View Single Post
Old 07-09-2007, 03:12 AM   #22 (permalink)
dc_dux
 
dc_dux's Avatar
 
Location: Washington DC
Jorgelito....perhaps you have information that I have not seen, but I am not aware of any studies, polls, etc that suggest broad based support or a "states rights" movement when it comes to these issues of concern to many Americans.

Do you think most America wants to replace Roe with 50 state abortion laws or the Brady Bill with 50 different state gun control laws? The same applies to stem cell research, Medicare and Social Security reform, disaster planning and response, etc.

Do you believe most American want to see no federal role in medical, science and technology R&D...or no federal support for developing alternative energy resources...or very limited federal enviromental regulations?

Do you think most Americans support a NO vote on a National Amber Alert system for missing children...or no federal minimum wage...or less federal regulations on workplace safety?

These are all Ron Paul positions...all under the guise of "not authorized in the Constitution and should be left to the States". Yet there is no evidence that Americans want these (and many other issues) left to the states.

There is a place for folks like Ron Paul (and Dennis Kucinich) in the House of Representatives, where they are one voice among 435. It is refreshing and contributes to the debate when they vote against the mainstream Ds and Rs based on their respective understanding of the Constitution and the role of the federal government. They also know that their positions are far from the mainstream and will have no impact on passage or failure of most legislation.

However, these guys dont translate well to the Executive Branch. Assume a Ron Paul presidency and his "abolish the income tax" position. Would he veto student loans bills because they are dependent on revenue derived from income taxes....Would he veto the annual budget and appropriation bills (he votes against many of the appropriation bills). Not a chance because he knows the blowback that would come from Americans across the country who benefit from programs like student loan guarantees, getting their Social Security check, farm subsidies, community development programs, etc.

Sorry, he is WAY out of the mainstream and more people will recognize that as they become familiar with his positions beyond the sound bites of "abolish the income tax" and "get the federal government out of our lives"

Ron Paul's voting record in his 12 years in Congress...a very mixed record in many respects, but a very clear pattern on some issues.
__________________
"The perfect is the enemy of the good."
~ Voltaire

Last edited by dc_dux; 07-09-2007 at 08:33 AM.. Reason: added link to Ron Paul voting record
dc_dux is offline  
 

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360