A Traficant/Paul 2012 Ticket?

[Philo-Publius]

http://www.peteykins.com/sparklepics2/Traficant2.jpg
Many of you already know that Ohio Congressman James Traficant, who has made it his life's mission to abolish the IRS and end the Federal Reserve System, is forming a third major political party to challenge the status quo and achieve those very focused ends, on February 13, 2010 in Washington, D.C. (more information on this event can be found here (http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/traficant_president__204.html)). Many of you are likely already in firm support of Traficant, and his aims generally.
YouTube - Jim Traficant - Uncut (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHbOHq1zEfY)
But in connection with my question, I would direct your attention to July 24, 2002, when Traficant was railroaded out of Congress. On the eve of his expulsion, when very few within the House of Representatives had the courage to rise in opposition to the motion to expel, of particular note was Ron Paul of Texas, who unabashedly defended Traficant, and stated for the record that he felt his trial was a sham and a total miscarriage of justice. So without knowing the specific nature of their relationship while Traficant was in Congress, other than that they are both very libertarian-minded individuals, I would suggest that the door might yet be open for a future Traficant/Paul ticket, and I am wondering how many might be in favor of such a hook-up for 2012?
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/assets_c/2009/12/traficant_jazz_hands-cropped-proto-custom_2.jpg
I personally feel that Traficant has the 'chutspah' that Paul has heretofore been lacking, the ability not just to challenge the status quo, but to rail against it LOUDLY, and 'kick it square in the crotch'. And, while Traficant can be a little too 'junkyard dog' in style at times, Paul has the focus, the theory and the moderation to bring Traficant back in line and keep the mission on track. Traficant also brings what is perceived by many to be a populist element to the table, he is a veritable legend in the Ohio region, winning in years past with vote percentages in the high 70s, and Ohio has been one very large battleground state for anyone who wishes to make a run. I predict, region-wide, due to the strong but wishy-washy Democratic element, that Traficant would carry Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia with ease, and would be a strong contender throughout much of the Midwest. He is populist/moderate enough to pull enough votes away from Democrats to engender a shift in votes toward the Paul ticket, while not watering down Paul's message in any appreciable way. In fact, I dare say he goes further than Paul, in key areas we all care about like ending the IRS and the Fed.

For the benefit of anyone unfamiliar with his populist/libertarian style, or who might be worried that, being a former Democrat he might not be wholly on board with the main planks of Paulism, I submit for your consideration a speech Traficant delivered on November 22, 2009 to a Tea Party group in Cleveland, wherein he outlined a concrete plan to not just 'audit', but to attack the very heart of the Federal Reserve System, in such a way as would be practical, yet lethal:
YouTube - 1/3 James Traficant's ENDtheFED Speech 11-22-09 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbGTusE_6jE)
YouTube - 2/3 James Traficant's ENDtheFED Speech 11-22-09 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSDEqlx8zVE&feature=related)
YouTube - 3/3 James Traficant's ENDtheFED Speech 11-22-09 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqdfI-Vbhps&feature=related)

And, lest anyone still think he's not serious about taking this to the streets and fighting tooth-and-nail till this gets done, Traficant stated a few days ago on his Saturday radio show on WTAM 1100 Cleveland, which is now carried into 38 states, and which fact alone I think should elicit our careful consideration (he has a MICROPHONE!):


"I honestly believe... you might think this sounds crazy... they said I'd never change the burden of proof in a civil tax case and I did, and they're all laughing saying, 'You'll never abolish the IRS'. I want you to listen to this. This isn’t arrogance or conceit... I believe I AM that guy, that WILL abolish the Internal Rectal Service... that's DAMN for sure, I feel strongly." -James A. Traficant, January 30, 2010

So what say ye? Is Jim Traficant the shot of B12 in arm that Ron Paul needs?

[Austrian Econ Disciple]

I would give my all for a Paul/Traficant ticket. Such bliss :p

[Chester Copperpot]

that was pretty good

[TonySutton]

Most politicians want a VP who draws votes for a win and then wants them to fade away. I believe a VP should be the heavy hand of the Administration with the President acting as the wise father figure.

