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President Trump is swallowing the neocon line on the Iraqi protests at the US embassy in Baghdad, blaming the whole incident on Iran. Suddenly everyone who doesn't want the US military to continue to occupy Iraq - nearly 17 years after an invasion based on lies - is an "Iranian proxy." Will Trump continue to take the neocon bait and stumble his way into a war on Iran? Starting a war based on neocon lies is likely the only thing that would prevent his re-election.
By Ron Paul
Political correctness recently took a dangerous turn in the United Kingdom when the North Bristol National Health Service Trust announced that hospital patients who use offensive, racist, or sexist language will cease receiving medical care as soon as it is safe to end their treatment. The condition that treatment will not be withdrawn until doing so is safe seems to imply that no one will actually suffer from this policy. However, health-care providers have great discretion to determine when it is “safe” to withhold treatment. So, patients could be left with chronic pain or be denied certain procedures that could improve their health but are not necessary to make them “safe.” Patients accused of racism or sexism could also find themselves at the bottom of the NHS’s infamous “waiting lists,” unable to receive treatment until it truly is a matter of life and death. Since many people define racism and sexism as “anything I disagree with,” the new policy will no doubt lead to people being denied medical care for statements that most reasonable people would consider unobjectionable. This is not the first time NHS has withheld treatment because of an individual’s behavior. A couple years ago, another local health committee announced it would withhold routine or nonemergency surgeries from smokers and the obese. Since reducing smoking and obesity benefits both individual patients and the health care system as a whole, this policy may appear defensible. But denying or delaying care violates medical ethics and sets a dangerous precedent. If treatment could be denied to smokers and the obese, then it could also be denied to those who engage in promiscuous sex, drive over the speed limit, don’t get the “proper” number of vaccinations for themselves and their children, or have “dangerous” political views. Government bureaucrats denying care to individuals for arbitrary reasons is the inevitable result of government interference in the health-care market. Government intervention is supposed to ensure quality and affordable (or free) care for all. But, government intervention artificially lowers the costs of health care to patients while increasing costs to providers. As demand rises and supply falls, government imposes rationing to address the shortages and other problems caused by prior government interference. Rationing has been part of American health care at least since the passage of the Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973. Every plan to expand government’s role in health care contains some form of rationing. Advocates for government intervention in health care will counter complaints about rationing by saying the related health-care decisions are being made to benefit people’s quality of life. But, claiming government officials know how medical treatment can best enhance quality of life is as absurd as claiming that government officials know the correct prices of automobiles. The only way to reverse the slide into national health care and rationing is for those who understand the economic and moral case for liberty to keep pushing to replace Obamacare and all other government intrusions into health care. Government-controlled health care must be replaced by free-market health care that empowers individuals to determine for themselves what does and does not enhance their quality of life. Ron Paul, Daniel McAdams & Chris Rossini discuss their thoughts on what 2020 may have in store for us. The election, the economy, the military empire...this show covers it all! Please don't forget to make a year-end, tax-deductible donation to the Ron Paul Institute before midnight tonight and keep the Ron Paul Liberty Report alive and growing! Go to: http://www.RonPaulInstitute.org/support
On Sunday, US F-15s attacked facilities in Iraq and Syria, claiming it was retaliation for an alleged Iraqi Shi'a militia attack on an Iraqi military base. The US, naturally, blames Iran. No evidence was given and Iran denied involvement, but the Iraqi government strongly condemned what they called a US violation of their sovereignty. Is the US going back to war against Iraq to get to Iran? Please don't forget to make a year-end, tax-deductible donation to the Ron Paul Institute before midnight on December 31st and keep the Ron Paul Liberty Report alive and growing! Go to: http://www.RonPaulInstitute.org/support
By Chris Rossini
The ideas of Liberty are explicitly concerned with the relationship between one individual and another. Liberty does not mean "every man for himself," or "winner takes all," or "you have to look out for number one," or any of the other absurd smears that are attributed to it. Liberty means you're free to do whatever you want with your life and your property. But there is a critical limitation -- you may not harm the life or property of anyone else. When it comes to interactions with others, no one is permitted to use aggressive force against anyone else. Force is only just when it is deployed to defend one's person or property. Every other deployment of force is an act of tyranny. So individual liberty is not unlimited and without restraint. Your liberty is limited by another person's life, property and freedom to do what they wish with it. Amazingly, this philosophy of peaceful relations between individuals has been smeared beyond recognition. Today, if you advocate peaceful relations between individuals, you're accused of being "selfish" and only concerned with yourself! You're accused of "not caring about the rest of the world." Imagine that! Now, granted, we currently live at a time when the American government has become the biggest government to exist in mankind's history. So it's no surprise that the opinions of liberty are what they are. If Americans cherished liberty, we wouldn't be staring at the smoking remains of endless war, and a bureaucracy that has drained