Ron Paul Attributes Polling Rise To Diminished Public Confidence

By Adrianna McGinley

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul attributed his rising support to the failure of the current economic and political environment, but admitted that he has been guilty of not always transmitting a clear message on the campaign trail.

At a breakfast held Wednesday by the Christian Science Monitor, the Texas Congressman said he needs to refine his message but added that he notices a shift in the public that may boost his chances of surprising the GOP field next year.

“I think people just flat out don’t understand what I’m talking about,” Paul said. “But the people who do get super excited about it because it’s an alternative that explains how we got in to trouble and what we have to do.”

Paul took responsibility for those who do not understand his message saying, “It’s partially my fault, and I think that’s what I work on the most, trying to refine my message, but I don’t think it’s a complicated message…If you have the right ideas and you’re forceful enough, you can have an influence and you win an in, and that’s where we are right now because the whole attitude of the whole country is shifting in our direction.”

Paul attributed his success to the public’s disappointment over the current economic situation.

“The people are noticing the government doesn’t work…I think it’s the failure of the entitlement system, the failure of our foreign policy, the failure that now the people recognize of the Federal Reserve, and I think that’s the reason why now people are looking more carefully, because we’re offering a solution to our problems and an explanation to how it happened. Too often people say when we have a recession what do you do, they don’t ask why did you have a recession?”

Paul noted the public’s lack of confidence in the two-party system as well, saying, “The people are coming to the conclusion there’s not a whole lot of difference between the two parties…I think an alternative party would be very healthy in this country.” Yet he denied any possibility of running as a third party candidate should he not win the GOP nomination.

“I’m not considering that at all.”

Paul did however, express willingness to work with the left should he win the election. He applauded liberal lawmakers Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (D-Vt.) for their stance on issues concerning the Federal Reserve. “You’ve got to give some credit to the people who think,” Paul said. He added later that he would consider creating a new “Department of Peace” that the anti-war Kucinich could run.

Paul criticized the U.S.’s involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“After 9/11, I voted for the authority and I voted for the funding to go after those individuals responsible, but I didn’t vote for nation building,” he said. “Republicans and Democrats in the last several decades have accepted the idea that we are this exceptional nation that we have something to offer, and we’re not going to offer it by setting a good example and trying to get people to emulate us. We are so good and so wonderful, that we’re going to force it on people. We go to these countries, we don’t know their culture, their religion, their economics or anything, and it leads to perpetual war.

Paul also doubted the likelihood that the U.S. will remove all its troops from Iraq.

“We’re not going to leave Iraq, we’ve just built an embassy over there that cost the American taxpayer a billion dollars.”

Later, Paul turned to financial matters, arguing that the U.S. must not agree to a bailout of Greece, Portugal or any other European nation in fiscal crisis.

“Greece should declare bankruptcy,” Paul said. “[We] should stay out of it, [we] should not put a greater burden on the American people because the only way we can help them is by inflating our currency, further leading to the destruction of the middle class.”

Sanders, Dems Unveil New Bill To Protect Social Security

By Anna Cameron

As the menace of potential cuts to Social Security looms, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and his Democratic colleagues gathered in ardent support of the federal program as they introduced the Social Security Protection Act Tuesday.

“Let us be very clear - I think sometimes we take it for granted,” said Sen. Sanders. “Social Security is the most successful federal program in our nation’s history.”

In an effort to reduce the deficit and reign in federal spending, GOP legislators and certain White House aides have suggested cuts to Social Security, in addition to potential privatization of the program and a raise of the retirement age.

However, Democrats insist that consideration of Social Security in light of deficit reduction makes little sense.

“This a phony way to solve the deficit crisis because there is no deficit in Social Security,” said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.)

“Social Security has not contributed one nickel to the federal budget deficit or the national debt,” added Sanders. “In fact, Social Security today has a $2.6 trillion surplus that is projected to grow to $4.2 trillion in 2023.”

