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.”

Salazar Defends Moratorium, Promotes Safe Energy Future

Philip Bunnell - Talk Radio News Service

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar told members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Thursday he hopes the country will learn from the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, and defended a moratorium on deepwater drilling imposed by the Obama administration.

Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.) expressed outraged with the administration’s response to the spill, saying the temporary drilling ban “doesn’t make any sense to me.” Burton said he feared rigs will move to other countries, leaving many American workers without jobs.

Salazar defended the moratorium, saying it is necessary when “all of our resources are focused” on the current spill.

Salzar said he hopes that the Gulf can be restored to a condition “better than it was before April 20,” and that the country will invest in safer oil and gas acquisition methods.

“[We must] embrace the new energy future of America with a much broader portfolio including wind, solar, and geothermal energy,” the embattled Secretary said.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) voiced concern over the nation’s energy policy as a whole, calling offshore drilling exploitive of the environment.

“We need to start thinking about [how] our system is collapsing.”

Kucinich: Single-Payer Better But Public Option Works

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) says a health care public option will help regulate private insurance companies, but a single-payer system would be ideal. (0:52)

Congressmen Talk Health Care With Religious Leaders

by Julianne LaJeunesse- University of New Mexico

U.S. Representatives Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) spoke at an interfaith hearing Wednesday, where each agreed that the public option is a vital part of health care reform.

At the American Muslim Taskforce-sponsored hearing, Kucinich, who called for the interfaith community's opinion on health care, said that Americans need to look at health care as a human rights issue.

"Health care is an essential safeguard of human life and dignity," Kucinich said. "And there is an obligation for society to ensure that every person be able to realize that right."

Representative Ellison furthered Kucinich's sentiment, and reminded listeners that health care reform could take time to perfect, just as the 1960s Civil Rights Acts did.

Ellison also said he believed Congress had America on its side, despite what he said was insurance company scare tactics. He petitioned the religious leaders at the hearing to debunk scare tactics saying the religions should work together.

"This is not the time for cynicism, this is to think that 'well, Washington is going to do what Washington generally does...,' this is the time for us to run a risk of hope," Ellison said.

All of the Congressmen agreed that the House bills were looking favorably toward a public option and Schakowsky said "I think that leaving it to the private companies whose motive, it's not a hidden one, of course... is to maximize profits, to leave them as the only source of getting health care, I think will disable us from achieving our goal of universal access to affordable, quality health care in our country."

Kucinich said it would be tragic if Congress' health care reform does not have a public option, saying it would essentially deepen the pockets of insurance companies who could set unfair rates on mandated customers.

"We're talking about a system that maintains the hegemony of the insurance companies," Kucinich said. "Can you take a step towards breaking it with a public option? Yes. So within the context of the system that we're talking about today, public option is important.

The hearing today, included members of the Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities, a faith representation, Ellison said, is important to the current health care reform debate.

Both Kucinich and American Muslim Taskforce Board Member Mahdi Bray took the outlines of health care reform further, saying they both advocate a single-payer system.

Kucinich Welcomes "Mad As Hell" Doctors To Capitol Hill

By Marianna Levyash-Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) greeted that "Mad as Hell Doctors," a group of medical professionals who crossed the country campaigning for health care reform, on Capitol Hill Thursday morning.

"What you've done is to create a path right inside the Capitol so that you can make Washington aware of your presence," Kucinich told the doctors.

Kucinich promised to make sure the "personal commitment [the doctors] made finds an expression...in the House of Representatives."