its host into an emaciated and hollow shell. We wouldn't be staring moral and financial bankruptcy right in the face. So it's no surprise that power-lust swirls through the minds of so many, and the word "liberty" never crosses their lips. To accuse a proponent of Liberty of "not caring about the rest of the world," is the height of intellectual folly. To even think in such terms is ridiculous. We are individuals, and never deal with "the world." We are always dealing with other individuals. Think about your average day. You may talk to your sister in the morning, and joke around with a restaurant waiter at lunch time. You may have a meeting with a co-worker in the afternoon, and maybe catch a movie with your spouse at night. At all times during the day, you're dealing with other individuals. You never (ever) deal with "the world," which is an impossibility, as well as a sloppy way of thinking. So if you deal with each individual throughout your day on a voluntary and mutually agreeable basis, are you acting "selfishly?" Are you a pariah? Of course not! You're acting harmoniously with other human beings! That which beats the other person's heart also beats yours. That which blinks his eyes, also blinks yours. That which turns food into blood in his body, does the same in yours. Harmony should be the goal, and peaceful interaction is harmony. Do you know what would be selfish? Let's try to picture another way that your day could go: - What if you dictated to your sister as to what her opinions must be... - Or, if you reached into the waiter's wallet and grabbed his money so that it could "pay for your college" or "pay for your healthcare." - Or if you and your spouse snuck into the movie when no one was looking. These are the selfish acts. Aggression is selfish....Trying to manipulate another life in an attempt to rearrange it to your liking is selfish. "Hiring" a political thug to do the dirty work for you, doesn't let you off the hook. The fact that you don't get dirt under your nails, doesn't mean your hands are clean. You're an accomplice to tyranny, no matter what justification is concocted to make you feel better about it. Liberty means live and let live. It means hands off. Another person's life, liberty and property are not objects for your consideration. These are all off-limits. Liberty = Peace. Ron Paul and Daniel McAdams take a look back at a really productive 2019 in the liberty movement. Contrary to the wishes of the warmongers and control freaks, the voices for peace and prosperity got a little louder this year. We at the Ron Paul Institute and the Ron Paul Liberty Report have had some great achievements as well. Please have a listen and please consider making a year-end, tax-deductible donation to the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity at: http://www.RonPaulInstitute.org/support
We hope you enjoy this 2016 speech that was delivered at a Mises Institute even held in Houston, TX.
By Ron Paul
The bickering over impeachment did not stop the president and Congress from coming together last week to avert a government shutdown by passing a 1.4 trillion dollar spending package. The bipartisan agreement has something for everyone — a 22 billion dollars increase to bring total spending on militarism to 738 billion dollars, and a 27 billion dollars increase to bring total spending on domestic programs to 632 billion dollars. It also imposes a national ban on selling tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to anyone under 21. The agreement was split into two bills. Both bills were unveiled last Monday afternoon. The bills passed the House on Tuesday, so only the House leadership and the members of the Appropriations Committee (and their staffs) who helped write the over 2,000-page deal had any idea what was in the bills. But most members voted for the spending bills because they were fearful of backlash over another Christmastime government shutdown. House leadership simply “waived” the rule requiring that all legislation be available at least three days before being voted upon. The modern practice of funding the government via gigantic omnibus bills that are rushed into law puts the growth of government on autopilot. This practice also gives the president more influence over the budget, violating the spirit, if not the letter, of the Constitution’s grant of authority to Congress to appropriate funds, which was intended as a check on executive power. Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve continues pumping billions into the repurchasing market. When the Fed began injecting money into the market in September, it said intervention was a temporary measure to address a short-term liquidity shortage. Three months later, the Fed is not only continuing to bail out the repurchasing market, it is preparing for other bailouts. This is further evidence that we are on the verge of another Fed-created economic crisis. When the crisis hits, the best thing the Fed could do is not to lower interest rates below the levels set by the market. This would allow consumers, businesses, and government to liquidate their debt and restore a sound foundation for future growth. If the Fed did not interfere with the painful but necessary correction, it would only be a short time before a real economic boom commenced. The Federal Reserve is unlikely to follow this path because of the short-term pain it would cause debt-ridden consumers and, more importantly, the pain it would cause politicians who would be forced to cut spending and/or raise taxes. But continuing to artificially lower interest rates will inevitably result in an economic crisis brought about by a rejection of the dollar’s world reserve currency status. The Federal Reserve’s manipulation of interest rates depreciates the dollar’s value, enabling the growth of the welfare-warfare state while enriching the insiders who receive the new money before prices rise. The brunt of dollar depreciation is felt by middle- and working-class Americans whose paychecks do not keep up with the rising cost of living. Inflation is nothing more than a hidden and regressive tax. Auditing and ending the Fed should thus be a top priority of those concerned about rising income inequality and poverty, as well as those dreaming of a Christmas free of 2,000-page omnibus spending bills. |
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