Supporting the Separation of Church and State
10 Reasons Not to Vote for Ron Paul
Categorized: Politics, Republicans
Tagged: 2008 Election, Ron Paul
As anyone with a blog, YouTube account, MySpace page, or web site knows Ron Paul supporters are everywhere! The internet is filled with them. Although we are a progressive blog and both William and I support Democratic candidates, vocally, we are constantly barraged with pleas and “stories” to win us over. The frightening thing that I have witnessed is that many liberal voters are giving some credence to Ron Paul’s campaign and message. He somehow comes across as different or better than the run of the mill conservatives filling the Republican ticket.
I do not support Ron Paul in ANY and I find his Congressional record and policies to be, at times, even scarier than his counterparts. The only thing that I have found to agree with him on is the fact that he does not support the war in Iraq. After extensive research I have compiled a list of 10 reasons NOT to vote for Ron Paul!
- Ron Paul does not value equal rights for minorities. Ron Paul has sponsored legislation that would repeal affirmative action, keep the IRS from investigating private schools who may have used race as a factor in denying entrance, thus losing their tax exempt status, would limit the scope of Brown versus Board of Education, and would deny citizenship for those born in the US if their parents are not citizens. Here are links to these bills: H.R.3863, H.R.5909, H.J.RES.46, and H.J.RES.42.
- Ron Paul would deny women control of their bodies and reproductive rights.Ron Paul makes it very clear that one of his aims is to repeal Roe v. Wade. He has also co sponsored 4 separate bills to “To provide that human life shall be deemed to exist from conception.” This, of course, goes against current medical and scientific information as well as our existing laws and precedents. Please see these links: H.R.2597 and H.R.392
- Ron Paul would be disastrous for the working class. He supports abolishing the Federal minimum wage, has twice introduced legislation to repeal OSHA, or the Occupational Safety and Health Act and would deal devastating blows to Social Security including repealing the act that makes it mandatory for employees of nonprofits, to make “coverage completely optional for both present and future workers”, and would “freeze benefit levels”. He has also twice sponsored legislation seeking to repeal the Davis-Bacon Act and the Copeland Act which among other things provide that contractors for the federal government must provide the prevailing wage and prohibits corporate “kick backs.” Here are the related legislative links: H.R.2030, H.R.4604, H.R.736, and H.R.2720
- Ron Paul’s tax plan is unfair to lower earners and would greatly benefit those with the highest incomes.He has repeatedly submitted amendments to the tax code that would get rid of the estate and gift taxes, tax all earners at 10%, disallow income tax credits to individuals who are not corporations, repeal the elderly tax credit, child care credit, earned income credit, and other common credits for working class citizens. Please see this link for more information: H.R.05484 Summary
- Ron Paul’s policies would cause irreparable damage to our already strained environment. Among other travesties he supports off shore drilling, building more oil refineries, mining on federal lands, no taxes on the production of fuel, and would stop conservation efforts that could be a “Federal obstacle” to building and maintaining refineries. He has also sought to amend the Clean Air Act, repeal the Soil and Water Conservation Act of 1977, and to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to “restrict the jurisdiction of the United States over the discharge of dredged or fill material to discharges into waters”. To see for yourself the possible extent of the damage to the environment that would happen under a Paul administration please follow these links: H.R.2504, H.R.7079, H.R.7245, H.R.2415, H.R.393, H.R.4639, H.R.5293, and H.R.6936
- A Ron Paul administration would continue to proliferate the negative image of the US among other nations. Ron Paul supports withdrawing the US from the UN, when that has not happened he has fought to at least have the US withdrawn from the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. He has introduced legislation to keep the US from giving any funds to the UN. He also submitted that the US funds should not be used in any UN peacekeeping mission or any UN program at all. He has sponsored a bill calling for us to “terminate all participation by the United States in the United Nations, and to remove all privileges, exemptions, and immunities of the United Nations.”Ron Paul twice supported stopping the destruction of intercontinental ballistic missile silos in the United States. He also would continue with Bush’s plan of ignoring international laws by maintaining an insistence that the International Criminal Court does not apply to the US, despite President Clinton’s signature on the original treaty. The International Criminal Court is used for, among other things, prosecution of war crimes. Please see the following links: H.R.3891, H.AMDT.191, H.AMDT.190, H.R.3769, H.R.1665, H.CON.RES.23, and H.R.1154
