He talked about his bill calling for more Federal Reserve transparency. He claims it is getting bipartisan support in the Congress. That would be a great first step. He also spoke about abortion, foreign policy, and individual vs. groups with respect to liberty.

There were a few lines that I loved. It reminded me of the many rallies during his campaign in 2007 and and early 2008.

Watch the entire speech below.

Below you will discover the Liberty Maven rankings for BJ Lawson on the Paul-O-Meter, where candidates and current lawmakers can be rated on how closely they are in line with Dr. Ron Paul on the issues. To learn about the Paul-O-Meter methodology please see this article. You may also assign your own rankings or request a candidate be added to the system.

Continue reading to see if BJ Lawson truly deserves the moniker “Ron Paul Jr.”

1. Liberty-based Voting Record – Lawson does not have a voting record; therefore per guidelines the score is a 3. Score: 3
2. The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy – Lawson supports instituting competing currencies, and badmouths the Federal Reserve any chance he gets. He doesn’t advocate abolishing it, like Ron Paul, but does advocate more transparency and accountability. Score: 4
3. Foreign Policy and Iraq – Lawson is a non-interventionist and advocates a safe and immediate withdrawal from Iraq.  Score: 5
4. Taxes – Supports efforts to transition to a point when income taxes are unnecessary. Supports some flavor of consumption tax, but has concerns about the Fair Tax. Score: 4
5. Government Spending – Lawson supports a balanced budget amendment and ending deficit spending. Score: 5
6. Privacy and Civil Liberties – Lawson says “no thanks” to the Patriot Act, Military Commissions Act, Real ID, and FISA just like Ron Paul. Score: 5
7. Immigration – Lawson is against amnesty for illegal aliens and points out that we need to end the welfare/economic incentives that encourage illegal immigration. Score: 5
8. Gun Control and Second Amendment – Lawson is very close to Ron Paul here. He supports the 2nd Amendment and concealed carry laws, but is not completely explicit on ancillary gun control issues like trigger locks, background checks, and waiting periods. Score: 4
9. Internet Regulation – Lawson does not support federally regulating Internet gambling. Lawson has stated that he supports Net Neutrality which is not something Ron Paul supports because he views it as more regulation. Score: 2
10. Adherence To The Constitution – Lawson calls the Constitution the “rule book” for our country. Score: 5
11. Religion vs. Public Policy – Lawson rarely, if ever, invokes religion in his rhetoric and policy positions. Score: 5
12. Environment – Lawson advocates utilizing the court system and property rights as a defense for the environment just like Ron Paul. However, he also favors a Carbon tax which Ron Paul does not support. Score: 4
13. Energy Policy – Lawson supports drilling wherever necessary and also recognizes that it isn’t the only solution. He does not speak out against Nuclear power and suggests we use all means to obtain more energy. Score: 5
14. U.S. Sovereignty – Lawson does not seem to ever mention the NAU, but does mention protecting U.S. sovereignty. That is not good enough to score points though due to the stringent guidelines for this item. UPDATE: We received word from the Lawson campaign that he is 100% opposed to the NAU, therefore we update his score. Score:5
15. War On Drugs – Lawson advocates ending the war on drugs, leaving drug regulation to the states, and pardoning non-violent drug offenders just like Paul. Score: 5
16. Education – Lawson advocates getting rid of the Department of Education and advocates more choice and home schooling. Score: 5
17. Welfare Programs – Lawson advocates gracefully reducing welfare programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. He also advocates ending corporate welfare. Score: 5
18. Abortion – Lawson is pro-life and will leave the decision of legalizing or prohibiting abortion to the states per the Constitution. Score: 5
19. Health Care – Lawson is a Ron Paul twin on health care. He is against any nationalized plan and advocates free market approaches and returning medical decisions back to doctors and patients rather than health insurance companies. Score: 5
20. Ability To Spread The Liberty Message – Lawson hands out pocket Constitutions during his campaign events. He is a very visible candidate campaigning throughout his district in North Carolina. There is no questioning his dedication to the liberty message. Score: 5

William “BJ” Lawson’s final Paul-O-Meter Score: 91 out of 99 possible points.

It is hardly surprising that Lawson achieved such a high score. It is certainly safe to say that BJ Lawson can be honestly called “Ron Paul Jr.”. There were a handful of issues where Lawson could score higher, but the information was either not out there or was too difficult to find. NOTE: We have updated Lawson’s score by +5 (giving him a 91 instead of an 86) because his campaign has informed us that he is 100% against the NAU.

Lawson is a Ron Paul supporter’s best bet to get a liberty-loving Constitutionalist into Congress. We should all pretend we live within Lawson’s district and do everything in our power to help get him elected.

If you disagree with our ratings or would like to rate other candidates and lawmakers feel free to do so on the Paul-O-Meter site. All current representatives (both Senate and House) are in the system, as well as many user-submitted candidates running for office throughout America. Each candidate now also has their very own Paul-O-Meter rating page that can be linked to from all around the web.

10:48- Bob Barr: [Responding to, "Final question: You had a very public falling out with Ron Paul. What went wrong? And what would you say to Paul supporters?"] They ought to be disappointed in Ron Paul. Endorsing a theocratic candidate makes little sense whatsoever. What we’re trying to do is what we hoped Ron Paul would have done, which is to provide true focused leadership.

As hard it is for me to admit, I think Bob Barr is right here to a certain extent. I think there were many who were disappointed in Ron Paul. Of course there were also many who were disappointed in Bob Barr as well. As I’ve written before, I am disappointed in both.

While I don’t believe Baldwin wants a theocracy as Barr accuses, Baldwin’s historical statements on policy backed by religion worry me greatly. So it matters little to me that Ron Paul is endorsing Chuck Baldwin now. I will not vote for him.

Bob Barr’s type of “true focused leadership” is likely different than Ron Paul’s type of leadership. Paul is focusing on education and activism. Barr is all about furthering his own standing in the election and propping up the Libertarian Party as legitimate.

