Going the Distance, My Last Post to This Blog

Well, here ends my posts to this little blog. My time in Italy has passed and my hope for Ron Paul's election is lessened. However, he has certainly started a movement which will only continue to grow. Truth and accountability always win. Ron Paul's race received more attention than anyone anticipated. And I wish him the best in his crucial race for re-election to Congress. And to wrap up this blog, please, please read the following from Doug Wead, the man who coined the term "compassionate conservative."



The Mouse that roared: Why Ron Paul won the election

In his blog today, Doug Wead (the historian and political operative who coined the phrase compassionate conservative) writes why Ron Paul won the election. Coming from inside the beltway, he pays tribute to Dr Paul's vision and the revolution and explains why it will eventally win. This is a moving piece coming from a place where we have normally been ignored and even repudiated.



Well now, Republicans say, we have a nominee. That may very well be but there was only one clear winner in the confusing GOP nominating contest and it was not John McCain. The winner was Ron Paul. And the effects of his win will be felt for years to come.

Ron Paul made a classic political mistake. He told the truth. In debate after debate he pointed at his party, his president, his fellow contenders for the GOP nomination, shouting aloud like the little boy in the proverbial story, “they have no clothes” and lo and behold, we looked and they didn’t. They were all naked.

He showed that the conservative movement has lost its way, its moral authority and its logic. He showed us that we have become a red team versus blue team. That since we have decided that this is a political war and all normal rules are suspended, conservatives can do liberal things to win it. Conservatives can run up big deficits if it helps their side win. They can dole out needless pork if it elects another “conservative” to congress. They can go to war if it makes their president look like a leader and wins him another term.

But in the process, Ron Paul showed us, that we have lost our way. We are no longer conservatives. We are fighting for power not for principles. We have become corrupted by the process and the only way back is to retrace our steps and find all the things we discarded along he way.

Barry Goldwater lighted a similar fire with his Conscience of a Conservative. Its truth and arguments were so obvious and so honest that one laughed aloud while reading it. But Goldwater, himself, was doomed to political defeat. And Ron Paul had no chance to win this election either. One could see that when he first opened his mouth.

And yet, the words and arguments of Ron Paul are still resonating. They still hang over this election. They are haunting and troubling. They are producing blogs and papers and books and like Goldwater’s revolution they will one day very likely produce their own Ronald Reagan. And when those heady days happen a small but hearty band of pioneers, who first had the nerve to join him and start shouting from the street, “They aren’t wearing any clothes,” will be able to say that they could see what the country missed. They were there when history was made.

John McCain and his poorly chosen words, of staying in Iraq a hundred years, have almost guaranteed that he will be the answer to the trivia question, who was the Republican candidate who lost to the ticket that claimed the first woman and black for the presidency? Another question may very well be, “What other candidate ran that year and launched the movement that has dominated national politics for the last generation?”

And the answer will be Ron Paul.

CNN's Meaningles Nod to Ron Paul

On the front page of CNN's website this morning (Super Duper Tuesday), Ron Paul's earnest face greeted me. See here: PHOTO OF PAUL ON CNN.
This comes a bit late, when Ron Paul has little chance of securing his wayward party's nomination. However, he and his wife Carol and his son Rand carry on with more zeal (and money) than ever.

Carol Paul Thanks You

February 4, 2008


Dear friend,

Wow. What an anniversary present you gave us with all your wonderful donations! Ron and I can't thank you enough. Someone asked me where we would have our special dinner, and I said with box lunches on the airplane. When I saw the person's face fall, I said that I couldn't imagine a more wonderful event--with Ron, and fighting for our country's freedom. What could be better? Then more than 2,000 people came to help us celebrate on February 1st in Denver, and they stood up and cheered every sentence out of his mouth. You know, sometimes I have wondered if there was enough love of liberty left in America. I wonder no longer. We can do it!

With all my thanks,

Carol


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Donate, for the sake of debates that matter. And see Ron Paul's latest comments, (click previous words) conveniently IGNORED by McCain and Romney.

Michael Parenti - Is Bush A Failure?

Parenti doesn't mean this, but he's carefully presenting well known reasons why we need change - why we NEED RON PAUL! Make February 1st another MONEYBOMB donation day. DONATE TODAY, in honor of Ron and Carols 51st anniversary.

