Ron Paul

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Ron Paul (2007)

Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul (born August 20, 1935 in Green Tree , Pennsylvania ) is an American doctor and politician . He is a member of the Libertarian Party and served as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1976 to 2013 (intermittently) . Paul was a candidate for the Libertarian Party in the 1988 US presidential election and ran internally for the Republican candidacy in the 2008 and 2012 US presidential election .

Origin, youth and education

Ron Paul has several ancestors who come from Hessen ; his grandfather Caspar Paul was born in Hohenzell , which is now part of Schlüchtern . His parents married in 1929. He was born the third of five sons and had to work with his brothers in the family's dairy shop. After attending high school in Dormont , he studied at Gettysburg College , where he graduated in 1957 with a Bachelor of Sciences in biology. Paul then studied medicine at Duke University . As a doctor, he worked primarily in obstetrics and as a gynecologist in Lake Jackson , Texas .

Ron Paul married Carol Wells in 1957; the couple has five children. His son Rand Paul (* 1963), also a doctor, was elected to the US Senate for the Republicans in Kentucky in the election to the US Senate on November 2, 2010 and re - elected on November 8, 2016 .

politics

Paul began to be actively involved in the Republican Party in 1971. President Richard Nixon had overturned the gold standard for the dollar - a decision Paul still criticized years later. In November 1974 Paul ran for the first time for the US House of Representatives . He ran in the 22nd constituency of Texas, but lost to Democrat Robert R. Casey . When Casey was appointed to the Federal Maritime Commission by US President Ford in 1976 and his mandate ended, Paul followed him. Paul served as the MP for the 22nd constituency of Texas from April 1976 to January 3, 1977 and January 1979 to January 1985. From January 3, 1997 to January 3, 2013 , he was the MP for the 14th constituency of Texas.

1988 presidential election

In the 1988 US presidential election , Paul ran as a candidate for the Libertarian Party after beating Sioux activist Russell Means in the primaries. As a motivation for the candidacy Paul cited his dissatisfaction with the financial policy and the high deficit of the administrations under President Reagan and Vice-President Bush . In the end, he received 431,750 (0.47%) votes.

In-party candidacy in the 2008 Republican primary

Ron Paul with his wife Carol on an election campaign appearance in Fort Lauderdale .

On January 11, 2007, Paul announced his interest in running for the 2008 presidential election and announced his candidacy on March 12, 2007 . Paul was considered an outsider candidate from the start. Paul's views contradicted the mainstream of the Republican Party in several respects and was far less well known than competitors like Rudolph Giuliani , Mitt Romney , Fred Thompson or John McCain . Correspondingly, Paul only achieved between 1 and 6% in national polls by opinion polls. He held his candidacy until June 12, 2008, although McCain had an absolute majority of delegates since early March.

Most of the support Paul had during the election campaign was via the Internet. According to server services like Alexa Internet , Paul's website was visited more frequently than the pages of the Republican and Democratic top candidates like Rudolph Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Hillary Clinton , Barack Obama or John Edwards . In informal, unscientific surveys (telephone and online surveys where multiple clicks were possible by one person), his debates were rated very highly. In serious surveys, his values ​​stayed in the lower single-digit range.

Paul also did well in many of the so-called straw polls - test elections in which the voter who pays admission is usually required to be present. For example, Paul won straw polls in regions of Nevada, Alabama, Oklahoma, Oregon, Georgia, New Jersey, Maryland, New Hampshire, Texas, New York, and Pennsylvania. Reports also made headlines that Paul was the only Republican opponent of the Iraq war to receive more donations from military personnel than any other applicant, whether Republican or Democratic.

On May 15, 2007, Paul aroused strong opposition and public reaction when he blamed United States foreign policy for the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks during a debate broadcast on Fox News Channel . Rudolph Giuliani then attacked Paul, calling his statement absurd and trying to create the impression that Paul had blamed the American people for the terrorist attacks. Paul rejected this attempt in interviews after the discussion.

In September 2008, Paul said he would not endorse McCain's Republican presidential nomination. He justified this with fundamental differences in content, especially in foreign and financial policy.

See also: 2008 US Presidential Prefix Results

In-party candidacy in the 2012 Republican primaries

On May 13, 2011, Ron Paul announced his candidacy for the 2012 presidential election . Paul then took part in various television debates, to which he was invited to all major events in contrast to his presidential campaign in 2008. Only the Jewish Republican Coalition decided to exclude Paul from the debate because his positions on the relationship between the USA and Israel were "too extreme". Paul had spoken out against the annual US military aid to Israel and announced that he would remain neutral in the conflict between Israel and Iran.

