What do you think would hold Dr. Paul back most from the GOP nom?

[Thump553]

If the revered Doctor Paul was really smart he'd latch onto the chance to form a new church like L. Ron Hubbard (Scientology) and the Mormons.

The guy is leaving a lot of money on the table that he could be fleecing out of his bots.

Even cranking out a book or two for the faithful will net him millions. Look at Sarah et al.

 

[jonks]

Said before, say it again: people like roads

 

[bfdd]

Ron Paul won't be the R candidate because he barely fits under the R tag as it is. He isn't as bought and sold as the other candies so he doesn't have a chance what so ever. I'd simply vote for him to see if his crazy ass would actually do anything different.

 

[her209]

What keeps Ron Paul from winning the Republican primary is that he doesn't want to grow the military and the defense industry, but instead shrink it.

 

[Siddhartha]

It wouldnt matter if he won POTUS or not. He'd still be surrounded by people who disagree with his ideas.

Do you mean Congress and the US Supreme Court?

 

[JS80]

RP's biggest problems:

1) His views on the Federal Reserve
2) His views on Israel

 

[Anarchist420]

Ron Paul won't be the R candidate because he barely fits under the R tag as it is. He isn't as bought and sold as the other candies so he doesn't have a chance what so ever. I'd simply vote for him to see if his crazy ass would actually do anything different.

He'd send a balanced budget to Congress, and would order all troops home the day he took office. As for whether he's a true Republican it kind of depends upon what your definition of the Republican party is. He's a Robert A Taft Republican, but not a Lincoln, Rockefeller, or Reagan Republican.

The modern Republican Party was initially the Party of Lincoln based upon the Whig Party of Clay and the Federalist Party of Hamilton, then in the interwar era, it had two competing, almost equally dominant factions. The Eastern Establishment (led by the Rockefeller Republicans) and then the Robert A Taft Faction. The Robert A Taft faction is what Ron Paul fits under. However, it has returned to its Lincolnite roots (except for protectionism). Still, I like to think of the Republican Party as the Party of Robert A Taft and the Democratic Party as the Party of Wilson, because Wilson was the first modern Democrat, and Robert A Taft was the opposite.

As for the Nolan Chart, while there have been Presidents who were pure statist and others who were close to Pure Libertarian, there have been no pure lefitsts nor rightists. Reagan was liberal economically and not 100% conservative socially.

The closest to the left-end and right-end of the Nolan Chart are probably Hoover and Polk, respectively. However, those two both held opposite positions on alcohol, and Polk created the dept of the interior and Hoover presided over the first Mexican Repatriation.

 

[soulcougher73]

Do you mean Congress and the US Supreme Court?

House, Congress, Senate. Long list Not many people in power back Ron Paul. I personally like his stances but im not naive enough to think he would actually ever win the POTUS.

And since we all know the POTUS doesnt have the real power he would be left high and dry with any ideas he tried to push forth.

 

[jonks]

And since we all know the POTUS doesnt have the real power he would be left high and dry with any ideas he tried to push forth.

? The executive is ascendant at the moment and has been for about a decade.

 

[NoStateofMind]

? The executive is ascendant at the moment and has been for about a decade.

Your point?

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

? The executive is ascendant at the moment and has been for about a decade.

Yep and no one is about to renounce that power Republican or Dem, yet another mark against them.

Paul is a person of extremes. Some of his policies are great and some suck. That's what would kill him in an elections.

 

[jonks]

Your point?

That claiming the President of the United States "can't do anything" is, to put it extraordinarily mildly, not a fully accurate statement.

oh, and just saw this..

House, Congress, Senate.

er...

 

[NoStateofMind]

That claiming the President of the United States "can't do anything" is, to put it extraordinarily mildly, not a fully accurate statement.

How does this pertain to Ron Paul?

 

[bamacre]

Some of his policies are great and some suck. That's what would kill him in an elections.

My answer to those who feel this way is this. At least you know exactly what his policies are. And that's more than I can say for anyone else who's been elected to do the job.

 

[JS80]

My answer to those who feel this way is this. At least you know exactly what his policies are. And that's more than I can say for anyone else who's been elected to do the job.

The only gripe I have is that he wants to abolish the Fed and his non pro-Israel policy views.

