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View Full Version : Okay, so Ron Paul is president of the US. Now what?




ronpaulitician
05-28-2007, 08:14 PM
Time and time again, when debating the merits of Ron Paul's viewpoints, I run across the same counter-argument:

What will Ron Paul actually be able to do if he is elected as president? Congress will unite against him, not giving him anything he wants, and overriding any of his vetoes.

I'm not so sure that, if Paul is actually elected, Congress will have the guts to stand up to him. They don't have the guts to stand up to Bush, and if Paul is elected, I'm sure they'll be fearing for their own political hides, and will give in to some of his ideas.

But, in order to be able to give the doubters a decent answer, what exactly will a president like Paul be able to do if Congress unites against him?

A couple of issues where I'd like to know just what president Paul could do in his first few weeks/months in office: war in Iraq, war on terror, war on drugs, Patriot Act.

MsDoodahs
05-28-2007, 08:19 PM
The prez is "commander in chief."

Doesn't that mean he has control over the military?

If so, then he can issue orders to begin pulling our forces out of Iraq.

And those ridiculous "executive orders" - he can start reversing those, too.

Just off the top of my head and I could be wrong, but those are two functions I think as prez he could start with.

:)

winston_blade
05-28-2007, 08:21 PM
Ron could bully Republicans around and force them to support his views, otherwise he could make them not look like Republicans. He has the power to do that via the bully pulpit.

DrStrabismus
05-28-2007, 08:24 PM
couldn't he shut down the IRS? Or any executive branch department? He might force a constitutional lawsuit if he does.

ChristopherJ
05-28-2007, 08:26 PM
One of the most important powers Ron Paul would have is veto power. This means no more sneaking pork through on legislation among other things. If congress wants to get anything through him I think he will make sure it benefits the people of this country.

I have also asked the question would 4 years (or hopefully 8) of grid lock be such a bad thing? It would certaily decrease government spending. It begs the question which is worse bad legislation or no legislation?

Edit: I should have read your post a little closer. I see you mentioned congress uniting to overide his veto. I doubt this would happen on a large scale as that would take a bipartisan effort and we see how well the 2 parties work together. That and RP letting the american people know what is going on. I imagine that could be terribly embarassing for some.

Cunningham
05-28-2007, 08:31 PM
I'd say the biggest thing he can do is have four years to tell americans the truth. He can tell them everything that congress is doing. He can go on TV and specifically outline all the pork in bills and embarass the hell out of the congress. The men in congress will be forced to be honest about there disrespect for the constitution. Congress won't just be dealing with President Ron Paul, they'll be up against the constitution, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington. Congress will have to willingly ignore there oath of office to go up against him, and this time there will be a president holding them to that oath. I guess if he gets 4 years, he'll get 8 total. He could change the face of the Federal Government in that time.

HippyChimp
05-28-2007, 08:32 PM
couldn't he shut down the IRS? Or any executive branch department?
yup, all it will take is a president with the cajones to sign an Executive Order to that effect.

wecandoit
05-28-2007, 08:44 PM
As has been mentioned, he could do an amazing amount through executive orders.

My concern with congress, and the supreme court, is how they would attack him.

It will not be a smooth ride. You would have Paul and the majority of Americans behind him, undoing all the harm that has been done to this great country, and the puppets still in place throwing everything but the kitchen sink at him, trying to get him out of office.

I wouldn't expect a single thing to get done in a cooperative effort between Paul and congress until after the mid term elections.

But he could do a world of good by executive orders the first two years.

I would also suggest he never leave the White House.

Jeff556
05-28-2007, 08:46 PM
One sentence would help him a lot:

"There is no federal statue that requires you to pay an income tax."

wecandoit
05-28-2007, 08:47 PM
I should also add that Paul would be facing an even more forminable opponent than congress and the supreme court once in office....the media.

lucky
05-28-2007, 09:00 PM
The veto pen is a mighty weapon. If the Republicans join the Dems and override it then the midterms would look bleak for any incumbent.

The excutive orders is strong also. It has become able to have the force of law.

Being able to go on television at anytime and talk is powerful.

Also as I have heard him say in the NH interview. The president has the ability to use the courts via the Attorney to sue and ask the courts to look at anything he deems unconstitutional. This is a very powerful weapon.

