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Rumors continue to swirl around Elon Musk's threat/promise to found a new political party in the United States after the passage of the enormously destructive "Big Beautiful Bill." Do we need a viable third party? What should it look like?
Get tickets to the Ron Paul Institute's August 16th DC Conference! More info here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blueprint-for-peace-tickets-1397170888739 
By Ron Paul
A few weeks ago I urged President Trump to make a deal with Iran that would satisfy his stated goal of no nuclear weapons production and would allow Iran to continue its lawful pursuit of civilian nuclear energy. The deal on the table, as described by the Iranian foreign minister himself, was a win-win “update” of Obama’s JCPOA “nuclear deal” that he could have avoided a costly and counter-productive war with Iran. Unfortunately, the negotiations were cut short by an Israeli sneak-attack on Iran that led to a 12-day war that did not turn out as Israel imagined. This often happens in war, especially wars of aggression. After a day or so, Israel found itself overwhelmed by an Iran that proved to be more than capable of defending itself and Netanyahu called up Uncle Sam begging for assistance. The resulting US bombing run on Iran’s nuclear sites did not lead to the end of that country’s capabilities, but to the expulsion of the UN monitoring organization and the emergence of Iranian “strategic ambiguity” regarding its program. In short, the bombing has blinded the world to what Iran may do in the future. That is not a win for Trump. In a recent interview with Tucker Carlson, the Iranian president confirmed what most people understood at the time: President Trump promised Iran that while they were engaged in negotiations the United States would not allow Israel to attack the country. With the sixth round of negotiations just two days away, however, Israel thumbed its nose at the United States and launched an attack on Iran anyway. Considering that Israel’s “military capabilities” are almost entirely provided by the United States, this betrayal of its benefactor will surely go down as one of the most brazen acts of ingratitude of all time. This week Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington DC for the third time in Trump’s short second term in office. While we do not know what President Trump is telling him this time around, this might be the time to finally give Israel some “tough love” that many parents practice with their teenagers. Donald Trump may be the most “pro-Israel” president we’ve ever had, but if he really wanted to help Israel he would make clear to Netanyahu that US support does Israel no favors. Continuing to spend tens of billions of dollars a year financing Israel’s war machine and backing up Israel’s attacks on its neighbors has not produced peace or security – much less prosperity – for Israel. In fact, as soon as Israel attacked Iran so many Israelis tried to leave the country that Tel Aviv forbade its own citizens from leaving the country. Israelis are desperate to escape the wars of their own government’s making. If President Trump really wanted to help Israel he would inform Netanyahu this week that not another US dollar would be sent to prop up his government. Not another missile or bomb would be sent. Not another American bullet would be available for Israeli soldiers to attack their neighbors or to shoot Palestinian civilians. If Israel had to face the hard reality that it must learn to live with its neighbors instead of attacking them, the country may actually start seeing some peace and prosperity. Whatever the case, it is not our responsibility to finance the war machine of any foreign country. Time to put America first.
In one of the most easily predictable moves of all time, a small group of Republican "holdouts" quickly caved and green-lit the massive spending bill for passage; while Democrat Leader Jeffries has lurked at the House Floor microphone for hours pretending that there is any opposition to the Uniparty in DC. It is a shameful preview to the celebration of 249 years since we told King George, "later."
The Pentagon announced yesterday that the regular supply of weapons sent to Ukraine would be halted. The problem? We are running out of weapons! What does it say about a foreign policy that depletes the US defensive capabilities on behalf of foreign countries? Also today: The Libertarian Party reaches out to Elon Musk - can they work something out?
Get tickets to the Ron Paul Institute's August 16th DC Conference! More info here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blueprint-for-peace-tickets-1397170888739 
Just as news comes out that IDF commanders ordered Israeli soldiers to shoot unarmed Palestinians lining up for food, the US announced that it has approved $500 million in new weapons to Israel - just the kinds of weapons that are being used on the Palestinians who line up for food. Also today, the BBB spat between Musk and Trump widens!
Get tickets to the Ron Paul Institute's August 16th DC Conference! More info here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/blueprint-for-peace-tickets-1397170888739 
As was easily predictable, all the carrots they hung on the "Big Beautiful Bill" to get House Republicans to vote on it have been stripped from the Senate version. The only thing remaining is the massive increase in debt. As usual, Thomas Massie was right. Will the final vote saddle Americans with this bankrupt albatross?
By Ron Paul
The US Senate worked through the weekend on the “Big Beautiful Bill.” The goal was to pass it quickly to ensure the House will then pass it and send it to President Trump’s desk before the July 4th holiday. However, disagreements among Republican Senators over reductions in spending on programs including Medicaid and food stamps as well as language in the bill eliminating “clean energy” tax credits were preventing Senate Republican leadership from getting enough votes to pass the bill. Also, some Republicans disagree with other Republicans in both the House and Senate on increasing the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. Many conservatives see this income tax deduction as encouraging states to maintain high taxes to fund big governments. One item in the BBB that few Republicans are objecting to is the bill’s increase in military spending. The House version of the BBB added 150 billion dollars to the Pentagon’s already bloated budget. The Senate bill gave the military-industrial complex 156 billion dollars. Increasing military spending contradicts President Trump’s promise to stop wasting money on endless wars that have nothing to do with ensuring the security of the American people. Some of the BBB’s military spending will be used to put troops on the border. I support strengthening border security. However, I do not support using the military for domestic law enforcement, which includes enforcing immigration laws. Soldiers are trained to view people as potential enemies, not as innocent civilians to be protected. Introducing this mindset into domestic law enforcement will lead to abuses of liberty. Increasing spending on militarism while cutting spending on programs that help low-income Americans is bad politics and bad policy. Polls show that the majority of Americans, including many Republicans, do not support overseas intervention. The growing opposition to our hyper-interventionist foreign policy is easy to understand. The US has engaged in numerous military actions in many countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria since the beginning of the 21st century. The American people pay for this militarism in several ways. One is the “inflation tax” imposed by the Federal Reserve in order to monetize the debt incurred by the US government for endless wars. President Trump has turned his back on his antiwar supporters by bombing Iran and by increasing military spending to over a trillion dollars. The Republican insistence on increasing military spending is the main reason Congress cannot cut taxes without increasing the debt, making cuts in domestic welfare programs, or both. If the Republicans want to be the Make America Great Again party, they need to embrace a true America First foreign policy. This means no more regime change wars or US taxpayer supported “color revolutions.” Instead, America should return to the Founders’ vision of a country that, in the words of John Quincy Adams, does not go “abroad in search of monsters to destroy” and instead is “the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all” while “the champion and vindicator only of her own.” A return to a noninterventionist foreign policy is the only way we will be able to begin to pay down the national debt and restore a government that adheres to the constitutional limits on its powers and respects all the people’s rights all the time.
On today's Liberty Report, we explore the collapse of financial stability and the future of the American Dream, with economist Christopher Whalen.
Amazon Link for Inflated: https://a.co/d/evUvSxf 
With wars still blazing in Ukraine and a war perhaps on hold for now in the Israel/Iran war, it was easy to overlook the "Daddy's Home" NATO summit this week. The European obsequiousness toward President Trump was embarrassing, but the biggest news was a "pledge" to increase NATO member state defense spending to five percent of GDP.
According to press reports, President Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff is back in touch with Iran after the ceasefire with Israel. Will a deal still be possible? Is Iran still interested?
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