Why Everyone Hates Ron Paul.

Some of you, sadly, know little to nothing about Republican Presidential candidate Ron Paul. The fact that he is a Congressman from Texas, a doctor, a former Air Force medical officer during the Vietnam War, and a one-time Libertarian Presidential candidate from the 1980s is probably completely unknown to the vast majority of Americans. There is a reason we hear next to nothing positive about him, but we’ll get to that in a bit…

Now… I must admit… following the GOP Presidential Primary is not a top priority for a lot of Americans. It is football season, after all (unless you’re an Eagles fan, in which case you’re already focusing on your 2013 Super Bowl run). To catch everyone up to speed, what follows is a brief summary of the entire Republican field and the polling data associated with it up unto today.

The first thing you need to know is that the candidate who has consistently polled at the top of the field is Mitt Romney. He struggles, however, to motivate the far right of the Republican base due to his inconsistent positions on bread and butter conservative issues like health care and abortion. He has and will continue to receive a large portion of media attention. He looks, talks, and acts Presidential – if you were making a “Ken doll” of an American president, it would look like Mitt.

Besides the former governor of Massachusetts, a number of GOP politicians has risen (and fallen) dramatically in the polls. First, there was Michelle Bachman. She skyrocketed in the polls due to her street-cred with the Tea Party and her “momentous” victory in the Iowa friggin’ straw poll. She is now out of the race. Then there was Rick Perry, who also jumped to the top of the polls due to his status as governor of Texas, his consistent positions on conservative issues, and his regular willingness to cite Christianity as a reason to support him. Then he opened his mouth in debates… “oops.” He is now out of the race. Enter Herman Cain. His turn at the top of the polls came predominantly because of his status as a Washington outsider, and his plain spoken views on fixing the government tax codes with “9-9-9.” Allegations of extramarital affairs and a moronic answer on our policy in Libya doomed his campaign (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW_nDFKAmCo&ob=av3e) and he is now out of the race. Now, Rick Santorum (yes, Rick Santorum) and Newt Gingrich get a lot of the media attention as the conservative alternatives to Mitt Romney, with Gingrich getting more than Santorum. As we head towards the South Carolina primary, those three names are the ones garnering the lion’s share of the focus from ALL media organizations (the left with MSNBC, the middle with CNN, and the right with Fox News).

So, one would assume from that explanation that there is good reason to give little to no attention to Ron Paul… unless you actually look at polling data and these things called RESULTS from the straw poll, the Iowa caucus, and the New Hampshire primary.

The Iowa Straw Poll that catapulted Bachman to national acclaim and a plethora of media attention was by no means a blowout victory. She defeated the runner-up by a whopping 0.9% of the vote… that runner-up was Ron Paul, who most networks refused to mention in the results. By comparison, New Gingrich got 2.3% of the vote, total, in that contest.

Fast forward to the Iowa Caucus, won by the duo of Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney (the Iowa GOP proclaimed the contest a tie). Current media darling Newt Gingrich lost that race by around 13,000 votes. Where did Ron Paul finish? Third – losing by approximately 3,000 votes. So, in two “important” contests that proclaim to show a candidate’s electability and standing within the party, only Ron Paul was consistent. But given that both contests were in the state of Iowa, perhaps Ron Paul didn’t get media coverage due to the nature of the state – a midwest bastion of ultraconservative thought… that could be the case, if not for the results from the more independent-leaning northern state of New Hampshire.

In New Hampshire’s “first-in-the-nation” primary, dominated by New Englander Mitt Romney, Ron Paul finished second – losing by 30,000 votes. Where did the media attention-grabbers Santorum and Gingrich finish? Fourth and fifth place, respectively, each losing by around 75,000 votes… while, by the way, assailing the media for their coverage of them. At least they get coverage.

Even now in the polls in the state of South Carolina, Ron Paul is polling third, AHEAD of Rick Santorum – a conservative Christian who clearly should be wondering why a Mormon (Romney) could be polling ahead of him in the south, of all places (don’t take it personally, Mississippi).

Ron Paul has been the most consistent candidate in the polls. He has the most consistent actual results in the various elections. He has the most consistent positions. He is the candidate that, above all, is honest about his beliefs and refuses to pander to his base to get votes. And he has shown an ability to connect with voters in a variety of states.

So why is he being ignored by the media? Why is he even, in some situations, been subject to scathing attacks from members of his own party? Why is Rush Limbaugh calling him a “joke”? Why is Glenn Beck comparing him to Osama Bin Laden? Why do the power brokers in D.C. say that Santorum, Gingrich, and Romney are the only people with a chance to defeat Obama?