- Ron Paul discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation and would not provide equal rights and protections to glbt citizens. This is an issue that Paul sort of dances around. He has been praised for stating that the federal government should not regulate who a person marries. This has been construed by some to mean that he is somewhat open to the idea of same sex marriage, he is not. Paul was an original co sponsor of the Marriage Protection Act in the House in 2004. Among other things this discriminatory piece of legislation placed a prohibition on the recognition of a same sex marriage across state borders. He said in 2004 that if he was in the Texas legislature he would not allow judges to come up with “new definitions” of marriage. Paul is a very religious conservative and though he is careful with his words his record shows that he is not a supporter of same sex marriage. In 1980 he introduced a particularly bigoted bill entitled “A bill to strengthen the American family and promote the virtues of family life.” or H.R.7955 A direct quote from the legislation “Prohibits the expenditure of Federal funds to any organization which presents male or female homosexuality as an acceptable alternative life style or which suggest that it can be an acceptable life style.” shows that he is unequivocally opposed to lifestyles other than heterosexual.
- Ron Paul has an unnatural obsession with guns. One of Paul’s loudest gripes is that the second amendment of the constitution is being eroded. In fact, he believes that September 11 would not have happened if that wasn’t true. He advocates for there to be no restrictions on personal ownership of semi-automatic weaponry or large capacity ammunition feeding devices, would repeal the Gun-Free School Zones Act (because we all know our schools are just missing more guns), wants guns to be allowed in our National Parks, and repeal the Gun Control Act of 1968. Now, I’m pretty damn certain that when the Constitution was written our founding fathers never intended for people to be walking around the streets with AK47’s and “large capacity ammunition feeding devices.” (That just sounds scary.) Throughout the years our Constitution has been amended and is indeed a living document needing changes to stay relevant in our society. Paul has no problem changing the Constitution when it fits his needs, such as no longer allowing those born in the US to be citizens if their parents are not. On the gun issue though he is no holds barred. I know he’s from Texas but really, common sense tells us that the amendments he is seeking to repeal have their place. In fact, the gun control act was put into place after the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King, and Robert Kennedy. Please view the following links: H.R.2424, H.R.1897, H.R.1096, H.R.407, H.R.1147, and H.R.3892.
- Ron Paul would butcher our already sad educational system. The fact is that Ron Paul wants to privatize everything and that includes education. Where we run into problems is that it has been shown (think our current health care system) that this doesn’t work so well in practice. Ron Paul has introduced legislation that would keep the Federal Government “from planning, developing, implementing, or administering any national teacher test or method of certification and from withholding funds from States or local educational agencies that fail to adopt a specific method of teacher certification.” In a separate piece of legislation he seeks to “prohibit the payment of Federal Education assistance in States which require the licensing or certification of private schools or private school teachers.” So basically the federal government can’t regulate teaching credentials and if states opt to require them for private schools they get no aid. That sounds like a marvelous idea teachers with no certification teaching in private schools that are allowed to discriminate on the basis of race. He is certainly moving forward with these proposals!Remember his “bill to strengthen the American family and promote the virtues of family life.” or H.R.7955? Guess what? He basically advocates for segregation in schools once again. It “Forbids any court of the United States from requiring the attendance at a particular school of any student because of race, color, creed, or sex.” Without thinking about this statement it doesn’t sound bad at all. But remember, when desegregating schools that this is done by having children go to different schools, often after a court decision as in Brown Vs. Board of Education. If this were a bill that passed, schools would no longer be compelled to comply and the schools would go back to segregation based on their locations. Ron Paul is really starting to look like a pretty bigoted guy don’t you think?
