Ron Paul – Not All Roses

Mili Note: Since I was recently attacked on Facebook for being “anti-Paul” and supposedly turned in to the CIA as an “anti-American” I guess this won’t harm my reputation much.

by Daniel

He voted for the 2001 “Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists,” authorizing the near carte-blanche executive actions that precipitated this endless war on terror (including the invasion of Iraq).  See
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=sj107-23

He voted for the “Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) Modernization and Reform Act of 2006″.  This bill creates another expansion of federal authority over the states by requiring all state agencies to report to the executive regarding any explosive materials they store (and may have increased federal storage regulations as well). See added language amendments to Sec. 11:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h109-5092

On more than one occasion, Ron Paul resisted attempts to end Most Favored Nation (MFN) status to China. The entire concept of MFN status is anathema to liberty due to its treaty implications with regard to the heinous World Trade Organization. As the article below argues, MFN empowers the executive branch and also the World Trade Organization to clamp down on nationwide, state, and local efforts to curtail such things as human slavery for financial gain and the cessation of sensitive arm sales to nations that actively use them against us (as China has done on a frightening scale). See
http://www.speakeasy.org/~peterc/wtow/wto-hrs.htm

He voted against HJR 79 in 2007, which was a “vote to adopt a resolution that disapproves of President Clinton’s renewal of China’s Most-Favored-Nation status through July 3, 1998.” See
http://www.votesmart.org/billtext/11740.pdf

He voted against HJR 105 in 2008, which disapproved of MFN status for China:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hj105-121

He voted against HR 1077, “calling on the Government of the People’s Republic of China to end its crackdown in Tibet and enter into a substantive dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to find a negotiated solution that respects the distinctive language, culture, religious identity, and fundamental freedoms of all Tibetans, and for other purposes.” See
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hr110-1077

He voted against HCR 294 in 2005, “calling on the international community to condemn the Laogai, the system of forced labor prison camps in the People’s Republic of China, as a tool for suppression maintained by the Chinese Government”.  See
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hc109-294

But here’s an interesting trade aspect with regard to his votes on various countries.  For example, on HJR 121 in 1998, he voted against “disapproving the extension of nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment) to the products of the People’s Republic of China.” See
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hj105-121

Yet… in HJR 120 in 1998 (same year), he voted to disapprove “the recommendation of the President to extend the authority to waive freedom of emigration requirements with respect to Vietnam in order to qualify its products for nondiscriminatory treatment (most-favored-nation treatment).” See
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hr110-1077

See more on HJR 120 and 121 here:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/legacy/fullcomm/105cong/fc-29act.htm

I get the feeling he isn’t as big a fan of Vietnam as he is China.  In HJR 99 in 2000, 55 in 2001, and 101 in 2002, he also voted to disapprove “the extension of the waiver authority contained in section 402(c) of the Trade Act of 1974 with respect to Vietnam”. See
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hj106-99
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hj107-55
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=hj107-101

Finally (for now), illegal alien watchers also make the case that Paul voted for illegal immigration amnesty provisions in various bills (some of their positions I agree with, and some I do not):
http://diplomatdc.wordpress.com/2011/03/06/does-ron-paul-really-oppose-illegal-immigration/
http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=11832

Ron Paul’s voting record may, indeed, be superior to any other member of Congress. But he deserves the same scrutiny as any other politician. Moreso, because he claims such things as what has been described above, and because he has been held up as the standard for all others to emulate.

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