The answer is simple – they are scared of what he would do should he actually become President of the United States of America.

Let me state for the record that I do not agree with all that Ron Paul stands for, especially with regards to his domestic policies. But if we were being honest with ourselves, no President really impacts many of those issues anyways – Congress does. Look at the Obama jobs plan. There you have a plan that has the approval of a majority of Americans, yet nothing is being done to pass it. The President can’t just wake up and declare something to be law, nor can a President just cancel a current law (sorry, Romney – a stroke of the pen won’t outlaw Obamacare, something only Paul has consistently been saying).  No President can overturn Roe v. Wade. No President can just eliminate many facets of the federal government without Congressional approval. On a lot of these issues, he was similar in beliefs to Rick Perry and Michelle Bachman – so clearly these are not the reasons he is ignored by many or chastised by those actually giving him attention. It’s what he actually COULD do as President that scares the corporate interests and the media in this nation.

Perhaps the most powerful part of a President’s power is their power to decide the course of our nation’s foreign policy. This is an area where Ron Paul is an outspoken critic of our past decisions, and one in which he firmly states his opposition to fighting wars for oil, nation building, and overall American entanglement in foreign affairs. He doesn’t want to just give Israel a blanket endorsement for all that they do in the Middle East. He is not an isolationist, as pundits sometimes claim when they attempt to paint him as an extremist. He is not bent on destroying trade pacts with other nations – he merely has the insane notion that the military industrial complex drives many of the decisions made with regards to foreign policy by members of this government, and that this is inherently wrong.

Every candidate, media organization, or talking-head on the TV/radio/Internet has the same sponsors or donors. These sponsors are wealthy. These sponsors in many situations have ties to the armaments industry, which, if you’ve read my past rantings, controls a lot of the political power in this nation. How deep these ties go we will probably never know, but you can be sure the rabbit hole is not a small one.

If you’ve been paying attention to the political discourse and the actual action in the debates, you will notice that Ron Paul has had his words deliberately twisted against him (even by the moderators and those reporting on the debates) to portray him as someone who is dangerous to the very future of this country. His fellow candidates unite in referring to him and his ideas as “dangerous,” “extremist,” “naive,” and ignorant. Perry, Bachman, and Santorum have referred to the appeasement policy of England in the 1930s with Nazi Germany as a parallel to what would happen with a President Paul.

So… to answer the original question succinctly – why does the media ignore Ron Paul? Because if they gave him sufficient air time, people would realize that he is right on foreign policy and that Americans have been needlessly sacrificing their children and their money for invalid reasons. And why do the candidates bash Paul in debates? Because they realize people are watching – and they can’t have you thinking he is anything but dangerous.

He is dangerous – to the military industrial complex.

How to Fix America… Really.

It has been said that today’s political climate is among the most divisive in American history. While I personally disagree with that statement (the 1960s, this little thing called the Civil War, etc.), it is clear that our government is not functioning properly due to the stark contrasts in the goals of the two ruling parties. The politicians in power stall, refuse to compromise, and publicly insinuate that their opponents in Congress are bent on destroying the country. Everyday citizens disdain their fellow man for having differing views on any number of issues; some that matter, others that are relatively inconsequential if not for being drummed up by politicians trying to seek some quick points with their fringe base.

Yes, allowing this would destroy the economy, disgrace us abroad, ruin us morally, and destroy the sanctity of holy marriage. Or… absolutely nothing will happen to America. One of those.

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The problem is… average, ordinary American citizens are missing the real issue. The real issue is that IT DOESN’T MATTER how you feel about an issue. Are you against abortion? Doesn’t matter. Do you think there should be restricted access to certain weapons? Who cares. Are you strongly in favor of a national health care program? Irrelevant.

What you and others around you believe has been trumped by a force more powerful than the voice of the American people – we have been trumped by the special interest groups and the lobbyists. Their money flows into politics in ways far beyond what people like you and I could imagine or understand. Their rampant gifts and legal bribes control nearly everything that happens in Congress. They find a candidate or a person already in the position of power, and they ensure that person gets the funds necessary to get reelected in exchange for voting in their favor. Many lobbyists are even able to find ways to get themselves the ability to “suggest” phrasing in the legislation being proposed. Even the most genuine of individuals, entering politics to truly attempt to make a difference, can quickly be bought when faced with the prospect of losing an election. Once they take that first sip of the Kool-aid and find out how easily their vote on a particular issue can lock up campaign contributions or lavish gifts, they are hooked.

