Yes, finally another Ron Paul-thread

[Bedreviter]

I see that Ron Paul is quite popular among many people here on 2+2, but the threads Ive seen about him are more about his increasing popularity and how he fights for freedom and how he is something different and how he raised 5 million dollars and so on.

I would like to know more about this candidate that seem to be so radically different than the other candidates in the race, so I hope some of his supporters can help answer a few quations I have about his policies. I apologize for any poor grammar. All my information about Ron Pauls policies are from videos that were linked to in another Ron Paul-thread in this forum.

Anyways, input from those who understand Ron Pauls policies better than me would be appreciated.

1. He wants to get rid of federal income tax, which accounts for 1/3 of the total income of revenue for the federal government. He says that even with only the 2/3s of the current income the government should be able to fulfill its responsibilites properly. He says that 2/3s of the current budget is equal to 100% of the 2000-budget, so if government is able to cut spending down to the level of 2000 there is no need for income tax. My question is; is that true only dollar for dollar (income of 2007-dollars vs. output of 2000-dollars), or is that after he has adjusted for inflation and overall growth in prices?

2. He also states that he wants to eliminate inflation. If he manages to completely stop inflation, will that have any impact on the american dollar and economy in relation to the other countries in the world that will still have inflation? Or is the trade between nations not affected by the inflation-rate of the various nations?

3. He talks about not wanting to tax or regulate the internet. Is there a threat that any of the other candidates wants to tax and regulate the internet? If they do, how will they tax and regulate it? I know very little about this topic, because I was under the impression that there had been no serious attempts of taxing the internet.

4. Ron Paul wants to severely limit American military and active political presence in other countries, and rather just focus on trading with the various nations of the world. Will the US still be able to get the same deals and keep its position as an economic superpower without a more active presence throughout the world?

5. Will Ron Paul support embargos against countries like North Korea, Cuba and Iran, or is his intention to stay away completely from the politics of foreign countries and trade with anyone on a fair basis without regards of the policies of the country?

6. If the US cuts its presence around the world it is likely that other powerful nations (China, Russia and to some extent India comes to mind) will fill that void. Will the US still be able to secure as good deals as it wants when it has given up presence and location to other powerful nations that are more than willing to have powerful presences around the world?

7. Ron Paul talked about wanting to reduce the number of military bases overseas, and sending the personell home to America. If the US is at war with a foreign nation, will its ability to defend itself and to attack the enemies interests be as strong as before even without bases in Asia and Europe?

8. Ron Paul also states that the US should only allow itself to engage in war after it has been attacked first. Does that mean that he will allow an enemy that is planning to attack the US to build up its army and logistics in peace and quiet, and not intervene until the first attack on the US has occured?

[Copernicus]

[ QUOTE ]
I see that Ron Paul is quite popular among many people here on 2+2, but the threads Ive seen about him are more about his increasing popularity and how he fights for freedom and how he is something different and how he raised 5 million dollars and so on.

I would like to know more about this candidate that seem to be so radically different than the other candidates in the race, so I hope some of his supporters can help answer a few quations I have about his policies. I apologize for any poor grammar. All my information about Ron Pauls policies are from videos that were linked to in another Ron Paul-thread in this forum.

Anyways, input from those who understand Ron Pauls policies better than me would be appreciated.

1. He wants to get rid of federal income tax, which accounts for 1/3 of the total income of revenue for the federal government. He says that even with only the 2/3s of the current income the government should be able to fulfill its responsibilites properly. He says that 2/3s of the current budget is equal to 100% of the 2000-budget, so if government is able to cut spending down to the level of 2000 there is no need for income tax. My question is; is that true only dollar for dollar (income of 2007-dollars vs. output of 2000-dollars), or is that after he has adjusted for inflation and overall growth in prices?

2. He also states that he wants to eliminate inflation. If he manages to completely stop inflation, will that have any impact on the american dollar and economy in relation to the other countries in the world that will still have inflation? Or is the trade between nations not affected by the inflation-rate of the various nations?

3. He talks about not wanting to tax or regulate the internet. Is there a threat that any of the other candidates wants to tax and regulate the internet? If they do, how will they tax and regulate it? I know very little about this topic, because I was under the impression that there had been no serious attempts of taxing the internet.

