Thank You, By Chuck BaldwinThis column is archived at
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/c2008/cbarchive_20080923_2.html
Yesterday, September 22, Congressman Ron Paul publicly gave me his
endorsement for the office of President of the United States. In his blog at
the Campaign for Liberty web site, he said, "I'm supporting Chuck Baldwin,
the Constitution Party candidate." (See the complete statement at:
http://www.campaignforliberty.com/blog/?p=582 )
Obviously, I could not be more delighted and honored to have Dr. Paul's
endorsement. I called him last evening and thanked him personally. And now I
want to thank him publicly.
I am fully aware that Dr. Paul was under considerable pressure from various
groups that were actively soliciting his support. I can honestly say that I
never lobbied Dr. Paul for his endorsement. He knew I would be thrilled to
have it, but I have too much respect for Ron Paul to be so presumptuous as
to expect him to endorse me. I completely understood his neutrality. He has
strong ties to both the Libertarian and Constitution parties--not to mention
the obvious fact that he is a ten-term Republican Congressman with much
support from the Republican Party in his home district.
I was happy to support Ron Paul during the Republican primaries, because I
believe in the same principles. I personally campaigned for him in several
states and in this column. And I asked (or expected) nothing in return. In
fact, I have stated this publicly, time and again: if Ron Paul had won the
Republican nomination for President, I would not be running. I would still
be supporting Ron Paul.
I am running for President because the Republican Party rejected Ron's
Paul's message of constitutional government, fiscal responsibility, and
non-interventionism. Therefore, someone had to pick up the mantle and carry
this message into the general election. The Constitution Party asked me to
be their standard-bearer in order to bring this message to the American
people in November. So, here I am. And now, Ron Paul's endorsement is
further substantiation that the message of constitutional government will
not die in 2008. The American people still have a real choice instead of the
big-government, globalist, interventionist, "big box" party candidates, John
McCain and Barack Obama.
Ron Paul's message is my message; Ron Paul's fight is my fight.
I want to return America to constitutional government. "The powers not
delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to
the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
(Amendment X) I believe that, and will govern the Executive branch of the
federal government accordingly.
My sworn oath to the Tenth Amendment means I would dismantle the Patriot Act
and restore law enforcement to the states and local governments, where it
rightly belongs. Yes, this includes the so-called "war on drugs" and the
so-called "war on terror." No more warrantless searches and seizures. No
more eavesdropping on Americans' phone calls, or collecting Americans'
emails, or spying on American citizens without court order and oversight. No
more stripping Americans of their constitutional rights in the name of
"national security." In addition, I would use every power and authority
vested to my office to preserve and protect the right of the people to keep
and bear arms. And, yes, I will immediately restore Posse Comitatus. As
President, I want to protect America from Washington, D.C., as much I want
to protect it from foreign powers.
I will also take the words of the Declaration of Independence seriously,
where it states, "That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be
Free and Independent States." This means the day I am sworn in as President
of the United States, the New World Order comes crashing down! The NAFTA
superhighway is dead. The North American Union is dead. I will work to
eliminate NAFTA, CAFTA, GATT, and the WTO. The FTAA is DOA. I will not
expend tax dollars for the support of the United Nations.
Furthermore, I will take my oath to the Constitution seriously, when it
states that one of the express purposes of the federal government is to
"repel Invasions." This means we will secure America's borders, because the
illegal immigration crisis is more than mere immigration: it is an invasion,
and I will stop it! Even if I have to send the U.S. Army to the borders, we
will put a stop to this invasion of illegal aliens. I will also aggressively
prosecute those employers who knowingly hire illegals. And did I mention
that my first day in office is Border Patrol Agents Ramos and Compean's last
day in prison? I will personally open the prison doors and restore to these
men their freedom. I will also give them their jobs back (with pay), if they
want them. And one more item on this point: my first day of office is also
U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton's last day on the job.
I also share Ron Paul's concerns for the way the two major parties have
allowed the United States to become a meddlesome, interventionist,
nation-building empire for the sake of satisfying the greedy machinations of
international bankers and power-hungry politicians. I will not only bring
our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan, but also from most of the other
130 nations that currently house U.S. forces. I will end foreign aid. I will
get the U.S. out of NATO. It is past time for the European states to defend
themselves. It is time for us to stop sticking our nose in every other
nation's business and start taking care of the United States. The Warfare
State will kill us. Global empires are not sustainable. I repeat: global
empires are not sustainable. If history teaches anything, it teaches that.
Furthermore, the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war is over, when I become
President. Because I will take my oath to the Constitution seriously, I
would never send troops to invade and occupy a foreign country without a
Declaration of War by Congress. In dealing with rogue terrorist
organizations such as al Qaeda, I will seek letters of Marque and Reprisal
from Congress, which would give me the authority to use whatever special
and/or private forces are necessary to seek out and destroy those who desire
our hurt.
And even though I am a born again Christian (as is Ron Paul), I would take
my responsibility to protect the religious liberty of every American
seriously. People have the right to worship God (or not worship God)
according to the dictates of their own conscience. Whether one is Baptist,
Catholic, Mormon, or agnostic, people have the right to practice their faith
as they see fit. I am absolutely dedicated to preserving religious liberty.
Religious tyranny is as evil as political or social tyranny. And, as I will
be no man's slave, neither will I be any man's master.
I also share Ron Paul's commitment to the sanctity of life. When I become
President, I will use the bully pulpit of the White House to press Congress
to pass Dr. Paul's Sanctity of Life Act, which would overturn Roe v. Wade
and end abortion-on-demand. On this topic, the GOP is especially
hypocritical. The Republican Party controlled the entire federal government
for six years and did nothing to save the life of a single unborn child.
Saving unborn babies from the abortionists' scalpel is more than rhetoric
with me, however.
Another area of agreement with Ron Paul is my philosophy of economics. Dr.
Paul has been predicting the current financial meltdown in this country for
years. And when all is done, the current bailout being proposed will do more
harm than good. The problem is, America's leaders have rejected sound money
policies for years, and the chickens are coming home to roost.
As President, I would seek to overturn the 16th Amendment, eliminate the
Internal Revenue Service, and disband the Federal Reserve. I would lead the
charge to return America to sound money principles. I would seek to reduce
federal spending to constitutional levels by eliminating those same federal
departments that Newt Gingrich promised to eliminate in his Contract with
America back in 1994 (and then failed to do). I would seek to eliminate the
Departments of Education, Commerce, Energy, etc. I would demand that
Congress pass a balanced budget and that we stop deficit spending.
Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama will do any of the above. If he were
President, Dr. Paul would do it, however, and so would I.
Needless to say, I am both humbled and honored that Ron Paul would place
enough faith in me that he would endorse me for President. I can think of no
higher compliment to my candidacy. I here and now publicly thank him for
this vote of confidence. I know my Vice Presidential running mate, Darrell
Castle (a former Marine Corps officer and Vietnam veteran), joins me in
inviting all of Dr. Paul's supporters to help us take the message of
constitutional government into the general election on November 4. Thank
you.
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