- “How about getting rid of the Department of Education and Department of Agriculture. Just go down the list. Get rid of it. Cut the budget in half. Everything that’s not constitutional. That’s a good place to start.” -- Interview on MSNBC in 2009.
These are trademark Ron Paul quotes, literally advocating to close down two long-established federal government departments. Paul adamantly believes that federal interference, even in traditional, non-controversial domains like agriculture, is bad for the individual.
- "You want to get rid of drug crime in this country? Fine, let's just get rid of all the drug laws." -- 2011 CNN Republican presidential debate.
Paul also wants to decriminalize drugs, believing drug use to be a matter of personal choice and liberty. He wants to return to a pre-1914 era, when the federal government had no laws regulating drugs of any kind. He has even attributed drug laws to racist origins (more on that below).
- “I am convinced that there are more threats to American liberty within the 10 mile radius of my office on Capitol Hill than there are on the rest of the globe.” –Texas Straight Talk: On Reinstating the Draft, February 16, 2009.
Voicing his opinion again on the wisdom of isolationism, statements like these resonate with young voters wary of the warmongering they have grown accustomed to hearing from other politicians.
- “How about getting rid of the Department of Education and Department of Agriculture. Just go down the list. Get rid of it. Cut the budget in half. Everything that’s not constitutional. That’s a good place to start.” -- Interview on MSNBC in 2009.
These are trademark Ron Paul quotes, literally advocating to close down two long-established federal government departments. Paul adamantly believes that federal interference, even in traditional, non-controversial domains like agriculture, is bad for the individual.
- "You want to get rid of drug crime in this country? Fine, let's just get rid of all the drug laws." -- 2011 CNN Republican presidential debate.
Paul also wants to decriminalize drugs, believing drug use to be a matter of personal choice and liberty. He wants to return to a pre-1914 era, when the federal government had no laws regulating drugs of any kind. He has even attributed drug laws to racist origins (more on that below).
- “I am convinced that there are more threats to American liberty within the 10 mile radius of my office on Capitol Hill than there are on the rest of the globe.” –Texas Straight Talk: On Reinstating the Draft, February 16, 2009.
Voicing his opinion again on the wisdom of isolationism, statements like these resonate with young voters wary of the warmongering they have grown accustomed to hearing from other politicians.
- “This superhighway would connect Mexico, the United States, and Canada, cutting a wide swath through the middle of Texas and up through Kansas City. Offshoots would connect the main artery to the west coast, Florida, and northeast. Proponents envision a ten-lane colossus the width of several football fields, with freight and rail lines, fiber-optic cable lines, and oil and natural gas pipelines running alongside... The ultimate goal is not simply a superhighway, but an integrated North American Union--complete with a currency, a cross-national bureaucracy, and virtually borderless travel within the Union. Like the European Union, a North American Union would represent another step toward the abolition of national sovereignty altogether.” -- 2006 post on Lew Rockwell’s blog
Ron Paul has quite a few conspiracy theories up his sleeve, like the NAFTA superhighway he believes will threaten U.S. sovereignty.
- “People often say that what this country needs is for people in Washington to stop fighting and just get the job done. To achieve that, we need more ‘bipartisanship.’ I don’t agree…When the ideas of both parties are bad, there is really only one hope: that they will continue fighting and not pass any new legislation.” -- Liberty Defined
A true libertarian, Paul does not follow party lines and vote for legislation he doesn’t believe in.
- “I think this fence business is designed and may well be used against us and keep us in. In economic turmoil, the people want to leave with their capital. And there’s capital controls and there’s people control. So, every time you think of the fence keeping all those bad people out, think about those fences maybe being used against us, keeping us in.” -- GOP Debate, September 2011
Simultaneously deriding immigration proposals from members of his own party and adding his own theory of their true motives, Paul gives himself a “wacky uncle” reputation.
