Gallery: Ron Paul Rally in Springfield

Mike Kane February 29, 2012 at 02:15 pm

It was a great event and I was fortunate to meet Dr. Paul afterwards.

Mike James February 29, 2012 at 03:08 pm

Mike, I appreciate your enthusiasm for Dr. Paul. One of the questions that has the pundits catching their heads about is that Dr. Paul will obviously lose the republican nomination so why is he running at all? Will he start a third party candidacy? Did he address any of these questions at his speech in Springfield. Btw, if you haven't made up your mind yet we are having a voter registration drive in Woodbridge this weekend we would love to have you, here's the info:
https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/voterregistrationdrive/gppryd

Mike Kane February 29, 2012 at 05:16 pm

Ron Paul is gathering delegates for the National Republican Convention later this year where they officially nominate the presidential candidate. He will use these delegates as leverage to give a long speech at the convention, with the end goal of changing the party's ideaology.
And yes he addressed this in his speech last night.

Mike James February 29, 2012 at 05:20 pm

Thanks Mike, if that is his goal, then I wish him well. I don't see his ideology has very much in common with the current republican ideology so it will probably be a hard sell. That's why I think he should form a third party which represents his ideas better. I really can't see any of his supporters actually supporting the republican platform.

Mike Kane February 29, 2012 at 05:32 pm

Yeah, the party has already been founded and it's called the Libertarian Party. www.lp.org .
Are you organizing a voter registration drive to find new barack obama supporters since current voters won't vote for him?

Mike February 29, 2012 at 06:04 pm

@M James Actually supporting "anyone BUT Obama" is very, very easy.

Mike February 29, 2012 at 06:07 pm

Seeing 'my.barackobama.com' made me LOL...nice try there, but no way I'd click on it.

Mike James February 29, 2012 at 06:28 pm

I know who the libertarians are, LOL. My point was that Dr, Paul is running under the republican party and not as a libertarian which seems sort of untruthful. But as democrats we fully support Dr, Paul as he will take 4-6% of the vote away from the republicans. The current polls just came out, President Obama (yes we actually respect him and call him president) is ahead of his closest competitor (Romney) by 11 points and his approval rating just jumped to 54%. We haven't started really campaigning yet but we have been organizing for the last 5 months. We have over 200 local events scheduled for March alone. Once the republicans finish their clown show and have a nominee, we can start campaigning on what our president has done.

Mike James February 29, 2012 at 06:32 pm

btw, here's what you face in November. It the looks like President Obama already has done many of the things Dr. Paul says he wants to do:
3,000,000 new private sector jobs. Less government, we have 35,000 less nonmilitary employees under President Obama than we had 30 years ago under Reagan. $2 trillion dollars in deficient reduction . 350% increase in oil production. Health care reform which is already saving the taxpayers billions of dollars. Wall street reform with wall street now trading near it’s peak high. Saved the auto industry which has created thousands of new jobs. Three new trade agreements which helped bring American jobs back to America. Repealed ”Don’t ask don’t tell” giving people equal rights. Killed Osama Bin laden and toppled Gadhafi without an American casualty. Unified the world against Iran and has the Arab league watching Syria. Got North Korea to end it’s nuclear program. No tax dollars spent on the BP oil spill with a 20 billion dollar fund paid for by BP to clean up it’s mess. More deportations per year then Bush and hired more border patrol agents then Bush. Fewer regulations then Bush. Ended war in Iraq and is winding down the war in Afghanistan. Reduced military spending by 500 billion dollars and increased veterans benefits every year. Saved the world from global financial collapse and saved Americans from the loss of their retirement funds. What did Dr. Paul in the last three years at his job?

Mike February 29, 2012 at 06:38 pm

How is "this clown show" any different that Hillary and Obama going at it leading up to the 2008 nomination? Since they are not "your" candidates, they are "clowns" now?

Mike February 29, 2012 at 07:03 pm

That list of "things to face" it pretty sad. I have never seen a list of made up horse manure that good in awhile. While I'd love to point out your inaccuracies, I do need to get back to work to support those non-tax paying Obama voters.

