Hey, I wrote a (somewhat long) pamphlet about Ron Paul, if anyone could review it and let me know if it sounds good, I would appreciate it. I want to distribute it here around Chicago, so it has a somewhat liberal bent. Let me know if you have any suggestions.
Thanks,
Sasha
Ron Paul for President 2008 – VOTE FEBRUARY FIFTH
For the past eight years, the Bush Administration has been a scourge on the good name of America. Violent, fiscally irresponsible, deceitful, hypocritical – this Administration has consistently put the interests of politically connected groups over the well being of the American people. Few argue that the Bush Administration has been an unmitigated disaster, and has cost America the moral high ground.
One man has stood up throughout this period and consistently and courageously spoken out against the Bush Administration– when even most Democrats were falling over each other to support him. One man has voted against the Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and the Iraq War Resolution. One man has spoken out consistently against the government helping the largest corporations become more powerful and more entrenched. One man has put his oath to uphold the Constitution above all political considerations. One man has maintained his principles, integrity, and humility for over twenty years of life in Washington D.C.
And in 2008, one man stands head and shoulders above the rest in articulating a clear vision for America which will lead this country out of the morass of corruption and partisan bickering which is undermining our country. His message gose beyond Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative. It is the message of freedom. This man is a humble doctor and Air Force Veteran named Ron Paul. His message is powerful, because it is simple: Return government to the leash of the Constitution, a document designed to maximize personal liberty. Ron Paul’s surging popularity is based on three primary positions:
1) Non-Interventionism. America has troops stationed in over 100 countries. Some left over from WWII, some from the Korean War, some from the Cold War. We are now preparing permanent military bases in Iraq, to remain for decades. Most of those countries don’t want us there anymore. At the same time, we maintain a destructive policy of sanctions towards Cuba, which hurt the poor in that country but have failed in removing Castro for 40 years. Ron Paul is the only candidate courageous enough to point out the link between past violent actions committed by our government and anger directed towards us from the victims. Ron Paul has always stated a clear position: we should trade, travel to, and engage in exchanges of ideas with all countries, and only engage in military action when Congress declares War, which has not happened since WWII. Ron Paul is the best bet, Republican or Democrat, to avoid more illegal, immoral wars.
2) Federalism/States Rights: The founders of this country believed that the Federal, national government should do very little, and most programs should be decided and implemented at a state level. Therefore, if a more liberal state like Illinois or Massachusetts wants universal health care and state funded abortion, they can enact them; if more conservative states like Montana or Alabama don’t want these things, they aren’t forced to. For instance, the Department of Education would be eliminated, thus giving control back to local school districts to enact whatever ideas they want, and disasters like No Child Left Behind wouldn’t affect the whole country. The War on Drugs, which has wasted $500B without anything positive to show for it, would end. The Federal government has consistently failed blacks everywhere in America. They would be freed from the cycle of first being unable to find jobs due to drug-related criminal records and then becoming economically dependent on Federal money and subsidies. This cycle has ravished black communities, mutual support, and self-esteem. Under federalism, as we once had it, bad policies couldn’t be enacted nationwide. If you didn’t like the taxes you were paying or the services you were receiving, you could just move to another state – much easier than moving to another country. Pot smokers could go to California, devout Christians could go to Alabama. Nobody would be imposing their will on anyone else.
3) Monetary Reform: The United States of America, richest country in the world, is bankrupt. Our government borrows more than a hundred million dollars a day just from China. We cannot afford all these wars, we cannot afford to have bases in more than 100 countries around the world, we are about to face a major crisis when the baby boomer generation retires. Something has to give-the bill always comes due at some point. These expenditures are paid for not just by taxes and massive borrowing, but by inflation through the Federal Reserve (which is not Federal at all, but a monopoly cartel of private bankers) creating more money out of thin air, giving it to their politically connected friends, and thus reducing the value of existing dollars and making everyday items more expensive. This inflation is a hidden tax on savings and on the working class, which cannot be avoided in any way. By cutting our foreign entanglements and domestic fiascoes, we can completely eliminate the Federal Income Tax and cut this inflation. If the IRS shut down tomorrow, the Federal Government would take in exactly as much money as it did in 2000, a mere seven years ago, through corporate taxes and tariffs. That’s right, just the growth of the Federal Government, under the “conservative” Bush Administration, equals all the money brought in by the IRS. We can either stop this madness, or history will stop it for us.
Ron Paul is a simple man. He’s not really a politician, and he promises nothing- except to return America to the vision of America clearly and thoughtfully laid out by the founding fathers in the Constitution, a philosophy we have strayed so far from. Let’s give the Constitution a shot again. Let’s put somebody in charge who has not devoted his life to exercising power over other people. We can do this, it’s not too late- but Republics are fragile things, that don’t last forever if neglected.
To read more, either LewRockwell.com or RonPaulLibrary.org are great places to start. I highly recommend watching some of the videos of Ron Paul on YouTube.com. If he strikes a chord with you – tell your family, tell your friends, At this point in history, an honest and courageous president is what we need most.
The campaign website has some official PDFs as well
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/get-involved/downloads/
Peace
I know, but I kind of wanted something that A) Would speak to a more liberal audience and B) Would go into a little more depth explaining the basis of some of his ideas, and help get people thinking about libertarianism in general. I wanted something to leave at train stations and coffee shops, where people are looking for some sort of reading material as an alternative to the junk tabloids. But maybe it's so long as to be ineffective...