It is now time to rate the vice presidential candidates on the Paul-O-Meter. We start with John McCain’s VP pick Sarah Palin. The perfect strategic pick for McCain, Palin has little history. She’s been Governor of Alaska for less than two years, but now that McCain’s handlers are pulling Palin’s puppet strings it is difficult to see a difference between the two.
Here we examine Palin on 20 issues to see how she stacks up to Ron Paul. Hopefully this will help some see the lips through the lipstick.
Bob Barr is interviewed at length by Chip Wood in The New American. It is probably the best interview that I’ve read with the Libertarian candidate. Many topics are covered and as usual Barr answers the questions in a direct fashion. His answer regarding changing positions is probably the most sincere I’ve heard him speak on the subject. Below is the section I enjoyed the most, but the entire interview is truly a great read.
TNA: Let’s shift from international issues to a major domestic topic, taxation. Many conservatives are in favor of a flat tax or a national sales tax, the so-called “fair tax.” Meanwhile, Senator Obama wants to increase taxes on the oil companies and wealthy investors. What is the Libertarian Party’s position on the federal income tax?
Barr: Simple. We believe it is an inappropriate, overly oppressive, way-too-complex way to provide necessary funds for the government to carry out its appropriate and necessary activities. We want to abolish the income tax and repeal the 16th Amendment.
As president, the first thing I would do is to dramatically reduce federal spending. That’s first and foremost. If we don’t start reducing spending, then whatever system of taxation we have is going to require too much of the people’s money.
Once we’ve begun to cut spending, I would move dramatically to reform our system of taxation. I would call for the repeal of the 16th Amendment, which allows the federal government to have a progressive income tax. Then we can move toward a much fairer system of taxation. That might be a national sales tax, a version of the fair tax, or something else. But first we must cut spending.
TNA: Earlier you mentioned abolishing the Department of Education. Are there any other federal departments that you want to get rid of? Not reduce. Not streamline. Not make more efficient. But eliminate entirely?
Barr: There are any number of them. As president, I would institute a commission to examine every agency, office, and department of the federal government and to ask, “What is the constitutional justification of that activity — that is, where in the Constitution is it authorized?”
Next, I would require a very clear description of the necessary function that it is carrying out. In other words, what is it doing that cannot better be performed by state or local government, even if there is a constitutional justification for that agency, office, or department?
And thirdly, I would demand to see a cost-benefit study done for each and every such activity, to make certain that the benefits we are getting outweigh the cost.
Such a study would provide the blueprint for a prioritization of those agencies, departments, and offices that could be dramatically scaled back, and in many instances eliminated entirely. For example, I think that the Department of Education would be at the top of that list. I suspect the Department of Commerce would be way up there. I’d be surprised if we couldn’t eliminate the Department of Energy and the Department of Homeland Security as well. Whatever legitimate and necessary functions those two Cabinet offices perform could be handled much better (and much cheaper) by smaller agencies and offices.
Over at NolanChart.com, Walt Thiessen has written a critical article on Bob Barr’s Libertarian campaign for President. It is a negative article that I, unfortunately, mostly agree with. Thiessen makes three major points:
Although some polls put Bob Barr in the 6% range in June, all polls now put him in the 1-2% range.
Measuring up to Ron Paul’s, Barr’s fundraising is comparatively non-existent.
Barr has “failed to win over the party faithful”, and has failed to adequately explain his support of unconstitutional bills in his past.
I agree with him on the first 2½ points, but when he and other people continue to say that Bob Barr has done nothing to alleviate the concerns of those who question his part, I strongly disagree. In every interview I’ve seen where people question his past support for the Patriot Act, the Drug War, etc., he has admitted his mistake, and explained how he seen the light and actually worked hard to reverse these things. What else can the man do? Only time will tell whether or not he is sincere or just being political expedient, but that’s not part of this argument. Bob has worked tirelessly for the past 5 years against the Patriot Act and it’s successors, FISA, and has even joined up with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Marijuana Policy Project in support of medicinal drug use. What else can the man do to alleviate concerns? If you simply choose not to trust him, that’s one thing. But to say that he’s done nothing is simply ludicrous.
Thiessen concludes by predicting Barr will get less votes in November than Badnarik’s 397,000 in 2004, which I feel is quite astonishing. I certainly hope this won’t be the case.
Doug Wead will be speaking at Ron Paul’s Rally For The Republic. He was a special assistant to President George H. W. Bush. He is writing a series of stories in his blog related to Ron Paul leading up to the rally. All of them are wonderful. The August 10th entry is entitled, “Ron Paul: The Prophet“. In it Wead is astounded that someone in the House Of Representatives was prophetic regarding the events of September 11th a full year before it occurred.
