Ron Paul is an American author, activist, and retired politician who served in the House of Representatives for 12 non-consecutive terms and ran for President of the United States on three occasions. His political views are generally described as libertarian, but have also been labeled conservative. Paul's nickname "Dr. No" reflects both his medical degree and his assertion that he will "never vote for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution". This position has frequently resulted in Paul casting the sole "no" vote against proposed legislation. In one 2007 speech, he said he believes that "the proper role for government in America is to provide national defense, a court system for civil disputes, a criminal justice system for acts of force and fraud, and little else."
Economy A believer in a tax basis favoring the federal vs local revenue structure more in line with pre-World War II, in January 2008, Paul released an and named Peter Schiff and Donald L. Luskin as economic advisors to his campaign. National Journal labeled Paul's overall economic policies in 2010 as more conservative than 78% of the House and more liberal than 22% of the House (85% and 15%, respectively for 2009). For 2008, his ratings were more conservative than 91% of the House and more liberal than 8% of the House (80% and 20%, respectively for 2007). In 2006, as more conservative than 48% of the House and more liberal than 51% of the House.
His warnings of an impending financial crisis and a loss of confidence in the dollar in 2005 and 2006 were at the time derided by many economists, but accelerating dollar devaluation in 2007 led experts like former Federal Reserve chair Alan Greenspan to reconsider hard money policies such as those of Paul.
Lower spending and smaller government Paul believes the size of the federal government must be decreased substantially. In order to restrict the federal government to what he believes are its Constitutionally authorized functions, he regularly voted against almost all proposals for new government spending, initiatives, or taxes, in many cases making him in a minority of members of the house by doing so. For example, on January 22, 2007, Paul was the lone member out of 415 voting to oppose a House measure to create a National Archives exhibit on slavery and Reconstruction, seeing this as an unauthorized use of taxpayer money.
Paul advocates substantially reducing the federal government's role in local affairs, individual lives and in the functions of foreign and domestic states; he says Republicans have lost their commitment to limited government and have become the party of big government. In the 2012 Republican Presidential Primary, Paul cited President Dwight Eisenhower's farewell address warnings about the growing presence and strength of the "military-industrial complex". His 2012 "Plan to Restore America" would eliminate five Cabinet-level departments: Energy, HUD, Commerce, Interior, and Education. He has called for elimination of other federal agencies such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Internal Revenue Service, calling them "unnecessary bureaucracies". Paul would severely reduce the role of the Central Intelligence Agency; reducing its functions to intelligence-gathering. He would eliminate operations like overthrowing foreign governments and assassinations. He says this activity is kept secret even from Congress and "leads to trouble".Interview with Ron Paul on PBS Newshour, 2007-10-12. He also commented, "We have every right in the world to know something about intelligence gathering, but we have to have intelligent people interpreting this information."September 5 Presidential Debate on Fox News Channel.
Paul calls for the elimination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is tasked with coordinating preparedness and relief for natural disasters. He regards the argument for FEMA as "symptomatic of a blind belief in big government's ability to do anything and everything for anyone and everyone ... When people are starving, injured and dying they need speed and efficiency, yet FEMA comes along with forms and policies and rubber stamps." He complains that FEMA is a mismanaged and nearly-bankrupt bureaucracy, open to corruption. He also argues that the socialized insurance concept which underlies FEMA is deeply flawed, encouraging risk-taking – such as building beachfront homes in hurricane-prone coastal areas – that would be too expensive to consider if the sole source of disaster insurance were private-sector insurance purchased in the free market. In his view, disaster response management should be coordinated at the state and local level, without any federal involvement, and should be entirely voluntary and based on charitable goodwill. As Hurricane Irene bore down on the country's coast in August 2011, Paul said, "I live on the Gulf Coast. We put up with hurricanes all the time ... In 1900, before FEMA, the local people rebuilt the city, built a seawall, and they survived without FEMA ..."
In a speech on June 25, 2003, criticizing giving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair a Congressional Gold Medal of Honor, Paul said, "These medals generally have been proposed to recognize a life of service and leadership, and not for political reasons—as evidenced by the overwhelming bipartisan support for awarding President Reagan, a Republican, a gold medal. These awards normally go to deserving individuals, which is why I have many times offered to contribute $100 of my own money, to be matched by other members, to finance these medals." Texas Monthly awarded him the "Bum Steer" award for voting against a congressional honor for cartoonist Charles Schulz, but also noted, "When he was criticized for voting against the [Parks] medal, he chided his colleagues by challenging them to personally contribute $100 to mint the medal. No one did. At the time, Paul observed, 'It's easier to be generous with other people's money. In February 2009, he joined with Democratic congressman Harry Mitchell of Arizona to call for an end to automatic Congressional pay increases, through a proposed amendment to the economic stimulus package.
