Ron Paul: TSA Should Be Abolished (AUDIO)

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is calling for the elimination of the Transportation Security Administration and recommending that the agency be replaced with "real privatization of security."

"The press reports are horrifying," writes the Texas congressman in an op-ed published online by The Hill. "Children molested; disabled people abused; men and women subjected to unwarranted groping and touching of their most private areas; involuntary radiation exposure. If the perpetrators were a gang of criminals, their headquarters would be raided by SWAT teams and armed federal agents. Unfortunately, in this case the perpetrators are armed federal agents. This is the sorry situation ten years after the creation of the Transportation Security Administration."

Paul called such treatment "appalling." He addressed his introduction of the American Traveler Dignity Act, saying that the legislation would establish "that airport security screeners are not immune from any US law regarding physical contact with another person, making images of another person, or causing physical harm through the use of radiation-emitting machinery on another person."

The presidential hopeful outlined his position on the TSA during his weekly "Texas Straight Talk" audio address over the weekend.

The Des Moines Register reported last month:

Paul would like to gradually close down the Transportation Security Administration and give private airlines responsibility for airport security.

“The airlines, they would’ve had guns on the airplanes if the government hadn’t prevented them," he told the Iowa-based outlet. "The people responsible for the property -- I mean we worry about the government protecting armored trucks. And nobody robs them.”

Click here to read more from Paul's op-ed. Below, audio of what the presidential candidate had to say about the TSA in his weekly address.

LISTEN:

 

 

Comments

[dbrett480]

04:32 PM on 07/14/2011

Ron Paul needs a history lesson. We did have privatized airport security. And then 9/11 happened, which is why we have the TSA.

[Shaktas Na]

02:08 AM on 07/11/2011

Americans tolerate the TSA because they are the TSA. Americans want to police the rest of the world by marginalizing and killing others (and have zero amounts of conscience about it)and that's why they let groups like the TSA happen in America.

If the person in question is Brown, Yellow, or Red in "skin color" everything everywhere is their "fault" so they must be "contained". For those who have forgotten-the less rich Irish and Italians were in this very same light before the world wars. People merely joined the "hate everyone else" when the English-Americans let them murder for "America" in the wars.

Look in the mirror people. If you are allowing the TSA to go on-its your fault and you deserve what you get.

[vanillalizard]

04:57 PM on 07/09/2011

Ron Paul wants gang-bangers to have gun on airplanes so they can do walk-by shootings at 30,000 feet...then we'll have no need to fear al qaeda...the crips and the bloods will do all the killing.

[Mark128]

09:20 AM on 07/29/2011

the sad thing is I bet you actually believe this nonsense

[puskitty]

08:34 AM on 07/09/2011

“Congressman Paul’s voting record is true to the U.S. Constitution, and he understands that human life and

individual liberty come to us from our Creator, not from government,”
“His limited government principles are unmatched by any other candidate.”

[vanillalizard]

04:59 PM on 07/09/2011

we stopped having a libertarian country when we realized that libertarianism means giving the rich the freedom to exploit the poor...if you want to be a pauper...or are a getty or rockefeller you should love libertarianism. [can you name one country with a libertarian government and a decent standard of living?]

[Mark128]

01:17 PM on 07/20/2011

Did you make that up all by yourself?

[Shaktas Na]

04:16 PM on 07/08/2011

Poor Ron. He may be able to manage his finances but he has not yet accepted that this government will not let him rule their finances in any capacity. Even if he got into office they'd stall him from first day to last and nothing would be accomplished.

As for the TSA-Facebook American users heading for flights etc...pay attention

http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1022008--israel-uses-facebook-to-blacklist-detain-or-deport-tel-aviv-bound-travellers

[Binea]

02:01 PM on 07/08/2011

Yes ! Thank you Ron Paul. Do any of you think it will stop at the airlines ? Will they continue this on city Busses next ? On Trains ? They certainly will if we say nothing. they will justify it the same way.

[pelefant]

09:39 PM on 07/06/2011

Certainly TSA should be abolished. From security perspective, massive searches are more like window dressing (even Israel does not do it despite their really much more serious situation). Billions of dollars in current outlays and future commitments to this bureaucratic nonsense hurt us. But the most harmful is that these humiliating procedures are being bought by the public as "the new normal". They are a major milestone at the road to serfdom -- and the majority seems to be already beyond the turning point. Lift your hands, spread your legs and smile to the friendly TSA agent in blue gloves!

[HarmNone]

09:56 AM on 07/07/2011

Agree, TSA should be abolished, but not sold on the 'privatization' part of his proposal. Will there just be a different entity enforcing the same ineffectual unnecessary policies? Will the money simply move from the few connected with TSA to those connected to the private companies?