There is a 90% reelection rate for incumbents despite a sub-30% approval rating for Congress. That alone should be the most damning piece of evidence for how powerful the lobbyists have become. After all, it’s more expensive to bring up and then buy new talent – it’s easier to just keep the same veteran politicians there and doing your bidding.

And therein lies the solution to the initial problem. The government cannot function when lobbyists control so much of what happens. You can pass as many anti-lobbying laws as you please – the language in the laws will still allow them to do their work. The lobbyists LOBBY for themselves, and successfully save their profession and allow their continued powerful influence on the city that is supposedly there to represent the interests of the American people. The only way to remove their influence and return the power to the people is by implementing strict term limits on all members of Congresses, both at the federal and state level. It needs to be at both levels – if done just federally, it will be amazing how fast lobbyists will have Americans believing that state’s rights are the most pressing issues facing the nation.

The guy standing with JFK has been a representative from Michigan for over 55 years. I’ll give you one guess which lobby donates heavily to his campaign.

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Yep, it’s the automotive industry. Good talk. It’s shocking that he opposed raising automobile fuel efficiency standards in 2007.

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Senators and Representatives should get one six-year term. That’s it. The only reelection they could have at their finger tips would be if they ran for a different office. Yes, this would require a constitutional amendment. Yes, it would be worth it. Lobbyists would still be able to offer the same cush jobs that they offer retiring politicians today – so some elected individuals may still see their golden paycheck and cave to the wishes of the special interests. But our percentage of elected persons who genuinely want to impact change based on what they truly believe in would dramatically increase. Bills would no longer be worded based on how the special interest prefer. The career politician would be gone. Our feelings and opinions would be represented in Congress on a more real level. We could actually see the American government go back to work again when the people in the legislative bodies are individuals sacrificing six years from their career in attempt to serve their country.

Will the people in Congress ever do this? Of course not. But it is how we could start fixing this country… now we just need to figure out how to do it.

The Republican Primary: Good Talk!

We have officially crossed the 365-day threshold in the countdown to the 2012 Presidential Election. What a lot of people don’t realize is that this election officially began the instant Barack Obama won in 2008. Sadly, that is what it has come to in this country – the 24-hour news cycle, the Internet, a generation of individuals walking around with smart phones that have instant access to all kinds of valuable “information” while on the go… it all has created a gargantuan gap that needs to be filled with the spectacle, petty disagreements, and controversy that only an election can provide. Why focus on how we can fix our problems when we can focus on who gets the chance to ravage us further in a few years?

If you’re like me, you just can’t wait to vote in the Republican primary. If you’re not like me, you probably have no clue who to vote for. Allow me to help. There have been a slew of Republican candidates that in the previous few months have risen (and fallen) to claim their right to challenge Obama for the presidency. The analysis from political pundits has been covered on the networks to the point of saturation for all those willing to watch. They are giving you waaaaaaaaaaay too much information. Here is all that you need to know about the Republican “candidates.”

Michele Bachmann – Representative from Minnesota

Representative Bachamann won the “vaunted” Ames, Iowa Straw Poll. This poll is a prestigious and important event – important in that if it were never held, no one would have ever heard of Ames, Iowa. This dramatic 129-vote destruction of runner-up Ron Paul thrust Bachmann into the national spotlight, and a share of the lead in the Republican polls. Then people listened to the words that came out of her mouth. Her platform consists of repealing Obamacare, erasing unemployment by repealing Obamacare, fixing the housing market by repealing Obamacare, and ending the threat of Sharia law in this nation by repealing Obamacare. The only problem in this country she would need to fix with a different remedy is gay marriage (which she can just pray away). She will say anything to get elected – Obama is a socialist bent on ruining the country, the HPV vaccine causes mental retardation, and that the hurricane and earthquake were messages from God telling us to reign in government spending. She has absolutely no chance of getting the nomination. None.

Newt Gingrich – Former Speaker of the House from Georgia

Speaker of the House Gingrich is the fourth and current leader in the polls for the Grand Ole Party. He last was relevant while lobbying hard for the impeachment of then-President Clinton for his various moral indiscretions. He was of course, at the same time, cheating on his second wife with his current third wife (which he managed to somehow publicly blame on his deep love of… America. Seriously). He has performed exceptionally well in debates due to his grasp of domestic issues and his ability to give these things called detailed answers. He also adds an insult to the mainstream liberal media with every answer, further increasing his standing in the polls. Regardless of all of this, his personal life will destroy his campaign for the same reason he worked to remove Clinton from the Presidency. He has a 1% chance of getting the nomination.

