Ron Paul Tours Upstate

Written by By Jeffrey West

Dec 12, 2007 at 12:00 AM

Jeffrey West and Rep. Ron Paul Ron Paul visited the Upstate Saturday, holding rallies in Rock Hill, Anderson and Greenville at the Peace Center amphitheater at 8:00 p.m. on Saturday night. The capacity of 1100 was apparently exceeded since the seats were filled and people were standing at the sides, and even across the Reedy River watching.  Rep. Paul passionately reiterated his campaign message for half an hour to the exuberant crowd, stating that a return to the Constitution would result in less government, lower taxes, and more individual liberty.   He said that the message of freedom and the Constitution does not divide, but “brings us all together as Americans.  We do face some very serious problems.  We have a few financial problems to deal with, we have foreign policy to deal with, we have monetary policy to deal with, and we have an attack on our civil liberties that we must deal with.  The solution is not that difficult.  If we would only respect and follow the Constitution we could solve all those problems.” He also spoke against illegal immigration, unprotected borders and unfree trade, and in favor of the second amendment and the rights of the unborn.  Rep. Paul presented economic facts to justify his position against the Iraq war.  “Since WWII we have been in numerous wars, and hundreds of thousands, if not up to close to a million of deaths and injuries have occurred, and we have not declared a war, we have not won a war.  And also since WWII we have essentially gone to war under UN resolutions, and that we should never have done... He listed the reasons given to initially justify the Iraq war and added “If these stories were not true, the war’s not going well, it’s costing us a lot of money, we can’t even fight the war without borrowing from China, I would say it’s time to come home. “If we would change our foreign policy we literally could save hundreds of billions of dollars...We have 700 bases overseas, we’re in 130 countries, we’re doing exactly what other great nations have done in the past.  They spread themselves too thinly around the world, they finally go bankrupt, and we have to suffer the consequences.  Today the litmus test of our financial condition in this country is the value of the dollar.  And the dollar is weak, it’s a story that is telling us that we better tighten our belts and change our policy if we want to save our country... “We spend $800 billion a year over and above what we produce.  So we have to borrow that amount of money... And here we are dependent on China and Japan and Saudi Arabia to finance our welfarism and our warfare.  It will come to an end.  My argument is, it does not have to end badly; it can end in a different way by doing what we ought to do, and that is live within our means, live within the Constitution and return the rights of the people to run their lives to themselves... “You know, the income tax is something we all know about ... but there’s another tax that I talk about ... And that’s called the ‘inflation tax.’  ... The bottom line there is to get rid of the inflation tax; we have to deal with the Federal Reserve, we need to get rid of the Federal Reserve as well ... “Inflation and the Federal Reserve system serve special interests.  The people that get to use the money first have the best benefit...But then when the money circulates and multiplies, through fractional reserve banking, the money supply goes up, and then we get to use it, and our prices go up, and we get hit with the bill.  And that’s what is wrong with that system. “Last year, the government told us there was an inflation rate of 2%...But the inflation rate was more like 10%, so those who are on retirement and receiving Social Security actually lost 8%.  And that’s why in this country a lot of people are concerned about the economy as well as the war...Right now today, we are currently paying $1.4 billion every single day just to pay the interest on the $9 trillion national debt.... “Something will have to happen.  I believe it will be financial.  The indication now, the dollar is going down, debt is exploding, our freedoms have been eroded, and we can’t afford the foreign policy, something will happen-unless we reverse the course.  And that’s what this is all about.  Reverse the course that we’ve been on these last several decades.  Victor Hugo said, ‘An army cannot stop an idea whose time has come.’  The idea of liberty has once again raised its head just as it did in the time of our Revolution. We are going to continue that Revolution, because the American people will not give up, and they will not accept the idea that the government has to act as our parents, and has to be the nanny-state, and has to tell the world how to live.  We have to have the belief and the faith, and the confidence and the understanding how freedom works.  That’s what America is all about.”