Once again, summaries (paraphrases, not exact quotes) of Ron Paul’s answers from tonight’s debate.
Introduce yourself briefly.
I’m a Congressman from Texas in my 10th term; I’m the champion of the Constitution.
How soon should we leave Iraq?
The sooner we leave, the better; it was a mistake to go in and it’s a mistake to stay; if you get the diagnosis wrong you should change the treatment. We’re not making progress; there were no weapons of mass destruction; we went in under a UN resolution and not because we were threatened; we’re more threatened by staying than by leaving.
You voted for the bill calling for a 700-mile fence between the U.S. and Mexico. Do we need a similar fence for Canada?
No, and anyway the fence was the least of my reasons for voting for that bill. Border security and enforcing the law are important. I’m against amnesty. If you subsidise something, you get more of it. We subsidise illegal immigration with amnesty, birthright citizenship, and publicly-fund education and health care. We do need immigrant workers, but if we had a genuine free market they wouldn’t be the scapegoat.
If you think English should not be the official language, raise your hand.
Paul didn’t. [I’d like to ask Paul where in the Constitution it says we should have an official language. – RTL]
As a former Libertarian candidate, how do you view issues of church and state?
The First Amendment says Congress shall make no law. We shouldn’t have laws made at the Federal level; leave it to local people, local officials, the state level. We don’t have perfect knowledge and shouldn’t have some central authority in Washington telling us all what to do and imposing a one-size-fits-all solution on everybody and ruining things for the whole country, as in Roe v. Wade.
In 2005 President Bush signed an energy bill giving tax breaks and subsidies to oil companies; at a time when they’re making record profits is this appropriate?
The profits as such aren’t the issue; they would be fine if they were earned in the free market. I object to their receiving subsidies and R&D money. But any discussion of energy policy has to deal with foreign policy; we’re fighting in the Middle East, we overthrew Mossadegh in Iran, because we succumb to the temptation to protect the interest of the oil industry.
Should the military’s policy on gays be changed?
I think the current policy is a decent one. The real problem is that we see people as groups instead of individuals. We don’t have rights as gays or women or minorities; we receive our rights from our Creator as individuals. If homosexual behaviour in the military is disruptive it should be dealt with; but if heterosexual behaviour in the military is disruptive it should be dealt with too. Apply the same standards to everybody.
If you think gays should be able to serve openly in the military, raise your hand.
Paul didn’t. [Why doesn’t this contradict what he just said above? – RTL]
Would you pardon Scooter Libby?
No. [Candidates were asked to stick to one-word answers. This didn’t stop Giuliani from blathering on forever. – RTL]
My brother died in Iraq. What can you tell me?
We’ve been doing this for four years and it’s not working. We’re losing 100 men and women a month, over 1000 a year. If we want the Iraqis to take up the responsibility, we need to give them an incentive. We should stop patrolling the streets; that’s a job for the police, not for the army. Yes, we should promote our goodness overseas, but through setting an example and encouraging emulation, not through the barrel of a gun and through armed force as the neocons believe. Woodrow Wilson also told us we could promote democracy that way; we’ve seen that it doesn’t work.
What is today’s most pressing moral issue?
The recent acceptance of the promotion of preemptive war. In the past we declared war in defense of our liberty or to aid someone. We’ve now rejected the just war theory of Christianity; and tonight we even hear candidates who are not even willing to rule out a preemptive nuclear strike against a country that has done us no harm. We should defend our liberties and rights, but not try to change the world by armed force, by starting wars.
What has the Republican administration done most wrong?
Bush ran on a platform of a humble foreign policy, no nation-building, not policing the world. Instead we’re spending a trillion dollars a year to maintain the power of our empire around the world. We need that money for education and medical care here.
How can the GOP reach out to disaffected moderate Republicans?
(Almost everyone got to answer this question, but not Paul.)
P.S. Having grumped earlier about Jon Stewart’s dissing of Ron Paul, I owe Stewart a nod for his excellent interview with Paul last night.
Frankly, I think all the candidates should refuse to answer those ridiculous “raise your hand questions”.
