Clip: Ron Paul (R) on jay Leno

[lester1/2jr]

good interview

As a hard core supporter, i have to say I can't ask for much more than this.  If i were him I would avoid hardball and all those shows and just talk to the people like he is here. 

apparently, johhny rotten and the sex pistols came on and mentioned dr paul in one of their songs!!  hey we'll take all the support we can get.  what the hell

[indianasmith]

I'm a big believer in free speech and supporting whoever you want, so kudos to you for sticking up for your candidate!!

That being said, I find Ron Paul incredibly naive and ignorant.  His brand of isolationism would have allowed Hitler to take over the world because it was "none of our business."  As long as we drive vehicles that run on oil, we have no choice but to be involved in the Middle East, and if he thinks our precipitous departure will bring peace and harmony to the world - or to our country - he could not be more wrong!


Of course, my opinion and a dollar will get you a soda from most vending machines!

[lester1/2jr]

If an incident like the holocaust were to take place now, we'd be relatively powerless to stop it as we are tied down in Iraq and afghanistan.

I don't see how us buying oil in the middle east necessitates our being there militarily.  everyone in the world buys oil from the military and they aren't there. 

basically, i feel all government is emporer new clothes/ a scam.  It's 3 trillion a year and they just invent problems to try and justify it's continued existence. 

It's sort of like AOL.  theres no reason to have it!

[indianasmith]

I'd say your opinion is at least as valuable as mine . . . .


so let's go have a soda!

[lester1/2jr]

chicken noodle soup

chicken noodle soup

chicken noodle soup with a soda on the side

[indianasmith]

Karma for freely expressing your  opinion. . . . . and not bashing me because mine is different!

Had chicken and dumplings for lunch, though, so I'm gonna pass on the soup.  Sure could use a Dr. Pepper right now, though!

[CheezeFlixz]

It's no secret I'm a Republican, but Ron Paul while he seems like a nice enough guy is not explaining how he is going to run the government without taxes? How is bring the military home going to solve all these alleged problems?

The USA is number 28 in the world of military spending (World Fact Book) against the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) at only 4% of the GDP is spent on the military. And out of that 4% of the GDP that is spent on military funding only 7% of the overall 4% is spent on Iraq and Afghanistan. Which is a tiny fraction of the the GDP is spent on the war, so if we we're to tuck tail and run from Iraq and we see the huge (microscopic) saving of military outlay then where is the money to run the country going to come from if you have no viable source of revenue? Which Ron Paul proposes. I mean who will be there to give the idiots $2000 checks that can't get out of the way of a hurricane with 2 weeks notice? Who will build the roads, direct the planes, secure the boarders (not that they are now) I don't think the federal employees will do it for free.

Indiana I agree, Ron Paul is incredibly naive and ignorant.

Facts are our country is in trouble and you can't blame solely Bush, it's the partisan politics of both sides of the aisle, it is the failure of our elected representatives to work on a unified front. They spend day in and day out looking for people to blame the problems on instead of solutions to the solve the problems they created.

Believe me I'd love not to pay taxes, but it's just not realistic in today world.

[lester1/2jr]

we pay TONS of taxes.  he wants to eliminate the income tax.  We pay sales tax.  taxes on gas.  we're up to our eyeballs in state taxes, property taxes you name it.    then we pay income taxes on top of that. 

He's not ignorant.  He's written a half dozen book mostly about monetary issues.  Our debt has skyrocketed since we went off the gold standard in the 70's.  It was the only thing that kept the governemtn from pludering our treasury and currency.  look at the dollar now.  it used to be worth a dollar!

The USA is number 28 in the world of military spending (World Fact Book) against the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) at only 4% of the GDP is spent on the military. And

but our GDP is way way bigger than those other countries.  4 percent of 13 trillion is a ton of money.  and it gets us into a lot of trouble.  ladling out the pork to jordan, pakistan, and saudi arabia has done nothign but by us more terrorism.  which forces us to soend more on secret services and making deals with unsavory regimes like uzbekistan and egypt, who are the opposite of the democracy we are allegedly trying to spread. 

oh, and two failed half won wars at a projected cost of 2.4 trillion.  what'll we do when the nbext president of Iraq says he wants WMD and wants to wipe israel off the map?

"Who will build the roads, direct the planes, secure the boarders (not that they are now) I don't think the federal employees will do it for free. "


you answered your own question.  they arne't doing these things now anyway.  We could hire the minutemen and give them more authority to do what they do of their own volition for free every day.

besides, this is like asking an 800 pound man if he wants to be a model when he loses 650 pounds.  right now I'd be satisfied to just be able to keep more of my paycheck  and get us out of the middle east lock stock and barrel. 