- Ron Paul is opposed to the separation of church and state. This reason is probably behind every other thing that I disagree with in regards to Paul’s positions. Ron Paul is among those who believes that there is a war on religion, he stated “Through perverse court decisions and years of cultural indoctrination, the elitist, secular Left has managed to convince many in our nation that religion must be driven from public view.” (( Koyaanisqatsi Blog: Wrong Paul Why I Do Not Want Ron Paul to be My President )) Though he talks a good talk, at times, Ron Paul can’t get away from his far right, conservative views. He would support “alternative views” to evolution taught in public schools (i.e. Intelligent Design.) We’ve already taken a look at his “bill to strengthen the American family and promote the virtues of family life.” or H.R.7955 Besides hating the gays he takes a very religious stance on many other things. He is attempting to force his beliefs on the rest of America, exactly what he would do as president.
So there you have it, my 10 reasons not to vote for Ron Paul. Please take the time to thoroughly review the records of the people running for office so you know where they really stand. Ron Paul has good rhetoric and he opposes the war but he’s not a good man in the human rights sense of the phrase. He is pretty much like every other Republican but more insidious. Here is a video that you should watch after reading this article. Really listen to what he says and how he says it. Watch out for the sneaky ones and RESEARCH! (( Orcinus: Ron Paul’s Record in Congress ))
UPDATE: I am posting a blog entry response to some of the feedback a little after 1 pm CST. I am also working on a more thorough referenced response that will hopefully be up by this evening. Also, the majority of the comments on this post appear to be thoughtful and honest and we appreciate that, the dialog that takes place between two or more conflicting viewpoints is much more productive when done in this manner.
274 Comments
Posted On: December 9, 2007
Hello all! I am married and have 3 amazing children. I am a very passionate person and this site is a great outlet for me to share some of my more passionate views on politics and religion in the US. I am a very liberal Democrat and proud of it. I am also a very vocal opponent of Fundamentalist Christianity and its hold on our nation. The free exchange of thoughts and ideas is very important for any sort of discourse so I welcome your input, whatever your view, on anything that I write. ~Summer
274 Comments
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Tim
I HAVE READ THIS WHOLE PAGE! My eyes hurt & I have a headache. Ron Paul????? I have been researching him among other candidates for months now. Watching all the debates. Reading blogs & watching the news & youtube. I have voted Democrat most of my life. And in 2008 I will vote Republican (yuch, that tastes bad). I have never known a politician who stood so firmly in his record, who never voted in favor of big business over the peoples rights & freedoms, one that lobbyists won’t approach for favors, the only candidate to return a portion of his office budget to the treasury at the end of the year, one that voted against giving Reagan the congressional medal of honor because it cost taxpayers $30,000 to produce and deliver but took $100 out of his pocket and proposed the rest of congress join him in paying for it themselves (that’s integrity my friends) and Ron Paul was Reagans friend. I have never heard another politician speak the truth, even if it wasn’t popular. I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS MUCH ENTHUSIASM FOR ANY CANDIDATE! He has never taken a paid junket, never voted for an unbalanced budget and never voted for a congressional pay raise. There is a revolution going on. A Ron Paul revolution. He has broken the all time donation for one day with his supporters donating 6 million dollars in 24 hours! You must take another look at Ron. Don’t pass up a chance to turn this country in the right direction because of your party affiliation. Ron Paul gets my support & my vote.
PS Anybody know how much money we are borrowing from China to fund this war!
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tim
Great post Summer. It is a testament to how terrible the political situation is that otherwise progressive people would even contemplate voting for Ron Paul. It’s truly frightening how reactionary he is and how bad a candidate he is. A quick look at his positions will reveal that working people who care about freedom, justice, democracy and the environment cannot possibly, in their right minds, support Ron Paul. Perhaps people who are looking for an alternative to the imperialism and assualt on working people that is being performed by the Democratic and Republican parties would be interested in Cynthia McKinney’s Green Party campaign. runcynthiarun.org
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Jeff Augusta GA
1. Affirmative action IS bad because it is not in the constitution for the federal government to impose such laws.
2. It is also not in the constitution to give the government the power to enforce such a law. Ron Paul supports giving the STATES power on this issue. More power to the states. A more decentralized government.
