Ron Paul gives a short, but very good interview about the Tea Party movement. Make sure to click through and read the whole thing!
Ron Paul On The Tea Party Phenomenon
In 2008, independents frustrated with establishment politics found a hero in Texas Republican Ron Paul. Warning voters about the dangers of an overstretched and overcommitted government, Paul provided today's Tea Partiers with a blueprint for grassroots success.
Republicans like Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Mike Pence of Indiana, and Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul -- Ron's son -- have embraced the Tea Party movement.
NJ: What stirred the activists’ fervor now?
Paul: I think it’s the failure of government. People are recognizing that government…. made promises, and yet now people are recognizing that they can’t fulfill their promises. They know about the debt, they know about the entitlements that can’t be paid. They know about the problems that we have around the world, they know about the corruption dealing with Goldman Sachs and others.
NJ: You said the Tea Party movement isn’t likely to revive the Republican Party. But clearly it’s learning some lessons from the Tea Party. What should it take away?
Paul: The Tea Party movement can affect the Republican Party. But it can affect the Democratic Party as well, because politicians in Washington are politicians. And they are responding. I think they already have from the election in Massachusetts; even though that’s not a classical Tea Party candidate, it was people who were unhappy with the status quo….
But I don’t foresee that all of a sudden the Tea Party movement will own the Republican Party. I think the Republican Party will acknowledge it and come over and try to be friends with the Tea Party people, and that association will have to be worked out.
NJ: The Tea Party has evolved largely through citizen groups. But you also have the Nashville convention coming up, where Sarah Palin will be a central figure. How do you feel about her role in sort this movement that often prides itself as leaderless?
Paul: The question of a leaderless movement, I think that’s hard to totally conceive of. I can see an amorphous movement, where there’s not one single person that owns the movement. But I think there’s always a leader.
To me, the real leadership has to come philosophically in what you believe in, and certain individuals represent those views. But when it’s a philosophic movement, it can be amorphous. It can be spread out. To me, it’s sort of like asking, “Who’s the leader of the Keynesian economic philosophy?” Everybody’s a Keynesian in Washington because they believe in government intervention in the economy, but there’s no one single leader.
NationalJournal.com: Ron Paul On The Tea Party Phenomenon
Was Ron Paul, tea party re-inventor, right all along?
Ron Paul told us long ago. And so did the supporters of this one-time Libertarian presidential candidate.
Maybe you remember about 16 months ago the 11-term Texas Republican representative, who's now organized a new Campaign for Liberty, was raking in more political contributions each month than most other GOP presidential candidates, relying on his hundreds of thousands of fervent supporters staging their money bomb days of online donations and -- oh, yes – tea parties.
[S]ince he proved so prescient last year about the approaching economic bust, here are some of Ron Paul’s recent thoughts on taxes and government spending, which, it may not surprise you to learn, he blames for much of the contemporary economic turmoil:
Could America exist without an income tax? The idea seems radical, yet in truth America did just fine without a federal income tax for the first 126 years of its history.
Prior to 1913, the government operated with revenues raised through tariffs, excise taxes and property taxes, without ever touching a worker's paycheck.
The harmful effects of the income tax are obvious. First and foremost, it has enabled government to expand far beyond its proper constitutional limits, regulating virtually every aspect of our lives. It has given government a claim on our lives and work, destroying our privacy in the process.
It takes billions of dollars out of the legitimate private economy, with most Americans giving more than a third of everything they make to the federal government. This economic drain destroys jobs and penalizes productive behavior.
The ridiculous complexity of the tax laws makes compliance a nightmare for both individuals and businesses.
Is it impossible to end the income tax? I don't believe so. In fact, I believe a serious groundswell movement of disaffected taxpayers is growing in this country. Millions of Americans are fed up with the current tax system, and they will bring pressure on Congress.
Los Angeles Times: Was Ron Paul, tea party re-inventor, right all along?
The Classic Liberal Blog supports freedom, liberty and a strict reading of the plain language of the Constitution. In other words ... We support Ron Paul!
