Libertarians for Ron Paul » 2007 » July
Seventy House members, nearly all liberal Democrats, vowed today that they would not support any more funding for Iraq military operations unless tied to a complete withdrawal of combat troops.
The liberals’ full letter to Bush:
Dear Mr. President:
“We are writing to inform you that we will only support appropriating additional funds for U.S. military operations in Iraq during Fiscal Year 2008 and beyond for the protection and safe redeployment of all our troops out of Iraq before you leave office.”
“More than 3,600 of our brave soldiers have died in Iraq. More than 26,000 have been seriously wounded. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been killed or injured in the hostilities and more than 4 million have been displaced from their homes. Furthermore, this conflict has degenerated into a sectarian civil war and U.S. taxpayers have paid more than $500 billion, despite assurances that you and your key advisors gave our nation at the time you ordered the invasion in March, 2003 that this military intervention would cost far less and be paid from Iraqi oil revenues.”
“We agree with a clear and growing majority of the American people who are opposed to continued, open-ended U.S. military operations in Iraq, and believe it is unwise and unacceptable for you to continue to unilaterally impose these staggering costs and the soaring debt on Americans currently and for generations to come.”
The letter was signed by 69 antiwar Democrats along with Rep. Ron Paul.
Libertarians know that Ron Paul is in the front lines of the fight against the drug war.
But a lesser-known aspect of that issue may garner support from an important segment: farmers.
Last month, The Economist focused on the fight by Iowa farmers to get the right to grow the cannabis plant to produce industrial hemp, which can provide cheaper alternatives for paper, plastics, and one of the healthiest food oils available. On the political side, the article explains “Ron Paul, a Texas congressman and presidential candidate, could win over farmers in Iowa because of his pro-hemp lobbying. In February he introduced a bill in Congress that would allow Americans to grow it.”
Today’s New York Times has an article about North Dakota farmers wanting to get in on the hemp boom.
Though federal authorities ban the growing of hemp, saying it contains tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive substance better known as THC in marijuana, six states this year considered legislation to allow farmers to grow industrial hemp, and Representative Ron Paul, Republican of Texas, introduced a bill in Washington that would let states allow such crops.
A very long one: mixed, but pretty positive, I think.
Sunday New York Times Magazine, July 22, 2007
The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul
By CHRISTOPHER CALDWELL
Whipping westward across Manhattan in a limousine sent by Comedy Central’s “Daily Show,” Ron Paul, the 10-term Texas congressman and long-shot Republican presidential candidate, is being briefed. Paul has only the most tenuous familiarity with Comedy Central. He has never heard of “The Daily Show.” His press secretary, Jesse Benton, is trying to explain who its host, Jon Stewart, is. “He’s an affable gentleman,” Benton says, “and he’s very smart. What I’m getting from the pre-interview is, he’s sympathetic.”
From Tom Knapp:
Citing overwhelming support from his own party’s members and lackluster response to Libertarian presidential campaigns, Steve Kubby today endorsed US Representative Ron Paul’s campaign for the Republican Party’s 2008 presidential nomination. Kubby, a candidate in his own party’s presidential contest, made the endorsement in an interview from his home in Mendocino County, California.
“I am not, and have never been, a Republican,” says Kubby, 60, best known for his work for cannabis legalization and on behalf of medical marijuana patients. “For me, the Libertarian Party has always been, and remains, our last best hope for achieving freedom through the American political process. And until recently my position was that the Libertarian Party needed to stick to its own guns, stake out its own territory. But sometimes a special situation comes along.”
Recent polling shows Paul garnering the support of about 70% of LP members — and the LP’s front-runners, including Kubby, clustered together in the 2-3% range among those same members. That polling, Paul’s much higher media profile, and fundraising reports showing that Paul has raised nearly 100 times as much money as any of his Libertarian competitors, convinced Kubby that this is just such a situation.
“I’m still running for president,” says Kubby. “My campaign’s first television commercial will debut shortly. I’m continuing to debate my opponents, attend public events as a candidate, and appear on talk radio to make my case. There are important things that need to be said, and I’m saying them. Dr. Paul and I disagree on some issues that I want to skyline, and I firmly believe that I’m the best candidate to represent the party next November. But when 70% of your own party believes so strongly in a candidate that they’re willing to cross party lines to support him at least until he’s out of the running, you owe it to them to back their play.”
Kubby states that if his fellow freedom activists’ long-shot bet pays off and Ron Paul becomes the Republican nominee, he will withdraw, ask the party to nominate “None of the Above” at its national convention, and work as a volunteer on Paul’s general election campaign. “And I’m urging my fellow Libertarians to approach this in the same way,” he says. “But at the same time, I’ll continue preparing to give the LP the best presidential campaign I can give it if that doesn’t work out.”
UPDATE: Here is an interview with Kubby about the endorsement.
“Attention, small-government conservatives: Ever helpful, this column has found yet another reason to be unhappy with President Bush. He appears to be the biggest regulator since the Nixon-Ford years.”
“From 2001 through 2006, Bush has increased inflation-adjusted regulatory spending by 6.5 percent a year, and increased regulatory staffing by 6.3 percent. You have to go back before President Carter (a deregulator) to find a president who has done as much regulatory spending and hiring as Bush.”
Jonathan Rauch looks at another side of Republican big government http://reason.com/news/show/121457.html
Ron Paul has for some time been the most popular candidate on the internet. Some tech people have warned against supporting Congressman Paul, because Paul opposes legislation to guarantee “net neutrality.” Others take a different view:
“Robert Kahn, the most senior figure in the development of the internet, has delivered a strong warning against “Net Neutrality” legislation.”
“Speaking to an audience at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California at an event held in his honour, Kahn warned against legislation that inhibited experimentation and innovation where it was needed.” Continued…
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/18/kahn_net_neutrality_warning/
“No 2008 GOP candidate has as much ‘going on’ on the Internet than Congressman Ron Paul.His passionate supporters are networking over the Web and through emails much more effectively than the 3 so-called top-tier GOP candidates - Romney, Giuliani and McCain - although why we even list McCain as ‘top-tier’ any more is beyond me. Ah, the McCain-loving Mainstream Media…
Indeed, there is a positive passion for Ron Paul that eclipses anything current in the Republican race. Why is this?
Because Ron Paul - a lifelong libertarian conservative - represents more and more people who realize that GW Bush’s brand of Republicanism should be called Big Government Republicanism. The post-9/11 expansion of federal power combined with the ill-conceived pre-emptive invasion of Iraq - when we had not been attacked by
Former Congressman John LeBoutillier (R-New York) explains why Ron Paul’s message is important http://www.etherzone.com/2007/lebo071707.shtml
Mitt Romney’s campaign found 9,732 ways to spend its money last quarter.
From a $15 service fee for its travel agent to $300 for makeup work to $31,500 to rent the Boston Red Sox’s Fenway Park for a celebratory barbecue, the Republican presidential contender was anything but fiscally conservative in spending money as fast as he raised it between April and June.
AP reports why we can’t trust Mitt Romney to balance the budget http://tinyurl.com/2svv9l
PS:after all that spending, Romney is scoring 8% in the Gallup Poll