Mike James February 29, 2012 at 07:15 pm

Because Hillary and Obama didn't try to destroy each other, they both basically agreed on the same democratic principles which makes this country so great. People had a hard time choosing between them because they were so close in their ideas. After the nomination of Obama, there as some hard feelings but when people stepped back and looked they saw that they did agree with Obama and voted for him. You don't have that in this election for the republican nominee. The Paul and Santorum crowd may not vote for Romney because nobody is really enthused with him and sees him as a flip flopper. Mike, I call it a clown show because they are pandering to a small percentage of the fringe who ideas are so fearful and toxic that in the main election they wont get the votes from the rest of the country that believes in compromise as a governing philosophy. As a constitutional fundamentalist you would understand the founders of the country set up compromise as the way to govern. We don't have that on the republican side and that's why I call it a clown show. I don't disrespect the clowns, I disrespect that they can't be honest, the process is disrespectful to the country.

Mike James February 29, 2012 at 07:20 pm

sorry about that, that was my page within the site, LOL. It's ok you don't need to know what we are doing..LOL!

Mike James February 29, 2012 at 07:25 pm

Mike, if you going to be campaigning for Dr. Paul we really need a list of what's he's accomplished because your are going to have to face fact some based reality on what President Obama has done and it's not going to be pretty. Everything on that list can be politifact checked.

Mike February 29, 2012 at 07:51 pm

How is “we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it” compromise or respectful to the country?

Will Radle February 29, 2012 at 08:17 pm

Mike, we need to respect our diversity and recognize reasonable disagreements do not make someone an enemy. Establishment politicians of both sides play on our fears and emotions.
Speaker Pelosi was correct. In a deliberative process, with compromise and input from many sources, we do not know what will be in legislation until it is passed because we do not know definitively whether known and unknown amendments will be attached to a bill before final passage. The process is necessarily cumbersome. I hope this helps. A. Will Radle, Jr. Democratic VA8 Candidate www.VA8.com

Mike James February 29, 2012 at 08:19 pm

You would have to ask Boehner, he agreed with it and saw it as a good compromise to get things under control. This compromise was not universally agreed to on the democratic side either but it was a start at actually governing the country as opposed to making it into a Mad Max movie which is what is being suggested by Dr. Paul.

Mike February 29, 2012 at 09:04 pm

Too many liberal politicians speak of respect, diversity, etc. but act in the complete opposite. I know that politicians pander and scare, but the hypocrisy liberals show is leaps and bounds above what I have seen from anyone else.
Comparing Paul's platform to a Max Max movie clearly shows that you need to read up on what his platform actually is.

Mike James February 29, 2012 at 09:28 pm

Fair enough. I have read up that's why we're having this discussion. Think of it as boot camp before you go out and start campaigning for him. Here's some of the more onerous pieces of his platform:
cut the top corporate tax rate to 15% (down from 35%) permanently extend the Bush administration tax cuts eliminate capital gains and dividends taxes sell federal lands and other federal assets repeal the new healthcare law ("Obamacare") as well as the Dodd-Frank and Sarbanes-Oxley financial services and banking regulations

Will Radle February 29, 2012 at 09:50 pm

Mike, I see your point. In fact, I recognize the incumbent in my contest is one of the most impolite members of Congress.
I was first asked to stand for Virginia's 8th congressional district by a lifelong Democrat who is a local business owner. He does not like how rudely Rep. Moran treats people. He is often physically threatening and yells at constituents in town hall meetings even when they agree with him. Speaking for myself, I am an imperfect person who genuinely cares about our community and our nation. I recognize the people of Virginia's 8th congressional district are highly informed and diverse. I want to hear the ideas and concerns of our neighbors and benefit from listening to their insightful perspectives. When I am in Congress our district will enjoy many more opportunities to openly discuss important issues through regular town hall meetings. I care, listen and take responsible action. Thank you.

