[rabscuttle385]

There is nothing conservative about spending money we don’t have simply because that spending is for defense. No enemy can harm us in the way we are harming ourselves, namely bankrupting the nation and destroying our own currency. The former Soviet Union did not implode because it was attacked; it imploded because it was broke. We cannot improve our economy if we refuse to examine all major outlays, including so-called defense spending.

*Ping!*

[GeronL]

The government should fund government and that is all. No more grants and handouts to non-government organizations, no more corporate welfare etc.

It needs to stop.

[HospiceNurse]

Ron Paul is a nut.

[Pan_Yan]

The total expenditures to maintain our world empire is approximately $1 trillion annually,

From Mirriam-Webster:

Empire
1 a (1) : a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority; especially : one having an emperor as chief of state (2) : the territory of such a political unit b : something resembling a political empire; especially : an extensive territory or enterprise under single domination or control.

You make so many good points, Ron. Then you throw crap like that in the middle so that you and your followers can be marginalized as kooks.

[RogerQ]

I think Rand Paul is going to have a tough time getting elected if he doesn’t support national defense and the war on terror.

[cowtowney]

“There is nothing conservative about spending money we don’t have simply because that spending is for defense. No enemy can harm us in the way we are harming ourselves, namely bankrupting the nation and destroying our own currency. The former Soviet Union did not implode because it was attacked; it imploded because it was broke. We cannot improve our economy if we refuse to examine all major outlays, including so-called defense spending.”

I agree.

[Lakeshark]

What a lightweight he can be, claiming "Russia imploded becasue it was broke".

Russia imploded because Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher drove them broke by upping the arms race and reviving the economies of the west.

Paul is crazy nuts, every bit as nuts as the senator we all disdain, Sir Rabadash Rabs. Your worship of him is more than slightly unsettling........

[Lakeshark]

This is a fairly good pic of him: http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/post?id=2520019%2C136

[McGruff]

I’ve heard said that the purpose of a federal government is to provide for the nation’s defense. Ron Paul and his surrender monkeys can still KMA.

[OB1kNOb]

I'm clearly Ron Paul for President supporter, but it would be interesting to see how some folks would respond to Republican President (and WWII Supreme Allied Commander)Dwight Eisenhower's comment made at his farewell address:

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

"We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

[Mr Rogers]

I had to stop here:

“The total expenditures to maintain our world empire...”

and wipe the puke off my computer.

[alarm rider]

Well, IMHO Paul is a fruitcake.