Now after the Barr snub, Paul chooses to endorse Baldwin, more or less. This comes off as a bit like a couple of stubborn kids arguing over toys when what we lovers of liberty need is a bit of unity. Unity is no longer in the cards when it comes to voting for liberty this year.

I’m disappointed in both Barr and Paul, but the real travesty is the wasted potential for spreading the freedom message to the masses. Paul blew it when he originally chose to help his own party’s nominee by endorsing no individual candidate. Barr blew it by over-reacting to Paul’s decision.

They are equally culpable, but because Barr will be the one on the ballot in my state he will get my vote and Ron Paul will get my support for his educational and activist efforts.

If they won’t show unity themselves, I will bridge their differences with my own advocacy.

Sarah Palin In The Land Of McCain's Oz

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.

If you’d like to see more ratings or rate Palin or any other candidate or lawmaker head on over to Paul-O-Meter.com and explore the possibilities.

If you want to delve into the question of whether Palin truly is similar to Ron Paul read onward.

1. Liberty-based Voting Record – Palin is a bit wishy washy on her liberty voting record. She supported the infamous “Bridge To Nowhere” first and then changed her position when it became the popular thing to do. She does to a certain extent try to follow the Constitution, for instance she refused to sign a bill from the Alaskan state legislature stating that the Real ID will not be funded in Alaska. She let the signing period expire which ended up making the law pass. So she didn’t exactly stand up for liberty in that case. Score: 3
2. The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy – Palin hasn’t mentioned this issue thus far. She seems to be taking the same position as McCain so it is hard to tell where she stands on the issue. In any case, she is certainly not like Ron Paul who calls for abolishing the Fed and legalizing competing currencies. Score: 0
3. Foreign Policy and Iraq – Palin has stated several times her support of going into Iraq before even being chosen as VP. She now has adopted John McCain’s foreign policy of intervention, the polar opposite of Ron Paul. Score: 0
4. Taxes – She supported lowering taxes in Alaska, but did raise the sales tax. As VP she’s taken John McCain’s promise to lower taxes on businesses to promote job growth. This is tinkering from a Ron Paul perspective. She does not support repealing the 16th amendment nor a consumption tax. Score: 1
5. Government Spending – She was a champion of curbing spending in Alaska and is continuing the same lines as VP. She hasn’t mentioned reducing the national debt, but has echoed John McCain on earmark reform. Score: 2
6. Privacy and Civil Liberties – Palin is not quite a friend to Privacy and Civil Liberties. She created “FBI Day” in Alaska to “support fighting global crime”. No word from her on FISA or the Patriot Act. Similar to Ron Paul, she has stated that she doesn’t support hate crime. Because she allowed Alaska to vote to not fund the Real ID she deserves at least a point or two. Score: 2
7. Immigration – It’s very difficult to find Palin’s stance on immigration. According to Laura Ingraham though who talked with Palin, she disagrees with McCain on “comprehensive immigration reform” which supports amnesty. If true, she is more like Ron Paul on illegal immigration than John McCain. Score: 3
8. Gun Control and Second Amendment – She is a large advocate of the Second amendment and supporting the repeal of the DC gun ban. Score: 5
9. Internet Regulation – Palin hasn’t stated anything publicly about internet regulation specifically. There is conjecture that she may support Net Neutrality based on other legislative actions, but that is unreliable. She has promised to not expand “gambling” in Alaska saying it is harmful to society so it is certainly probably she would be for UIGEA which virtually bans online gambling. Given the lack of information we must guess at the score. Score: 2
10. Adherence To The Constitution – She has voted against her own personal views in Alaska because the bill was unconstitutional. At least with respect to Alaska and her view on gun rights she seems to be a Constitutionalist. Her statements on privacy and civil liberties, though, call into question her stance on the Fourth Amendment. Score: 3
11. Religion vs. Public Policy – Palin publicly declared that U.S. involvement in the Iraq war was the “will of God”. She also has injected religion into her speeches and statements quite regularly. This is quite opposite to Ron Paul. Score: 0
12. Environment – She has spoken out against John McCain’s “cap and trade” proposal. She has voted against endangered species legislation in Alaska. She seems to be closer to Ron Paul on this issue than John McCain. Score: 4
13. Energy Policy – She is a strong advocate for drilling in ANWR and off the U.S. coastlines. She seems to be right in line with Ron Paul here. Score: 5
14. U.S. Sovereignty – Palin doesn’t seem to have ever mentioned the NAU nor the threat to U.S. Sovereignty. Score: 0
15. War On Drugs – Palin is a drug warrior like McCain. She doesn’t support legalizing medical marijuana. Score: 0
16. Education – She doesn’t support abolishing the Department of Education, but she does support school choice and home schooling. Score: 3
17. Welfare Programs – Palin supports Social Security reform, but is quite short on specifics. It seems she refuses to give a straight answer on this topic. Score: 0
18. Abortion – She is a mirror of Ron Paul on the abortion issue. Score: 5
19. Health Care – She seems to echo Ron Paul on health care. She supports competition and putting decisions back in the hands of doctors, not bureaucrats. Score: 5
20. Ability To Spread The Liberty Message – Palin doesn’t have a liberty message on most topics, revealing that her being a “libertarian” is a complete misnomer. Therefore she doesn’t deserve much of a score here. Score: 1

Sarah Palin’s final Paul-O-Meter Score: 44 out of 99 points.

Those that call Palin “libertarian leaning” are simply mischaracterizing her positions. She’s no libertarian, leaning or otherwise. She is a low fat neo-conservative. She always supported the Iraq War. She is a drug warrior. Obama’s much criticized statement that John McCain in choosing Palin was trying to put “lipstick on a pig” therefore has another meaning. McCain is trying to put “libertarianism” on a “neo-conservative”.

Hopefully, the mindless masses will see what’s behind McCain’s curtain before the end of the movie.

