Saturday, November 5, 2011
Ron Paul, Foreign Policy and Liberty
Seems like the bullet point form last year was more preferred, so here goes.
1) Ron Paul's stance on the TSA is get rid of it. Guess who else wants to get rid of it? The original creator of the TSA! (http://www.examiner.com/law-enforcement-in-national/creator-of-tsa-airport-security-now-says-dismantle-it) This linked article describes the key differences between America's TSA and Israel's El Al, and why one fails while the other succeeds. The TSA is a $9 billion industry with top heavy management (Over 50% of the TSA staff work managerial positions, with an annual salary of over $100,000). Everyday, we read about travelers being mistreated and violated- you would think that pouring billions of taxpayers money into an organization that is supposed to protect the taxpayers would lead to an organization that keeps us safe and respects our liberty. Judicial Watch reported that the TSA has "failed to actually detect any threat in 10 years". Government airport security also existed before 9/11 and look how that panned out...
2) The solution to TSA- privatize it. Let the airlines run it themselves, because if I were the owner of any airline, I would make damn sure no terrorist gets on my plane- it would cost me too much money if a mistake happens so I just wouldn't. I would double up security or hire Blackwater to do it, whatever it takes to make sure my plane doesn't get hijacked because if it did, no one would ever come on my airline again. Some people have also suggested allowing pilots to carry guns on planes. Other benefits: people who don't fly often or ever don't have to pay, because the costs would just get transferred to the price of air.tickets.
3) The war on terror/ foreign policy: this is something I agree with Ron Paul the most out of every thing.
- Of course the people in the Middle East are pissed off, you would be too if another country was building military bases on your land, dictating your policies, preventing you from building certain weapons that they have...the list goes on.
Btw, do you think Iran could actually build nukes that would be a threat to the United States? Please.... look at the missile defensive system that America has. No one can touch America.
- Stationing troops all over the world actually thins the protection that Americans deserve at home.
- Israel. Why should they ask America's permission for their actions? What is the point of giving Israel foreign aid when we give Israel's enemies twice as much or more money?! I never got that... I get mixed messages about Israel. On one hand we give them money and they have to allign their foreign policies with us, and on the other hand, you have the President telling them they should go back to pre-1967 borders? AND we give their enemies more money? (I cannot get my head around that one)
Thoughts?
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Ron Paul's hatred of the TSA is a common libertarian idea. If airlines regulated security themselves in a free market, they would balance the desires of their passengers with security. Therefore, airlines would choose an appropriate amount of security that was not invasive enough to chase of customers but kept their flights safe.
ReplyDeletePaul's foreign policy hearkens back to the Founding Fathers. He believes that America is not the world's police and that we should not impose our will on other countries. These foreign entanglements only increase the size and power of our government while extending our resources.
I wonder what Congressman Paul would say to the argument that people often give for staying in Iraq and Afghanistan that if the United States were to pull out before the country is stabilized, then the United States may have created more terrorists in the ensuing violence and the United States may have to go back into a region to re-stabilize it.
ReplyDeleteOne additional point. Having troops abroad is often less expensive than having them in the United States. Countries that house US soldiers often pick up some of the tab for the soldiers living there. Such as Germany may pay all utilities for the various bases there, saving the US millions on heat, water and air conditioning.
His nuclear policy toward Iran also worried me. I think his rationale for allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons was very poor. There are a number of reasons why Iran should not have nuclear weapons and he did not address any of them.