That said, I think Traficant could be a good VP.

[ctiger2]

Traficant is just awesome.

[Mach]

Is he doing what he's doing from the heart or just out of revenge. I have to say I never really dug into his stuff very deep.

I'm sure I agree with him in ways, don't take this too far the wrong way, but, he just reminds me of someone who's hung out down at the bar for most of his life.... I guess I'm pre-judging again... I'll work on it.

EDIT: It may be the hair thing.

[Philo-Publius]

Haha! No, I certainly don't take that the wrong way.

Traficant is colorful and at times a little flamboyant, that's for darn sure! I have wondered the same thing myself at times, lol, but I don't think anyone has ever accused him of actually being any kind of a hard drinker... it's definitely the hair and the denim suits. : )

And, wow. I very much appreciate your open-mindedness. I am a fairly new member, and I have already commented to a friend of mine here who is a senior member that the level of mutual respect on this whole forum is just outstanding. I've been on other opinion sites and there is just so much back-and-forth hollering between people who disagree. This is an amazingly refreshing change of pace for me!

Thank you again for the comment... yes, check Traficant out, I just wanted to throw his name out there for discussion and consideration.

[YumYum]

History will show that Traficant was railroaded and falsely accused. He endured prison, served his time, and came back ready to lead. He is an awesome fighter for the people and our liberties! I'd love to see a Traficant/Paul Ticket. If Traficant starts a Third Party, count me in!! We had the "Whig Party"; Traficant should call the new party "The Toupee Party”.:D

[Elwar]

The stormfronters will love his anti-Israel stance.

[KCIndy]

It may be the hair thing.

LOL we'll need to do a "rug bomb" to raise funds for a new hairpiece.

:p

[BuddyRey]

I love this idea and think Traficant and Paul would make a political dream team. But since Ron Paul is much older than Jim Traficant, my own preference would be to flip the ticket, so that Ron could have four to eight years as President, and then Jim could do the same. By the time both of their administrations were over, I think there'd be a lot more chance of things really having turned around in this country for the better.

Just a thought.

[Philo-Publius]

I love this idea and think Traficant and Paul would make a political dream team. But since Ron Paul is much older than Jim Traficant, my own preference would be to flip the ticket, so that Ron could have four to eight years as President, and then Jim could do the same. By the time both of their administrations were over, I think there'd be a lot more chance of things really having turned around in this country for the better.

Just a thought.
Oh, come on! Paul is only five and some odd years older, and old Jimbo has a few pounds on him for sure, LOL, so it kinda' evens out. : )

I'll tell you what, if we can get these two together, I don't care WHOSE name is on the top of the ticket, I'm behind it 100%! I want to see what comes out of this Feb. 13th Town Hall Conference in D.C. Traficant is hosting. I think if there is any 'merge', the Tea Parties should merge with that, and stay the hell away from Palin. Ron Paul is already heavily-supported by the Tea Party, and his son is running Tea Party. Now all of a sudden Palin has 'seen the light' and is endorsing him and the Tea Parties generally. But that move will be seen through. These Tea Partiers will see right through it.

And I also agree that an immense amount of change would be seen with a Traficant/Paul or Paul/Traficant administration. But one thing we need to realized is... the ballot box, getting your candidate elected, can only at best solidify what has been built slowly, prior to it. An election victory is only evidence that the change has already been completed, or that the preconditions for change in the direction you want it to go have been met. The Publius theory is that no unjust law, for example, could ever be upheld, unless the people at large already have it within them to uphold it. If you work on the people... you get things right with the people, then anything that comes down contrary to the will of the people will be swiftly and firmly rejected.

So I look for a victory in the polls of these candidates as a marker that we have already done what we are supposed to do. I know you agree.

[The Patriot]

I would love the ticket. He may not be a pure Austrian Economist, but he is far better than most of the people we have in Washington. He is right on foreign policy, the IRS, the Federal Reserve, and the bailouts.

