sailingaway
07-12-2011, 06:31 PM
http://www.slate.com/id/2299086/
Either the Fed Goes, or I Do
Ron Paul retires from Congress, leaving behind a GOP that finally learned to love him.
http://img.slate.com/media/1/123125/123054/2279718/2298437/110712_POL_ronPaulTN.jpg
story at link but here's a bit:
Paul will leave Congress next year as arguably the most intellectually influential member of the House of Representatives in a generation. (I write "arguably" even though trying to think of a runner-up is a deeply depressing task.) He was not necessarily a successful legislator. But his career has been remarkable for its consistency.
Starting with an uphill campaign for Congress in 1974, through a wilderness period where he won the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination, and continuing with a 1996 comeback that the mainstream GOP opposed, Paul advocated the same economic and foreign policies for 37 years. A call to abolish the Federal Reserve, a campaign to return to the gold standard, a belief that America's foreign interventionism was illegal and unsustainable: Some of his positions remain on the fringe of politics, but others have proved remarkably popular in America's center-right party.
"I think Ron proves that the tortoise beats the hare—a lesson the Tea Party has yet to learn," says Bruce Bartlett. When Paul was first sent to Congress in a 1976 special election, Bartlett worked in his office. "Ron started talking about his issues back in the 1970s and didn't really begin to get traction on them until the last few years. And during many of those years he labored in desolation with very little support or attention. Now he has succeeded in at least putting his issues and his philosophy in the forefront of American politics."...
There's a great old video of Ron in there, too...
Either the Fed Goes, or I Do
Ron Paul retires from Congress, leaving behind a GOP that finally learned to love him.
http://img.slate.com/media/1/123125/123054/2279718/2298437/110712_POL_ronPaulTN.jpg
story at link but here's a bit:
Paul will leave Congress next year as arguably the most intellectually influential member of the House of Representatives in a generation. (I write "arguably" even though trying to think of a runner-up is a deeply depressing task.) He was not necessarily a successful legislator. But his career has been remarkable for its consistency.
Starting with an uphill campaign for Congress in 1974, through a wilderness period where he won the Libertarian Party's presidential nomination, and continuing with a 1996 comeback that the mainstream GOP opposed, Paul advocated the same economic and foreign policies for 37 years. A call to abolish the Federal Reserve, a campaign to return to the gold standard, a belief that America's foreign interventionism was illegal and unsustainable: Some of his positions remain on the fringe of politics, but others have proved remarkably popular in America's center-right party.
"I think Ron proves that the tortoise beats the hare—a lesson the Tea Party has yet to learn," says Bruce Bartlett. When Paul was first sent to Congress in a 1976 special election, Bartlett worked in his office. "Ron started talking about his issues back in the 1970s and didn't really begin to get traction on them until the last few years. And during many of those years he labored in desolation with very little support or attention. Now he has succeeded in at least putting his issues and his philosophy in the forefront of American politics."...
There's a great old video of Ron in there, too...