Bradley in DC
08-09-2007, 11:46 PM
http://www.messengernews.net/News/articles.asp?articleID=11681
GOP candidate Paul seeks end to Iraq war, financial woes
By BILL SHEA, Messenger staff writer
Presidential hopeful Ron Paul visited with the Messenger Tuesday morning during a stop in Fort Dodge.
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul thinks the United States is in a heap of trouble.
The Republican from Texas sees his country mired in Iraq and inching closer every day to what he calls a ‘‘financial meltdown.’’ He’s not shy about saying that he thinks his fellow Republicans helped cause these problems.
‘‘I think the country is going in the wrong direction,’’ the presidential hopeful said Tuesday morning during a Fort Dodge visit. ‘‘I think the people think it’s going in the wrong direction. I think the Republicans have been inept in doing what they claim they believe in.’’
Paul’s solution is a smaller government that respects the freedoms of all Americans.
‘‘I’m a champion of individual liberty,’’ he said. ‘‘I understand how it works and I will be consistent in defending that principle.’’
Paul wants the United States to stop trying to be the world’s police officer. He said U.S. forces should be withdrawn not only from Iraq, but the entire Middle East. Muslim radicals, he added, will always have an incentive to attack as long as there’s an American presence there.
In the House of Representatives, Paul voted against authorizing the war in Iraq and has voted against every bill that provided money for it. He said the war was waged under false pretenses since Iraq had nothing to do with al-Qaida and didn’t possess weapons of mass destruction.
He said he doesn’t subscribe to the idea that leaving Iraq will result in terrorist attacks in the United States. The same people making that claim, he said, are the ones who said the Iraq war would be short and easy.
‘‘They were all wrong,’’ he said.
The entire concept of the war on terrorism doesn’t sit well with the candidate.
‘‘I think the war on terrorism is a misnomer and it’s a cliche to galvanize the people to endorse perpetual war,’’ he said.
He favors a narrowly tailored approach that includes an old strategy once used to target pirates.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to issue what are called letters of marque and reprisal which essentially allow a private entity to do a military mission for the country. In the 1700s and early 1800s such letters were given to ship captains so they could hunt down pirates. Paul said he’d like to dust off that tactic, but with bin Laden rather than Blackbeard as the target.
‘‘It’s a way of going after our enemies without having perpetual war,’’ he said.
The nation’s finances are the second major problem Paul sees looming. The government, he said, is broke.
‘‘We spend beyond our means,’’ he said. ‘‘We tax to the hilt. We borrow to the hilt. We’re dependent on China.’’
Paul said the federal budget must be cut. Spending on the Iraq war and other overseas endeavors is the place to start cutting, he said. He estimated that $300 billion to $400 billion a year could be saved that way.
The candidate said he wants to abolish the income tax. But he doesn’t want to replace it with another source of revenue. That, he said, would force the government to become smaller and spend less.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net
GOP candidate Paul seeks end to Iraq war, financial woes
By BILL SHEA, Messenger staff writer
Presidential hopeful Ron Paul visited with the Messenger Tuesday morning during a stop in Fort Dodge.
U.S. Rep. Ron Paul thinks the United States is in a heap of trouble.
The Republican from Texas sees his country mired in Iraq and inching closer every day to what he calls a ‘‘financial meltdown.’’ He’s not shy about saying that he thinks his fellow Republicans helped cause these problems.
‘‘I think the country is going in the wrong direction,’’ the presidential hopeful said Tuesday morning during a Fort Dodge visit. ‘‘I think the people think it’s going in the wrong direction. I think the Republicans have been inept in doing what they claim they believe in.’’
Paul’s solution is a smaller government that respects the freedoms of all Americans.
‘‘I’m a champion of individual liberty,’’ he said. ‘‘I understand how it works and I will be consistent in defending that principle.’’
Paul wants the United States to stop trying to be the world’s police officer. He said U.S. forces should be withdrawn not only from Iraq, but the entire Middle East. Muslim radicals, he added, will always have an incentive to attack as long as there’s an American presence there.
In the House of Representatives, Paul voted against authorizing the war in Iraq and has voted against every bill that provided money for it. He said the war was waged under false pretenses since Iraq had nothing to do with al-Qaida and didn’t possess weapons of mass destruction.
He said he doesn’t subscribe to the idea that leaving Iraq will result in terrorist attacks in the United States. The same people making that claim, he said, are the ones who said the Iraq war would be short and easy.
‘‘They were all wrong,’’ he said.
The entire concept of the war on terrorism doesn’t sit well with the candidate.
‘‘I think the war on terrorism is a misnomer and it’s a cliche to galvanize the people to endorse perpetual war,’’ he said.
He favors a narrowly tailored approach that includes an old strategy once used to target pirates.
The Constitution gives Congress the power to issue what are called letters of marque and reprisal which essentially allow a private entity to do a military mission for the country. In the 1700s and early 1800s such letters were given to ship captains so they could hunt down pirates. Paul said he’d like to dust off that tactic, but with bin Laden rather than Blackbeard as the target.
‘‘It’s a way of going after our enemies without having perpetual war,’’ he said.
The nation’s finances are the second major problem Paul sees looming. The government, he said, is broke.
‘‘We spend beyond our means,’’ he said. ‘‘We tax to the hilt. We borrow to the hilt. We’re dependent on China.’’
Paul said the federal budget must be cut. Spending on the Iraq war and other overseas endeavors is the place to start cutting, he said. He estimated that $300 billion to $400 billion a year could be saved that way.
The candidate said he wants to abolish the income tax. But he doesn’t want to replace it with another source of revenue. That, he said, would force the government to become smaller and spend less.
Contact Bill Shea at (515) 573-2141 or bshea@messengernews.net