Similar to the point of order requirement in S.245, the Social Security Protection Act would establish a point of order against any legislation that threatened to reduce benefits, raise the retirement age, or privatize the program. Such an order could only be waived by a two-thirds vote in the Senate and the House.

“We want to make sure that any deliberations related to Social Security have…due diligence,…have real thought, and [are] not…caught up in the passions of whatever is the current fad of reckless and impetuous and swashbuckling cuts,” asserted Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.).


Sanders: Olbermann Suspension Highlights Need To Block NBC-Comcast Merger

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) says the MSNB’s recent decision to  briefly suspend MSNBC host Keith Olbermann highlights the need to block a proposed merger between NBC Universal and Comcast.

“What has not gotten a lot of attention in the midst of this controversy is that GE’s NBC Universal, one of the largest media conglomerates in the country, is in the process of merging with Comcast, the largest cable television provider in America,” Sanders said in a statement Monday. “The new head of that company would be Stephen B. Burke, Comcast’s chief operating officer and a “Bush Ranger” who raised at least $200,000 for the 2004 reelection campaign of President George W. Bush.”

Added Sanders, “I intend to do all that I can do to stop this merger.  There already is far too much media concentration in this country. We need more diversity. We need more local ownership. We need more viewpoints.”

This is not the first time in recent weeks that a lawmaker has cited disciplinary action against a television host as grounds for action. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) announced plans to cut off funding for PBS and NPR after the latter fired commentator Juan Williams.

Olbermann was suspended “indefinitely” Friday for making three $2,400 donations to Democratic candidates. He will return to his show, Countdown, Tuesday evening.

Sanders Amendment To Financial Reform Bill Passes Easily

An amendment to increase the transparency through which the Federal Reserve (Fed) operates passed on Tuesday by a vote of 96-0.

The measure, sponsored by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to conduct a one-time audit of the powerful central banking agency, going back to December 1, 2007. At a press conference with reporters immediately following the vote, Sanders praised his colleagues for their unanimous support.

"What just transpired is an historic vote for the American people in terms of finally bringing transparency to what is perhaps the most powerful federal agency, and that is the Fed," he said.

A similar amendment that would've required the GAO to conduct a far more wide-ranging audit, and would've made such audits recurring, failed by a vote of 62-37. The measure was the product of Sanders's initial, less watered-down effort to shine more light on the Fed, mirrored after a proposal put forth by Reps. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) that passed the House last year.

After Sanders modified his amendment, Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) re-introduced the original version.

Sanders Defends Amendment To Audit The Fed

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) insisted on Friday that his amendment within a Senate financial regulatory reform bill to audit the Federal Reserve (Fed) would not grant Congress the authority to set monetary policy.

“That was not my intent,” Sanders said to reporters.

Sanders’s effort received a huge boost last night when he was able to strike a deal on the amendment with Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) Under the agreement, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) would be authorized to perform a full audit of the Fed, going back to December 1, 2007. If the bill is signed into law, the GAO would be required to publish its findings online no later than one year after the law is enacted.

Most analysts say the amendment is not too radical of an idea. Sanders, on Friday, said it’s really just a matter of bringing about common-sense transparency to the financial system.

“The American people have a right to know what [Fed Chairman] Ben Bernanke has refused to allow them to know,” said Sanders, who admitted that the Chairman “is not one of my best friends.”

Indeed, the powerful banking agency along with firms on Wall Street are aggressively pushing back on the provision. Earlier this week, Bernanke wrote a letter to Dodd urging him to strip the amendment from the bill. But with Dodd -- the bill’s author -- as well as conservative South Carolina Republican Jim DeMint both saying they support Sanders, the measure looks like a safe bet to end up in the final Senate bill. Now, the question becomes whether or not it will survive a potential conference committee.

“Some of [the House bill’s] language is stronger that what we have, some of our language is stronger than what they have,” said Sanders, adding that the only thing on his mind right now is getting the 60 votes necessary to move forward on the legislation.