With Moneybombs already known from the 2008 campaign , large amounts of donation could be raised. In the third quarter of 2011, Paul raised $ 8 million in donations from 100,000 different donors, for an average of $ 80 donated. His party colleague Rick Perry, also from Texas, raised $ 15 million from just 20,000 donors over the same period, making an average donation of $ 750.

In the important first area code in Iowa, Paul took third place with 21.4% of the total vote. In the second primary in New Hampshire, Paul took second place with 22.9% of the vote, behind the favorite Mitt Romney .

After Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich announced their withdrawals on April 10th, only Romney and Paul were in the running. Due to poor election results, Paul had little chance of being nominated by his party, but declared that he wanted to stay in the race until the end of the nomination process. On May 14, 2012, however, he suspended the election campaign in the primary states that had not yet voted. He will only continue to fight for delegates in the states in which the primaries had taken place. Paul ended his campaign with a six-hour event at the Sun Dome in Tampa .

Ron Paul's "We are the Future Rally" in Tampa

On August 28, 2012, Romney was officially elected a Republican presidential candidate. He received in 2061 of 2,268 delegate votes (90.16%); Paul received 190 votes (8.31%).

Donation records

Within one day, November 5, 2007, based on the anniversary of the Gunpowder plot , Ron Paul raised approximately $ 4.38 million online from around 40,000 supporters through a campaign launched by grassroots activists. This so-called Money Bomb event also attracted increased attention from TV news channels and the press.

On December 16, 2007, based on the Boston Tea Party of 1773, Ron Paul earned approximately $ 6.04 million online. This sum was to date the highest sum that a politician had earned anywhere in the world within 24 hours. The previous record holder for both offline and online donations was former presidential candidate John Kerry in 2004 with approximately $ 5.7 million. In total, Paul received approximately $ 28 million in donations in 2007, including approximately $ 19.7 million in the fourth quarter.

Activity after resignation as a member of parliament

After completing his campaign in 2008, Ron Paul used the remaining donations to found the 'Campaign for Liberty', an organization that, according to its own account, advocates “Individual freedom, constitutional government, solid money, free markets and a foreign policy of non-interventionism through education , Advocacy and mobilization of a grass roots movement ”. The Campaign for Liberty gave an important impetus to the tea party movement .

Together with well-known American anti-war politicians from both parties such as Dennis Kucinich and Walter B. Jones as well as other exponents, Ron Paul founded the 'Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity'. Under the academic direction of Gary North , Ron Paul offers a homeschooling platform for the levels from kindergarten to high school. Since August 2013 Ron Paul has been running a paid Internet television channel called the "Ron Paul Channel", after he complained about a lack of attention in the US media, which broadcasts interviews, news and commentary on current topics from a libertarian perspective several times a week. During the Ukraine crisis in 2014, his institute was extensively quoted by the Russian media as being a key witness of the peace movement against a “war with Iran”.

Political positions

Paul's political attitudes have been described by observers as paleolibertarian , constitutionalist , isolationist and conservative . The basis of the political views of Ron Paul is a strict constitutionalism , an influential legal political conception in the USA, according to which all constitutional organs are only allowed to do precisely those actions that the United States Constitution expressly allows, as opposed to the conception that politics expressly allows Bans imposed. In addition, Paul advocates individualistic freedom, which also means that every citizen regulates his own provision for old age, illness, unemployment, etc. and all state responsibility for social insurance such as pension insurance, health care, etc. is abolished. Paul sees himself in the tradition of the founding fathers . He sees himself as an “old school” Republican and actively distances himself from neoconservatism and the Bush administration . In his view, he defends the original ideals of the Republicans and accuses other party members of having left this line because the founders of the Republican party had pursued the goals of his policy.

Foreign policy

Iraq

Paul was known for his rejection of the Iraq war and the idea of ​​an isolationist , non-interventionist foreign policy in the tradition of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson . Paul voted against the Iraq war resolution and advocated an immediate withdrawal of US forces from all countries. He also declined to support Libyan rebels during the Arab Spring . Paul's non-interventionist stance goes so far that he advocates a US withdrawal from NATO , the UN and the WTO , a position that has brought him the charge of isolationism . However, he speaks out clearly against what he understands by isolationism, and calls for a "strong America that trades openly with other nations, tours them, communicates with them and maintains diplomatic relations". Paul declared in his favor that it had always been Republican presidents like Eisenhower who had freed the US armed forces from hopeless engagements. He also pointed out that during the presidential election campaign in 2000 , George W. Bush had used an explicitly non-interventionist foreign policy and expressed his rejection of military operations and nation building . As president, he was unfaithful to these principles.