3. Ron Paul wants to return the government to the a “constitutional size.” This means that government gets a lot of it’s power removed (i.e. minimum wage), and more power is given to local government.
So far in all of these issues you are citing things that Ron Paul is removing from the federal government. You are leaving out the 50% of the story. He is GIVING more power to the local governments where it belongs.
After reading the rest of these points they all have the same tone. You are forgetting that he is wanting to remove the income tax.
Lastly, Ron Paul wants a non-interventionist foreign policy. Think of how many Americans would be alive today if he had been in the office in 2000. And, who can put a price on that?
You have this running tally of the cost of the war on your page, yet Ron Paul is the only candidate running under the Republican party against the war! -
Vivian
Ron Paul has done something unprecedented in American Politics; he has somehow gotten a measurable amount of cannabis activists and medical marijuana proponents to vote republican.
Paul has also enjoyed almost total support from the 911 Truth Movement, even though Paul himself does not publicly support their theories.
I am not voting for Ron Paul, because he, like nearly every candidate, does not fully disclose his true agenda and he has a lot of starry eyed idealists thinking he is the new messiah.
I can’t see why any progressive would vote for him.
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Ron Paul is a racist, a sexist,and a heterosexist. How do we know this? Because he supports legislation that harms the interests of these groups and opposes legislation that protects the interests of these groups. If you support Ron Paul after knowing the truth, then that makes you are racist, sexist, and heterosexist, too. If you want to be these things, that’s okay; just be honest and admit what you are. Quit trying to trick us by redefining your prejudice and desire to discriminate against members of these group as “freedom” and “liberty.” If you believe your own deception then you are a rationalizer. Whatever the case, we figured out the conservative states rights argument years ago – even before George Wallace ran for president. Paul isn’t a libertarian. You aren’t fooling us. He’s a white nationalist extremist.
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Brandon
because he wants to decriminalize marijuana, end american imperialism and let the states – all fifty of ‘em – be the centers for policy innovation.
in the news recently, the governator has decided to sue the EPA because this large, clumsy, inefficient, centralized bureaucracy has denied california and sixteen other states the right to regulate it’s own greenhouse gas emissions.
i don’t know about you guys, but when the environmental protection agency forbids states to take initiative to clean up their own air, something is wrong. i bet we could logically deduct that the EPA, a federal institution, is heavily lobbied by corporate institutions.
now, people, what kind of central, militaristic government takes it orders from large, multi-national corporations?
anyone?
anyone at all?
okay, okay, i’ll give you a hint: it starts with an ‘F’ and rhymes with baptism (sorta).
i’m pretty sure that old, white, piece-of-shit conservative ron paul has my vote. i never thought i’d be voting for a republican from texas……
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gary
So what you’re saying then summer is that you DON”T think we should get our country back to living by the constition?
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Andrew, is it the case that you have an open mind, and would change your mind if further research proved these conclusions wrong?
If so, I urge you, for your sake and for all of us, to keep looking, keep listening and see if you can overcome these preliminary impressions by learning the truth.
I don’t trust anyone, and it look a lot of research before I was convinced that ROn Paul represents our best hope for the future.
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Your comments show a lack of understanding… Ron Paul does not support any kind of “group rights”, he only supports individual rights. To Dr. Paul, there is no such thing as group rights.
He resists the efforts to try and categorize and stereotype a number of people into a group based on irrelevant criteria.
Skin color, sex or sexual orientation are not public issues, only to protect people from discrimination and it is ridiculous to think the government should be involved in laws that harm or support interests in “groups”.
