Ron Paul Not Yet Pleased With GOP: 'Big Government Is Alive And Well'

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas), perhaps the most "at home" of any elected official at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference, told The Huffington Post in a brief interview that he remains fundamentally unsatisfied with his party leadership's approach to governance.

Speaking at the entrance of the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, where the conference is being held, just before a throng of reporters and supporters descended upon him, Paul said it was "too early to determine how dedicated" Republican leaders are when it comes to spending cuts.

On Thursday, those leaders were forced to host an emergency meeting to find ways to placate their Tea Party faction on a stopgap budget measure to keep the government running. Republican lawmakers emerged from that meeting saying they had identified ways to reduce the proposed 2011 budget by $100 billion.

But Paul, who commands a dedicated and growing following of staunch fiscal conservatives, was nonplussed.

"I'm doubtful that there will be very many real cuts," he said, though he acknowledged that he hadn't yet seen the final proposal. "They are not going to slash the budget. We don't have the votes and people don't have the stomach for it. That's a hard job cutting. Nobody wants their budget cut. Big government is alive and well."

The Texas Republican reiterated that sentiment shortly thereafter in a stem-winder of a speech before an adoring CPAC crowd. Saying that the "revolution is continuing" from the roots planted in the 2010 elections, Paul leveled blunt criticism at government as a whole, though he focused more on foreign policy than domestic affairs.

Paul offered sharp words for a recent effort to extend portions of the Patriot Act, which he told The Huffington Post he expected would pass on Monday via procedural mechanisms. He lamented the size of the military budget, which he told the CPAC crowd should not be confused with the money necessary for national defense. And he reflected on the events unfolding in Egypt -- a first for the featured CPAC speakers -- arguing that the United States needs to cut foreign aid across the board.

"Temporary stability does not guarantee stability," he said of U.S. foreign entanglements generally. "And besides, we just flat-out don't have the money."

The crowd, which had earlier offered decent receptions to several prospective Republican presidential candidates, could barely contain its enthusiasm.

Comments

[Afi Keita James]

05:48 PM on 03/09/2011

This is why ron paul is the truth here.

[rgilley]

07:40 PM on 02/14/2011

I'm doubtful that there will be very many real cuts," he said, though he acknowledged that he hadn't yet seen the final proposal. "They are not going to slash the budget. We don't have the votes and people don't have the stomach for it. That's a hard job cutting. Nobody wants their budget cut. Big government is alive and well."

Yet when it comes to giving tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires to the tune of 700 billion dollars Paul is all for it. As well is is for killing soc sec, medicare, unemployment ins. and any and all social programs in America. Well not counting corporate welfare and golden parachutes of course.

[TippyCanoe]

06:27 AM on 02/15/2011

What is true is that Ron Paul has never voted for *any* tax increases on anyone, rich or poor. And the millionaires/billionaires will continue to invest in businesses overseas or find safe harbor for their money in tax shelters here. Ron Paul voted against TARP, as well.

In all honesty, $.43 of every dollar the government spends is borrowed today. The new proposed 2011 budget is $3.7 trillion dollars. The federal government is running $1.6 trillion dollar deficits annually. The national debt will surpass $15 trillion dollars this year and will, for the first time, be greater than the entire GDP of the United States. State budgets are going bankrupt. The Federal Reserve has doubled the money supply. The Fed's printing of money has devalued our dollar by more than 95% since 1913. The IMF has announced they want to replace the USD as world's reserve currency. We have trillion dollar a year wars and more than 1000 military bases in more than 130 countries. The real unemployme­nt rate, without all the gov't accounting tricks, is closer to 20%. Commodity prices are exploding. How long do you think we can keep kicking the can down the road before it all implodes? At least Ron Paul is addressing the reality of all this. What part of 'unsustain­able' don't we get? Do we wait until everyone is in the poor house and we all have nothing?

[gfunked]

03:46 PM on 02/15/2011

This guy above is a straight cheer leader for either one of the two failed parties. All generalizations and no facts. He doesn't want to debate or get informed on the Ron Paul subject. None of his many comments in this thread has stated one fact or even insinuated he knows who Ron Paul even is?!? He just wants to misinform and pretend to others he knows what he is talking about!
It's quite sad when people don't even want to learn anymore and stay complacent in their ignorance.