 

[QuantumPion]

People don't like big changes while they are living relatively comfortably. While it's true Ron Paul just wants to get America back to its roots pre-20th century progressiveness, it took us 100 years to get to the point we are at now. We won't be going back any time soon, baring some sort of real crisis.

 

[Anarchist420]

The only gripe I have is that he wants to abolish the Fed and his non pro-Israel policy views.

Being Pro-Israel hurts Israel. Our aid hurts them as we force them to buy lousy American weapons with the aid we give them. If we didn't give them aid, then they could build up their arms industry more than they already have.

Also, it comes with more strings attached. They could nuke their neighbors if we didn't give them aid.

The only thing I don't get is why they accept our so-called aid.

The Federal Reserve is an antithesis to freedom, because it is a monopoly on currency. The Fed is going to be destroyed from the bottom (at the state level) anyway as Utah is no longer going to accept FRNs for state debts. The Constitution prohibits states from accepting anything other than gold and silver for debts. Not that I'm fond of the illegal statist Constitution, but at least it gives states the ability to crash the Fed.

 

[jonks]

How does this pertain to Ron Paul?

What aren't you following? Someone said if wouldn't matter of RP won PotUS b/c a president is powerless if opposed by Congress. I pointed out PotUS is incredibly powerful even when opposed by Congress. Do you have a point?

 

[soulcougher73]

What aren't you following? Someone said if wouldn't matter of RP won PotUS b/c a president is powerless if opposed by Congress. I pointed out PotUS is incredibly powerful even when opposed by Congress. Do you have a point?

How is he powerful if he is oppossed by all the other power players?
He is not a Dem for sure and he is an outside in the GOP party. So he would get no real support for his ideas from either side.

As i said, while i like Ron Paul and think he is probably the only honest man in politics and have even voted for him. But im well aware he will never win any nomination let alone POTUS. And even if he did, he is too radical for both sides to ever get any of his great ideas any traction.

 

[CallMeJoe]

Being Pro-Israel hurts Israel. Our aid hurts them... it comes with more strings attached. They could nuke their neighbors if we didn't give them aid...

Why am I not shocked that you view prevention of thermonuclear war as a negative?

 

[BoberFett]

What do you think would hold Dr. Paul back most from the GOP nom?

How about the fact that almost nobody in the GOP is interested in his views? Republicans are morons. They talk about small government then vote for big government.

 

[BoberFett]

Said before, say it again: people like roads

Said before, say it again: We don't need a $4T federal government to build roads. If we did, every square inch of our country would be paved right now.

 

[BoberFett]

Most people are turned off by fundamentalist nutjob republican types. he wants to shut down the dept of education but get all up in womens uterus business. Another hypocrite. But hey, he says smoking pots ok! Send him more money, thats what he likes, he conned you guys out of how many mil already?

Bush and Obama conned US citizens out of trillions, yet you keep supporting the status quo.

Who's the bigger fool? You're just another in a long line of useful idiots supporting the political machine that owns your ass.

 

[BoberFett]

Kid, don't even try and debate Weimar with me. Only utter morons point to Weimar or Zimbabwe when trying to debate currency. They are wholly different situations.

Weimar and Zimbabwe are TOTALLY DIFFERENT, but Somalia is a shining star of libertarianism. LOL, you are a piece of work. Keep spewing your your garbage LK, it's amusing.

 

[jonks]

How is he powerful if he is oppossed by all the other power players?
He is not a Dem for sure and he is an outside in the GOP party. So he would get no real support for his ideas from either side.

As i said, while i like Ron Paul and think he is probably the only honest man in politics and have even voted for him. But im well aware he will never win any nomination let alone POTUS. And even if he did, he is too radical for both sides to ever get any of his great ideas any traction.

I think you are underestimating the PotUS. He could promise to veto everything congress passes until they accede to some of his wishes. He can issue executive orders. He can appoint like-minded heads of the various federal agencies. He can recall our deployed military from the 4 corners of the earth.

Potus is not a rubber stamp for congress. A dedicated obstructionist in that chair could bring the fed govt to a halt if he didn't get his way. Overruling a veto is damn hard in the best of times. At worst it would force D/R to join on legislation almost guaranteeing compromise.

Now I think RP is honest but his ideas reflect 5% of the country. My point wasn't about RP so much as everyone thinking the Pres somehow has no power if congress doesn't like him or his policies.