Ron Paul in 2007 Des Moines Register Republican debate
On Budget & Economy:
Give up American empire; that reduces debt without sacrifice
Q: What sacrifices would you ask Americans to make to lower the country’s debt?A: I think it’s absolutely unnecessary to sacrifice. It’s unnecessary. We can cut by looking at our foreign policy. We maintain an empire which we can’t afford.
We have 700 bases overseas. We are in 130 countries. We cut there, and then we have a better defense of this country, and the people get that money and they get to spend it here at home. There’s no need to sacrifice.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican debate
Dec 12, 2007
On Budget & Economy:
We spend too much, tax too much, & print too much money
Q: Does our country’s financial situation creates a security risk?A: It’s absolutely a threat to our national security because we’ve spent too much, we tax too much, we borrow too much, and we print too much.
When a country spends way beyond its means, eventually it will destroy the currency, and we’re in the midst of a currency crisis. Our dollar is going down rapidly as we speak.
It’s because we have lived beyond our means. We can’t afford the foreign policy that we have. We have to cut back. We have to live within our means.
If we’re going to spend money, we ought to spend it at home, and that is why we have to change this foreign policy. We can’t afford it to do what we’re doing today because it will destroy our dollar.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican debate
Dec 12, 2007
On Education:
Encourage homeschooling & private school via tax writeoff
It used to be the policy of the Republican Party to get rid of the Department of Education. We finally get in charge and a chance to do something, so we doubled the size of the Department of Education and we have No Child Left Behind. The teachers & the
students don’t like it, and the quality of education hasn’t gone up while the cost of education has. We need to release the creative energy of the teachers at the local level. We can immediately give tax credits. I have a bill that would give tax credits
to the teachers to raise their salaries. We should encourage homeschooling & private schooling and let the individuals write that off. The parents have to get control of the education. It used to be parents had control of education through local
school boards. Today it’s the judicial system and the executive branch of government, the bureaucracy, that controls things, and it would be predictable that the quality would go down. The money goes to the bureaucrats and not to the educational system a
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
On Foreign Policy:
Focus on the Iraq war and foreign policy
We could bring our troops home and become diplomatically credible again around the world. Today we’re not. Even our allies resent what we do. We wouldn’t have no more preemptive war. We would threaten nobody, not Iran. It is proven Iraq didn’t have the
nuclear weapon, had nothing to do with 9/11. The Iranians have no nuclear weapon, according to our CIA. There’s no need for us to threaten the Iranians. We could immediately turn the Navy around & bring them home. This would be a major step toward peace.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
On Free Trade:
Look at the monetary system and deal with the trade issues
We need to adopt free trade agreements with other countries. We inhibit the export of, say, farm products to countries like Cuba. It’s time we changed our attitude about Cuba. Our markets get closed for monetary reasons because our chief export is our
dollar. Because we have the reserve currency of the world, people take these dollars and our jobs go overseas. You can’t solve any of these problems if you don’t look at the monetary system and how it contributes to these job losses at home.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
On Principles & Values:
All political action’s goal should be to preserve liberty
The goal of all political action should be to preserve liberty. We need more freedom in this country, and look to ourselves in what we are doing. The Constitution was written to restrain our government. Yet we turned around, and the Constitution now is
used to restrain the people. If we don’t restrain the government in undermining our personal liberties, controlling our economic well-being, and using it as an excuse to police the world, this country is going to suffer a very serious economic crisis.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
On Principles & Values:
The term “revolution” was coined by the supporters
The term “revolution” wasn’t my word, and it didn’t come up on our web page. It was coined by the supporters. In a way, it is revolutionary to go back to the Constitution, and we’d like to continue the old revolution.
Freedom is unifying; we bring a lot of people together. People then are free to choose what they would like to do with their lives, free to choose how they would spend their money, and all of a sudden, we would be telling other countries how to live.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
On Tax Reform:
The most sinister of all taxes is the inflation tax
The most sinister of all taxes is the inflation tax and it is the most regressive. It hits the poor and the middle class.
When you destroy a currency by creating money out of thin air to pay the bills, the value of the dollar goes down, and people get hit with a higher cost of living. It’s the middle class that’s being wiped out. It is most evil of all taxes.
Source: 2007 Des Moines Register Republican Debate
Dec 12, 2007
Page last updated: Nov 30, 2018