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That didn't take long. A candidate elected to end current wars and avoid new ones, Donald Trump as president has significantly escalated the war on Yemen and is now threatening to attack Iran. He is also threatening Russia (again) with punitive tariffs. What is it about the White House that turns every resident into a warmonger?
By Ron Paul
We do not have free speech to talk about the weather. Our Founders, particularly James Madison who drafted the Bill of Rights, understood that our rights are not privileges granted to us by government. No, it was understood at the founding that these basic natural rights outlined by Madison were granted by our Creator and thus no mere mortal could take them away. And first among these is the First Amendment which recognizes that most basic of our natural rights: the right to express ourselves in any way we wish. Unfortunately the US government has not always been in accord with this sentiment and has many times in our history been at war with our freedom of speech. From the alien and sedition acts at the beginning of our republic to Abraham Lincoln’s war on speech to the jailing of antiwar activists during both World Wars to Kent State, the political class is all for free speech unless it is threatening to the political class. Recently a new front has been opened in the war on free speech and it is one that Americans must take seriously. On university campuses across the country students – both American and foreign guests – have taken to protesting US support for Israel’s actions in Gaza, where tens of thousands of innocent civilians have been killed. The political class in the United States is determined to defend Israel from its critics and has responded to these protests by threatening and blackmailing the universities if they do not crack down on speech the powers-that-be do not like. Both Presidents Biden and Trump have used the power of US government funding to demand a crackdown on speech they don’t like, with President Trump recently pulling 400 million dollars in federal funding for Columbia University if they don’t silence the protesters. The real scandal is that nearly every US university – both public and “private” – is government funded in the first place. But for politicians to use the power of the purse to deny students the right to express themselves – as long as peaceful – just adds insult to injury. Last week a Turkish PhD student at Tufts University was arrested on the street by plainclothes government agents for reportedly simply writing an editorial in her university newspaper expressing her views on the Israel/Palestine conflict. She faces deportation from the country. And she is not alone. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has openly bragged about sending hundreds of students home because they express a political position he disagrees with. Others – including American citizens – have been expelled from their schools and have even had their degrees rescinded. For peacefully expressing a political position that powerful people in Washington disagree with. You may also agree with the political position of these students. But to cheer their punishment by the US government is to turn your back on the founding principles of this country. Freedom of speech is a natural right not reserved for American citizens but for all of humanity. And it has been a natural right worth defending for nearly 250 years. First they came for foreign students expressing controversial positions and many Americans cheered because they were not foreign and did not like the opinions. But make no mistake: this war on speech will not end with only foreigners being punished. It never does.
Tariffs are very risky business. They're like playing with fire. We run into the same unsolvable problem that we have with The Fed. They don't know what interest rates should be. It's all arbitrary. In the same way, the president doesn't know what the price of cars, or lumber, or any other product should be. While the president is not literally price-fixing like the Fed, he is arbitrarily interfering with market prices and trade. Our inescapable problem in America is the overwhelming size of government, spending, debt and empire. All of these variables are still going in the wrong direction.
President Trump announced earlier in his second term that foreign students who engaged in illegal activity would be deported. Most people agreed with the policy. But then his Department of Homeland Security began showing up with masks on and in plainclothes to arrest and deport legal foreign students who broke no law but held views the Administration doesn't like. This is a slippery slope that will backfire on those who support it.
The US Intelligence Community’s 2003 assessment that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon was reaffirmed this week, even as the Trump Administration is moving military assets into the area. What gives? Also today: shut down NPR? Please!
In one of the most bizarre foul-ups (or was it?) of all time, Trump National Security Advisor Mike Waltz invited The Atlantic's editor-in-chief into a Signal discussion group (!) where the Admin's attack on Yemen was being planned. What if it was no leak at all and instead a "pro-war psy-op"? With secure communications equipment available to the Administration...why did they discuss apparently highly classified war-planning information on a commercial chat app? Will heads roll?
President Trump announced a 25 percent across-the-board tariff on any country that purchases oil from Venezuela - but who will really be paying for the additional cost? Also today, US/Russia talks begin again in Saudi Arabia. Will the US take control of Ukraine's power plants?
By Ron Paul
President Trump’s executive order from last week titled “Improving Education Outcomes by Empowering Parents, States, and Communities” could help bring about a major step toward restoring constitutional government and improving education. The executive order directs that the secretary of education, “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law, take all necessary steps to facilitate the closure of the Department of Education and return authority over education to the States and local communities.” This action is directed to be taken, though, “while ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs, and benefits on which Americans rely.” The order points out that the Department of Education was created in 1979. Thus, the American people somehow managed for a long time to educate children without a federal education department! They could certainly do so again. The federal government introduced significant funding to local schools the 1950s. Some of this early funding was targeted at science education and was a response to the Soviet Union’s launch of the Sputnik satellite. The first major legislation providing funding for, and imposing regulations on, local government schools became law in 1965. The Department of Education has been given nearly 50 years to work on improving education. Yet, instead of the Department of Education ushering in an education golden era, education in America has declined. According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, approximately 70 percent of eighth graders are below proficiency in reading, while around 72 percent are below proficiency in math. The problem is not that the federal government spends too little on education. Further, Washington, DC imposing another “reform” on schools will only ensure that more children are left behind. The real problem is education funding is controlled by politicians and bureaucrats who impose a “one-size-fits-all” model on schools. The key to improving the education system is putting control of education back in the hands of those who best know a child’s unique needs and abilities — parents. Moving education programs from the federal government to state and local governments is a good first step toward improving the education system. In addition, President Trump must follow up his executive order by working with Congress to pass legislation shutting down the Department of Education. Homeschooling is one course many parents have chosen as an alternative to sending their children to government schools. Parents looking for a homeschooling curriculum incorporating the ideas of liberty should consider my online curriculum. My curriculum provides students with a solid education in history, literature, mathematics, and the sciences. It also gives students the opportunity to create their own websites and internet-based businesses. This provides students with “real world” entrepreneurial experience that will be useful to them no matter what career path they choose. The curriculum is designed to be self-taught, with students helping, and learning from, each other via online forums. Starting in the fourth grade, students are required to write at least one essay a week. Students post their essays on their blogs. Students also take a course in public speaking. The curriculum does emphasize the history, philosophy, and economics of liberty, but it never substitutes indoctrination for education. The goal is to produce students with superior critical thinking skills. If you think my curriculum may meet the needs of your child, please visit www.RonPaulCurriculum.com for more information.
U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang has ruled that Elon Musk's role as DOGE enforcer may be unconstitutional, ordering that he “shall not take any action, or engage in any work, relating to the shutdown of USAID.” Is the deep state pushing back? Also today, say it ain't so, Tulsi. Finally: Sports diplomacy for the win.
President Trump hit the ground running - hard - after his inauguration in January. It seemed like at least half of the Federal Government was exposed as not only totally fake, but actually working against US interests. From USAID to the Department of Education, thousands of "employees" were let go. Then he fell into the siren song of all Presidents: he got sucked into the Imperial Presidency and began waving the sword. Can he get back on track?
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