Ron Paul thinks the government should get out of meddling in people’s personal lives.
I agree, and I am certainly not a sexist or racist.
Ron Paul in 2008!
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joshua warren
Ron Paul is not only our cure for apathy, but also our caffeine once we completely wake up. The people that worry about the downside of a Paul Administration have very valid points, and we should thank them for pointing these things out to us. Im afraid, however that they (and likely anyone who becomes alarmed at reading what is posted below) have not grasped fully the precarious position our complacence has us in. We have been raised to believe that it is the government’s responsibility to protect us from unjustness and unfairness. This is a very pleasing notion but it is not America.
Ours is a nation based upon the premise of liberty for all. Every citizen of the United States is supposed to have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, right? Well, we have been trained from birth to just allow that thought to stop right there. Which is what our alarmed friends are doing right now. The Constitution promises to guarantee these rights exist, but it is US who must secure these rights. Not the government. Not the Constitution.
Remember – our rights are endowed to us by our creator, guaranteed to us in the Constitution, and secured by we the people.
But what does this mean? Well it means that those who would claim that Ron Paul is no friend to the working man are right, and wrong. Ron Paul is NOT a friend to the working man, but to the free man, the responsible man. Ron Paul is one who truly understands that is not the government that is charged with the defense of our freedoms but us. The government, as established by the Constitution we all claim to honor, is restricted from infringing on our freedoms in EVERY way.
A government that has the power to protect the rights of the people, also has the power to remove those rights. And that is what we have been indoctrinated to believe. Ron Paul hopes that we will see his message, and we do. But do we understand his message of freedom?
He advocates a government that remembers its restrictions, thats true, but he also hopes that the people remember their responsibilities. Once the Paul Administration is in the White House we must continue the call for freedom at congress. Let our shouts of discontent and demands for a real change echo through not only Capitol Hill, but the halls of our State houses as well. Remind our Governors that the offices they occupy exist to serve our common interests. Remind our state legislatures that it is they who most directly represent our opinions and our needs and it is they who must step up to the plate in beginning state regulation programs. State regulated wages. State regulated equality laws. State regulated abortion laws. State regulated everything!
Ron Paul is the perfect man for the job. Ron Paul is the pro-America candidate, he does not belong to the CFR and wants us out of the United Nations. Some wonder what is so bad with the UN, well in the 50+ years the UN has existed how many times have we been at war or involved in a ‘police action’? Now look at the 100 years BEFORE the UN existed…..notice anything? I could be wrong but was the UN not created to avoid warfare? And did we not fight a war to avoid being ruled by kings living abroad? Ron Paul remembers our Constitution, and remembers what it is to be American. He recognizes the good intent Bill Clinton had in signing a treaty recognizing international war crimes. I might ask you, however, how that treaty permits the laws of foreign nations to affect ordinary people here inside the US? How many war criminals – not counting those in our current administration – walk our streets? So if America is a sovereign nation, with its own laws, why do international laws apply to us? Ron Paul asks these questions. And so should you.
i could go on and on correcting allegations that Ron Paul is not the best candidate. But my point is made, i think. We must take our liberty back. That means that we must from now on march on our state capitols for social change. It is OUR responsibility to secure our freedoms, to leave it up to government is to make our rights into privileges.
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annette wilcox
a lot of people on this discusion board seem to have a very distorted idea of who was the primary beneficiary of Affirmative Action,
do your research and you will find white women were the main benifactors of AA, not black people.Also since Ron Paul and his supporters are all about states rights I wonder what the response would be if slavery or indentured servitude were adopted by some states again!?
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abw1
Although Ron Paul supporters say he does not support group interest they seem to constantly look back to a time when the goverment only protected the interest and rights of a small white male property owning group.
Everyone else was a outsider who were denied the right to vote and could be discriminated against in jobs, housing and schools based on the likes, whims and prejudices of this group.
The only way these outsider groups (blacks, workers, women,gays) were able to achieve their rights were using the same group tatics as the ownership group.
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