The Dr. No! Zone blog

Dr. Paul is a traditional ‘baby doctor’ by trade, but his medical training is actually much broader. His formal medical training was interrupted during the Cuban Missile Crisis when he was drafted into the United States Air Force. He served honorably as a flight surgeon from 1963 to 1965. He then continued to serve in the Air National Guard from 1965 to 1968 while he completed a medical residency specializing in obstetrics and gynecology.

Following his military service he began practicing medicine working in an emergency room in San Antonio, Texas. He eventually went on to start his own medical practice. As a physician, Dr. Paul has delivered thousands of babies and performed numerous surgical procedures.

His decision to get involved in politics followed the August 15th 1971 announcement by then President Richard Nixon. Nixon announced the United States would end the issuance of money based on the gold standard. Until that time the United States still honored foreign redemption of U.S. Dollars for gold in accordance with the post World War II Bretton Woods Agreement. Foreign redemption of U.S. Dollars for gold gave the United States the right to print the world’s reserve currency. This effectively meant the end of the honest money system that the United States had enjoyed since its inception. This perplexed Dr. Paul after having studied the Austrian School of Economics, which advocated a laissez-faire economic system based on sound money.

Dr. Paul was quoted in Texas Monthly discussing the end of the gold standard stating, “After that day, all money would be political money rather than money of real value. I was astounded.”

The founding fathers agreed with Dr. Paul’s belief that money should be based on something honest and tangible like gold and silver. With Nixon taking the U.S. Dollar off the gold standard, it meant that the Federal Reserve would have carte blanche to create as much money as it wished. This was in direct contrast to the principles of sound money demanded by the Constitution. Sound money principles were specifically elaborated on in the Coinage Act of 1792, which established our Mint and regulated the coins of the United States.

The founding fathers were well aware of the dangers that stemmed from the issuance of paper money with no backing by gold, silver or other tangible assets. During the Revolutionary War a currency called the Continental was issued. The Continental was a paper currency with no backing by gold or silver that was easily counterfeited. The popularization of the phrase “not worth a continental” was a direct result of the inflation and devaluation of the Continental because more and more Continentals were chasing the same goods and services.

The founders also knew about the threat of allowing private bankers to issue money. Take for example the following quote from Thomas Jefferson.

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around (the banks) will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”

After 1971, we not only had a private central bank issuing our currency but the currency no longer had any ties to gold or any other precious metal. This was of great concern to Dr. Paul as he sought to reverse the damage that this sort of irresponsible monetary policy would cause. He first ran for Congress in 1974 and despite failing to win the seat the first time around he later would win a special election for that same seat when it was vacated in 1976.

Congressman Paul would become one of four Republican Congressmen to endorse Ronald Reagan in his run against Gerald Ford for the nomination for President. By supporting Reagan, it was clear that he did not buy into President Ford’s “Whip Inflation Now’ campaign. Ford’s campaign encouraged the American people to fight inflation by enacting personal saving policies and better spending habits. Congressman Paul knew the Federal Reserve, not the American people, was the cause of inflation. Paul knew this because the Federal Reserve had the power to issue America’s currency since 1913 and that determined the amount of inflation. Although, he would lose in the general election six months later, Dr. Paul ran for Congress again and won a full term in 1978. He was re-elected again in 1980 and 1982.

During this time, Congressman Paul gained the reputation as “Dr. No” for refusing to vote for laws that he saw as unconstitutional. Amazingly, he continued to deliver babies in private practice while he served in Congress. The issue of monetary policy remained a primary focus as he served on the House Banking Committee where he spoke out against the policies of the Federal Reserve. During this time, Congressman Paul also wrote several books on the subject of monetary policy encouraging the return to an honest money system.

Dr. Paul made the suggestion of forming a commission to determine what role gold should play in the economy. In 1982 the U.S. Gold Commission was formed as part of a response to the near inflationary collapse of the U.S. Dollar that plagued the U.S. economy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The Commission’s report made suggestions as to what role gold should play in the U.S. economy.

Dr. Paul would go on to make a failed run for Senate in 1984 before returning to his medical practice. He would not stay out of politics for long, however, making a run for President on the Libertarian Party ticket in 1988. During the campaign Dr. Paul endorsed the same message of liberty and Constitutional government that has now become the foundation of his 2008 presidential run. Despite being an early supporter of Reagan, Dr. Paul was critical of the huge deficits that occurred during the Reagan administration and sought to inject the limited government and freedom message into the 1988 presidential campaign. He ended up placing third in the election with 431,750 popular votes.

Following his 1988 run for President, Dr. Paul stayed out of politics until the Republicans regained control of Congress in 1994. He believed that the message of limited Constitutional government would be more effective with the political shift. Even though that has not proven to be the case as government has expanded to become more intrusive since the 1994 Republican take over of Congress. However, Dr. Paul has remained steadfast with the principles of limited Constitutional government.

