America's last hope...

Ron Paul is the only member of the United States Congress who takes his oath seriously and who governs according to the original intent of our once sacred Constitution. Perhaps as many as a handful of others come close, but it seems to me that only Ron Paul is unwilling to "play the game" when it comes to supporting or opposing legislation or spending bills.

Yesterday, he gave this speech on the floor of the United States House of Representatives about the recent "lobbying scandal" involving Jack Abramoff and several as yet unnamed Congresspeople.

Here are some of the more noteworthy excerpts from Rep. Paul's speech:

It’s been suggested we need to change course and correct the way Congress is run. A good idea, but if we merely tinker with current attitudes about what role the federal government ought to play in our lives, it won’t do much to solve the ethics crisis. True reform is impossible without addressing the immorality of wealth redistribution. Merely electing new leaders and writing more rules to regulate those who petition Congress will achieve nothing.

This system of government is coming to an end – a fact that significantly contributes to the growing anxiety of most Americans, especially those who pay the bills and receive little in return from the corrupt system that has evolved over the decades.

The theft that the federal government commits against its citizens, and the power that Congress has assumed illegally, are the real crimes that need to be dealt with. In this regard we truly do need a new direction. Get rid of the evil tax system; the fraudulent monetary system; and the power of government to run our lives, the economy, and the world; and the Abramoff types would be exposed for the mere gnats they are. There would be a lot less of them, since the incentives to buy politicians would be removed.

The system of special interest government that has evolved over the last several decades has given us a national debt of over eight trillion dollars, a debt that now expands by over 600 billion dollars each year. Our total obligations are estimated between fifteen and twenty trillion dollars. Most people realize the Social Security system, the Medicare system, and the new prescription drug plan are unfunded. Thousands of private pension funds are now being dumped on the U.S. government and American taxpayers. We are borrowing over 700 billion dollars each year from foreigners to finance this extravagance, and we now qualify as the greatest international debtor nation in history. Excessive consumption using borrowed money is hardly the way to secure a sound economy.

The biggest rip-off of all – the paper money system that is morally and economically equivalent to counterfeiting – is never questioned. It is the deceptive tool for transferring billions from the unsuspecting poor and middle-class to the special interest rich. And in the process, the deficit-propelled budget process supports the spending demands of all the special interests – left and right, welfare and warfare – while delaying payment to another day and sometimes even to another generation.

The enormous sums spent each year to support the influential special interests expand exponentially, and no one really asks how it’s accomplished. Raising taxes to balance the budget is out of the question – and rightfully so. Foreigners have been generous in their willingness to loan us most of what we need, but even that generosity is limited and may well diminish in the future.

The prime beneficiaries of a paper money system are those who use the money early – governments, politicians, bankers, international corporations, and the military industrial complex. Those who suffer most are the ones at the end of the money chain – the people forced to use depreciated dollars to buy urgently needed goods and services to survive. And guess what? By then their money is worth less, prices soar, and their standard of living goes down.

Whether government programs are promoted for “good” causes (helping the poor), or bad causes (permitting a military-industrial complex to capitalize on war profits), the principles of the market are undermined. Eventually nearly everyone becomes dependent on the system of deficits, borrowing, printing press money, and the special interest budget process that distributes loot by majority vote.

Today, most business interests and the poor are dependent on government handouts. Education and medical care are almost completely controlled and regulated by an overpowering central government. We have come to accept our role as world policemen and nation builder with little question, despite the bad results and an inability to pay the bills.

The question is, what will it take to bring about the changes in policy needed to reverse this dangerous trend? The answer is: quite a lot. And unfortunately it’s not on the horizon. It probably won’t come until there is a rejection of the dollar as the safest and strongest world currency, and a return to commodity money like gold and silver to restore confidence.

If we’re inclined to improve conditions, we should give serious consideration to the following policy reforms, reforms the American people who cherish liberty would enthusiastically support:

1. No more “No Child Left Behind” legislation;
2. No more prescription drug programs;
3. No more undeclared wars;
4. No more nation building;
5. No more acting as the world policemen;
6. No more deficits;
7. Cut spending – everywhere;
8. No more political and partisan resolutions designed to embarrass those who may well have legitimate and honest disagreements with current policy;
9. No inferences that disagreeing with policy is unpatriotic or disloyal to the country;
10. No more pretense of budget reform while ignoring off-budget spending and the ever-growing fourteen appropriations bills;
11. Cut funding for corporate welfare, foreign aid, international NGOs, defense contractors, the military industrial complex, and rich corporate farmers before cutting welfare for the poor at home;
12. No more unconstitutional intrusions into the privacy of law-abiding American citizens;
13. Reconsider the hysterical demands for security over liberty by curtailing the ever-expanding and oppressive wars on drugs, tax violators, and gun ownership.