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There are two important conversations going on about Ron Paul right now. The first is whether or not racist comments that came from old issues of the Ron Paul Report show that Paul is or was racist (they do). The other conversation is about whether or not progressives should support Paul because of his stances on the war, civil liberties and economic issues. The second conversation is much more important. Whether or not Paul is a racist (and I believe he is, as well as a bigot of various other types), that's not nearly as important as his stances on a myriad of other issues. Obviously, racism should automatically disqualify a candidate from serving in any office, much less president, but if he were elected, his views on race would have little impact on policy, outside of potential Supreme Court nominations. He didn't like the Civil Rights Act and opposes hate crimes legislation, but, as president, his alleged bigotry would not have a major impact on legislation, since most laws related to these issues pass with veto-proof majorities.
Anyone considering Paul as a candidate should certainly take into account his views on race, gender and the LGBT community -- all of which are atrocious -- but they should also take into account the vast array of other issues in which he is not only incredibly wrong, but where his policy prescriptions would make things worse. Some Occupy Wall Street supporters are Paul supporters, but Paul is very clearly aligned with the 1 percent. He says some things that sound good, but his voting record on issues related to corporations and the rest of us is bad. For instance, his lifetime voting record on:
Aid to Less Advantaged People, at Home & Abroad is 13.40 percent progressive
Corporate Subsidies 31.18 percent
Education, Humanities, & the Arts 13.19 percent
Environment 11.35 percent
Fair Taxation 9.01 percent
Government Checks on Corporate Power 15.16 percent
Health Care 12.62 percent
Housing 6.10 percent
Labor Rights 13.51 percent
Making Government Work for Everyone, Not Just the Rich or Powerful 15.88 percent
Even on the issues he's supposed to be good on, his record is mediocre:
Human Rights & Civil Liberties 33.66 percent progressive
Justice for All: Civil and Criminal 30.71 percent
War & Peace 47.92 percent
Yes, even on war and foreign policy, Paul still votes the wrong way more than half the time. He does have a better record than most Republicans on these issues, but even the most conservative of Democrats do better than Paul on almost every issue. Everyone's most hated retiring Democrat, Ben Nelson votes more progressively than Paul on every one of these issues, usually by a factor of three or more. For instance, on health care, Nelson beats paul 55.02 to 12.62 percent -- and remember that Nelson was one of the people who killed the public option. On making government work for everyone, not just the rich, Nelson beats Paul 58.59 to 15.88 percent. Progressives rightfully hate Nelson, but Nelson is way, way better than Paul.
To get a full handle on how bad Paul's record and positions are, here is a quick rundown of his most offensive positions, those that would be the most damaging to the country. Ron Paul:
Would abolish the income tax
Would place the U.S. on the gold standard
Would allow citizens to engage in trade using gold and silver instead of currency
Would arbitrarily cut government regulations and believes that regulations only hurt businesses
Would eliminate the taxation of foreign income
Is a global warming denier
Says that Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare are unconstitutional
Would eliminate antitrust laws
Would eliminate the federal minimum wage
Would eliminate the Davis-Bacon Act and the Copeland Act
Would eliminate the estate and gift taxes
Would tax all earners at a 10 percent rate
Would eliminate tax credits to individuals who are not corporations
Would eliminate the elderly tax credit, child care credit and earned income credit
Voted to make it easier to decertify unions
Opposes Federal Deposit Insurance
Would revert government spending to 2004 levels and freeze it there
Opposes raising the debt ceiling for any reason
Would allow people to opt out of Social Security
Says that widespread bankruptcy is the stimulus the country needs
Opposed the auto industry bailouts
Favors tort reform
Opposes the regulation of tobacco
Would protect the 'privacy' of online sexual predators and child pornographers on public wi-fi networks
Would prevent federal courts from protecting citizens who have their rights denied
Opposed the Motor Voter law
Would allow states to ban gay marriage
Sponsored the Marriage Protection Act
Would repeal affirmative action
Would limit the scope of Brown v. Board of Education
Says that emergency rooms should be able to turn away undocumented immigrants
Opposes the Americans With Disabilities Act
Voted anti-choice more than 90 times as a member of Congress
Voted to eliminate all international family planning funds
Voted for the Stupak amendment banning abortion coverage by private health insurance companies
Voted in favor of fetal personhood laws
Would eliminate all funding for Planned Parenthood
Would ban flag burning
Would weaken regulation of dietary supplements
Supports a ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research
Opposes subsidies for prescription drugs for seniors
Opposes mandatory vaccinations
Would expand offshore oil drilling
Would increase mining on federal lands
Would weaken the Clean Air Act
Would repeal the Soil and Water Conservation Act
Would weaken the Federal Water Pollution Control Act
Would eliminate departments of Energy, Education, Agriculture, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, and Labor
Would eliminate the Environmental Protection agency
Would eliminate FEMA
Would eliminate the Federal Reserve
Would eliminate the Occupational Health and Safety Administration
Would eliminate AmeriCorps
Would eliminate spending to combat AIDS overseas
Would eliminate gas taxes
Opposes the census gathering demographic data on Americans
Opposed the dismantling of U.S. nuclear missile silos
Wanted to withdraw the U.S. from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty
Wants to claim the Panama Canal as sovereign U.S. territory
Opposes the International Criminal Court
Would withdraw the U.S. from the U.N.
Supports the electoral college and believes that the U.S. is not a democracy
Believes that we have no right to health care
Would eliminate birthright citizenship
Believes that law enforcement can't help people, only armed citizens can prevent violence
Would allow the legal sale of unpasteurized milk
Believes that groups of people don't have rights, only individuals do
Believes that government cannot redistribute wealth in any way
Believes in the concept of 'jury nullification', the idea that a jury can judge not only the facts in a case but the justness of the law itself
Believes that social welfare should be in the hands of individuals only, not government
Anyone that still thinks that a progressive vote for Paul is a legitimate vote under any circumstances doesn't know what the word progressive means. Anyone that thinks that Paul "understands the Constitution" and defends it either hasn't read the Constitution or doesn't know how to read.