In line with his non-interventionist stance, he prefers a diplomatic solution to international tensions. He categorically opposed a war against Iran in 2011 , saying that it would be a "repetition of the 'senseless' Iraq war".

Ukraine

In 2014, Ron Paul declared that Western powers (USA) had caused the unrest in Ukraine ; they are responsible for the ongoing tensions. He claimed the US had declared war on Russia.

Domestic politics

Paul's domestic political positions also brought him into conflict with much of the Republican Party and the Bush administration . He voted against the USA PATRIOT Act back in 2001 , stating, "Everything we did in response to the 9/11 attacks - from the Patriot Act to the Iraq War - only reduced freedom in America." He advocates dissolution of the Department of Homeland Security . Paul also campaigns for an end to the so-called war on drugs and, based on his understanding of individual freedom, for a more liberal drug policy and the medical use of cannabis . Paul also advocates protecting Julian Assange and WikiLeaks' freedom of expression to the same extent as it does for mainstream media in relation to the publication of information.

On other domestic issues, Paul agreed with Conservative Republicans and deviated far from the positions of the Democrats. According to Paul, part of personal self-determination is the right to bear arms; the lobby organization Gun Owners of America rated Paul as the only presidential candidate with an A + rating ("1+" rating). Paul also advocated a stricter migration policy and voted for the Secure Fence Act of 2006 , which provides for the construction of a 1,100 km long fence on the border with Mexico , emphasizing that if there was none, he would vote against this agreement state social programs exist.

Paul has rejected national regulations on same-sex marriage and stated that the individual states should decide on their introduction. When asked if he supports same-sex marriages, Paul said in 2007: "I support any voluntary bond, whatever people might call it." Paul has classified himself as " pro-life ", i.e. an anti-abortionist . He initiated a bill to define that human life begins with conception . He has also fought to deprive federal courts of the right to review state- enacted abortion laws, leading to the annulment of the Roe v. Wade judgment of the Supreme Court .

Paul calls the American social programs a house of cards, since demographic developments will make the programs unaffordable in a few decades. Since he also does not see medical treatment as a human right, he advocates that employees can refuse to participate in social insurance such as Medicare and Medicaid , with the result that they no longer have to pay social contributions (payroll tax) and no longer have any claims to have. He is a critic of the American health system . In doing so, he rejects both “universal healthcare” based on the European model and private health insurance, as their costs would continue to rise as long as a third party and not the patient pays the bills.

Financial and economic policy

Paul sees himself as a representative of the free market economy in the sense of the Austrian school of economics. The goals of his policy are deregulation and low taxes. He has proposed a dissolution of the national tax authority IRS and the Federal Reserve System (with the simultaneous reintroduction of the gold standard ) and pleaded for a "lean state". Paul has rejected the NAFTA trade agreement and membership in international institutions such as the WTO as a threat to the sovereignty of the United States. In 2003 he proposed abolishing the national income tax .

criticism

Controversy over newsletters

In January 2008, Ron Paul came under pressure when The New Republic published excerpts from newsletters published under his name in the 1980s and 1990s. These publications ( Ron Paul's Freedom Report, Ron Paul Political Report, The Ron Paul Survival Report and The Ron Paul Investment Letter ) contained comments criticized as racist , homophobic and conspiracy theory . Ron Paul stated that he had neither written nor read the criticized articles and did not know who wrote them; besides, as a libertarian, he could not be a racist because racism was a collectivist idea. The libertarian magazine Reason named Lew Rockwell , who was Paul's chief of staff from 1978 to 1982 and now runs the web magazine LewRockwell.com , as the ghostwriter , who primarily wrote the articles in the newsletters, citing sources in the paleolibertarian movement . Reason also cited a 1994 tax bill that the annual income of the Ron Paul & Associates company that published the newsletters was $ 940,000.

Links to right-wing extremists

Three years after the publication of the old blog posts, The Atlantic pointed out Ron Paul's connections to the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and to the right-wing extremist John Birch Society . Paul had already told the New York Times Magazine in 2007 that he had many friends there and that they were "educated people who understand the constitution."

