Crazy Ol’ Coot in ‘08
I am launching today my grass-roots movements for a joint republican / democrat ticket for the 2008 election. This is a ticket which I have dubbed the “Crazy Ol’ Coot in ‘08″ ticket. It will most likely shock most anyone who knows my personal political stance, but I support Republican Ron Paul for President, and Democrat Mike Gravel for Vice President. I think this is the best Unity08 ticket we could possibly have given the current field vying for office.
Here are how they stand on the issues:
| Issue | Ron Paul | Mike Gravel |
|---|---|---|
| Taxation | He supports the abolition of the Internal Revenue Service, most Cabinet departments and the Federal Reserve.[52] Paul’s campaign slogan for 2004 was “The Taxpayers’ Best Friend!’”.[53] He has said that he would replace the current income tax with nothing. And he says he will accomplish this by shrinking the size and scope of government to its constitutional limits. As Congressman, Paul has asserted that Congress had no power to impose a direct income tax and supports the repeal of the 16th Amendment. | Senator Gravel supports the FairTax proposal that calls for eliminating the Internal Revenue Service and the income tax and replacing it with a progressive national sales tax of between 19 and 23 percent on newly manufactured items and services. As compensation for necessities, such as food, there would be a “prebate” to untax households up to the poverty level. |
| Foreign Policy | Paul advocates a non-interventionist foreign policy that avoids entangling alliances.[9] He believes that when a war must be fought, it must be fought to protect the citizens, be declared by Congress, planned out, won and then left: “The American public deserves clear goals and a definite exit strategy in Iraq. | Gravel favors an immediate end to U.S. involvement in Iraq and opposes any U.S. military action against Iran. He favors the creation of a Palestinian state and the Kyoto Protocol on global climate change and greenhouse gases. He seeks drastic reductions in global nuclear weapon stockpiles, and he has described the North American Free Trade Agreement as a “disaster.” |
| Health Care | He supports the U.S. converting to a free market health care system, saying in an interview on New Hampshire NPR that the present system is akin to a “corporatist-fascist” system which keeps prices high. He says that in industries with freer markets prices go down due to technological innovation, but because of the corporatist system, this is prevented from happening in health care. He opposes socialized health care promoted by Democrats as being harmful because they lead to bigger and less efficient government.[114]Paul has said that although he prefers tax credits to socialized medicine, he would be willing to “prop up” the current systems of Medicare and Medicaid with money saved by bringing troops home from foreign bases in places such as those in South Korea | In his campaign pronouncements Senator Gravel has identified medicine and medical technology costs as ‘one of the leading causes of bankruptcies’.[2] He is an advocate for ‘a national, universal single-payer not-for-profit health care system’ in the United States.[3]He proposes a National Health Care Voucher plan. Using vouchers paid for by the government, patients would be free to choose their own doctor. |
| Prohibition | Since the Constitution does not enumerate or delegate to Congress the authority to ban or regulate drugs in general, he opposes federal participation in the drug war. He does not advocate a constitutional amendment banning any type of drugs, because he sees prohibition attempts as ineffective and a waste of taxpayers’ money. | In an interview with the Iowa Independent, Gravel was asked what his policy would be on cocaine and methamphetamine. He responded, “We need to legalize the regulation of drugs. The drug problem is a public health problem. It’s not a criminal problem. We make it a criminal problem because we treat people like criminals. You take a drug addict, you throw him in jail, you leave him there, and he learns the criminal trade so that when he gets out you have recidivism.” He disparages the appropriateness of prosecuting what has been termed the ‘war on drugs’ and instead favors the decriminalization of minor drug offenses and increasing the availability and visibility of substance abuse treatment and prevention in prisons and in the free community.He advocates legalizing marijuana so that it can be sold in stores next to alcohol. He also advocates eliminating mandatory minimum sentencing laws, particularly as they may apply to nonviolent drug offenders. |
| Second Amendment | The only 2008 presidential candidate to earn Gun Owners of America’s (GOA) A+ rating, Paul has authored and sponsored pro-Second Amendment legislation in Congress. He has also fought for the right of pilots to be armed.In the first chapter of his book, Freedom Under Siege, Paul argued that the purpose of the Second Amendment is to place a check on government tyranny, not to merely grant hunting rights or allow self-defense. When asked whether individuals should be allowed to own machine guns, Paul responded, “Whether it’s an automatic weapon or not is, I think, irrelevant. | His Presidential campaign website states that Senator Gravel ‘fully supports the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution’. It also states that he advocates a licensing program whereby a potential gun owner must be licensed as well as properly trained with a firearm before they may own one. |
| LGBT Issues | Paul opposes “federal efforts to redefine marriage as something other than a union between one man and one woman.” He believes that recognizing or legislating marriages should be left to the states | “Since the Second World War, various political leaders have fostered fear in the American people - fear of communism, fear of terrorism, fear of immigrants, fear of people based on race and religion, fears of gays and lesbians in love who just want to get married. Fear of people who are just different. It is fear that allows our political leaders to manipulate us all and to distort our national priorities.”Gravel’s Media Releases|media release of 26 February 2007 explicitly stated his support of the full range of gay civil rights including same-sex marriage recognition, opposition to Don’t ask, don’t tell policy, extension of the scope and effect of hate crimes legislation to cover hate violence against gays and lesbians, and the removal of all other remaining legal discrimination against LGBT people. |
| Religion | Ron Paul has consistently advocated that the federal government not be involved in citizens’ everyday lives. This includes issues concerning religion. For example, he believes that prayer in public schools should neither be prohibited nor mandated at the federal or state level. | Mike Gravel doesn’t have a stance on this issue |
| Education | Rep. Paul has asserted that he does not think there should be any federal control over education and education should be handled at a local and state level. He opposes the federal No Child Left Behind Act, voting against it in 2001 and remaining opposed to it as an ineffective federal program. | Among his proposals and/or remarks to the New Hampshire Institute of Politics were:
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- Published:
- 09.02.07 / 12pm
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