I agree with your assessments. Paul could be the voice of reason, the come and moderate intellectual, the standard bearer for the Message of Liberty that will be the center of his campaign. Traficant could be the populist bulldog, and really rile up the electorate and articulate Paul's policies in a way the "average joe" could understand. Murray Rothbard did a brilliant article on how we could use right wing populist planks in a libertarian anti state campaign.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/ir/Ch5.html

[The Patriot]

Oh, come on! Paul is only five and some odd years older, and old Jimbo has a few pounds on him for sure, LOL, so it kinda' evens out. : )

I'll tell you what, if we can get these two together, I don't care WHOSE name is on the top of the ticket, I'm behind it 100%! I want to see what comes out of this Feb. 13th Town Hall Conference in D.C. Traficant is hosting. I think if there is any 'merge', the Tea Parties should merge with that, and stay the hell away from Palin. Ron Paul is already heavily-supported by the Tea Party, and his son is running Tea Party. Now all of a sudden Palin has 'seen the light' and is endorsing him and the Tea Parties generally. But that move will be seen through. These Tea Partiers will see right through it.

And I also agree that an immense amount of change would be seen with a Traficant/Paul or Paul/Traficant administration. But one thing we need to realized is... the ballot box, getting your candidate elected, can only at best solidify what has been built slowly, prior to it. An election victory is only evidence that the change has already been completed, or that the preconditions for change in the direction you want it to go have been met. The Publius theory is that no unjust law, for example, could ever be upheld, unless the people at large already have it within them to uphold it. If you work on the people... you get things right with the people, then anything that comes down contrary to the will of the people will be swiftly and firmly rejected.

So I look for a victory in the polls of these candidates as a marker that we have already done what we are supposed to do. I know you agree.

How about this for a cabinet? Just a partial one, I won't go through all posts.

President: Ron Paul
Vice President: Jim Traficant
Secretary of Treasury: Peter Schiff
Secretary of Defense: Michael Scheuer
Chief of Staff: Lew Rockwell
Press Secretary: John Stossel
Attorney General: Andrew Napolitano
Secretary of State: Pat Buchanan

[MRoCkEd]

How about this for a cabinet? Just a partial one, I won't go through all posts.

President: Ron Paul
Vice President: Jim Traficant
Secretary of Treasury: Peter Schiff
Secretary of Defense: Michael Scheuer
Chief of Staff: Lew Rockwell
Press Secretary: John Stossel
Attorney General: Andrew Napolitano
Secretary of State: Pat Buchanan
I just had a Rongasm. :eek:

[The Patriot]

I just had a Rongasm. :eek:

:D

[The Patriot]

The stormfronters will love his anti-Israel stance.

What the hell does that mean? Please clarify your statements. He has said consistently he isn't anti Israel, but that he wants to practice American Neutrality, just like Ron Paul.

[The Patriot]

I just had a Rongasm. :eek:

Senate Majority Leader: Rand Paul

House Majority Leader: Adam Kokesh.
:cool:

[Dieseler]

How about this for a cabinet? Just a partial one, I won't go through all posts.

President: Ron Paul
Vice President: Jim Traficant
Secretary of Treasury: Peter Schiff
Secretary of Defense: Michael Scheuer
Chief of Staff: Lew Rockwell
Press Secretary: John Stossel
Attorney General: Andrew Napolitano
Secretary of State: Pat Buchanan

I'm in.

[Philo-Publius]

How about this for a cabinet? Just a partial one, I won't go through all posts.

President: Ron Paul
Vice President: Jim Traficant
Secretary of Treasury: Peter Schiff
Secretary of Defense: Michael Scheuer
Chief of Staff: Lew Rockwell
Press Secretary: John Stossel
Attorney General: Andrew Napolitano
Secretary of State: Pat Buchanan
EXCELLENT choices!

