inflation tax" is a tax on the poor, because the Federal Reserve prints more money which subsidizes select industries, while poor people pay higher prices for goods as more money is placed in circulation. His warnings of impending economic crisis and a loss of confidence in the dollar in 2005 and 2006 were at the time derided by many economists, however events in 2007 seem to vindicate his positions. In an interview with Neil Cavuto on Fox News, June 26, 2007, in speaking of income tax resistance, Paul said that he supports the right of those who engage in non-violent resistance when they feel a law is unjust, bringing up the names of Martin Luther King, Lysander Spooner, and Mahatma Gandhi as examples of practitioners of peaceful civil disobedience, but he cautioned that those who do should be aware that the consequences could be imprisonment. He said that current income tax laws assume that people are guilty and they must then prove they are innocent, and he believes this aspect of tax law is unfair. However, he said that he prefers to work for improved tax laws by getting elected to Congress and trying to change the laws themselves rather than simply not paying the tax. |
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| On War & Peace - |
Iraq * Paul objected to and voted against the Resolution authorizing war in Iraq, and continues to oppose U.S. presence in Iraq, charging the government with using the War on Terror to curtail civil liberties. He believes a just declaration of war after the World Trade Center terror attacks would have been against the actual terrorists, al Qaeda, rather than against Iraq, which had no connection to the attacks. When America seeks war, Paul believes Congress must fully approve it with a complete declaration of war, which would allow all resources to be dedicated to victory. However, the original authorization to invade Iraq (Public Law 107-243), passed in late 2002, authorized the president to use military force against Iraq to achieve only the following two specific objectives: "(1) defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq; and (2) enforce all relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq." Accordingly, Paul introduced legislation to add a sunset clause to the original authorization. During the 2003 invasion, he found himself "annoyed by the evangelicals’ being so supportive of pre-emptive war, which seems to contradict everything that I was taught as a Christian. The religion is based on somebody who’s referred to as the Prince of Peace." Paul's consistent opposition to the war expanded his conservative and libertarian Republican support base to include liberal Democrats. For example, the Austin, Texas, Chronicle, an alternative liberal newspaper, shifted its description of Paul from "erratic" to strong and principled. Iran * Paul rejects the "dangerous military confrontation approaching with Iran and supported by many in leadership on both sides of the aisle." He claims the current circumstances with Iran mirror those under which the Iraq War began, and has urged Congress not to authorize war with Iran. In the House, only Paul and Dennis Kucinich voted against the Rothman-Kirk Resolution, which asks the U.N. to charge Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with violating its genocide convention and charter. |
| On Welfare & Poverty - |
* Source: Wikipedia |
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