Ron Paul, the real Republican?
February 20th, 2007Interesting story about Ron Paul, the Republican Congressman who actually understands the Constitution.
When most members of Congress see a bill for the first time, they immediately judge the bill on its merits, or if you’re more cynical, they determine what the political interests that support them will think of it, or how it might benefit their constituents.
For Paul, the vast majority of bills don’t get that far. He first asks, “Does the Constitution authorize Congress to pass this law?” Most of the time, the answer to that question is “no.” And so Paul votes accordingly.
We’d be a lot better of with a Congress full of Ron Pauls. I may vote for him in the primary.
A few other things about Dr Paul.
(1) Liberals tend to gravitate to his views. For instance, H.R. 1009 legalizes hemp farming and is a co sponsored bill with some of the most liberal members of congress. They also praise him for his anti-Iraq war stance.
(2) His non-intervention foreign policy is very concerning. He voted against the PATRIOT act twice and I am concerned that he will not be proactive enough in the fight against terrorism.
(3) Most concerning to me, is his vote against the Federal Marriage Amendment. His reasoning that this should be left to the states is insufficient when renegade federal judges are legislating this issue from the bench.
While I appreciate his strict constructionalist views on the Constitution, I also know that it is hard to pass significant policy with a “not in the Constitution” stance. He tends to alienate himself from most conservatives based on those staunch (and in my view unnecessary) stances.
That’s the libertarian streak in Paul. I can only hope it’s a bit contagious among the Republicans and Democrats.
I live in Rep Paul’s district. I vote for him every 2 years as do about 70% of our neighbors. He is so honest and consistent that he seems odd. Such is the sad state of affairs in American politics.
I wish everybody would be alittle more libertarian. I’d vote for a politician who campaigned on the promise “I’ll vote ‘no’ to 80% of the bills presented to me just to keep government from gettting any larger.”