[gfunked]

02:30 PM on 02/15/2011

I think it's cute that your rambling about Ron Paul being "bad", even though you did not provide one fact or one actual view that he ever had, it's very disingenuous of you. Why don't you try to get your facts from real research or go on THOMAS and Ron Paul websites even, instead of your disingenuous cable TV talking points that they gave you to run with!!! I don't know your agenda but it is quite obvious with your hating on him with providing any facts or context to even debate with you. It's quite sad you would give a statement like the one above and pretend you are even informed or ingenuous about discussion or debate on the subject of Ron Paul. Just straight defamation and propaganda! Stop being a cheer leader for one of the failed parties and Please Get Informed!

[R U Sirius]

09:45 AM on 02/14/2011

They've already talked themselves right out of relevance.

http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/a/m/americandad/2010/03/an-open-letter-to-conservative.php/

[eddiefi]

08:01 AM on 02/14/2011

I don't know if any of you all notice if or when you might go to a head shop or a smoke shop that a lot of these places are big supporters of Paul and I guess it is because he has agreed with legalizing marijuana. I do support him on this but this cannot be the only reason why you would support someone like this. On everything else this man is so far to the right he is scary.

[mammon55]

09:48 AM on 02/14/2011

he wants to get rid of the federal reserve and he is an isolationists in international matters. why keep giving aid to nations that hate us. The Leman scandal could not have happened if we were off of the dollar as a sole faith and credit of us monetary policy. We need some other basis for a messurement of wealth, Paul says to go back to a gold standard and make those banks hold at least a certain percentage of their assets liquid, thus banks can lean at 30-to-1 in debt to dollar ratio when investing your monnies.

on the marijuana issue he is a strict libertarian and wants the states to tax it as a source of much needed revenue.

[nayoop]

03:01 PM on 02/14/2011

He is not an isolationist, he is a non-interventionist.

[mammon55]

10:09 AM on 02/14/2011

*Cannot lean at a 30-to-1

[CroatianCritter]

03:44 AM on 02/14/2011

I am a huge fan of Ron Paul. Reading the comments below are interesting. First though, I would like to dispel a talking point below. Ron Paul is the only politician living in any form of reality. How long can 1.5 trillion dollar deficits exist? How are we going to pay for them? As a responsible politician, his point has always been that the defense budget is the first thing that needs to go but our deficit is so large, many domestic programs will have to suffer also. This is what we need to do. He WILL NEVER support higher tax rates as this is against his libertarian principles. The other gripe I have is that the "libertarian" philosophy has never been practiced in this country. What happened a few years ago was not the FREE MARKET (Despite false liberal accusations of such). Many of you liberals need to read Hayek, Rothbard and Tucker if you want to understand the true philosophy of the Paul family. His philosophy on the Federal Reserve and taxes is correct. When people in positions of power have control of the monetary system, expect a major imbalance in wealth as well as chronic bubble/bull markets that will constantly affect our economy. Until you understand that taxes are often used for "private" gain (A big no-no in a libertarian economy), you can never understand his ideals on economics and his pursuit of freedom.

[librul1001]

06:38 AM on 02/14/2011

Huge fan of less opportunity for women unless we want to be barefoot and pregnant?

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

06:24 PM on 02/14/2011

In what way? He is personally opposed to abortion but has said that he believes its up to the individual States to decide.

[mojo filter]

02:56 AM on 02/14/2011

Love the tea party. Keep the O'Donnel's and Angles coming.

[summerlin south]

01:29 AM on 02/14/2011

Ron Paul's record in Congress

He opposes the right of women to be free to control their own reproductive systems

He wants to erase the distinction in U.S. law between a zygote and a person

He would deny the use of the Federal court system -- and even Federal precedent -- to people discriminated against because of their religious beliefs or sexual orientation.