[CheezeFlixz]

You've not answered the question, without revenue how to you pay for this grand plan? Do we put a jar on the counter at the local store with a sign taped on it "Highway Funding" or "Broader Security"?

Far has highways go they're building one a mile from my shop (Hwy 80) that runs 500 miles across and state. There also building I-69 and I-66, 69 from MI to TX and 66 from east coast to the west, which runs near here too. granted there not finished, but they are working on them.

When I say 'ignorant' I'm not saying he's an idiot, I'm saying his ideologies are not realistic in todays world.

[lester1/2jr]

I'm not saying we shouldn't HAVE roads or that unless we have a stateless society I won't be happy.

  I'm saying that a very very small percentage of our tax dollars go to stuff we actually use.  gas tax and tolls pay for the roads.  the lions share of our budget goes to beurocracy, subsidizing junk we don't use  and giving military aid to countries full of people who hate us.

   our military expenditures make us LESS safe.  If they were only exorbidantly expensive that would be one thing.   We give billions to the israelis who then are all over al jezeera using american made weapons on the palestinians.  how does this serve any strategic interst of ours?

How did the CIa installing the shah in 1953  do anything to help, say, my dad, who was in illanois ?   Not a bit. 


  "the government isn't the solution, the government is the problem"-ronald reagan.

wiser words were never spoken. 



"not realistic in todays world."

so why are we existing in a democratic form of governence, a style invented by greeks thousands of years ago?  liberty is always realistic

[CheezeFlixz]

our military expenditures make us LESS safe

I haven't been attacked lately, have you?

[lester1/2jr]

yes.  on 9/11/01 despite a multi billion dollar military and intelligene appartus.   and largely because of it!

[CheezeFlixz]

yes.  on 9/11/01 despite a multi billion dollar military and intelligene appartus.   and largely because of it!

The number of attacks on the US by foreign or domestic combatants, for a world power (key word there) pales to those on other nations. Barring places like Iceland or Liechtenstein the US ranks amongst the lowest, but then again Iceland or Liechtenstein really aren't word powers are they. Compared to the number of attacks  in the Asia, Europe and South America we are for the most part safe here. People don't worry about car bombers or Jihadist in greater America. Do you worry when you go to the mall or the cafe that there might be a suicide bomber? Many countries they do, but not here, wonder why?

Explain why it is largely because of the military we were attacked on 9/11. If you are going to make blanket statements, back it up with facts.

Here are some facts, no one really know why we were attacked on 9/11 except for those that did it, the rest is speculation ranging from, as you present, the military to hatred of democracy to support of Israel to American middle eastern policy to the great Satan mentality and a host of others. Facts are we'll likely never know the REAL reason, but I do know they struck first and well need to finish it.

 

[lester1/2jr]

of course we know the reason.  It was our presence in the middle east in the form of support for israel, sanctions on Iraq and presence on Saudi soil.  Bin Laden said that explicitly.  Which would be a big problem for us if we actually had any logical reason to be over there, but we don't.  the cold war is over.  communism iosn't going to take over the middle east.  There's no reason to arm anyone or sanction anyone or play chess over there any more.


  Our intersts in the region are cheap oil and less or hopefully no terrorism against us.  Both of these goals are hindered, not helped, by our currrent big government foreign policy.

  as far as i'm concenred the middle east is another planet.  They are, as a region, one of the least productive areas on earth.  their non oil GDP  (of all 22 arab states) is about equal to Finlands.  They suck.  we rule.  we should sit back and laugh at them, not bomb them.

[Scott]

Not that we should as things are now, but I see no problem with getting control of the oil over there. We had an opportunity. If this country had an entirely different outlook concerning the future we could have made Iraqi people citizens of the U.S. and make Iraqi the 51st state and Afganistan the 52nd state. You need to have a very strong arm in some aspects of goverment and ease up on other things to make it work.

Wouldn't want to say much more because to get this done you might have to take on a few other countries and friends of the U.S.. People aren't ready yet. We're still thinking about national interest which is good, but the approach is not forward looking. A lot of prep work is required before going in. Right now everything is in chaos, but it is still possibly manageable even now. There are things we can use to our advantage. People need to be up to speed. We would also have to change our living habits here to focus energy and resources appropriately. It's a massive effort. Making the world inclusive rather than excluding people and being friends to others only through commerce.

Much more than walking in there and giving the country back, so that Islamic clerics win the next election and revert back to clerical rule and the U.S. having to go back to Iraq to fight there again 10 years from now.

We keep giving away our technology for monetary profit. Over the years we have done a great deal of harm to ourselves by sharing these technologies with the world.

Land for access to the new world.