Ron Paul Blasts Economic Stimulus Package

Ron Paul asks, where does Bush think he is going to get all the money for this stimulus plan? Money that is printed out of thin air puts an inflationary tax on everybody. Money that is borrowed from China puts even more pressure on our indebted country and weakens already crumbling faith in the US dollar.

IF WE GO INTO A RECESSION, WE HAVE'NT SEEN ANYTHING YET. Think the housing crunch is bad? And if the Fed moves to cut rates again, we're headed for more artificially low rates that led to this irresponsible lending in the first place.

Help spread Ron Paul's plan, the only sound money plan that makes sense. Check out Dr. Ron Paul's Prescription for Prosperity.

1. Tax Reform

• Eliminate Taxes on Dividends and Savings. The basis of capitalism is savings, and Americans who do so should be rewarded.
  • Pass HJ Res. 23 to encourage savings over consumption.

• Repeal the Death Tax. Attacking small businesses and breaking up family farms smothers growth and kills jobs.
  • Pass H.R. 2734 to make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

• Cut Taxes for Working Seniors. Grandmothers and grandfathers working to make ends meet should keep all the fruits of their labor.
  • Pass H.R. 191 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the inclusion in gross income of Social Security benefits.

• Eliminate Taxes on Social Security Benefits. That money belongs to seniors, not the government. They paid into the system for a lifetime, and they should be free to spend every penny as they see fit.
  • Pass H.R. 192 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the 1993 increase in taxes on Social Security benefits.

• Accelerate Depreciation on Investment. We need to help companies grow and create jobs.
  • Pass H.R. 4995 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce corporate marginal income tax rates.

• Eliminate Taxes on Capital Gains. Investment should be embraced and rewarded.
  • Pass H.J. Res 23 (The “Liberty Amendment”), proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to abolishing personal income, estate, and gift taxes and prohibiting the United States Government from engaging in business in competition with its citizens.

• Eliminate Taxes on Tips.The single parents and working students who earn their income chiefly through tips deserve to keep all of their money. This tax on "estimated income" is unfair and should be ended.
  • Pass H.R. 3664 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that tips shall not be subject to income or employment taxes.

• Support the Mortgage Cancellation Relief Act. Working families who lost their homes should not be punished a second time with a big IRS bill.
  • Pass H.R. 1876 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from the gross income of individual taxpayers discharges of indebtedness attributable to certain forgiven residential mortgage obligations.

2. Spending Reform

• Reduce Overseas Military Commitments. Our bases and troops should be on our soil.
  • It's time to stop subsidizing our trading partners in Europe, Japan and South Korea.

• Freeze Non-Defense, Non-Entitlement Spending at Current Levels
  • I vote against all bloated, pork laden spending bills and will veto them as president.
    

3. Monetary Policy Reform

• Televise Federal Open Market Committee Meetings. An institution as powerful as the Federal Reserve deserves full public scrutiny.

• Expand Transparency and Accountability at the Federal Reserve
  • Pass H.R. 2754 to require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to continue to make available to the public on a weekly basis information on the measure of the M3 monetary aggregate and its components.

• Return Value to Our Money. Legalize gold and silver as a competing currency.
  • Level the long-term boom and bust business cycle by passing H.R. 4683, which would repeal provisions of the federal criminal code relating to issuing coins of gold, silver, or other metal for use as current money and making or possessing likenesses of such coins.

4. Regulatory Reform

• Repeal Sarbanes/Oxley. It has seriously wounded our capital markets and helped make the UK a financial center at our expense.
  • Ending these misguided regulations would bring jobs flooding back to the United States
    
  • Pass H.R. 1049 to reform Sarbanes-Oxley and reduce the burden it places on small businesses.

• Repeal or Remove Costly and Unnecessary Federal Regulations. Neighbors know best how to help their neighbors.
  • We need to make it easier for community banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions to better serve their communities and to help people in these communities get access to credit and capital.
  • Pass H.R. 1869 to enhance the ability of community banks to foster economic growth and serve their communities, boost small businesses, increase individual savings, and for other purposes.

Ron Enigma Paul

Check out this great article on Ron Paul's unlikely rise to the headlines for the Republican nomination for President of the United States of America. A quote, if I may steal:
“He’s definitely an enigma,” said Allen Cumbie, the head of the Democratic Party in Matagorda County, Texas. “I don’t even think he tries to get legislation passed that benefits this district … and yet he continues to be elected year after year. I don’t really know how to explain it.”