Mike February 29, 2012 at 10:12 pm

Cutting govt. waste, ineffective regulations, and eliminating burdensome taxes? Those all look good to me!
For example, we had all of these new regulatory rules and watch dogs as a result of Enron...yet Bernard Madoff did what he did. Why? Because those regulators were busy with other activities, and not doing their job. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/sec-pornography-employees-spent-hours-surfing-porn-sites/story?id=10452544#.T06icXnXsS4

Mike James February 29, 2012 at 11:25 pm

Agreed, on the surface they do look good and president Obama has addressed several of these types of problems already. What happens when they actually go to work in the real world of suffering. People will suffer very badly and there will be no social contract to help them. As democrats we believe there is a role for government. We believe that the government is there to mitigate against injustice and to promote social harmony. One of the ways that we do that is by social engineering, I call this the tax code..LOL. As a libertarian or a republican, my opinion is that you would believe the exact opposite. By removing the various agencies that help protect the American public, as Dr. Paul suggests, those protections will no longer be in effect. We can always point to some agency that didnt do such an such as a reason to get rid of the whole deal but that ignores for the most part, the government does it's job fairly well. We get a lot of bang for our buck. IMO Dr. Paul wants to go back to some constitutional utopia that he thinks was at the founding of the country. The fact of the matter is, it wasnt like that even to begin with. As democrats we value freedom but also recognise context. We see that letting people just run around willy nilly like isnt good at promoting social harmony. It may make the adolescent in us feel better but mostly it doesnt work well in a complex society.

Mike March 1, 2012 at 02:42 am

There is that phrase..."social contract." What is that? Where can I get a copy and read it? Contracts are basically an agreement between one or more people who have agreed on something, to create a legal obligation of sorts. I have not seen or read this social contract. What if I disagree with this social contract? I have never signed a social contract. Who enforces this social contract? The coercive power of govt? What if I refuse?
I see a social contract as an unwritten fantasy concocted by liberals in taking something from person A, and to give it to person B because it's what the liberal believes it the "fair, and right" thing to do. It "feels" good. Your darn right I disagree with your stated role of government. Exactly what you state is why I support Paul, and others. I kind of hope that your were kidding around with that description of the role of govt. As a democrat, you cannot value freedom while supporting the "promotion of social harmony," "mitigate injustice," and "social engineering." Those points completely contradict what freedom is. If you cannot see that contradiction, there lies the problem with liberal politicians. Liberal ideas are so good, they have to be mandatory.

Mike March 1, 2012 at 02:45 am

Cont...
I am all for rolling back all of this government waste as Paul proposes. There is no way he could have any sort of "constitutional utopia" because there are checks and balances, and people who disagree with him...and that's fine. There is too much centralized power in Washington. It wastes resources, and needs to be trimmed and slashed where needed. The EPA would not go away, nor do I want it to go away, but cut back to its original intent? I can agree with that. How did we all get educated before the US Department of Education? That bloated and ineffective organization has lived beyond its usefulness. There were state level Departments of Education in place before the US DoE. Those are a few examples of govt. waste that can be rolled back. It's not running around willy nilly (though I like doing that after a few drinks!) at all. One thing I need to mention, "the government does it's job fairly well. We get a lot of bang for our buck." You have seen the debt clock, right??? Not being party specific in that statement. But bang for the buck? While we do have our differences, I certainly appreciated the conversation :)

Mike James March 1, 2012 at 02:54 pm

Whether your agree with the social contract or not it's still in place for you to, if you don't like justice and fairness you can opt out, or at least think you have, LOL! Government doesn't coerce you unless you mean they set laws and expect people to follow them, then yes, they coerce you. That's part of the social contract..HA-HA! The social contract I'm talking about isn't anything of the sort you describe. Freedom to me is one that recognizes that there are different contexts for different situations. In the Utopian world people naively believe that we just let everything be free and it will all work out well. This is also trickle down economics that has gone so horribly wrong. This is a fantasy and doesn't see that there are many people who do not have good intentions for others. As we've seen by letting the corporate robbers barons have their way the country, people are suffering. Giving the states power to do what they wish shows us that we would have 50 different countries doing 50 different things. This would no longer be the Untied States of America, it would be the end of America as we know it now. I suspect this is what Dr, Paul wants.

Mike James March 1, 2012 at 02:54 pm

Thanks Mike for the conversation. Like I said I like Dr, Paul and his wacky freedom ideas and I can see why it would be enticing to younger folks and angry people who think the system has failed them. I stand by my comments of what democrats consider themselves to be for this election. We aren't even going to try to win over Dr. Paul's followers or any republicans what so ever. We've seen what they believe and we don't agree with that. This election is going to be about who has the fairest ideas for the MAJORITY of the people of the United States, not a select few who wish to secede from the union or the 1% who have gotten all the breaks without paying their fair share.