In December 2007 he accepted donations from neo-Nazi and Stormfront founder Don Black for the 2008 primary campaign . Paul's spokesman, however, distanced himself from Black: if he "thinks he can influence Ron (Paul) in any way, then he's wasted his money."

Publications

  • Gold, Peace, and Prosperity. The Birth of a New Economy. Foundation for Rational Economics and Education. Lake Jackson (Texas) 1981 ( PDF ; 3.84 MB)
  • with Lewis Lehrman: The Case for Gold. A Minority Report of the US Gold Commission. Cato Institute, 1982; Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn (Alabama) 2007, ISBN 0-932790-31-3 ( PDF ; 10.55 MB)
  • Abortion and Liberty. Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, Lake Jackson (Texas) 1983, ISBN 0-912453-02-8
  • Ten Myths About Paper Money. Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, Lake Jackson (Texas) 1983
  • Mises and Austrian Economics. A personal view. Ludwig von Mises Institute, Auburn (Alabama) 1984 ( PDF ; 5.14 MB)
  • Freedom Under Siege. The US Constitution After 200 Years. Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, Lake Jackson (Texas) 1987 ( PDF )
  • Challenge to Liberty. Coming to Grips with the Abortion Issue. Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, Lake Jackson (Texas) 1990
  • The Ron Paul Money Book. Plantation Publishing, 1991
  • The New Money Survival Handbook. Plantation Publishing, 1993
  • A Foreign Policy of Freedom. Peace, Commerce, and Honest Friendship. Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, Lake Jackson (Texas) 2007, ISBN 0-912453-00-1
  • The Revolution, A Manifesto. Grand Central Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-0-446-53751-3
  • End the Fed . Grand Central Publishing, September 16, 2009, ISBN 978-0-446-54919-6
    • German translation by Ortrun Cramer: Free the world from the US Federal Reserve! Why the Federal Reserve must be abolished . Kopp-Verlag, 2010, ISBN 978-3-942016-31-5 .
  • Liberty Defined: 50 Essential Issues That Affect Our Freedom. Grand Central Publishing, 2011, ISBN 978-1-4555-0145-8
  • The School Revolution. A New Answer for Our Broken Education System Grand Central Publishing, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4555-7717-0
  • Swords into Plowshares. A Life in Wartime and a Future of Peace and Prosperity . Ron Paul Institute for Pace, 2015, ISBN 978-0-9964265-0-3 .