4. Ron Paul wants to severely limit American military and active political presence in other countries, and rather just focus on trading with the various nations of the world. Will the US still be able to get the same deals and keep its position as an economic superpower without a more active presence throughout the world?

5. Will Ron Paul support embargos against countries like North Korea, Cuba and Iran, or is his intention to stay away completely from the politics of foreign countries and trade with anyone on a fair basis without regards of the policies of the country?

6. If the US cuts its presence around the world it is likely that other powerful nations (China, Russia and to some extent India comes to mind) will fill that void. Will the US still be able to secure as good deals as it wants when it has given up presence and location to other powerful nations that are more than willing to have powerful presences around the world?

7. Ron Paul talked about wanting to reduce the number of military bases overseas, and sending the personell home to America. If the US is at war with a foreign nation, will its ability to defend itself and to attack the enemies interests be as strong as before even without bases in Asia and Europe?

8. Ron Paul also states that the US should only allow itself to engage in war after it has been attacked first. Does that mean that he will allow an enemy that is planning to attack the US to build up its army and logistics in peace and quiet, and not intervene until the first attack on the US has occured?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'll let the supporters respond before I point out Paul's obvious errors in many of the above.

[Low Key]

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3. He talks about not wanting to tax or regulate the internet. Is there a threat that any of the other candidates wants to tax and regulate the internet? If they do, how will they tax and regulate it? I know very little about this topic, because I was under the impression that there had been no serious attempts of taxing the internet.


[/ QUOTE ]

Here's what I don't like about free market people. The internet is the perfect example to me, especially in this context. I don't support taxing the internet, however, regulating it seems happy and fine with me, mostly because of the whole net neutrality issue.

I know the free market crowd will say that any company caught favoring certain websites based off how much extra bling they give them will eventually be brought down, or make changes, based on disapproval/to protect their own bottom line. But that means I have to live thru it. I like my internet free (not cost-wise) and as untainted by corporations as possible.

So there's my beef with the free market crowd. While problems may eventually work out in the long run, I don't want to have to deal with them for the 1-5 years or so that the problems still exist.

Sorry to steal your topic for a minute there. I look forward to hearing from both supporters and those against RP (or some of his errors), such as Copernicus.

[AlexM]

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I know the free market crowd will say that any company caught favoring certain websites based off how much extra bling they give them will probably be brought down, but even if they aren't, it's certainly not acceptable to hold a gun to their head and make them do what you want.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
So there's my beef with the free market crowd. While problems may eventually work out in the long run, I don't want to have to deal with them for the 1-5 years or so that the problems still exist.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, using violence can certainly make things happen faster sometimes.

[Low Key]

I'm not even starting the "is free trade more important than free speech" topic.

And who said anything about using violence? Since when is regulation in America done thru violence?

[AlexM]

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I'm not even starting the "is free trade more important than free speech" topic.

[/ QUOTE ]

Neither are more or less important. Not doing violence on your fellow humans is the same in both.

[Ron Burgundy]

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2. He also states that he wants to eliminate inflation. If he manages to completely stop inflation, will that have any impact on the american dollar and economy in relation to the other countries in the world that will still have inflation? Or is the trade between nations not affected by the inflation-rate of the various nations?

[/ QUOTE ]

He never said he could eliminate inflation. He said he wants to stop the Fed from intentionaly devaluing the currency.

[Bedreviter]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=IWfIhFhelm8

about 1 minute into that video he says that he wants government to stop printing all the money that ...."causes all the inflation"

[Low Key]

[ QUOTE ]
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IWfIhFhelm8

about 1 minute into that video he says that he wants government to stop printing all the money that ...."causes all the inflation"

[/ QUOTE ]

Right, seems like a few days ago someone posted a great thread explaining inflation and how going back to the gold standard would help combat/defeat it. It made enough sense to me, but I didn't retain it well enough to be able to explain it to someone else... like most things I learn. =/

[Ron Burgundy]

[ QUOTE ]
http://youtube.com/watch?v=IWfIhFhelm8

about 1 minute into that video he says that he wants government to stop printing all the money that ...."causes all the inflation"

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm pretty sure he understands that there is some natural inflation with an expanding economy. But he didn't exactly have time to explain that. In televised debates you need to make some shortcuts with your speech in order to get your point across.