You can get in the action too by rating the candidates using our Paul-O-Meter polling application here.

Listed below is our own ratings for Cynthia McKinney.

1. Liberty-based Voting Record – McKinney has voted in a Ron Paul “way” on three issues: foreign policy, the drug war, and free trade. On almost every other issue she borders on complete socialism. Score: 1
2. The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy – McKinney would like to “nationalize” the Federal Reserve and “taking the economic middleman out of coinage and currency”. This is the opposite of the free market ideas Ron Paul espouses. Score: 0
3. Foreign Policy and Iraq – McKinney may be more like Ron Paul on this issue than any other candidate. She wants to get our troops out of Iraq, switch to a non-interventionist foreign policy, and remove our troops from bases overseas. Score: 5
4. Taxes – McKinney is very much in favor of a progressive tax system. She would institute new taxes across the board. This is the opposite of the Ron Paul approach. Score: 0
5. Government Spending – McKinney is for dramatically expanding the role of government with numerous new programs to “take care of us.” Again, this is the opposite of the Ron Paul approach. Score: 0
6. Privacy and Civil Liberties – McKinney is pretty close to Ron Paul here but in some cases like same sex marriage she doesn’t support leaving it to the states. She prefers federally recognized marriage. Score: 4
7. Immigration – She supports amnesty and voted against the border fence. Score: 1
8. Gun Control and Second Amendment – McKinney supports all possible and potential gun control laws. This is the opposite of Ron Paul. Score: 0
9. Internet Regulation – McKinney supports Net Neutrality and regulating the Internet. Score: 0
10. Adherence To The Constitution – With all of the new federal programs, taxes, and departments McKinney is pretty far from adhering to the Constitution. Score: 0
11. Religion vs. Public Policy – McKinney is catholic, but never seems to mention it within her rhetoric. She successfully divorces her religion and policy. Score: 5
12. Environment – McKinney is the opposite of Ron Paul here. She supports new government programs to help with global warming and other environment problems. Score: 0
13. Energy Policy – McKinney doesn’t support drilling off of our coasts. She has said, “Leave the oil in the soil.” She wants to regulate energy prices. She is against nuclear energy. This is decidedly not like Ron Paul. Score: 0
14. U.S. Sovereignty – We could not find any statement from McKinney on the NAU or U.S. Sovereignty. Score: 0
15. War On Drugs – McKinney is mostly like Ron Paul here. She wants to end the war on drugs and free non-violent drug offenders, but she doesn’t support just leaving drug enforcement to the states. Score: 4
16. Education – McKinney fully supports the Dept. of Education and federally funding education programs unlike Dr. Paul. Score: 0
17. Welfare Programs – McKinney advocates for increasing many of the federal welfare programs instead of ending them like Ron Paul. Score: 0
18. Abortion – McKinney is pro-choice and is completely the opposite of Ron Paul here. Score: 0
19. Health Care – McKinney supports nationalized health care. Score: 0
20. Ability To Spread The Liberty Message – McKinney doesn’t have a liberty message like that of Ron Paul and furthermore she doesn’t get much media attention at all. Score: 0

Cynthia McKinney’s final Paul-O-Meter score: 20 out of a possible 99 points.

McKinney finished about where we expected. What we found most interesting is how extreme she is on certain issues, almost like she is Barack Obama’s own liberal conscience. Yet she is very much in line with Ron Paul on foreign policy and free trade, and maybe drug policy, but little else.

That concludes our Presidential candidate ratings. Stay tuned for an upcoming article with our own summation of the results of both our own ratings and of your ratings submitted via the Paul-O-Meter web polling application.

You can join in the rating fun by using our web based Paul-O-Meter application here. Feel free to check it out and submit your own ratings for all the Presidential candidates.

Find our own ratings for Ralph Nader below.

1. Liberty-based Voting Record – Nader doesn’t have a voting record so per the guidelines he gets a 3. Score: 3
2. The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy – Nader wants to reform the Federal Reserve to become more transparent, but he doesn’t support competing currencies nor the gold standard. Score: 2
3. Foreign Policy and Iraq – Nader is quite close to Ron Paul here. He advocates a swift withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq and regularly speaks out against a preemptive war strategy. He also advocates for closing military bases overseas. Score: 5
4. Taxes – Nader loves taxes it seems. He advocates for a progressive tax and would like to add a bunch of new taxes to our existing ones. This is nothing like Ron Paul’s anti-tax position. Score: 0
5. Government Spending – Nader is quite opposite from Ron Paul on government spending. He wants to create many new government programs and increase spending domestically. He does however agree with Ron Paul on one thing: Reducing the military budget in many areas, especially overseas. Score: 1
6. Privacy and Civil Liberties – Nader is against Real ID, the Patriot Act, and FISA. He is not for leaving same sex marriage to the states though. Score: 4
7. Immigration – Nader has stated support for specific provisions that could be termed amnesty. He also has said that immigrants do not come here for welfare, which is the opposite of Ron Paul. They do agree on one point though: The border fence is a bad idea. Score: 1
8. Gun Control and Second Amendment – Nader supports the Brady Bill, trigger locks, banning certain weapons, and the strict enforcement of existing gun laws. You can’t get more unlike Ron Paul than that. Score: 0
9. Internet Regulation – Nader has called for instituting a UN like organization for regulating the Internet in an effort to “protect” consumers. Ron Paul’s position could not be further away. Score: 0
10. Adherence To The Constitution – Nader’s new programs rarely meet the Constitutional test. Score: 0
11. Religion vs. Public Policy – Nader rarely if ever mixes religion with his rhetoric and policies. Score: 5
12. Environment – Nader and Paul are on opposing sides on this issue. Nader believes the Kyoto treaty doesn’t go far enough. He supports higher taxes for environmental abusers rather than letting the free market and court system weed polluters out. Score: 0
13. Energy Policy – Nader is against more drilling of our own natural resources. He is also against building more nuclear power plants. Score: 0
14. U.S. Sovereignty – We could find nothing suggesting Nader is against the North American Union nor if he ever even mentioned it. Score: 0
15. War On Drugs – Nader is almost exactly like Ron Paul here. He supports ending the war on drugs, freeing non-violent drug offenders from prison, and decriminalizing marijuana. Unfortunately, he also advocates for new federal programs for prevention so we can only give him a 4. Score: 4
16. Education – Nader supports more federal intervention in education, not less like Ron Paul. Score: 0
17. Welfare Programs – Nader is the opposite of Ron Paul on federal welfare programs. Score: 0
18. Abortion – Nader is pro-choice, unlike Dr. Paul. He is also expressly against leaving abortion to the states. Score: 0
19. Health Care – Nader advocates for a socialized national health care system. Score: 0
20. Ability To Spread The Liberty Message – Nader does not have a proper liberty message equal to Ron Paul, but he does almost own one on a few select issues. He also tends to get an decent share of media attention when compared to the other third party/independent candidates. Score: 1