Since his return to Congress in 1996, Congressman Paul has truly been the leading advocate for freedom in our nation’s capital. He has maintained a perfect Constitutional voting record continuing to vote “No” on any legislation that is not specifically authorized by the Constitution.

Congressman Paul’s politics are refreshingly simple and honest. Follow the Constitution, emphasize local control and allow liberty and free markets to work. These principles are true for any of the important issues that are facing this country today.

It would be impossible to detail Congressman Paul’s stance on every issue in the space of this article, but what is clear is that he is a man of integrity and principle. Over the ten terms that he has served in Congress, his voting record and message of freedom, liberty and adherence to the Constitution has remained the same.

Let’s now run down Congressman Paul’s stance on a variety of issues and how it pertains to the Constitution and the message of liberty. This list will be prefaced with a brief history of U.S monetary policy.

THE FEDERAL RESERVE SYSTEM
Currently, the U.S. economy is manipulated by a private central bank called the Federal Reserve. The Constitution specifically prohibits the issuance of bills of credit and demands that honest money like gold or silver be issued. The government in 1913 allowed for the establishment of a private central bank called the Federal Reserve to print the money for the government. As time went on, this allowed the Federal Reserve to gain a monopoly on printing money, which is the system that we currently have in place today. Today’s money is not backed by any sort of tangible asset like gold or silver and much of it is manipulated by the Federal Reserve in secret. In layman’s terms, simply put, the Federal Reserve is given legal authority to print counterfeit money and loan it back to the U.S. government at an interest rate that it sets. The Federal Reserve is entirely unconstitutional and through their policies, they create the booms and busts that have plagued our economy since its inception. The current mortgage meltdown that is causing tremendous problems with our economy is a symptom of the policies implemented by the Federal Reserve.

Through the government giving this group of private bankers legal authority to create money out of thin air, we as a nation have facilitated a dramatic increase in the size and scope of government as well as the erosion of individual civil liberties. Congressman Paul has previously introduced legislation to abolish the Federal Reserve because he understands, like the founding fathers did, the dangers of emitting bills of credit under the control of a private banking system.

When referring to the central bank during the interview, Paul stated, “The Federal Reserve creates money and that is inflation. When you create new money the rest of the money goes down in value and people’s prices go up.”

Congressman Paul is 100% correct as bankers at the Federal Reserve can manipulate the money supply to steal wealth from the American people by way of inflation. Under a gold and silver standard it would take effort and work to increase the money supply by finding more gold and silver. Under a gold and silver standard it would be impossible for bankers to steal wealth from the American people by simply issuing additional currency. Such a system would also constrain the ability of politicians to increase the size of government without having access to the money making machine that the Federal Reserve currently provides. The issuance of money should rest with the people as the Constitution demands, not in the hands of a private, for-profit institution like the Federal Reserve. If elected, Congressman Paul would introduce competition to the Federal Reserve by encouraging the use of private money like the Liberty Dollar and potentially authorizing the Treasury to issue gold and silver as money. This would effectively put the Federal Reserve out of business because honest money in the form of gold or silver that is also legal tender would win out in the marketplace over Federal Reserve Notes that have no intrinsic value.

When asked how he would restore an honest monetary system Congressman Paul replied, “You should turn it completely over to the marketplace and let private money evolve and use gold and silver or if the government is to be involved they should issue a currency and define it as a weight of gold or a weight of silver but not fix the ratio. That to me would be a better standard than we had in the 19th century.”

Congressman Paul recently introduced legislation to the 110th Congress in the form of H.R. 2755 which would abolish the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Reserve. His clear statements and legislation make Congressman Paul one of the only politicians in Washington who actually understands how our monetary system works and knows what needs to be done to fix it.

THE INCOME TAX/IRS
Another important issue pertaining to the economy is the income tax, a tax considered by many as direct government theft. The income tax, like the Federal Reserve, is believed to be unconstitutional because the Constitution demands that taxes be apportioned or equally divided. The income tax is not apportioned and therefore unconstitutional. The same can be said for filing an income tax return. The requirement of filing an income tax is a clear violation of the Fifth Amendment because it forces the individual to provide evidence to the government that later can be used to incriminate the individual. Congressman Paul recognizes that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the income tax are both unconstitutional and has previously introduced legislation to abolish the IRS and end the income tax.

In the first Republican Presidential debate of the 2008 campaign, Congressman Paul said that he would immediately move to abolish the IRS and end the income tax if elected to office. Furthermore, Congressman Paul has stated many times in various campaign appearances that upon abolishing the income tax, he would replace it with nothing. Congressman Paul contends that if government operated within its lawfully defined limits as provided in the Constitution, there would be no need to have an income tax.