Also agree on the dangers of society's acceptance of those policies. Society has become very complacent as is evident in their acceptance of the loss of rights and dignity at the hand of any government agency without a whisper of a protest.

[khountrygirl]

01:10 PM on 07/12/2011

Agreed.

[jasantono]

07:45 PM on 07/28/2011

I am sure when he says "privatization" he does not mean having a private company paid for by the public, but having no government spending going towards. Having the airlines and airports defend their own property with their own money is the way. If you look at his political career he is all about not letting the private sector benefit from back door deals with the public sector. RP 2012

[marilyn 63]

08:11 PM on 07/06/2011

here goes Ron Paul again. now do you see who this guy is? he would abolish any programs this country functions on. and you have some people championing him saying WOW!! he's cool he's against the wars well Iraq yes but he voted for Afghanistan and they think he would let drugs run wild. ahhhh not so cool and he would not have voted for the civl rights act of 1964 and really believes those busineses that didn't want to admit blacks had a right not too. of course Ron Paul had some racist newsletters then too Rachel asked him about them and he tried to slide away but she kept at him. being black i'm just not that into Ron Paul plus he's Republican ewww! LOL!!

[PerotVentuSheehCarte]

09:15 PM on 07/06/2011

No candidate ever brought so many different groups together in one place.
nader paul kucinich gravel mckinney baldwin ventura sheehan perot carter

Independent Voters will control the primary
Independent Voters will control the election

goodbye status quo establishment criminals
controlled media
federal reserve
911 cover-up
corporatism
AIPAC

[marilyn 63]

11:51 PM on 07/06/2011

well if the idependants were the ones who had their chest stuck out and voted back in these purely ungovernable tea-Republicans trying to destroy this country from unions to medicare medicaid and Ron Paul i dont think so he wants everything gone.. and the others you named some of them speak well but they wont play a big roll. who ever reelected these losers Republicans who had just gotten through almost tearing the country down and then threw in these cut everything but coporate welfare teabaggers REALLY chose poorly its time for Democrats and progressives to put this country back together again thats who always has to.

[waltschmidt]

02:32 PM on 07/07/2011

Calling the TSA something this country functions on is your first mistake.

The opinion that Ron Paul is going to completely eliminate all government programs is becoming more prevalent as Dr. Paul gains more traction. First, the viewpoint is greatly exaggerated. Second, the people who should really be questioned and called out are people like Marilyn who want to hang on to bloated and ineffective government programs.

[marilyn 63]

03:43 PM on 07/07/2011

anyone who touts Ron Paul and thinks he's the one we need and is happy to eliminate everything and agrees with him on his racist views is definetely on the wrong path and should be tottally dissmissed.

[Scott Bain]

10:58 AM on 07/08/2011

"the people who should really be questioned and called out are people like Marilyn who want to hang on to bloated and ineffectiv­e government programs"

That would be the type of person that I previously referred to, the ones that are unable to relinquish their death-hold on the government tit.

[kcin]

01:35 PM on 07/06/2011

This is absurd. How does requiring a profit overhead make any service better?

There is nothing inherently more efficient about the private sector. It tries to do the same job but has the added burden of requiring a profit margin. The only way to create that profit margin is to 1) decrease services for the same money, or 2) charge more.

Some things should not be done for a profit and national security is one of those things.

[Clint Ramsey]

11:07 PM on 07/06/2011

You really know nothing about the free market do you? Do me a favor and watch some Tom Woods Jr. speeches on youtube to educate yourself.

[kcin]

06:34 PM on 07/07/2011

So you learned about the free market on YouTube, did you?

My knowledge comes from personal experience. I founded and run my own company. I am a private sector employer who has to make a profit to stay in business. And I have survived for decades in a field where most startups go under in a couple of years.

I was also a manager in the public sector for many years and have comparable experience in both sectors. So again, I am speaking from experience, not from some politically motivated narrative on YouTube.

You may not like what I said, but it is true.

There are good employees and bad employees in both public and private sectors. And there are efficiencies and inefficiencies in both. All things being equal (and they typically are) a private sector solution will cost more because there has to be a profit margin.

And just so you know, Republican policies are horrible for small business, unless your small business is a hedge fund.

[nickleby]

02:41 PM on 07/07/2011

Government also has the problem of bureaucratic politics. This is where people, based on self interest, fight for their department to get more money or more power. This is one reason people view government as less efficient.

[kcin]

06:43 PM on 07/07/2011

You have obviously never worked in the public sector. You will find more people dedicated to the common good in the public sector than you will find in the private sector.

