By Ron Paul
Debates over the US government’s foreign and economic policies have recently taken a backseat to the debate over what bathroom transgender individuals should use. The two sides of the debate both believe that government has the legitimate authority to tell private businesses who they should allow to use their facilities. Few on either side of this debate defend the right of private property owners to decide for themselves who may and may not use their bathrooms. Some say government must be involved in this issue in order to ensure that private businesses do not violate individual rights. Those who make this claim are accepting the idea that rights are no more than a gift from the government that can be revoked at the will and whim of legislators and bureaucrats. This argument turns rights from a shield protecting our liberties into a sword that can and will be used to increase government control of our lives. Two weeks ago, the Department of Education waded into this debate by threatening to withhold federal funds from schools that do not allow transgender students to use the restroom of their choice. State and local officials around the country have promised to resist the Education Department’s new bathroom rules. However, given how addicted most state and local governments and school boards are to federal funds, it is likely that even most conservative state governments and school boards will eventually adopt the bathroom policies desired by federal bureaucrats. Many of the conservatives who (correctly) denounce the Obama administration for trying to blackmail local schools either supported or were silent when a so-called conservative administration expanded the federal role in education via No Child Left Behind. These conservatives fail to realize that No Child Left Behind’s testing and other mandates are no different in principle from President Barack Obama’s bathroom mandates. Both use money stolen from the people and sent back to the states to force states to change their policies according to federal commands. Both are equally unconstitutional. Conservatives who want to defend local schools from federal bureaucrats must work to repeal, not reform, the Department of Education. One positive result from this latest controversy is that it may encourage more parents to homeschool. Homeschooling is a means for parents to provide their children a quality education that meets the children’s needs. Homeschooling allows parents to ensure that their child's education reflects their values and beliefs, not the values and beliefs of federal bureaucrats. Working with a team of top scholars, I have created my own homeschooling curriculum. My homeschooling curriculum provides students with a rigorous education in history, math, English, and other subjects. The curriculum is designed to benefit both college-bound students and those interested in pursuing other educational or career opportunities. The curriculum features three tracks: natural sciences/math, social sciences/humanities, and business. Students may also take courses in personal finance and public speaking. The government and history sections of the curriculum emphasize Austrian economics, libertarian political theory, and the history of liberty. Unlike government school, my curriculum never puts ideological indoctrination ahead of education. For more information please go to ronpaulcurriculum.com.
By Chris Rossini
It's already been well established that the things Donald Trump says can change in an instant. What he says today will probably change tomorrow (or even later today if it's early enough). Many of the things that he said to his early "Make America Great Again" supporters have now been tossed aside. So the key things to watch now are how the Deep State maneuvers to keep the status quo going. After all, the Deep State doesn't leave when administrations change. Presidents come and go, but the entrenched bureaucracy that feeds off the average American stays. The Deep State sinks its claws into every President via personnel. Pay attention to the personnel that will be around Trump, and you'll get a good sense of where things are headed. Based on Trump's chums so far, the Deep State will be able to sleep like a baby. Let's review: - Chris Christie, Rudy Giuliani, Jeff Sessions, Richard Haas - all establishment men and in the Trump circle. - John McCain and Dick Cheney are on board with Trump (despite Trump bad mouthing them both in public). - Sheldon Adelson is poised to give Trump $100 million. That's just a taste. - Trump has met with James Baker and Henry Kissinger after weeks of telephone conversations with Kissinger (!!!). - Trump named former Soros money manager as his National Campaign Finance Chair. You see how this works? It's not complicated. All of Trump's campaign talk out there...that's a sideshow. If President Obama didn't already prove that in spades, no one will. "Hope & Change" simply became "No Change". Now it's being reported that Trump will be meeting with Senator Bob Corker. Many "top" Republicans believe that Corker would make a good VP pick for Trump. Here are few things about Corker: - Wanted to raise the federal gas tax. - Said: “Vladimir Putin is seizing a neighboring territory – again…” How many times did Putin invade Ukraine? Daniel McAdams at the Ron Paul Institute counted 36 times. Who knew? - Is in favor of the dangerous "flat tax". As Robert Wenzel correctly points out: "Tax cuts are what we need, not changing the method of taxation." - Wenzel again "Corker is chairman of the very powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. You don't get that position unless the deep state approves." Deep State. Remember that when Hope & Change 2.0 fails to materialize.