What hard working American citizen wouldn’t welcome the abolishment of the IRS and Income Tax?

FOREIGN POLICY
Congressman Paul refers directly to the Constitution on issues of foreign policy. The Constitution advocates a policy of non-interventionism, which simply means staying out of entangling alliances and the internal affairs of other nations. Congressman Paul favors withdrawing from institutions like the United Nations, World Trade Organization, NATO and others, as he believes that these organizations erode our sovereignty. He supports free trade but is against arrangements like NAFTA that are widely viewed as corporate welfare agreements masqueraded as free trade agreements.

When asked about regional and global governing institutions he stated, “To work in the direction of loss of sovereignty which is what happens when you setup these regional governments, the WTO, the IMF and World Bank. They are working for the New World Order a new system of government and I’m not in support of that at all.”

During the latter half of the 20th century, the U.S. policy of non-intervention has been completely abandoned in favor of empire building. We have also abandoned the notion that only Congress has the power to declare war. Congress has not declared war since World War II and yet the U.S. has been involved in several undeclared foreign wars including the current war in Iraq.

Congressman Paul voted against authorization to go to war in Iraq and supports immediate troop withdrawal based on the premise that it is unconstitutional, since war with Iraq was never declared by Congress. During the Iowa GOP debate that aired on ABC News, he stated the following when asked about the Iraq war, “Just come home. We just marched in, we can just come home.”

This simple and powerful message on the Iraq war has really helped to shape and define his campaign. As President he would strengthen our national defense by withdrawing our troops from their current mission of empire building and use the military to defend our national borders, as was intended by the Constitution.

THE 2ND AMENDMENT
Congressman Paul is a strong supporter of the 2nd amendment. He has consistently voted against gun control legislation, supports the private ownership of automatic firearms and has been given the highest Congressional rating by the Gun Owners of America. He believes that the individual, not the state, is in the best position to protect their lives and liberty and that is why he has voted continuously in support of upholding the 2nd amendment.

HEALTH CARE
Congressman Paul supports a true free market health care system to fix the problems it is plagued by. He believes the American health care system has the problems it does because of government involvement, which has resulted in a corporatist-fascist model. Strangely enough, many of the other presidential candidates, particularly on the Democratic side of the fence, believe that we need more government involvement to fix the system. Congressman Paul opposes a universal national health care plan because a national health care system is not authorized by the Constitution and it would vastly increase the size and scope of government. When asked how a government-run health care plan would operate he replied, “It would be like asking FEMA to take care of it.”

He also talked about the rising costs of medical care and stated, “Medical care costs prices skyrocket because of inflation, the government is involved and bureaucrats are involved.”

In addition, he said referring to advances in technology, “Technology should lower the prices of everything involved if all things are equal.”

Congressman Paul’s message on health care is really quite simple. There is no government involvement with computers and cell phones and the prices of those things have gone down. If government wasn’t involved in the health care system, the price of health care would also go down.

NORTH AMERICAN UNION
The North American Union is the stealth push for the integration of Canada, Mexico and the United States into a regional government entity under a common currency known as the “Amero”. Congressman Paul is strongly opposed to the NAU. This secret push towards North American integration began with the Security and Prosperity Partnership signed by George W. Bush and established regional agencies that would oversee governmental functions across North America. The SPP is unconstitutional because treaties with other nations are required to have congressional approval.

EDUCATION
Congressman Paul supports eliminating the Department of Education allowing states and local government control over public education. He also supports introducing free market competition. From a Constitutional perspective the Department of Education can be considered unconstitutional because the Constitution states that this is a matter that should be left to the states and local government.

WAR ON DRUGS
Congressman Paul supports the decriminalization of drug laws based on the premise that the government does not have the right to tell the individual what they should or should not put in their body.

THE ENVIRONMENT
On the environment, Congressman Paul believes we need to strengthen private property laws because people who truly own something will be more likely to take care for it, than will the state. Nations that have favored socialism and collectivism over freedom, liberty and private property have had rampant amounts of pollution because individuals do not have true ownership of their property.

IMMIGRATION
On immigration, Congressman Paul supports ending the welfare state that provides the incentive for individuals to come here illegally. He has also proposed legislation that would end birthright citizenship eliminating another incentive for illegal immigrants to enter the country.

During the interview he stated, “The welfare state provides an incentive for people to come, as well as, an incentive for some of our people not to work and take some of these jobs.”

He also talked about physical border security and stated, “We need more border guards. I would provide the personnel by bringing our troops home.”
Congressman Paul supports both ending the incentive for illegal immigrants to come to the United States in addition to providing physical border security. He also opposes any sort of amnesty for illegal immigrants.