Ralph Naders final Paul-O-Meter score: 26 out of a possible 99 points

The final rating surprised one of our raters because the score was higher than John McCain’s score of 25. Another one of us thought Nader’s score would be up in the 30’s. As it turns out Ralph Nader is quite supportive of many new government programs and is about as anti-business as they come. In our opinion his policies would be horrible for the one issue that is shaping up to be the most important of this election: the economy. Ralph Nader is no Ron Paul, that is for sure.

Tune in next time when we rate our final Presidential candidate, Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney. We can barely contain our excitement.

It is now Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin’s turn to be spun through the Paul-O-Meter. So far we have rated Barack Obama, John McCain, and Bob Barr. Will Chuck Baldwin beat Bob Barr’s current high score of 88? Read on to find out.

For a detailed description of the Paul-O-Meter look here.

NEW: If you’d like to rate the candidates on the Paul-O-Meter please do so on our Paul-O-Meter user rating application here.

Continue reading to see our ratings for Chuck Baldwin.

1. Liberty-based Voting Record – Baldwin does not have a voting record so by default he gets a 3. Score: 3
2. The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy – Baldwin wants to abolish the Federal Reserve and has advocated for a return to the gold standard. Baldwin’s Communications Director states that Chuck supports competing currencies. Score has been modified to a 5 (see comments for details). Score:5
3. Foreign Policy and Iraq – Baldwin calls for an immediate return from Iraq and switching to a non-interventionist foreign policy just like Ron Paul. Baldwin’s Communications Director states that Baldwin has advocated for bringing our troops home from military bases stationed overseas. Score has been modified to a 5 (see comments for details). Score:5
4. Taxes – Baldwin is perfectly in line with Ron Paul on tax policy. He wants to repeal the 16th amendment and replace it with nothing. No flat tax and no consumption tax. Score: 5
5. Government Spending – Baldwin is exactly like Ron Paul on government spending. He mentions specific departments he would abolish and continually advocates returning our government to its Constitutionally limited size. Score: 5
6. Privacy and Civil Liberties – Baldwin is identical to Ron Paul here. He is against FISA, Real ID, and the Patriot Act. He would leave the definition of marriage to the states. Score: 5
7. Immigration – Baldwin mimics Ron Paul on this issue. He speaks about removing incentives and lashes out against amnesty. He allows for the possibility of a border fence, but isn’t that keen on the idea. Score: 5
8. Gun Control and Second Amendment – Baldwin echoes Ron Paul here as well just about perfectly. Score: 5
9. Internet Regulation – He is against Net Neutrality and has said he opposes federal regulation of the Internet. However, he was given an ‘F’ by the Poker Player’s Alliance for his stance on online gambling and he was not forthright with his answer in a recent interview about regulating online gambling. Score: 4
10. Adherence To The Constitution – Baldwin speaks regularly of restoring the Constitution and obeying the rule of law. Score: 5
11. Religion vs. Public Policy – Being a member of the Constitution Party it is difficult for Baldwin to score high here. Baldwin being a pastor also doesn’t help. In most of his writings and speeches he mentions religion or relates policy to it. This is unlike Ron Paul. Ron Paul rarely mentions religion on the campaign trail. Score: 1
12. Environment – Baldwin is directly in line with Dr. Paul here. He believes global warming is a cyclical act of nature and he advocates using property rights and the court system to handle environment disputes. Score: 5
13. Energy Policy – Baldwin advocates for drilling in ANWR and off our coastlines. He advocates building more Nuclear Power plants. Score: 5
14. U.S. Sovereignty – Baldwin regularly speaks out against the North American Union and advocates for strong U.S. Sovereignty. Score: 5
15. War On Drugs – Baldwin says we need to “rethink” the war on drugs, but he hasn’t advocated ending it. Instead he suggests sealing the border as the solution to our perceived drug problems. He hasn’t advocated freeing all non-violent drug offenders either. These are not in line with Ron Paul. He has however, suggested that medicinal marijuana use be best regulated by the states. Score: 3
16. Education – Baldwin is perfectly in line with Ron Paul here. He advocates abolishing the Department of Education and advocates for school choice and home schooling. Score: 5
17. Welfare Programs – Baldwin advocates for phasing out of Social Security just like Ron Paul. Score: 5
18. Abortion – Baldwin is a twin of Ron Paul on this issue. Even though he is personally pro-life he would support Ron Paul’s “Sanctity Of LIfe” act which would overturn Roe vs. Wade and leave all abortion regulation to the states. Score: 5
19. Health Care – Baldwin is exactly like Ron Paul here. Wants to leave medical decisions to doctor’s and patients. He does not support any kind of government run national health care system. He wants to restore free market competition to health care. Score: 5
20. Ability To Spread The Liberty Message – Baldwin certainly has a liberty message; however, his ability to spread it by getting coverage on main stream media outlets is severely lacking. Score: 2

Chuck Baldwin’s final Paul-O-Meter Score: 88 out of 99 possible points

It was extremely difficult to find Baldwin’s positions on some of the issues. His new web site doesn’t have an “issues” page and many of his columns do not outline his positions in detail. We were surprised to learn he has not come out as a strong advocate for ending the “war on drugs” like Ron Paul has done. We could have easily given him a 2 on that issue. He has criticized the drug war so that earned him some points there. Likewise, we could have given him a ‘0′ or a ‘1′ on his ability to spread the liberty message, but he has such a strong message that earned him some points there.