By Chris Rossini
With a government that is perpetually at war in multiple places around the world, Americans have been trained to "see no evil, hear no evil". The carnage that takes place around the world has been completely sanitized by the U.S. media. That was done on purpose right after the Vietnam war. During the Vietnam disaster, Americans were able to see the shocking brutality right on their TV screens. The ability to do so helped to create the massive public backlash against it. Then came Ronald Reagan and the sanitization of war. The Reagan Administration barred media coverage in his invasion of Grenada. In other words, the warmongers learned from their past mistakes. This time Americans would not see the disgustingness of war on their TV screens. And so it has continued to this day. Americans remain oblivious to the goings-on overseas. Out of sight. Out of mind. "Those people" must be bad people right? The countless innocents that have been killed? There must be something wrong with them. In any case, no matter what's happening over there, the average American's job is to sing the national anthem with the troops, salute the troops, clap for the troops, and then go back to watching the game. Yet, war is much more than this. It's easily the worst human creation. What if "those people" are really just like us? What if they're regular people going about their lives, trying to enjoy their days on this Earth? What if there is nothing wrong with the many men, women and children that fear a drone will take them out that day? What if you were able to peak into their lives? Well, now you can. Facebook recently rolled out a new LIVE feature, where anyone can broadcast what they are doing or watching at any moment. That, in itself, is incredible from a communication standpoint. But the beauty of Facebook is that it has over 1 billion people using the service worldwide. So we can peek into the lives of people all over the planet...LIVE and in real-time! This provides a wonderful opportunity to see what people are like in other parts of the world. Maybe they're not so different from us after all. Maybe they're just like us....Imagine that. Facebook has taken this brilliant idea even further. They've provided a world map that shows who is streaming LIVE content. This is what it looks like:
Each blue dot on the map indicates an individual that is streaming LIVE. Click on it and you can watch the stream. In a split second, you're taken to a place around the world to watch an unfiltered and uncensored LIVE representation of that land and its people.
This incredible achievement by Facebook brings a world that Americans have been trained to think of as "out of sight, out of mind" into sight, and into mind. The very first thing that you'll notice as you click around is that people are people, no matter where they happen to be born on the map. No one should fear that their life is in danger for no reason whatsoever. No one should lose their life for no reason whatsoever. Facebook has done good. Check out the livemap here.
By Ron Paul
The Obama Administration has produced a lot of harm over the last eight years, both domestically and internationally with its wars. However two bright spots are the change in policies with Cuba and Iran. These were fantastic and should go down as the best things that Obama did. I discuss in detail below:
By Chris Rossini
What is it that people despise about politicians? Well, there are many things. But for starters, politicians are notorious for saying one thing here, and then another thing there. They pander to whoever they happen to be speaking to at the moment. This applies to all politicians, both Republican and Democrat. Democrats say they are anti-war, but in practice they're just as much vicious as Republicans. Meanwhile, Republicans claim to be for "limited government" but they're nothing even remotely like that while in power. It's all lies, piled upon lies, piled upon even more lies. This has become the norm in America. Polticians lie ... People vote for them anyway ... Politicians further enrich and empower the government and tear apart society ... People get angry. Then it just starts all over again, in a cycle. Donald Trump, because of conditions that have been exhaustively analyzed, has succeeded in convincing enough people that he's different. And yet, it's become clear that without a shadow of doubt...he isn't! The media has caught Trump saying one thing one day, and the very opposite the next. Sometimes he'll contradict himself in the same day, and even in the same speech! It hasn't mattered. People believe that Trump's different. That Trump acts the exact same way that hated politicians act just gets brushed aside. It doesn't matter what he did or said 20 years ago, or what he did or said 20 days ago. For example: Trump said of Janet Yellen at the end of last year: “She’s [Janet Yellen’s] keeping the economy going, barely. The reason they’re keeping the interest rate down is Obama doesn’t want to have a recession-slash-depression during his administration.”
Yesterday, the exact opposite:
"I'm not a person that thinks Janet Yellen is doing a bad job. I happen to be a low-interest rate person unless inflation rears its ugly head, which can happen at some point."
Polar opposite. No one cares.
There are countless examples just like this. But isn't this quality one of the main things that people hate about politicians? That words don't mean anything? Just say whatever? Trump merely mimics your average politician. He just adds some entertainment to it. That's really Trump's distinguishing characteristic. And if he's ever really confronted on his numerous contradictions, Trump knows how to pull a Madonna or Miley Cyrus. He just does something outrageous, like "insult" someone (which is very easy to do in PC-soaked America) and the contradictions disappear from the news. There is a great danger to this. It's in everyone's interest that lies, flip-flops and contradictions don't disappear. Politicians need to be seen for what they are. It's bad enough when politicians are hated. They still find ways to do a ton of damage to our lives. However, when they're hated, there's at least some struggle in implementing their carnage. At least there's some resistance. But what happens when a politician is loved? What happens when the damage is welcomed with cheers? What happens when no one cares about lies, but they're instead greeted with thunderous applause? What happens to the few liberties that remain? Can they be snatched away to deafening chants of USA...USA? Are we getting close to finding out? Do we really want to know?
By Ron Paul
The Fed's major purpose is to protect the major financial institutions and Wall Street. It's there to bailout bad investments and keep the insolvent solvent. The Fed is known as 'the lender of last resort'. This is nothing but a euphemism for strangling the prosperity and purchasing power of the middle class in order to keep the major financial institutions going. So it's no surprise that Wall Street is once again 'doing well'. And it should not be a surprise that the middle class is suffering. I discuss in detail on Fox Business below: |
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