Rick Santorum – Former Senator from Pennsylvania

This man should be running for local evangelist, not President. He has a 0% chance of getting the nomination. For more information, see here:

Rick Santorum Has No Chance.

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Ron Paul – Representative from Texas

He says exactly what he means. He is honest. He is intelligent. He would actually try to do everything he says he would do. He can’t be bought by lobbyists. He will never get the Republican nomination. So much for honesty being the best policy. Our teachers lied to us. He has a 0% chance.

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Herman Cain – Chairman of Godfather Pizza

Herman Cain has a slogan you need to get used to. It’s easy – it goes “9-9-9.” It is his answer to almost every question, and it is exactly why his fans love him. He was the third Republican front runner, but has faded in the last 10 days due to allegations of sexual harassment from his days atop the National Restaurant Association and his recent discovery of China as a nuclear power. His “9-9-9” plan involves a 9% business transaction tax, a 9% personal income tax, and a 9% national sales tax. He would erase the entire current tax code. Like Ron Paul, he says what he wants to do – it’s just that he doesn’t know what else he wants to do besides “9-9-9.” His lack of foreign policy experience, personal life, and tendency to refer to himself in the third person lead me to give him a 0.5% chance that he gets the nomination.

Jon Huntsman – Former Ambassador to China and Governor of Utah

This is the individual who SHOULD get the Republican nomination, if things like common sense, principals, experience, and a chance to win the freaking election actually mattered. He is rationale, coherent, well-spoken and actually thinks for himself. He is a conservative on some issues and moderate on others. He believes science isn’t perpetrating a massive hoax on humanity in the form of global warming, which is downright shocking in a field of science-deniers. His ideas on foreign policy… wait for it… make sense. If the race holds its current pattern, Gingrich will be out of the lead in the polls within a month… Huntsman could do well in early primary states in the first months of 2012 and sneak his way into the nomination. He is my dark horse candidate. People unfairly compare him to Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon and a former governor. The difference is that Huntsman does not have a record of changing his position for political expediency. He has a 5% chance.

Rick Perry – Governor of Texas

Perry entered the race with great fanfare. Highly respected amongst the Tea Party, Perry shot to the lead in polls instantly upon declaring his intention to seek the nomination. Democrats didn’t like him because he reminded them of George W. Bush. Republicans liked him because he reminded them of George W. Bush. He has a knack for fundraising, and will openly tell you that giving speeches is not his skill – politicking is. This is what makes him dangerous. His performances in the debates, however, have become the stuff of legend. He regularly mixes up thoughts in mid-sentence, and his 45-second attempt to conjure up the third federal agency he would destroy will be fodder for Saturday Night Live. In New Hampshire, he by all appearances was ripped out of his mind while giving a campaign speech. Regardless of all of this – he has a 10% chance of getting the nomination due to his conservative credentials. At an early debate, the moderator mentioned Perry’s record for executions as governor of Texas – the crowd roared their support for Perry’s tally. That tells you all you need to know – the man has a shot.

Mitt Romney – Former Governor of Massachusetts

Meet your 2012 Republican Nominee for President, Governor Mitt Romney. He talks like a President, acts like a President, and looks like a President. He is intelligent, coherent, and could actually win the election – and a large percentage of Republicans hate him. Despite all of his positives, Romney has never polled above 30% among registered Republicans. They distrust his religion (he’s a Mormon), the fact that he is from Massachusetts, and that he has a habit of changing his positions when he knows it can win him an election (abortion, gay marriage, etc.). What we have here is a man who has Republican principals with the economy, the scope of the government, and in foreign policy… who has Democratic ideals with regards to many social issues (health care, gay rights, abortion). He realized he would only stand a chance on a national stage if he switched positions… so he did. If he would have switched his positions from a desire to have a progressive tax to a flat tax, Republicans would accept him as someone who had seen the light. But because he switched on social issues that many Republicans feel should be been embedded in him from birth, they can’t seem to forgive him. It seems as though many Republicans would rather lose to Obama in 2012 and give Chris Christie a shot at 2016. It’s almost spiteful. Regardless of all of this, I give him an 83% chance at the nomination due to the far right being terrified of a second term for Obama…

Who gets the last 0.5%????? Sarah Palin. Why? Because how could I go an entire blog post without reminding Republicans that they have people in their party who feel Sarah Palin should be President. Good talk.