I have managed in the public sector and now have my own company in the private sector. Your view of government vs private sector has no relationship to reality.

Abuses occur in government, but the pale in comparison to the abuses in the private sector. People cry about a few thousand dollars in a public sector abuse but say nothing about Hundreds of Billions of Dollars for Bank Bailouts, even after those bank bailouts were used to fund hundreds of millions of dollars in Wall Street bonuses.

You are arguing against your own self interest. If you don't wake up soon there will be nothing left. It will all be owned by the private sector and you will have no recourse.

[Michelle Black]

12:33 PM on 07/06/2011

One thing is for sure, the NEOCONS are going to pull out all stops to discredit and smear Ron Paul.

[cbacavis]

12:48 PM on 07/06/2011

Even the supposedly "progressive" liberals are stumping for Bush's Dept. of Homeland Security and the Patriot Act now; Obama still has hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq, and has even started another middle eastern conflict of his own. Unbelievable!

[puskitty]

08:38 AM on 07/09/2011

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”.

Mahatma Gandhi.

"We need to understand the more government spends, the more freedom is lost...Instead of simply debating spending

levels, we ought to be debating whether the departments, agencies, and programs funded by the budget should exist at

all."
— Ron Paul

[Gary Crum]

11:44 AM on 07/06/2011

The TSA and airport security is, to be sure, inconvenient and intrusive. However, we're often seeking that Goldilock's point of "not too little and not too much". The TSA's task is a huge responsibility and, it seems to me, is about the only effective deterrent system around. And, with unionization and better pay and working conditions, we'll see more qualified employees and better treatment. Wouldn't it be great if the TSA was thes biggest problem we're facing as a nation.

[naturallaw]

09:24 AM on 07/07/2011

Yeah, having the essentials of our civil rights in danger would be a great problem to have. What's civil liberties when you're free?

[nickleby]

02:43 PM on 07/07/2011

One problem with the "goldilock's point" is that when government gets bigger it is very hard and unlikely that it will shrink again to find that happy medium.

[thrashertm]

11:13 AM on 07/06/2011

If there was ever a federal agency we could get rid of, the TSA should be it. I have seen their incompetence first-hand on so many occasions; they need to be reined in or better yet, sent packing. Let the airlines handle their own security. If you don't like it, don't fly.

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[ka0226]

11:04 AM on 07/06/2011

Government loves to keep fear instilled in its people. This is evident with the actions by the TSA and the reports about making an elderly woman remove her adult diaper during a screening. The people need to speak up and demand that the TSA do the three things that will prevent terrorists from boarding airplanes, profile, profile, PROFILE.

[Ravenlea]

01:29 PM on 07/06/2011

While some of the things done by TSA agents has been revolting, I wonder why everyone thinks that privatizing security would somehow magically eliminate stupid bullies who have less common sense than a gnat from the mix.

[TheAlchemyst]

06:00 PM on 07/06/2011

Because then they will be private employees, subject to the same laws as all other citizens are, instead of being Federal Agents with guns

[Clint Ramsey]

11:20 PM on 07/06/2011

Let me ask you another question, who has more incentive to keep there passenger safe? A gov't agency that will exist no matter what, or a airline who could go out of business if it does not? That is the beauty of the Free Market, it doesn't need control by our gov't. My favorite quote by Ben Franklin was "He who gives up freedom for safety deserves neither." That is America in a nut shell people wake up.

[pseudonymXXVI]

10:11 AM on 07/06/2011

We'll add this to the list. I think there's room between the Fed and the EPA.

[Clint Ramsey]

11:21 PM on 07/06/2011

Amen.

[TheBluesGuy]

09:11 AM on 07/06/2011

Am I the only one here who remembers that we had privatized airport security until Mr. Bush decided they all needed to be Government Employees, and unionized them?

[freegeg]

09:18 AM on 07/06/2011

They are not unionized. They are trying to unionize.

[TheBluesGuy]

11:18 AM on 07/06/2011

They've succeeded, and are now represented by AFGE. However, you're right, they were not unionized under Mr. Bush. I stand corrected.

[Clint Ramsey]

11:41 PM on 07/06/2011

Your right expect they still regulated then. Like how you couldn't have a gun on the plane. The terrorists only had box cutters. If you had 3 or 4 people on the plane armed (and one in the cockpit) I doubt rag heads with box cutters are going to get by with much. Its not a perfect system but it would be far better then the one we have.

[sprachnessmonster]

09:22 AM on 07/28/2011

And who regulates the government? Used to be the media. No one but Ron Paul and a handful of patriots.But, I'll do it, too when the time comes. And I know I'll die tryin'!