So it comes as a bit of shock to encounter an honest thinker, and one in government! And to find one in the United States House of Representatives, where the members are perpetually politicking for re-election, is astounding.
But listen to this. Fully a year before the events of September 11, 2001, Ron Paul expressed his alarm at American foreign policy arrogance, particularly how it was increasingly seen in Islamic countries.
“The cost in terms of liberties lost and the unnecessary exposure to terrorism are difficult to determine, but in time it will become apparent to all of us that foreign interventionism is of no benefit to American citizens, but is instead a threat to our liberties.” – Ron Paul (spoken in the year 2000.)
CNN has now joined the fray in reporting on the drug raid in Berwyn Heights Maryland where the Mayor’s two dogs were killed by a Prince George’s County SWAT team. Pay attention to the Mayor’s words when he is interviewed in the 2nd portion of the clip. He mentions that he immediately thought the raid was a home invasion. Now recall the Ryan Frederick case in Chesapeake Virginia where Frederick shot and killed a police officer who was attempting to enter his house as part of a drug raid. Frederick thought someone was breaking into his home at the time.
The Mayor also mentions that such brutality against innocents is not uncommon in PG county. Obviously, it is not uncommon in the rest of the United States either.
When will these idiots realize their tactics waging the drug war is a complete failure? How many more pets, police officers, and innocent citizens have to die?
AP has released an article with more details in this horrifying case representing the continued failure of the war on drugs.
Here is the background:
BERWYN HEIGHTS, Md. – Mayor Cheye Calvo got home from work, saw a package addressed to his wife on the front porch and brought it inside, putting it on a table. Suddenly, police with guns drawn kicked in the door and stormed in, shooting to death the couple’s two dogs and seizing the unopened package.
In it were 32 pounds of marijuana. But the drugs evidently didn’t belong to the couple.
Police say the couple appeared to be innocent victims of a scheme by two men to smuggle millions of dollars worth of marijuana by having it delivered to about a half-dozen unsuspecting recipients.
The two men under arrest include a FedEx deliveryman; investigators said the deliveryman would drop off a package outside a home, and the other man would come by a short time later and pick it up.
In a twist to the recent drug raid on the Mayor of Berwyn Heights MD in which both of his black labs were shot and killed the AP is reporting the 32 lb. bag of marijuana was delivered by undercover police.
Prince George’s County Police said Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo brought a 32-pound package of marijuana into his home that had been delivered by officers posing as delivery men. The Tuesday evening raid was conducted by county police narcotics officers and a sheriff’s office SWAT Team.
The package was addressed to Calvo’s wife, Trinity Tomsic. His mother-in-law had asked the supposed delivery men to leave the package outside. Calvo has not been charged, though police said he, his wife and his mother-in-law are “persons of interest” in an ongoing investigation.
“We never opened the box. We have nothing to do with this box,” Calvo said.
The questions now mount:
Was this a setup by the police based on an ongoing investigation?
Are the Mayor’s wife and mother-in-law truly involved in something illegal?
No matter the answers to these questions, one thing most people agree upon is that the raid could have and should have been handled differently. It’s not like there is time to hide or get rid of 32 lbs. of marijuana before letting the police into the home if they had knocked. Somewhere along the line a poor decision was made and two family dogs are now dead.
Ron Paul appeared for a short segment on FOX News today. He was on to discuss a recent bill sponsored by Barney Frank and co-sponsored by Paul himself that legalizes medical marijuana. He made his points well, but following the interview they had on a lady who refuted everything Paul said and didn’t give Paul a chance to respond. In any case, at least he was able to get some more air time for the freedom message. Watch it below.
The Mayor of Berwyn Heights in Maryland’s Prince George’s County had a rude awakening. Apparently, a 32 lb. bag of marijuana was sent to his house addressed to his wife. A SWAT team busted down his door, shot and killed his two black labs, and held him for questioning for hours. The Mayor claims he has no idea where the pot came from. He also said that if the police would have just knocked, he’d have let them in.
Instead his two dogs are now dead and all members of his household are “persons of suspicion”.
Must I point out how incredibly ridiculous this event is? It demonstrates the lunacy of the war on drugs. In a somewhate related note, CNN today had a poll asking if marijuana should be made legal. Over 65% said yes. When will we learn our current policy is having the opposite of its intended effect? Maybe someday. Watch the news report of the story below.
The final Presidential candidate we will be rating on the Paul-O-Meter is the Green Party’s nominee, Cynthia McKinney. For a description of the Paul-O-Meter see this article. We have previously completed ratings for John McCain, Barack Obama, Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, and Ralph Nader.
Liberty Maven