Web links

Commons : Ron Paul  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikiquote: Ron Paul  Quotes
Wikisource: Ron Paul  - Sources and full texts (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Ancestors of Ron Paul by William Addams Reitwiesner
  2. ^ A b Matthias Kolb: Why Ron Paul inspires American youth. In: sueddeutsche.de . March 3, 2012, accessed October 13, 2018 .
  3. ↑ Texas Monthly: Dr. No , October 2001 (subscription)
  4. ^ The New York Times : 1988 Vote: The Final Word , December 29, 1988
  5. ↑ ABC : Texas Lawmaker Joins Presidential , March 12, 2007
  6. ↑ Development of the survey values ​​at national level ( Memento from September 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) on PollingReport.com
  7. ↑ n-tv : McCain is through - Clinton is back ( Memento from April 30, 2008 in the Internet Archive ), March 5, 2008
  8. ↑ CNN : The Ron Paul phenomenon? , June 8, 2007
  9. ↑ Straw Poll Results on Ron Paul's campaign website
  10. ↑ ABC : Ron Paul's Impressive Haul , October 3, 2007
  11. ^ Republican Presidential Debate. In: CNN. Retrieved June 5, 2007, accessed February 19, 2011 : "[The problem is] that we succumb to the temptation to protect oil interests by literally going out and fighting wars over oil ... [The most pressing moral issue in the United States right now ] is the acceptance just recently that we now promote was preemptive. I do not believe that's part of the American tradition. We, in the past, have always declared war in defense of our liberties or go to aid somebody. But now we have accepted the principle of preemptive war. "
  12. ↑ Campaign 2012: Hello Ron Paul, GOP Presidential Candidate. In: Council on Foreign Relations. June 5, 2007, accessed on May 19, 2019 : “They attack us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for ten years. "
  13. ↑ Ron Paul on CNN: No statement of support in favor of John McCain
  14. ^ Rep. Ron Paul announces candidacy for president . CNN on May 13th
  15. ^ Ron Paul Not Invited To Republican Jewish Coalition Presidential Candidates Forum Huffington Post December 2, 2011
  16. ↑ Third Quater 2011 Fundraising
  17. ↑ Summary of results from the New York Times on the 2012 Primaries January 16, 2012
  18. ↑ spiegel.de: Santorum clears the way for Romney
  19. ↑ www.manager-magazin.de: The last Romney competitor drops out , May 15, 2012
  20. ↑ Interview on the Today Show , September 4, 2012
  21. ↑ www.thegreenpapers.com
  22. ↑ This November 5th - Ron Paul Mass Donation Day
  23. ↑ Graphics ( Memento of the original from January 17th, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on ronpaulgraphs.com @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / ronpaulgraphs.com
  24. ↑ Fox News Channel : Ron Paul Sets Online Fundraising Record with $ 4.2 Million in One Day ( December 9, 2007 memento on the Internet Archive ), November 6, 2007
  25. ↑ The New York Times : Candidate's Pleased to Remember This Fifth of November , November 6, 2007
  26. ↑ Reuters : Longshot White House hopeful Paul takes in $ 4.3 million , November 6, 2007
  27. ^ Graphic ( memento of January 16, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) on ronpaulgraphs.com
  28. ↑ Wired : Ron Paul Supporters Make History with $ 6 Million Online Haul , December 17, 2007
  29. ↑ USA Today : "Money bomb": Ron Paul raises $ 6 million in 24-hour period , December 17, 2007
  30. ↑ http://ronpaulinstitute.org , accessed on May 18, 2019.
  31. ↑ 'The Ron Paul Channel' Launching This Summer, Wants You To 'Turn Off Your TV,' 'Turn On The Truth' , Huffingtonpost, July 9, 2013
  32. ↑ Malaysia Boeing Crash in Eastern Ukraine Beneficial to Kiev - Director of Ron Paul Institute , RIA Novosti, July 18, 2014
  33. ↑ Iran: War for the dollar hegemony? , IMI, June 23, 2006
  34. ^ The New York Times : The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul , July 22, 2007
  35. ↑ Entangling Alliances Distort our Foreign Policy , column on the Congress website by Ron Paul, 16 September 2002
  36. ^ Arguments Against a War in Iraq , Address to Congress, September 4, 2002
  37. ↑ See http://www.ronpaul.com/2011-03-17/ron-paul-libya-is-not-the-american-peoples-fight/
  38. ↑ American Independence and Sovereignty ( Memento of the original of September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Text collection at the Ron Paul Library @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.ronpaullibrary.org
  39. ↑ Los Angeles Times : Ron Paul: Strike against Iran would risk a repeat of 'useless' Iraq war , December 15, 2011
  40. ↑ Ron Paul reacts to the Ukrainian attack on "pro-Russian" forces
  41. ↑ focus.de December 9, 2014: Republican Ron Paul charges: "US Congress declares war on Russia"
  42. ^ The 9-11 Commission Charade , article for LewRockwell.com, Aug. 24, 2004
  43. ^ Rep. Ron Paul defends WikiLeaks , article on WL Central, December 3, 2010
  44. ↑ Candidates @ Google: Ron Paul , video on YouTube , July 13, 2007
  45. ^ Issue: Life and Liberty , Ron Paul's campaign website
  46. ↑ Ron Paul on Social Security (English)
  47. ↑ insurance on Lewrockwell.com
  48. ↑ End the Income Tax - Pass the Liberty Amendment ( Memento August 28, 2011 on the Internet Archive ), Address to Congress, January 30, 2003
  49. ↑ The New Republic : Angry White Man , Jan. 8, 2008
  50. ^ The New Republic : Selections From Ron Paul's Newsletters , Jan. 8, 2008; More Selections From Ron Paul's Newsletters , January 14, 2008 (with links to the originals in PDF)
  51. ↑ CNN : Ron Paul '90s newsletters rant against blacks, gays , January 11, 2008
  52. ↑ Reason : Who Wrote Ron Paul's Newsletters? , January 16, 2008
  53. ^ Ron Paul, Conspiracy Theories, and the Right , The Atlantic, December 29, 2011
  54. ^ The Antiwar, Anti-Abortion, Anti-Drug-Enforcement-Administration, Anti-Medicare Candidacy of Dr. Ron Paul , The New York Times Magazine, July 22, 2007
  55. ^ Floridatoday.com . Archived from the original on January 25, 2008. Retrieved October 2, 2019.
personal data
SURNAME Paul, Ron
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Paul, Ronald Ernest
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American politician
DATE OF BIRTH August 20, 1935
PLACE OF BIRTH Green Tree , Pennsylvania