The Stossel and Scheuer selections are very interesting! Way to think outside the box! Me likes! : )

[sofia]

How about this for a cabinet? Just a partial one, I won't go through all posts.

President: Ron Paul
Vice President: Jim Traficant
Secretary of Treasury: Peter Schiff
Secretary of Defense: Michael Scheuer
Chief of Staff: Lew Rockwell
Press Secretary: John Stossel
Attorney General: Andrew Napolitano
Secretary of State: Pat Buchanan

i noticed you left out all but the original cabinet seats/departments....(cuz they wont exist any more?) :)

[BuddyRey]

How about this for a cabinet? Just a partial one, I won't go through all posts.

President: Ron Paul
Vice President: Jim Traficant
Secretary of Treasury: Peter Schiff
Secretary of Defense: Michael Scheuer
Chief of Staff: Lew Rockwell
Press Secretary: John Stossel
Attorney General: Andrew Napolitano
Secretary of State: Pat Buchanan

AWESOME!!! :eek:

One question though; would Andrew Napolitano be of more value to the country as Attorney General, or as a Supreme Court Justice?

[The Patriot]

AWESOME!!! :eek:

One question though; would Andrew Napolitano be of more value to the country as Attorney General, or as a Supreme Court Justice?

I think Attorney General, personally, I think there are a lot of Constitutionally minded justices. I just think Napolitano would be perfect for Attorney General. There are a lot of good guys Paul could appoint to the Bench. Honestly, I trust SCOTUS most of any branch at this point. Also, Napolitano would have oversight over more cases and would advise the President the the Justice Department on a daily basis.

[ctiger2]

What the hell does that mean? Please clarify your statements. He has said consistently he isn't anti Israel, but that he wants to practice American Neutrality, just like Ron Paul.

+1

Traficant is not against Israel. Traficant is against Israel having such influence over our country. I say get the hooks out.

[BuddyRey]

What the hell does that mean? Please clarify your statements. He has said consistently he isn't anti Israel, but that he wants to practice American Neutrality, just like Ron Paul.

+1

Being against militarism and perpetual war does not make someone an antisemite.

[reardenstone]

How about this for a cabinet? Just a partial one, I won't go through all posts.

President: Ron Paul
Vice President: Jim Traficant
Secretary of Treasury: Peter Schiff
Secretary of Defense: Michael Scheuer
Chief of Staff: Lew Rockwell
Press Secretary: John Stossel
Attorney General: Andrew Napolitano
Secretary of State: Pat Buchanan

YEAH!

Why not push this! Or Why not run as Independents or Libertarians then work like mad to get the third choice out!

[The Patriot]

Also
Federal Reserve(while it exists): Thomas DiLorenzo
Secretary of Commerce: Thomas Woods.

[payme_rick]

Wow... dunno if I'd call in a rongasm, but I just had what you had...

[raiha]

Their personalities are like chalk and cheese but their hearts complement each other. I'd love to know how they get on behind the scenes. Miracles might indeed happen in 2012.

[kahless]

But in connection with my question, I would direct your attention to July 24, 2002, when Traficant was railroaded out of Congress. On the eve of his expulsion, when very few within the House of Representatives had the courage to rise in opposition to the motion to expel, of particular note was Ron Paul of Texas, who unabashedly defended Traficant, and stated for the record that he felt his trial was a sham and a total miscarriage of justice.

I pulled the below from wikipedia. Looks like Ron did not vote no. Maybe present or yes.



The House Ethics Committee recommended that Traficant be expelled from Congress. On July 24 the House voted 420-1 to expel him. Gary Condit was the lone "no" vote, and nine members voted "present."

Don't we have enough problems without having to share a ticket with someone who has baggage and will also being in his 70s in 2012.

[reardenstone]

I pulled the below from wikipedia. Looks like Ron did not vote no. Maybe present or yes.



Don't we have enough problems without having to share a ticket with someone who has baggage and will also being in his 70s in 2012.

I like Trafficant and maybe he could help generate publicity and exposure and make it to a Ron Paul cabinet for security.