PATRIOT ACT/MILITARY COMMISSION ACT/REAL ID ACT
Congressman Paul voted against the Patriot Act and Military Commissions Act, which were two pieces of unconstitutional legislation that allowed for domestic spying and the elimination of habeas corpus. He supports the abolishment of both laws because they are in direct contradiction with the freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution. He is also strongly opposed to the Real ID Act, which is a national ID card program that is slated to start in 2008.

SIZE AND SCOPE OF GOVERNMENT
Congressman Paul also favors abolishing federal government agencies that are not specifically authorized by the Constitution. This includes the Department of Homeland Security among others that have already been mentioned. During his June 13th 2007 appearance on the “Colbert Report” he made it clear that he would reduce the size of government dramatically. In terms of programs that people depend upon like Social Security and Medicare he favors eliminating them by reducing them in size over a period of time. This way, people who depend upon these institutions would get the help they needed until it was possible to eliminate them entirely.

INTERNET REGULATION
Congressman Paul is against regulation and taxation of the Internet. When asked about the push towards taxing and regulating the Internet and he compared it to regulating things like books. He stated, “Books are available. We don’t regulate books.”

This is a very good point. If the government doesn’t regulate books, why should the government regulate things like the Internet?

He also referred to the Internet as “our secret weapon” calling it a “political equalizer.”

Ron Paul’s campaign website is ranked at 20,124 among every website in the world according to the global ranking website Alexa.com. Alexa ranks Yahoo.com as the number one website in the world next to msn.com and google.com. Hillary Clinton’s campaign site is ranked at 21,650, Obama’s at 22,433 and Giuliani’s at 117,055.

Considering the tremendous success that Congressman Paul’s presidential campaign has had on the Internet, it is easy to see why he holds this position on Internet regulation and taxation. The internet is also one of the reasons why young people have flocked to support his presidential campaign.

Dr. Paul believes a major problem affecting this country is the Federal Reserve because this is the engine that is used to expand the government, erode civil liberty and wage war. He is the only presidential candidate that understands the dangers of a private central banking system, and is willing to address it. The ability of the Federal Reserve to print money that is legal tender out of thin air has allowed the government to behave irresponsibly and offers very little in the way of checks and balances.

A statement he made about the Federal Reserve, during the interview, sums it up. He stated, “If you want to strive for personal liberty you want government to be small. The Federal Reserve permits the members of Congress and politicians to expand government without being responsible.

No individual running for President has the education and background on monetary policy that Congressman Paul does. We are faced with a monetary crisis; the U.S. Dollar has lost, approximately, more than half of its value since 2000. There is a clear need for a President who understands the concept of honest money to reverse some potentially damaging trends.

Ron Paul’s stance on political issues, his life experiences and solid Constitutional voting record make it obvious that he is a genuine and honest man. We urgently need this type of patriot as the next President of the United States. Unlike the majority of politicians who seek office for power, fellow freedom lovers and patriots had to convince him to run for President. They felt he was the right man at the right time. Ron Paul is the George Washington of our time. Ron Paul is running for President for the right reasons. He is truly the “Champion of the Constitution”.

The phenomenon of grass roots support for this man is nothing short of amazing. Politicians fighting for the chance to become President of the United States could only dream of the people’s support that Ron Paul has. No presidential candidate can boast his own 24-hour radio network other than Ron Paul. RonPaulRadio.us is not managed by Ron Paul’s campaign; his supporters run it. Musicians from coat to coast have written songs of praise about Ron Paul. Ranging from country to reggae and Rock and Roll to Rap there is no shortage of musical fare to celebrate his message. The actual numbers of grassroots supporters, on meetup.com, are now over 37,000 in 630 cities. Compared to Obama’s 4,071 nationwide supporters or Hilary’s 861, Ron Paul’s grassroots campaign is an unstoppable force that builds momentum daily. His solid number of supporters should be encouraging to anyone who considers himself a modern patriot.

Those who want to see this country released from corporate controls and returned to its Constitutional foundations can take refuge in Dr. Paul. Given the chance to act upon these principles from the office of President, “Dr. No” could end up becoming “Dr. Yes” as his efforts would shift from voting against bad policy to supporting and enacting correct and just Constitutional policy.

Ron Paul is a refreshing change for our Constitutional Republic, as opposed the destructive policy that had held sway for too long in this country.

Vote Ron Paul in 2008? You have a choice! Protected by the Constitution, your right to vote is the only remedy to protect the fate of our children and grandchildren for generations to come. The title of President of the United States of America must be held by one who values the honesty, integrity, and the constitutional fortitude of those that forged this great nation. Our republic, born in 1776, needs to be restored. You get to decide who has the ability and who will do it.