Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[SD_Eagle5]

2:47 - 3:47 = money

Reminds me of Bush's "If you're not with us you're against us" declaration.

[Cerevant]

He's a mix of Republican & Libertarian, but what I like about him is that while he is socially conservative in a number of ways, he believes most social and criminal issues are, by the constitution, not matters for federal law.

[rjs246]

Paul vs. Kucinich vs. Bloomberg would be pretty farging fascinating.

[rjs246]

He's a mix of Republican & Libertarian, but what I like about him is that while he is socially conservative in a number of ways, he believes most social and criminal issues are, by the constitution, not matters for federal law.

Holy shtein. That's such a rare combination these days that I don't really know how to react to it...

[Cerevant]

Well, the net seems to be pretty heavily pro-Paul: he led the net & SMS voting on FOX after the last debate.  While this isn't consistent with "the polls", there is some question as to the accuracy of telephone polls, since most younger Americans do not use land lines.

Don't buy into the hype - keep making your voice heard.  Every time they give you the option to endorse one of these candidates, do it.  Eventually the press will have to take notice.  While you are at it - drop a few bucks on one of these guys web sites to help them fund their efforts.

[ice grillin you]

lets be real here....pauls on point with his foreign policy regarding iraq...and has some good FP ideas in general

but the guy is basically a kook

[rjs246]

He is on point with Iraq and he believes that (in spite of his personal social conservatism) the Constitution prohibits the federal government from imposing ridiculous laws...

Sounds like exactly the kind of kook that I would vote for.

[Rome]

This guy sounds like a Libertarian.  Check this out (from his own website):

Privacy and Personal Liberty
The biggest threat to your privacy is the government.  We must drastically limit the ability of government to collect and store data regarding citizens' personal matters. 

We must stop the move toward a national ID card system.  All states are preparing to issue new driver's licenses embedded with "standard identifier" data – a national ID.  A national ID with new tracking technologies means we're heading into an Orwellian world of no privacy.  I voted against the Real ID Act in March of 2005.

To date, the privacy focus has been on identity theft.  It was Congress
that created this danger by mandating use of the standard identifier (currently your SSN) in the private sector.  For example, banks use SSNs as customer account identifiers because the government requires it.
 
We must also protect medical privacy.  Right now, you're vulnerable.  Under so-called "medical privacy protection" rules, insurance companies and other entities have access to your personal medical information.

Financial privacy?  Right now depositing $10,000 in your local bank will generate a "suspicious activity report" to the federal government.

And then there's the so-called Patriot Act.   As originally proposed,

    * Expanded the federal government's ability to use wiretaps without judicial oversight;
    * Allowed nationwide search warrants non-specific to any given location, nor subject to any local judicial oversight;
    * Made it far easier for the government to monitor private internet usage;
    * Authorized "sneak and peek" warrants enabling federal authorities to search a person's home, office, or personal         property without that person's knowledge; and
    * Required libraries and bookstores to turn over records of books read by their patrons.


I have fought this fight for many years. I sponsored a bill to overturn the Patriot Act and have won some victories, but today the threat to your liberty and privacy is very real.  We need leadership at the top that will prevent Washington from centralizing power and private data about our lives.

[Cerevant]

This guy sounds like a Libertarian.  Check this out (from his own website):

This is not a secret.  From Wikipedia:

In 1988, Paul won the nomination of the Libertarian Party for the U.S. Presidency. He placed third in the popular vote (with 431,750 votes - 0.47%), behind George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis.