I may catch some flack here but I would like to see something like Ron Paul and Paul Ryan...

Paul Ryan could run and slip by the neocon gauntlet, he could pick Ron Paul for VP. Then in a debate you could have Paul Ryan against Obama, and he could compete with Obama with the shallow stuff like image and charm. He could also out debate Obama I bet.

Ron Paul would wipe the floor with Biteone Buyden.


A Ron Paul Russell Means would have been good but I don't know if Russell is still a citizen after forming the sovereign Republic of Lakota.

[Philo-Publius]

Yes, Paul indeed voted "present". He also voted in favor of the prior motion brought by Mr. LaTourette moments before to postpone the vote till the next congressional session.

You make a point about baggage, true, but I'm not convinced yet that the ordeal Traficant went through was to his detriment. If the answers on this thread are any indication (phrases like 'Rongasm', lol) it is clear that among our persuasion anyway he's popular, and what I think outweighs any baggage, is the fact that he has support among moderate-to-conservative, and even a decent few progressive DEMOCRATS due to his populist appeal. We could make the case that the 20% or let's say even 30% of Americans would not vote for him because he was a convicted felon would not have voted for a candidate who held his positions on the Fed and the IRS anyway. And we only need 51%.

And as far as age... eh, you make another point there, too. But Reagan was two weeks shy of 70 when he took office, which is around the age Traficant will be in 2012. Paul will be 76 in 2012, and that wouldn't affect my vote. If anything, and this is awful to think about, but, generally, if a politician dies in office, they only gain more fame. Getting them into office is the important thing. And I don't want either one of them dying anytime soon... they've got work to do! : )

[AybeeForRP]

This would be great.

Feedback needed. :)

http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?t=229872

[dealerjim]

I just had a Rongasm. :eek:
That makes two of us... :P

[reardenstone]

Yit is clear that among our persuasion anyway he's popular, and what I think outweighs any baggage, is the fact that he has support among moderate-to-conservative, and even a decent few progressive DEMOCRATS due to his populist appeal.


Populist appeal. I think he has the right kind of populist appeal; that of being one of us who is disgusted with the corruption of "them".

The Paul and Traffi combo would get some attention but I fear they would not get there on a Republican ticket.

[Philo-Publius]

The Paul and Traffi combo would get some attention but I fear they would not get there on a Republican ticket.

I agree 100%! The ticket should be Libertarian, Independent... or, let's see what comes out of this Feb. 13th conference in D.C. that Traficant is hosting that's supposed to be the seeds of a third major political party-they may become a viable force!

I don't expect a strong third party to fall out of the sky into Traficant's lap on the 13th, but I think, realistically, it could darn well be the beginning of a more broad movement (he already has a movement, he just needs to consolodate it, put it into concrete form) and Traficant's faction might do well to merge with the Tea Party and the elements of other independent groups who are sympathetic toward ending the Fed and the IRS. That's his whole goal actually, to get everybody together who believes in these basic planks, to forget about minor differences just for a second, and to focus that common sentiment like a laser beam to take down the Fed and the IRS.

[reardenstone]

I agree 100%! The ticket should be Libertarian, Independent... or, let's see what comes out of this Feb. 13th conference in D.C. that Traficant is hosting that's supposed to be the seeds of a third major political party-they may become a viable force!

I don't expect a strong third party to fall out of the sky into Traficant's lap on the 13th, but I think, realistically, it could darn well be the beginning of a more broad movement (he already has a movement, he just needs to consolodate it, put it into concrete form) and Traficant's faction might do well to merge with the Tea Party and the elements of other independent groups who are sympathetic toward ending the Fed and the IRS. That's his whole goal actually, to get everybody together who believes in these basic planks, to forget about minor differences just for a second, and to focus that common sentiment like a laser beam to take down the Fed and the IRS.

We need to post and push more info on Trafficant. I like the fact that he is an outsider now and is feisty. He wants real change and does not give a shite about placating anyone.