By Adeeb Shabazz
I get the question all the time: "are you supporting Hillary or Obama?" Of course this question comes from people that don't really know this Black Libertarian who has never voted Democratic in his life. When I answer "neither" they usually look puzzled and then ask in wonderment, "well who are you going to vote for then?" When "
Ron Paul" is my response, I get varied responses, but the most common is a blank stare, a "Ron Who?" response, or the big question: "Why?". The American people are VERY uninformed about
Congressman Ron Paul, and Black people in America are then quadruply uninformed I am sad to say. We are trained to look to the government for all of our answers and assistance, particularly the Federal Government, not knowing nor realizing that it is not the Federal Government's job to provide such assistance and that attempts over the past few decades by the Federal Government to do so have done more harm than good.
The Federal Government, particularly the Office of the Presidency, has the job of protecting National Security and securing us against all enemies, foreign and domestic. It is not the President's job to create jobs or to start a new assistance program. For those of us who work for a living, which is most of us, what happens is that taxes are raised and taken out of our paychecks, taken from us at the supermarkets and retail stores, taken from us at the gas pump, taken from us in our phone and utility bills, and then taken from us again in the prices that had to be inflated so that all the above could afford to pay THEIR taxes. Well over half of your hard-earned money goes to taxes right now. That's right, I said HALF! If you and your spouse/significant other make only $40,000 a year combined, that's $20,000. What could you do with an extra $20,000. Do we want to pay more taxes, or do something about it?
As a Black man in America what other concerns do I have?
1. I watch daily with sadness as another Black man or woman goes to prison to do hard time because he was selling drugs or in possession of drugs deemed illegal by the state, oftentimes something as simple and RELATIVELY harmless as marijuana. No, I am not endorsing drug use, but what I do know is that Black people are targeted in the so-called War on Drugs in disproportionate measure, while many of these individuals never fired a gun at nor struck another person. While we can argue the evils of drug use all day long, we could equally argue the evils of alcohol and nicotine. The point is the Federal Government should opt out of the War on Drugs that is decimating our Black Male population.
Ron Paul has firmly voted against and stood firm against the War on Drugs since the days of
Ronald Reagan, and would continue to do so as President.
2. Taxation. As I mentioned above, taxes consume more than half of our incomes.
Ron Paul is firmly against invasive taxes such as the income tax, is for the phasing out of the IRS, and the reduction of government.
3. On the subject of a smaller government, the privacy of individual Americans would be protected. We have
natural rights, and those rights are supposed to be protected by the Constitution.
Ron Paul has a two-decade record of standing firm on protecting civil liberties and would be sure to start a trend of not only protecting our rights at the Federal level, but ensuring that States and their municipalities begin to respect the rights of their citizens of all races, creeds, and colors, or face charges of unconstitutionality.
4. Bringing our troops home. Not only is the Iraqi War unjust in my opinion, it is extremely costly in both lives and money. Hundreds of Billions of dollars have been spent, over $472 Billion to date, and even cost my little city $149 Million so far according to
www.costofwar.com.
The official death toll of American soldiers in Iraq is 3,879 and total American soldiers wounded are 28,582. The estimated Iraqi death toll is 1,118,846, all according to
www.antiwar.com. The numbers are staggering. These are just a couple of reasons why
Ron Paul voted against the war from the beginning, the only candidate to do so, and is firmly against foreign intervention and committed to diplomacy.
Financially speaking, we could have insured every man, woman, and child in America for a year with the same amount of money that was spent on the war. Which brings me to...
5. Health Care.
Ron Paul's stance on Health Care is as follows:
- Making all medical expenses tax deductible.
- Eliminating federal regulations that discourage small businesses from providing coverage.
- Giving doctors the freedom to collectively negotiate with insurance companies and drive down the cost of medical care.
- Making every American eligible for a Health Savings Account (HSA), and removing the requirement that individuals must obtain a high-deductible insurance policy before opening an HSA.
- Reform licensure requirements so that pharmacists and nurses can perform some basic functions to increase access to care and lower costs.
That $472 Billion and counting is YOURS people! You actually have the ability to insure yourself if the Feds would back off of you and stop stealing your money.
6. Health Freedom. I am not a big believer in Western Medicine. I use it when necessary, but we need freedom to use alternative medicine.
Ron Paul ACTIVELY supports this, and mind you he is an M.D. His stance on Health freedom is as follows:
I have introduced the Health Freedom Protection Act, HR 2117, to ensure Americans can receive truthful health information about supplements and natural remedies.
I support the Access to Medical Treatment Act, H.R. 2717, which expands the ability of Americans to use alternative medicine and new treatments.
I also opposed the Homeland Security Bill, H.R. 5005, which, in section 304, authorizes the forced vaccination of American citizens against small pox. The government should never have the power to require immunizations or vaccinations.
7. Education: Our nation's teachers are underpaid and our school systems are failing, and Black students are as usual catching the brunt of this.
Ron Paul introduced H.R. 1056, the Family Education Freedom Act, in Congress. This bill would allow parents a tax credit of up to $5,000 (adjustable after 2007 for inflation) per student per year for the cost of attendance at an elementary and/or secondary school. This includes private, parochial, religious, and home schools. He also sponsored, H.R. 1059, which allows full-time elementary and secondary teachers a $3,000 yearly tax credit, thus easing their financial burden and encouraging good teachers to stay in an underpaid profession.
I could go on, and probably will in future blogs, but this should give you a good idea why I support
Congressman Ron Paul for President in 2008. "Isn't he a Republican?" Titles like Republican and Democrat mean nothing to me.
Ron Paul has stood up to
George W. Bush much more than
Sen. Clinton or
Sen. Obama.
Senator Clinton voted for the Iraqi War, authorizing war-hungry "W" to carry out this atrocity.
Senator Obama wasn't in office, but has been soft on the War issue generally. As a proud Black man, I as much as anyone would love to see a Black man be President, but I will never support any man or woman because of the color of their skin. I need more substance than that, and you should too. Besides, I was at the State of the Black Union 2007 at my alma-mater
Hampton University with 13,000 other Black people, including 2 Congressmen, Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.,
Rev. Al Sharpton, and former
VA Governor L. Douglas Wilder, and
Senator Obama found it more important to be in
Springfield Illinois that day announcing his candidacy than at Hampton, but now we're supposed to see him as the Black peoples' choice? I think its a bit late for that. Not that his appearance would have changed my stance-because that's based on the issues, but it would have shown consistency.
I humbly suggest you check out Ron Paul's website and research him for yourself.
Remember, you can't have a rEVOLution without LOVE!
Adeeb Shabazz is an author, freelance journalist, internet radio operator, and former Libertarian Party of Georgia official from Savannah, GA