Most of all if he were to be elected it would shake the political foundation to the core as it would demonstrate to the entrenched politicos that to not go along with the peoples wishes would be political suicide. It will be funny to watch all the historical big government dems and cons all of a sudden find the light so to speak. They would fall all over themselves to be the first and biggest small government idealists.

TheConstitutionLives
05-28-2007, 10:05 PM
He would parden every person in jail for not paying their income taxes too!

oldfart
05-30-2007, 01:13 AM
We've got to get him in there first and I wouldn't be too surprised if his airplane had an accident about the time he started showing up on the MSM radar. It could easily be blamed on Al Queda.

xcalybur
05-30-2007, 01:19 AM
Probably the most powerful tool a President like Ron Paul would have is the Truth. He would also have the veto, but if he veto's everything, eventually, Congress would override his veto even if one party doesn't have 66%. What a Ron Paul could do then is talk directly to the American public and basically "tell" on the Congress. They attempt to pass his veto and he lays it out for the US that there is 130 billion in pork in the bill. You want to see the American people get pissed.

SeekLiberty
05-30-2007, 01:50 AM
He can clean up the administration by hiring only liberty minded people, and appoint his own Attorney Generals across the states to clean up the injustice department.

Telling the truth to the American public is a big thing. One would be to let all know that the jury (trial by country) have the right and duty to judge both the law and facts of the case. For more info, go to www.fija.org (http://www.fija.org)

Another is the abolishment of the IRS and the Federal Reserve system. He will have the pulpit to tell all Americans the truth about the story about personal income taxes and the people's deflated money.

Kuldebar
05-30-2007, 02:05 AM
Well, as Paul said in a recent interview, a President can spearhead efforts and work with Congress, but failing that, the President can simply choose not to use the the unconstitutional tools he has been given. (ie Patriot Act, et al)

Not all the current abuses come from the executive branch, but many do. And if the chief executive raises the constitutionality of something and sends it to the courts; that's a pretty big push for redress.

dude58677
05-30-2007, 04:58 AM
He'll just pardon all tax evaders, anyone arrested of gun possession, drug offenses. He will also be able to repeal all the Code of Federal regulations.


Go to www.harrybrown.org and look up "My first day in office". Harry Browne gives us a good idea on how this will be done.

ronpaulitician
05-30-2007, 09:43 AM
Go to www.harrybrown.org and look up "My first day in office". Harry Browne gives us a good idea on how this will be done.
Thanks!

Harry Browne: The president's first day in office (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=13247)


On Wednesday, Joseph Farah told us what he would do if he were the new president. He focused mainly on whom he'd appoint to his cabinet, but I'd like to tell you what actions I'd take if I'd been elected president.

After my inaugural day, I'd probably spend little more than an hour a day in the Oval Office, because a busy president is a dangerous president. But for the very first day, I'd have an extremely long agenda.

On that first day in office, by executive order I would:


Pardon everyone who had been convicted on a federal, non-violent drug charge, order their immediate release, reunite them with their families, and restore all their civil rights. (Anyone convicted of using violence against someone else in a drug case would not qualify as "non-violent.")

Pardon everyone who had been convicted on any federal gun-control charge, tax-evasion charge, or any other victimless crime, order their immediate release, and restore all their civil rights.


I would empty the prisons of those who haven't harmed anyone else and make room for the violent criminals who are currently getting out on plea bargains and early release.

Following the issuance of the pardons:


I would announce a policy to penalize, dismiss, or even prosecute any federal employee who violated the Bill of Rights by treating you as guilty until proven innocent, by searching or seizing your property without due process of law, by treating you as a servant, or in any other way violating your rights as a sovereign American citizen.

I would immediately order that no federal asset forfeiture could occur unless the property's owner had been convicted by full due process. And I would initiate steps to make restitution to anyone whose property had been impounded, frozen, or seized by the federal government without a legal conviction. (Over 80 percent of such seizures occur when no one has even been charged with a crime.)

As commander in chief of the Armed Forces, I would immediately remove all American troops from foreign soil. Europe and Asia can pay for their own defense, and they can risk their own lives in their eternal squabbles. This would save billions of dollars a year in taxes, but -- more important -- it would make sure your sons and daughters never fight or die in someone else's war.

