South Carolina For Ron Paul

I am a native son of South Carolina. I am a Christian, a father and an active duty military officer and I support Ron Paul for president. I do not make this claim of support lightly - I have not fully supported any candidate since Ronald Reagan (and I was young then). To be certain I liked the ideas of Pat Buchanan and Alan Keyes but each of those elections were different. Different in that enough of the polity was not sufficiently upset to actually accept a solution other than the option offered up by the party bosses. Look at the poll numbers and contribution amounts right now - he traditional base of the Republican party is fractured and confused. Many know that things have gone awry but don not yet know where to turn for solutions.

Ron Paul is the answer, he is the only real conservative in the race. He is the only man that stands true to principles that our South Carolina ancestors would be proud to associate with. He is the only man running that a Christian of true conscious can vote for.

I know that those associated intimately with the party machine fear and disdain Paul - he exists outside of the system. The Republican Party itself supported a recently converted democrat (and liberal) against Dr. Paul in 1996 in a congressional election. This says much more about Ron Paul's commitment to stand firmly on his principles than it does of the wisdom of the party leadership. If you are one of those hard working party loyalist here in SC that believe that Paul is an outsider I ask that you consider what it really means to be a conservative and measure Paul against that - not against silly notions of "electability", pragmatism and loyalty to some notion of corporate fidelity. You know, or should know that at this stage of the game, with Paul's record of donations and support that he is far ahead of where Ronald Reagan was in 1979. Paul is electable, don't believe anything to the contrary.

Folks say Ron Paul is a contrarian - I say he is just principled. Anyone that observes politics knows full well that is ever there is a vote in Congress with only one dissenter - that is Ron Paul. He has been called Dr. No for this very reason - he alone seems to understand or care that the legislation that Congress passes must adhere to the guidelines set forth in the Constitution. No matter how "good" of an idea that comes up, Dr. Paul will not and never has supported any program not specifically authorized in the Constitution. Why is this important? Good ideas and running us broke but more importantly a government that does not follow its highest law is not a legitimate government at all.

Consider this, Ron Paul has

• never voted to raise taxes.
• never voted for an unbalanced budget.
• never voted to raise congressional pay.
• never taken a government-paid junket.
• never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
• voted against regulating the Internet.
• not participated in the lucrative congressional pension program.

What would he do as President?

• let Americans keep more of their own money.
• end the IRS.
• stop the central bankers’ “inflation tax.”
• stop unconstitutional spending leading us to bankruptcy.
• stop the financial dependency on China, Saudi Arabia, and other foreign governments.
• oppose trade deals and groups that threaten American Independence (incl. the UN, GATT, NAFTA, NAU, WTO, CAFTA, ICC).
• protect our privacy and stop the national ID card.
• protect our constitutional rights and end the “Patriot” Act.
• secure our borders and end illegal immigration.
• end “birthright” citizenship for illegal aliens.
• bring our troops home from no-win “police actions.”

This is all we really should want a president to do. We do not need any more men with "good ideas" related to programs they believe will solve all of our problems. Honestly, can any decent, right-thinking person think of anything the government really does efficiently or effectively? If you understand the Constitution and the specific delegated powers and responsibilities our states bestowed upon the federal government can you honestly say that you truly want anyone to propose that the central government do any more? Is anyone that proposes a departure for our law, our Constitution really a conservative or are they rather a progressive (or possibly worse)?

These are weighty issues, Americans have become accustomed to hearing politicians propose sweeping programs to solve problems (real and imagined). Many of us have come to believe this is the role of our federal government - it is simply not so.

The most beautiful thing about Dr. Paul is that he understands that most of the issues that the federal government currently concerns itself with belong at the state or county level. Abortion, education and dozens of other issues that clutter up the national dialogue are items we should be talking about and solving in our states - as the people of the states see fit. That my friends is freedom - that is the federal system that the founders envisioned and that is the notion of states' rights that our ancestors fought to preserve. We dishonor their memory, our own system of laws and future generations when we turn to slick politicians that say they can solve problems from Washington.

Just take a look at the recent Republican debates. Folks accuse Ron Paul of being out of step with the party. This is not true, he is on a completely different frequency than the other six candidates and this is obvious. It is impossible to debate with someone when you do not agree on fundamental issues. Paul holds that the very premise of the Federal government doing anything not specifically authorized by the Constitution is wrong and should be stopped immediately. The other want to tweak the system just a bit. That is a fundamental divide - such a gulf that you cannot even agree enough to argue. Paul is not out of step with he party - some within the party (many in fact) have lost touch with traditional conservatism.

Google Ron Paul, visit his campaign site, read my other Ron Paul posts - whatever and however you do it inform yourself about the man. He is electable, he is the only conservative in the race and he is the best hop we have at the national level of restoring the Republic.