If our readers can point us to direct quotes that refute some of the things we were able to find through our research we will happily adjust the score accordingly. For instance, with monetary policy we could find nothing about Baldwin advocating for competing currencies like Ron Paul. Also, on the foreign policy issue we could not find any direct quotes from Baldwin on removing our troops from our bases stationed overseas. (NOTE: Baldwin’s Communication Director responds to these questions in the comments. We have adjusted his score accordingly.)

Stay tuned for next time when we measure stalwart independent Presidential candidate Ralph Nader.

Read on for John McCain’s scores on the issues.

1. Liberty-based voting record – McCain certainly has some horribly anti-liberty votes, but he’s been “ok” on both gun rights and health care. Certainly not perfect but the case can be made that he’s fairly similar to Ron Paul on those issues. Score: 1
2. Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy – McCain’s view of the Fed is at complete odds with Ron Paul’s view. McCain has praised the Fed for it’s rate cuts and suggests the institution is doing a good job regulating the “markets”. Score: 0
3. Foreign Policy and Iraq – John McCain’s now infamous ‘100 years’ comment says all we need to know about this issue. Score: 0
4. Taxes – McCain proposes more “tinkering” tax proposals than the outright repeal Ron Paul proposes. He doesn’t have a good record on lowering taxes. He voted against the Bush tax cuts twice even though he now says he is for making them permanent. Score: 2
5. Government Spending – McCain preaches for cutting “pork barrel spending” and earmarks continually, but he rarely gets specific about what departments and programs he would eliminate. He has said he would balance the budget and reform certain programs, but there is simply no details on how he would do such things. He purposefully stays away from cutting military and defense spending. Because of his lack of specifics it is difficult to believe he will actually reduce spending much, if at all. Score: 2
6. Privacy and Civil Liberties – McCain supports FISA, fully supports the Patriot Act, and fully supports the Real ID Act. Even though during the primary campaign he spoke out against torture, he voted for allowing it to continue. His score here is painfully obvious. Score: 0
7. Immigration – McCain was a main proponent of the immigration bill that angered so many Americans in early 2007. It instituted a form of amnesty for illegal immigrants. That is completely at odds with Ron Paul. These days McCain has backtracked a little on his immigration position. He, at least, is calling for securing the borders like Ron Paul, but he does so in a very generic fashion. One wonders if he actually believes in doing so. Score: 1
8. Gun Control and Second Amendment – Like Ron Paul, McCain supported repealing the DC gun ban and believes it is an individual’s right to bear arms. However, he has continually led efforts to undermine those rights by regulating gun shows, requiring trigger locks, and supporting extending Brady Bill restrictions to pawn shops and gun repair shops. He’s far from a pure Second Amendment proponent like Ron Paul. Score: 2
9. Internet Regulation – McCain is against Net Neutrality like Ron Paul. He also says he will ban Internet taxes permanently. He does not seem to much care to talk about online gambling. The Poker Player’s Alliance gave him a grade of ‘D’ on the issue. Score: 3
10. Adherence To The Constitution – McCain has an unconstitutional voting record. He rarely references the document in his speeches. He votes against the principles of the Constitution all the time. He voted for the Iraq war authorization, Patriot Act, and FISA. Score: 0
11. Religion vs. Public Policy – McCain actually shines on this one. In fact, on the campaign trail he sometimes changes his own religion on the fly, as has been documented. He rarely utilizes religious sentiments in his speeches. He effectively separates religion and policy like Ron Paul. However, he has sought relationships in the past with John Hagee and Jerry Falwell in efforts to garner support from the religious right. Score: 4
12. Environment – McCain is a huge proponent of more government regulation over environmental issues. He strongly supports implementing a “cap and trade” system. This runs completely counter to Ron Paul’s position. Score: 0
13. Energy Policy – McCain is against drilling in ANWR, and used to be against drilling off of the U.S. coastlines. He now supports drilling off the coastlines. Like Ron Paul he wants to stop filling the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to reduce demand. He previously was an outspoken critic of ethanol subsidies, but during his primary campaign in Iowa he spoke favorably of them. Score: 2
14. U.S. Sovereignty – Like most candidates McCain doesn’t talk about the North American Union. Score: 0
15. War on Drugs – McCain regularly ignores questions about the decriminalization of marijuana during his town hall meetings. He does not advocate for ending the war on drugs nor for releasing non-violent drug offenders from prison as Ron Paul does. Score: 0
16. Education – McCain is wishy-washy on No Child Left Behind. He seems to believe that it doesn’t go far enough. He certainly doesn’t advocate getting rid of the Department of Education. He is the opposite of Ron Paul on this issue. Score: 0
17. Welfare Programs – He is not advocating phasing out Social Security or other welfare programs. He is calling for reforms though. He supports personal accounts for Social Security. He supports changing the medicare prescription drug benefit to only cover low income beneficiaries. Still, this is a far cry from being like Ron Paul. Score: 1
18. Abortion – McCain believes in the overturning of Roe v. Wade. He also believes abortion should be left up to the states. This is in line with Ron Paul. Score: 5
19. Health Care – John McCain is against socialized medicine at the national level. However, a quick glance at his health care issue page reveals he’s not too close to Ron Paul on government intervention in the health care industry. McCain lists all sorts of federal government programs and incentives to further meddle in the health care industry. Score: 2.
20. Ability To Spread The Liberty Message – Simply put, John McCain doesn’t have a liberty message to spread no matter how much media attention he gets. Score: 0

John McCain’s final Paul-O-Meter Score: 25 out of 99 possible points

After Barack Obama’s score of 17, this is about where we expected McCain to end up. What was most eye opening to us was that his health care plan is a clear attempt to win over people that believe that everyone has a right to health care. Also his perceived strength on cutting government spending is unfounded. On many of his positions he tries to play both sides and it is difficult to know where he actually stands on the issue. This is not a shock coming from a life long politician. In the end it is no surprise that McCain doesn’t hold a candle to Ron Paul on the issues.