That was a sad excuse for a debate, Ron Paul is is our last hope, no real questions were asked, the ones that were asked Paul was given little our no time, as a disabled vet i weep for my country when people will get spoon fed sham debates like tonignt
RON PAUL FOR PRESIDENT
INFOWARS.COM
Heh. I just heard Anderson Cooper on Raw Politics say “you’re watching Ron Pau–, um, Raw Politics.” Those vowels can be tricky ….
If you would vote for Ron Paul, sign this petition:
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/RonPaulPetition
I see I’m not the only one who noticed Cooper’s slip.
Maybe we’d be better off letting the country go bankrupt and vote for one of these other political hacks to help that cause along. It’s going to happen and when it does I wonder how many D’s & R’s you’ll find then. RON PAUL is our last BEST hope for a government that gets back to basics. God and normal people everywhere willing….
why doesn’t he think gays should be allowed to serve openly in the military? kind of disappointing.. i’m curious to hear his rationale on that because he usually has good explanations for his stances on everything.
To answer your question [Why doesn’t this contradict what he just said above? – RTL]
Should the military’s policy on gays be changed?
Paul Responded: “I think the current policy is a decent one…”
Don’t ask – Don’t tell is the current policy For gays to openly serve in the militry would therefore be a change in policy.
If you think gays should be able to serve openly in the military, raise your hand. (IOW – Raise your hand if we should change policy)
Paul didn’t, therefore being consistant that he wants to retain the don’t ask don’t tell policy and not change.
That was a pretty sucky debate. Worst of the three thus far.
Eddie,
That doesn’t answer my question. He’d just said the same standards should be applied to heterosexuals and homosexuals — that we should’t treat people differently based on what group they belong to. If, having said that, he goes on to say that gays shouldn’t be allowed to serve openly in the military, that would seem logically to commit him to the conclusion that heterosexuals also shouldn’t be allowed to serve openly in the military — which he obviously doesn’t believe. That’s why it’s inconsistent.
Give him a break – raising your hand at a “debate” is retarded. I’m sure he was trying to keep himself from vomiting on the stage. I think he articulated his stance quite well, in a way that is palatable to persons of any sexual orientation. Don’t get hung up on whether or not he raised his hand on cue.
Yes, raising your hand doesn’t really show your position on anything, so it’s stupid. On the gays in the military thing, he backs his position up nicely by supporting don’t ask don’t tell. He explains that it doesn’t matter if you’re gay or straight, any disruptive behavior should be treated in the same way. What he is against is people being organized or grouped according to sexual orientation.
bret and bruce,
But why doesn’t supporting “don’t ask don’t tell” for gays (which he did in his statement, not just in his non-hand-raising) count as treating people as members of groups, since he doesn’t support a “don’t ask don’t tell” policy for straights?
Dr. Long-
I think the other statements regarding treating people as group was meant to serve as a general orientation on RP’s philosophy, and not necessarily meant to be applied with absolute rigor to this topic. He may have wanted to highlight his belief that to actively investigate / pursue suspected homosexuals in the military service just for their orientation is wrong.
On top of that, we have many issues of more gravity than this one. (I think that now I as I did when Clinton first brought up the issue. At any rate, military service isn’t a right anymore than say health insurance is.)
As an aside, I was curious about your apparent penchant for spelling words like subsidize and behavior incorrectly. An explanation would be appreciated
I think the other statements regarding treating people as group was meant to serve as a general orientation on RP’s philosophy, and not necessarily meant to be applied with absolute rigor to this topic.
Well, he raised it in this topic.
As an aside, I was curious about your apparent penchant for spelling words like subsidize and behavior incorrectly. An explanation would be appreciated
I was raised on British children’s books.
I stayed up for this ‘debate’ (The Netherlands is, I think, +6 hours from New Hampshire) just to watch Ron Paul. I remember every word he said, this is correct.
I wish they’d ask him questions on stuff besides just his foreign policy. I agree with him. But it gets old.
Tracy
It’s obvious to me that he’s leaning on the immigration issue because racism has more currency with the right than libertarianism.