This includes limits on courts' hearing cases related to abortion

Even though he claims to be a "libertarian", he opposes people's freedom to burn or destroy their own copies of the design of the U.S. flag

He has tried to repeal the Occupational Safety and Health Act

He would like to make it much easier to decertify labor unions

He opposes the Minimum Wage

He wants to severely weaken Social Security

And many more too numerous to list here.



about his followers


first, the argument isn't that Paul is a racist per se, but that he is an extremist who shares a belief system held not just by racists but other anti-government zealots as well. Paul is identified with their causes not simply because he speaks to them, but because he elucidates ideas and positions -- especially regarding the IRS, the UN, the gold standard, and education -- identical to theirs. This is why he has their rabid support. There is an underlying reason, after all, Paul attracts backers like David Duke and the Stormfront gang:.

[Michael Ives]

11:56 AM on 02/14/2011

He has tried to repeal the Occupation­al Safety and Health Act

He would like to make it much easier to decertify labor unions

He opposes the Minimum Wage

He wants to severely weaken Social Security
^I agree with all of that.

rst, the argument isn't that Paul is a racist per se, but that he is an extremist who shares a belief system held not just by racists but other anti-gover­nment zealots as well.
^You know guilt by association is fallacious?

[summerlin south]

03:33 PM on 02/14/2011

agreed to a point.there is an old saying---who you walk with is who you are.

here in las vegas he is strongly supported by the vanguard party AKA las vegas white peoples
party.they now have billboards along the 215 expressway ron paul 2012

[gbrooks]

11:32 PM on 02/13/2011

We are in a truly horrific cycle--the liberals push for higher taxes and expanded gov't, while preaching about "noble" causes like taking care of people and improving education. The right pushes for increased military and worldwide belligerence, and use the higher taxes and increased gov't in order to do so.

Be careful about giving the fed gov any more money, size or power--it will be misused, whether it's in the drug war, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Vietnam, Egypt or right here at home. It is the nature of the beast, and our role is to keep the beast under control.

[D Right One]

11:10 PM on 02/13/2011

Ron Paul talks a good "game" but when it gets down to the brass tacks of implementing what he says it comes to a screeching halt. No one actually believes we should legalize all drugs, abandon all of our overseas bases, defund the EPA, NEA, DOE, etc. We're the freest country in the world with all the laws that we have. I see libertarians as anti-progressive. They'd repeal all the bills and amendments until we got back to the original Constitution devoid of Civil Rights and Voting Rights.

[gbrooks]

11:21 PM on 02/13/2011

No one believes that?

You're sorely mistaken.

[IChafe2]

02:37 AM on 02/14/2011

No one who matters politically.

[IChafe2]

02:37 AM on 02/14/2011

I disagree we are the freest country in the world.

[D Right One]

08:54 AM on 02/14/2011

Well, where?

[Cabo600]

06:19 PM on 02/13/2011

Ron Paul's "revolution" is hardly continuing based on a straw poll taken at a conference full of people who's elevators don't go to the top floor.

[jaslyn]

05:02 PM on 02/13/2011

Although Paul and the Baggers are annoying, at least he believes in his convictions. The Repubs however don't have any, they just test waters to see what sells, then go back to work for their corporate masters.

[leftLibertarian]

06:39 PM on 02/13/2011

unlike the Democrats?

[rgilley]

07:48 PM on 02/14/2011

Democrats are in many worse than Republicans....they make the middle class think they are all for them , yet they walk with the same people who give the resources to elect Both parties.....and those people want to kill the middle class.

[rgilley]

07:46 PM on 02/14/2011

I agree that Paul is a true crusader and beleives that his ideology, and that od Ian Rand btw, are the best way to have the best society possible. The only problem is you can never have a Democracy based on his pricipals.....an Oligarchy or an Anarchy perhaps but Not Democracy.

[gfunked]

02:33 PM on 02/15/2011

I would like to discuss some of your critiques but you just speak in generalities providing no specifics on Ron Paul or anything else for that matter. If you have these strongly held beliefs on what Ron Paul stands for then you should be able to discuss them instead of general attacks on ideology! Let's try and get specific and debate instead of cable tv talking points and attacks! OK... Thanks!