Tune in next time when we light up the Paul-O-Meter for Libertarian candidate Bob Barr.

Today we begin rating the Presidential candidates with our rating for Barack Obama. The Paul-O-Meter will give us a total score on 20 criteria. The closer a candidate gets to 100 points the more that candidate is like Ron Paul. For each criteria we will give the score and a short justification for that score. Read the results for Barack Obama below.

1. Liberty Based Voting Record – Obama has a rather leftist voting record yet he votes for unconstitutional Iraq war spending and now says he will vote for the warrant less wiretapping FISA bill. Score: 0
2. The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy – The Fed is not even mentioned on Obama’s campaign site. The only articles regarding Obama and the Federal Reserve are by people lamenting that he hasn’t said word one about the Federal Reserve. Score: 0
3. Foreign Policy and Iraq – Obama advocates removing our troops from Iraq within 16 months. However he has an exception that makes one wonder if he means “all” the troops. From his issues page on his website: “if al Qaeda attempts to build a base within Iraq, he will keep troops in Iraq or elsewhere in the region to carry out targeted strikes on al Qaeda.” This is far from a non-interventionist foreign policy like Ron Paul. He also will not remove troops from other U.S. occupied countries. Score: 2
4. Taxes – Obama said he would repeal the Bush tax cuts, one of the few good things Bush did in his Presidency. He will raise taxes on the wealthy and lower taxes on middle and lower income families and individuals. He also advocates making the tax system simpler for certain income earners. Score: 1
5. Government Spending – Obama certainly advocates for reducing the national debt and curbing earmarks, but he also advocates creating so many new government programs that his debt and earmark reduction rhetoric is rendered meaningless. Score: 0
6. Privacy and Civil Liberties – He continually speaks out about restoring Habeus Corpus like Ron Paul. Obama voted for reauthorizing the Patriot Act. He supports the REAL ID Act. He plans to vote for the latest FISA bill in the Senate. He stated that he would leave same sex marriage up to the states even though he personally is against it. Score:2
7. Immigration – Obama supports a convoluted version of amnesty for illegal immigrants. He has voted for the creation of a border fence, but also has voted against amendments to extend it. His rhetoric on ending the incentives for illegal immigrants to come here echoes Ron Paul in some ways, although he focuses on making companies accountable for hiring illegal workers. He speaks nothing of ending birthright citizenship like Ron Paul. Score: 2
8. Gun Control and Second Amendment – Obama tries to triangulate around this topic by paying lip service to having a right to own guns, but always with a caveat that the government has a right to restrict them. He supported the DC Gun Ban and was disappointed with the recent Heller Supreme Court ruling overturning the ban. Score: 1
9. Internet Regulation – Obama voted for the SAFE Port act which contained the ban on online gambling. He also strongly advocates for “Net Neutrality” unlike Dr. Paul. Score: 2
10. Adherence To The Constitution - Obama regularly speaks about restoring Habeus Corpus and he has advocated for states rights on certain issues, but the larger part of his platform runs counter to the rule of law in the Constitution as strictly interpreted by Ron Paul. Score: 1
11. Religion vs. Public Policy - Few candidates have been put under religion’s microscope as much as Obama in this election. In just about all cases he has answered the critics by advocating separating his religion and his politics similarly to Ron Paul. He has certainly had to defend his religous beliefs as much, if not more than Mitt Romney. Score: 4
12. Environment - Obama and Ron Paul could not be further apart on environment isssues. They disagree on how to handle global warming. Obama favors more government regulation and Paul wants to leave it up to the market and court system. Score: 0
13. Energy Policy - Obama is against drilling in ANWR and domestic drilling off of our shorelines unlike Paul. He advocates renewable energy but does so by implementing new government programs and regulations whereas Paul would leave it to market competition. Obama and Paul are opposites on energy policy. Score: 0
14. U.S. Sovereignty - Obama was asked specifically about the NAU and it’s threat to U.S. sovereignty, his reply was that he saw no evidence of it even existing and that there was no “conspiracy amongst” the governments of the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Score: 0
15. War On Drugs – Obama is a bit like a typical politician in speaking about this topic. He never outright advocates for stopping the drug war. Instead he talks about “shifting our focus to prevention.” He is certainly not as forthright about the issue as Ron Paul. Score: 2
16. Education – Obama proposes more than a dozen new programs at the federal level to help fix America’s education problems while Ron Paul advocates obeying the Constitution and abolishing the Department of Education and returning the role of public education back to the states and localities. Score: 0
17. Welfare – Obama and Paul are on opposite ends of welfare reform. Paul advocates a graceful move towards ending welfare programs like Social Security. Obama advocates strengthening Social Security through higher payroll taxes. Score: 0
18. Abortion – Obama is pro-choice and would work to protect a woman’s right to choose to have an abortion at the federal level. This completely contradicts Ron Paul’s position to get the federal government out of the abortion debate and leave the decision to ban or allow abortion to the states. Score: 0
19. Health Care – Obama believes health care is a right to all Americans. Ron Paul does not and questions where such right exists in the Constitution. Obama supports a national health care plan while Dr. Paul supports getting the government completely out of health care so the forces of the free market can help lower costs. Score: 0
    
20. Ability To Spread The Liberty Message - Obama has probably more ability to spread a liberty message than any other candidate in the race, yet his platform runs completely counter to Ron Paul’s message of liberty. Obama advocates raising taxes, futher redistribution of wealth, and countless new federal government programs. There is no Ron Paul-style liberty in that message. Score: 0

Barack Obama’s Final Paul-O-Meter Score: 17 out of 99 possible points

(Remember only Ron Paul can score a 100 on the Paul-O-Meter)

This was a brutal exercise. Obama doesn’t even come close to Ron Paul on the issues. He scored far lower than we expected. We incorrectly assumed he would score much higher on the privacy and civil liberties issue. His highest score was on the Religion vs. Public Policy criteria with a 4. If the results of this Obama Paul-O-Meter reveals anything it is highly unlikely that many Ron Paul supporters will be voting for Obama in the general election.