There are criticisms which contend that Paul's position is disingenuous because he often requests earmarks for bills that he supposedly knows will pass no matter which way he votes. For example, during 2007, he requested about $400 million in earmarks in bills he voted against. A spokesman in the Fox News article says, "Reducing earmarks does not reduce government spending, and it does not prohibit spending upon those things that are earmarked. What people who push earmark reform are doing is they are particularly misleading the public—and I have to presume it's not by accident." One group supporting fiscal conservatism finds Paul's actions with earmarks to be contradictory and cites his 2003 speech regarding the award of a Congressional Gold Medal, at which time the Congressman declared, "I will continue in my uncompromising opposition to appropriations not authorized within the enumerated powers of the Constitution;" however, Paul himself has inserted appropriations for projects such as the renovation of a movie theater and subsidies for the shrimp industry, whereas reportedly, "neither of which is envisioned in the Constitution as an essential government function". The Congressman has responded to criticism about earmarks by providing an explanation in his weekly column. Paul says, "In an already flawed system, earmarks can at least allow residents of Congressional districts to have a greater role in allocating federal funds – their tax dollars – than if the money is allocated behind locked doors by bureaucrats."
Plan to Restore America (2013 budget) In October 2011, Paul released a federal budget proposal for 2013, entitled the "Plan to Restore America". The plan calls for cutting $1 trillion from the federal budget in the first year, along with other measures which Paul says would balance the federal budget within 3 years. To achieve these goals, the plan would seek:
Spending cuts: eliminate five cabinet-level agencies (Education, Interior, Commerce, Energy, and Housing and Urban Development) privatize the FAA and the TSA cut the federal workforce by 10% cut funding (down from 2006 levels) for the Food and Drug Administration by 40% Centers for Disease Control by 20% Department of Homeland Security by 20% National Institutes of Health by 20% Environmental Protection Agency by 30% Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration by 20% cut the Department of Defense budget by total 15%; eliminate all foreign war funding freeze funding for most other federal agencies at 2006 levels eliminate all foreign aid eliminate international drug programs substantially reduce federal travel eliminate international organizations and commissions administer Medicaid and other joint federal-state social welfare programs (SCHIP, food stamps, etc.) through block-grant funding mechanisms to the states
Revenue changes: cut the top corporate tax rate to 15% (down from 35%) allow companies to repatriate capital without additional taxation permanently extend the Bush administration tax cuts eliminate capital gains and dividends taxes eliminate estate and gift taxes end taxes on personal savings sell federal lands and other federal assets
Other economic and regulatory measures: repeal the new healthcare law ("Obamacare") as well as the Dodd–Frank and Sarbanes–Oxley financial services and banking regulations cancel certain "onerous" regulations instituted under executive order by previous presidents conduct a full audit of the Federal Reserve seek competing currency legislation "to strengthen the dollar and stabilize inflation"
Social Security and Medicare commitments to older workers and retirees would be honored, while workers younger than 25 would be given the option to opt out of participating in these programs. The Veterans Administration would be the only agency whose funds would be maintained at current levels of growth. Federal-state social welfare programs like Medicaid would be shifted from the mandatory section of the budget to the discretionary section, so that Congress would need to approve funding allocations each year.
The president's salary would be cut from $400,000 to approximately $39,000 per year (the median personal income of the American worker), and congressional pay and perks would be slashed.
Paul has stressed that certain essential responsibilities currently performed by agencies that he proposes to eliminate would be assumed by remaining agencies, or in the case of aviation management (FAA and TSA), would be transferred to the private sector.
Although Paul has often said that his ultimate goal is to abolish the Internal Revenue Service and eliminate the income tax, the Plan to Restore America does not address that specific goal.
Following the unveiling of the plan, critics were quick to remark on the negative consequences for the economy that budget changes of the magnitude being proposed could have in the short term. Kevin Hassett, economic policy director of the American Enterprise Institute and chief economic adviser to John McCain's 2000 presidential campaign, praised Paul's aim of reducing the size of government but worried that, "At the scale he's talking about, it's unlikely you could have an immediate reduction in government without hurtling the economy into recession." Economist Dean Baker, of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, said that "This is almost having the economy fall off a cliff."
Lower taxes