[EdCorner]

12:21 PM on 02/13/2011

This is the distilled Austrian theory of the business cycle: Central bank-created inflation causes a misallocation of investments during the boom phase, which inevitably leads to the liquidation of those investments and a bust. The Fed’s ultra-low interest rates led to the housing boom, and now that those mortgages (bad investments) aren’t panning out, we’ve entered a serious recession. This is not the fault of the free market, for none of this would be possible under a truly free market in banking, in which inflationary money creation—the cause of booms and busts—would be illegal. The government gives banks permission to inflate, and thus, it is the government­—not the free market—that is to blame for booms and busts.

[tehixe]

02:24 PM on 02/13/2011

That's why there was never a boom or a bust back in the day when all money was gold or silver.

Oh, wait...

[hrpmap]

12:08 AM on 02/14/2011

Then we got the fed and paper money, 16 short years later we had the great depression the wost crash in history. But you probably knew that, just ignored it.

[Brooklyn Red Leg]

06:28 PM on 02/14/2011

That's correct, there were far fewer. It was when the Banksters (neologism: Banker/Gangster) started issuing certificates in excess of the gold they held in reserve (in other words, committing fraud) it lead to a boom/bust. The difference is that under a government using Austrian Theory, the boom/bust will not be like clockwork it is now: once a decade and with a bust that lasts at least 3 years.

[Ron Willison]

05:11 PM on 02/13/2011

This is the distilled FIAT money system. IT requires consumerism. Which requires exponential population growth. which requires unlimited natural resources from a planet that has already been raped. You do the math.

[Kasado]

05:36 PM on 02/13/2011

But there is always a limiting factor>!

[Michael Ives]

10:38 PM on 02/13/2011

It requires new technologies to compete against older technologies.

[gussom]

11:12 AM on 02/13/2011

http://t.co/v1QRQbZ

Maybe this would help.

[exhale09]

10:55 AM on 02/13/2011

We have the LOWEST tax rates in DECADES...just to keep this ridiculous Conservative red herring in perspective.

President Obama LOWER taxes for the middle class, 14 times in two years..oh and BTW HE and Democrats PAID for them, they didn't ADD them to our Deficit.

[babyspittle]

01:41 PM on 02/13/2011

trying to bring reality to ron paul zombies?
good effort!

[Kasado]

04:44 PM on 02/13/2011

I am a Ron-ulan!!!

[rgilley]

10:38 AM on 02/13/2011

Paul said it was "too early to determine how dedicated" Republican leaders are when it comes to spending cuts."

Was it too early for Paul when Republicans held out for the 700 billion in tax cuts for billionaires? How much did that little twist help the deficit? Ahhh, but Republicans now want to pay for that cut by killing soc sec, medicare and all other social safety nets. Well, except corporate welfare and golden parachutes no doubt.
How in the world can Any working middle class voter even think about voting for these right wing republican corporatist knowing full well it is their goal to destroy the middle class in America and bring our standard of living down to that of China and India?

[duhtruth]

10:56 AM on 02/13/2011

They have already succeeded in destroying the middle class. Their goal now is to deport the former middle class to other lands to start anew.

[EdCorner]

11:19 AM on 02/13/2011

He's a libertarian, even the repub's don't like to admit he's repub

[loneryyder]

04:38 PM on 02/13/2011

My largest problem with most libertarian views is that they believe in limited government (power), but not limited corporations (power). It does not make sense to me. We need to limit the power and size of government and corporations. Both ultimately try to grab up all the power, influence and money that they can. I say we need a party dedicated to limiting both, then there will be a party I could support. That is assuming it is not just talk. Democrats nor Republicans limit corporations or government. Therein lies a lot of our problems.

[IChafe2]

02:31 AM on 02/14/2011

He is not a libertarian. He is a an old fashioned southern state's rightist who is an isolationist with a few 19th century economic notions that were not popular then dressed up as a Austrian economics, which as a school of economics leads to the true libertarian position: there is no need for any government at all, only the Free Market (which has no operational definition but acts much like a superhuman force for good, another undefined word). This is the reason Hayek said he was not a libertarian. He thought libertarianism was impossible because of humans (his first concession to reason, perhaps he had finally read Veblen). In fact, Hayek didn't like democracy. He preferred a monarchy that would make sure that (in the old fashioned sense of the word) liberal values were maintained.

Hayek's final interview with El Mercurio where he praised Pinochet for bringing freedom to Chile is still online at several Hayek sites, as I recall. He says all this there, and more.