The next candidate to be dragged through the Paul-O-Meter will be presumptive Republican nominee John “The Chameleon” McCain. Following McCain we will begin tackling the third party/independent candidates.

Soon you will be able to submit your own scores for each of the candidates.  Stay tuned!

Everyone knows the perfection of Ron Paul. He is already a living legend. All future candidates are damaged goods simply because they are not Ron Paul. There is only one Ron Paul. So to see how other candidates measure up to his perfection we are introducing the “Paul-O-Meter”.

The Paul-O-Meter ranks candidates on a scale from 0 to 100 depending on how closely they are in agreement with Ron Paul on chosen criteria. Since no candidate can possibly equal Ron Paul, the highest score on the Paul-O-Meter attainable for candidates other than Ron Paul is 99. To simplify the ranking, each candidate will be graded from 1 to 5 on each of the 20 criteria. The 20 criteria are listed below, along with a short description for each.

NEW: Now you can submit your own ratings using our new Paul-O-Meter web polling service. Check it out here.

1. Liberty-based Voting Record – Ron Paul is the standard bearer of a true liberty and constitutional based voting record not equaled by any candidate. It should be virtually impossible for a candidate to get a perfect score of 5 here. For candidates that do not have voting records the default score should be a 3.
2. The Federal Reserve and Monetary Policy – Most candidates don’t even discuss this. If a candidate wishes to abolish the Fed à la Ron Paul they should get a 4. If they also want to legalize competing currencies then they should get a 5.
3. Foreign Policy and Iraq – A candidate advocating a non-interventionist foreign policy and returning our troops from Iraq deserve a 4. If that candidate also wants to bring our troops home from bases overseas that deserves a 5.
4. Taxes – Abolishing the income tax and replacing it with nothing earns the candidate a 5. Advocating for a low flat tax or a consumption tax should get a 3. If that candidate also wishes to repeal the 16th amendment it should earn a 4.
5. Government Spending – Advocating for decreasing the debt, curbing earmarks, and a yearly balanced budget is not enough alone. Actually shrinking government by eliminating explicit departments and programs must also be pushed. They are both required otherwise a low score is warranted.
6. Privacy and Civil Liberties – Voting or speaking out against the recent FISA bill gives a candidate a 2. Also advocating for leaving same sex marriage up to the states brings it up to a 3. Advocating for repealing the Patriot Act as well brings the score to a 4. Also advocating against the Real ID Act brings the score up to a 5.
7. Immigration – Advocacy for no amnesty gives a candidate a 3. Advocating for no border fence as well gives a candidate a 4. Treating the problem by reducing the welfare incentive brings the score up to a 5.
8. Gun Control and Second Amendment – Having a pro-Second-Amendment voting record gives a candidate a 3. Lauding the latest DC Gun Ban Supreme Court decision as a big win for the Second amendment brings it to a 4. Completely rejecting any form of obstruction to the free ownership of any type of firearm (to include background checks and waiting periods) brings the score up to a perfect 5.
9. Internet Regulation – Being against Net Neutrality is a 3 since, as Ron Paul says, it is regulation even if you may agree with the goal. Advocating for Internet gambling and protecting freedom of speech on the Internet brings the score up to a 5.
10. Adherence To The Constitution – How well do the programs (or voting record) a candidate supports match the Constitution? This could be considered a fairly subjective one.
11. Religion vs. Public Policy – Ron Paul walks the religion vs. public policy line very well. He very rarely ever mentions his religious beliefs on the campaign trail. The more a candidate wears religion on his sleeve the lower the score should be for this one.
12. Environment – If the candidate believes that the jury is still out about man made global warming he/she gets a 4. If he also advocates allowing the free market and court system to handle environmental problems and disputes he gets a 5.
13. Energy Policy – Advocating drilling in ANWR gives the candidate a 3. Also advocating drilling off of our coast lines gives the candidate a 4. Also advocating for more Nuclear power brings the score up to a 5.
14. U.S. Sovereignty – Speaking out against the North American Union (NAU) gives the candidate a 5. Most candidates don’t even mention it. Those that don’t get a zero.
15. War On Drugs – Advocating ending the war on drugs gives the candidate a 3. Also advocating leaving medicinal marijuana use up to the states brings that up to a 4. Adding to that the order to free all non-violent drug offenders from prisons brings the score up to a 5.
16. Education – Advocating getting rid of the Department of Education scores a 4. Advocating for home schooling as well brings this score up to a 5.
17. Welfare Programs – Wanting to gracefully rid ourselves of the Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid programs earns a 5.
18. Abortion – Being personally against abortion, wanting to overturn Roe v. Wade, but leaving the legality of abortion up to the states earns a 5.
19. Health Care – Advocating for any kind of socialized national health care system earns zero points. Leaving it up to the free market, putting health care decisions back into the patients and doctors hands earns a 5.
20. Ability To Spread The Liberty Message – This is, for the most part, the ability to get media attention/appearances on main stream media outlets. The more people hear the sweet liberty message the better. Keep in mind some candidates have the ability to spread the liberty message but don’t actually have a liberty message, and should get downgraded.