I would order everyone in the executive branch to stop harassing smokers, tobacco companies, successful computer companies, gun owners, gun manufacturers, alternative medicine suppliers, religious groups (whether respected or labeled as "cults"), investment companies, health-care providers, businessmen, or anyone else who's conducting his affairs peaceably.

I would end federal affirmative action, federal quotas, set-asides, preferential treatments, and other discriminatory practices of the federal government. Any previous president could have done this with a stroke of the pen. Do you wonder why none of them did?


And then I would break for lunch.

There's more ...
After lunch, I would begin the process of removing from the Federal Register the thousands and thousands of regulations and executive orders inserted there by previous presidents. In most cases these regulations give federal employees powers for which there is no constitutional authority.

I would call Office Depot and order a carload of pens -- to use to veto congressional bills that violate the Constitution or that spend more money than necessary for the constitutional functions of government.

I would send to Congress a budget that immediately cuts federal spending in half -- on its way to reducing the government to no larger than its constitutional size.

Congress would undoubtedly pass a larger budget and expect me to sign it. I wouldn't. I'd veto it.

Would Congress override my veto?

Maybe it would and maybe it wouldn't.

Even if Congress succeeded in passing bills over my veto, the battle finally would be joined. We finally would have something we haven't had in my lifetime -- a president standing up to Congress.

At long last, there would be two sides arguing in Washington -- one to increase government and one to cut it sharply -- instead of the current trivial debate over whether government should grow 5 percent a year or "only" 3 percent.

Just say no
No president in the past several decades has had the will, the determination, the courage to "just say no" to Congress.

No president in the past several decades has even tried to reduce the size of government. Any president who wanted to do so could have managed it -- even in the face of a hostile Congress.

No president since the 1950s has proposed a single budget that would reduce the size of the federal government. And when Congress has come back with even larger budgets, no president has vetoed them.

Every president who claimed to be against big government has had that veto at his disposal, but none thought enough of your freedom to use it.

As president, I would -- for the first time -- use that office on your behalf. I would say no to Congress. Whatever new program it wanted to spend money on, I would veto. Whatever new tax it wanted to impose, I would veto. Whatever new intrusion it wanted to make in your life, I would veto.

No deals. No excuses. No apologies. No regrets.

But I would do more than just defend what little freedom you have left today. I would go on the offensive. I wouldn't rest until the income tax was repealed, the federal government was so small you wouldn't worry about who was elected president, and you had control over your own money, your own freedom, your own life.

And when we achieved this, we'd have a celebration. Do you remember the German youths who tore down the Berlin Wall and sold pieces of it to us?

Well, we would tear down the IRS building and sell the pieces -- and use the proceeds to help IRS agents find honest work.

Do you think any of my plans would appeal to George W. Bush or Al Gore?

Not likely, is it?

So why are we worrying over which one of them will win the current legal mud-wrestling?

ronpaulitician
05-30-2007, 09:44 AM
I sure wish Ron Paul would create such a list.

Original_Intent
05-30-2007, 10:20 AM
Yes the media would crucify him.

As far as congress, if Ron Paul gets the nomination for the GOP don't you think it will be important to those running for Congress and the Senate to either align themselves with him (or against him?) People that support Ron Paul will also support representatives that are in agreement with him.

If they do the unthinkable and lie to get elected,(grin) then we will have the opportunity to boot the rascals out in 2010. I think it is important we get it right in '08 though.

4Horsemen
05-30-2007, 10:31 AM
A good start would be to stop electing lawyers to Congress. Close down 50% of the law schools, and totally reform the justice system. NO MORE FRIVOLOUS LAWSUITS, it's killing our country, and making law firms rich. Everybody is afraid of being sued these days.

mordechai
05-31-2007, 11:07 PM
RP would immediately begin with the unconstitutional Executive Orders. Then, he would begin to replace everyone he possibly could with rather libertarianish characters in governmental positions, and after that, anything could happen.

White Knight
06-02-2007, 02:36 AM
I think if he were elected, or even were to get the Republican nomination, then many House and Senate Republican candidates would be like Ron Paul. Neo-cons might no longer be the backbone of the Republican Party.