[ice grillin you]

not ridiculous laws...essentially ANY laws...he wants to eliminate all taxes...he actually wants to go back to the gold standard...

so he wants the govt out of our lives except when it comes to things like school prayer where he supports a constitutional amendment to allow it

and hes unbelievably pro life...isnt that the ultimate individual choice

hes way to religious for me as well....seems as tho he wants to eliminate govt and have peoples lives governed by the church


oh and he also supports building the fence on the mexican border....which is one of the stupidest things ive ever heard of....

in general he seems extremely anti immigrant and hes for abolishing all entitlement programs....which says to me he doesnt care about poor people at all...seems to me hes for the reagan trickle down theory...which doesnt work...and ends up killing people...in fact domestically hes a lot like that devil and thats very scary

[ice grillin you]

This guy sounds like a Libertarian

thats cause he is...and if thats the case then run as a libertarian...one of the reasons he pisses off so many republicans is because he labels himself as one but really isnt

its a little disingenious to go on tv all the time and say what is and isnt a republican or that isnt the republican way when you yourself are a republican in name only

[rjs246]

not ridiculous laws...essentially ANY laws...he wants to eliminate all taxes...he actually wants to go back to the gold standard...

Laws are gay.

so he wants the govt out of our lives except when it comes to things like school prayer where he supports a constitutional amendment to allow it

Prayer is gay.

and hes unbelievably pro life...isnt that the ultimate individual choice

Babies are gay.

hes way to religious for me as well....seems as tho he wants to eliminate govt and have peoples lives governed by the church

Church is gay.

oh and he also supports building the fence on the mexican border....which is one of the stupidest things ive ever heard of....

Mexicans are gay.

in general he seems extremely anti immigrant and hes for abolishing all entitlement programs....which says to me he doesnt care about poor people at all...seems to me hes for the reagan trickle down theory...which doesnt work...and ends up killing people...in fact domestically hes a lot like that devil and thats very scary

OK, so seriously, those are some excellent points. Anti-immigration laws get me fired up almost as much as infringement on personal freedoms. Without immigration, this country doesn't exist. It's the epitome of unamerican to try to block people from joining our country. Anyway, I'M OFF THE WAGON!

[phattymatty]

at least you're basing your decision on reputable sources like this board.

research is gay.

[Seabiscuit36]

Immigrations is fine, illegally getting here isnt.  Why is that so hard to understand. 

[Cerevant]

not ridiculous laws...essentially ANY laws...he wants to eliminate all taxes...

Can't say I've seen anything to support that, but he definitely wants to minimize government, which is not a bad thing.

he actually wants to go back to the gold standard...

Not a bad idea, given how the US dollar has been dropping like a rock.

so he wants the govt out of our lives except when it comes to things like school prayer where he supports a constitutional amendment to allow it

Allow != mandate.  A mandate is the government getting in our lives.  Allowing is the government butting out.  Note this part of the resolution:

No person shall be required by the United States or by any State to participate in prayer . Neither the United States nor any State shall compose the words of any prayer to be said in public schools.

and hes unbelievably pro life...isnt that the ultimate individual choice

But he's against any federal laws governing abortion.  He believes it is a states rights issue.

hes way to religious for me as well....

Irrelevant

seems as tho he wants to eliminate govt

True

and have peoples lives governed by the church

False - where did you come up with this crap?  As if it is relevant anyway - if you minimize the government, who is going to grant any kind of relevant power to the church anyway?

oh and he also supports building the fence on the mexican border....which is one of the stupidest things ive ever heard of....

in general he seems extremely anti immigrant

Yes, he wants to control immigration better.  I didn't say I agreed with him on every point.

and hes for abolishing all entitlement programs

...at the federal level

....which says to me he doesnt care about poor people at all

You miss the point of the Libertarian point of view.  Think of the US as a version of the EU (as it was originally intended): instead of trying to have one government set the policy for such a huge and diverse population, let the states govern themselves and only use the federal government to control the interaction of the states.

...seems to me hes for the reagan trickle down theory...which doesnt work...and ends up killing people...in fact domestically hes a lot like that devil and thats very scary

He has publicly criticized Regan for his fiscal policy.

I never said I agree with him on every point, or even that I'd vote for him.  I'm just saying that he's a breath of fresh air from the run of the mill republicans these days.

I've heard the political parties described this way:

Democrat: fiscally liberal, socially liberal
Republican: fiscally conservative, socially conservative
Libertarian: fiscally conservative, socially liberal

By these definitions, Paul is basically Republican by belief, but he realizes that it is not the federal government's responsibility to legislate morality.