Ron Paul scores a 5 for each, giving him a perfect score of 100. It is not possible for any current candidate to get a perfect score. Ron Paul is a unique vessel for liberty. Similarly to the pursuit of happiness, candidates can only pursue their Ron Paul-ness.

Note that the rankings are (for the most part) completely subjective, based on our opinion. We invite readers to submit their own rankings in the comments within each candidate’s analysis article. Your rankings have as much weight as our own (i.e. not much). Perhaps at some point we will create a web-based polling application to solicit rankings and then post the running average.

This is meant to also be a somewhat humorous effort to emphasize the fact that supporting Ron Paul tends to ruin other candidates rather quickly since they just never seem to measure up. Indeed, it is almost as if Ron Paul is a member of his own “Ron Paul Republican” Party rather than the actual Republican Party.

Our first candidate to step up and face the Paul-O-Meter will be “Creeping Socialism Party”, uh, I mean Democratic Party nominee Barack Obama. Stay tuned for his detailed Paul-O-Meter article and ranking soon.

After analyzing each candidate’s ranking over the next few days and weeks we will post the complete results in an easily readable table. We will be analyzing the following candidates: Barack Obama, John McCain, Chuck Baldwin, Bob Barr, Ralph Nader, and Cynthia McKinney (though not necessarily in that order).

To think that freedom is borne from this book as anything more than coincidence is to either not fully understand the Bible or to engage in willful ignorance of its edicts.

Let’s face it – the Bible is a tome of intolerance. It demands complete compliance by virtue of the “fact” that it was supposedly given to us by an unseen, unheard from, absentee-landlord of a god. It condones some of the most despicable acts known to humans, to include genocide (1 Samuel 15:2-3), discrimination against women (too many to mention, but start with I Corinthians 14:34-35), and blind obedience to the state (Romans 13:1-2). To base a “freedom” movement on this book is only slightly better than basing that same movement on the ramblings of Pol Pot.

It is in the shadow of this book not the rights of humanity – that the Constitution Party platform lies.

Read the rest at the Nolan Chart.

The candidates for liberty are Constitution Party candidate Chuck Baldwin and Libertarian Candidate Bob Barr. Like Ron Paul both are preaching to bring the troops home from Iraq and switching to a non-interventionist foreign policy. They are advocating getting rid of the Federal Reserve. They are both advocating privacy rights and an adherence to the Constitution. They are both preaching a federalist approach on abortion and drug policy. They are the only liberty candidates left in the race.

Ignoring media attention and the potential for more media attention for now let’s look at hard numbers where we can. The hard numbers we will look at are fund raising and meetup group support via meetup.com.

Chuck Baldwin seems to have taken down his fund raising ticker on his web site so it is difficult to determine how much money he has raised to date. The last time I checked his site it listed (if I remember correctly) about $35,000. Let’s say he has doubled that since then, bringing his total to $70,000. Not too shabby for a third party candidate.

Now let’s look at Bob Barr. The ticker on Bob Barr’s site currently reads just over $290,000. That’s pretty impressive. The Constitution Party boasts that they have more members than the Libertarian Party. Why such lackluster fund raising? Maybe there are more “rich” Libertarians than Constitution Party members. In any case, in today’s political climate money talks. The more you have the better your ability to spread the message. Barr has likely raised more than 3 times as much money as Baldwin. Barr wins the money round. By the way, if someone can point me to Chuck Baldwin’s actual fund raising numbers thus far I’d appreciate it.

Now we look at meetup group participation from Meetup.com. Chuck Baldwin currently has 18 meetup groups with 218 members and 75 members expressing interest in participating in a Baldwin meetup group (source).

Bob Barr has 69 meetup groups with 2,435 members and 203 members expressing interest in a Barr meetup (source).

Bob Barr has more than 11 times the number of meetup group members than Chuck Baldwin. Barr wins this round in a landslide.

Chuck Baldwin is a great candidate on the issues. He doesn’t have a bad voting record. He doesn’t have a voting record at all. He only has his articles and his radio show to represent his historical perspective on the issues. In one of his articles he claims that “homosexual marriage signals America’s undoing”. In it he states the following:

By accepting homosexuality, America is now fueling the flames of debauchery. When homosexuality is finally and fully accepted by American law, pedophilia and other more onerous behavior will not be far behind. As such, America is on the verge of a self-induced implosion (source).

That’s right. Baldwin suggests that legalizing homosexual marriage is a gateway to legalized pedophilia. I’m not sure how he arrives at that conclusion. I’m not sure I want to know. This is the area where Baldwin and the Constitution Party and I part ways. I don’t want a Presidential candidate who wears religion on his sleeve.

Like Ron Paul, both Baldwin and Barr are now saying that the definition of marriage is not a federal issue and should be left to the states. Barr has some historically bad votes on such things as the Patriot Act, the Iraq War authorization, and the drug war, but he openly denounces and regrets those and has for several years.

So both Barr and Baldwin have blemishes on their respective records. Yet both are pushing the drug of Ron Paul style liberty now. The assumption should also be made that neither candidate will win the election. Taking these assumptions into account, deciding between Barr and Baldwin comes down to three questions.

1. What is worse for you? Barr’s denounced record or Baldwin’s “in your face” religion?
2. Which candidate can spread Ron Paul’s liberty message to the most people?
3. Which candidate has the potential to get enough votes to not be ignored?

Even the Barr detractors should be willing to concede number 2 to Barr. Especially in light of the hard numbers listed previously. Those numbers along with the recent media attention suggest Barr is the obvious choice for number 3.

Ultimately the decision comes down to a question that may not really matter too much since neither candidate will win. Do you trust Barr is sincere with his voting record remorse or do you trust Pastor Baldwin to keep his religion out of his politics?

I believe Barr is sincere. He has said nothing to suggest he is not. I can’t stomach even the potential of mixing politics and religion.

This is why this Ron Paul supporter is going to happily support and vote for Bob Barr.