Adam Dick

Last week Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) demanded on the House floor a roll-call vote on a billion-dollar foreign aid bill. Only due to this action are people able to see how House members voted on the legislation. Otherwise, the bill would have been passed by a voice vote of around twelve representatives who happened to be on the floor.

Interviewed by host Brian Thomas at KRC-Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio the morning after the vote on what Massie calls in the interview “a one billion dollars slush fund for the president,” Massie reveals that that same day four bills he had not been given an opportunity to read were passed by voice vote. This is among the issues Massie addresses in the interview that cause him to conclude that members of the House are moving legislation in a way that would lead to Massie’s county-level politicians being jailed if they acted similarly.

Speaking last week with host Scott Horton on the Scott Horton Show, three-time presidential candidate and former Republican member of the US House of Representatives Ron Paul discussed the military-industrial complex’s role in US militarism across the world, including in Latin America and Europe.

After Horton introduced Paul as “the greatest American hero,” Paul and Horton entered a fascinating discussion of US foreign policy. Their wide-ranging discussion concerns matters including US intervention in Iraq and Ukraine, a potential “Brexit” — exit of Great Britain from the European Union (EU), and Paul’s preference for free trade over international trade deals that Paul says put in place “managed trade to serve the interests of some special interests.”

Addressing the influence of the military-industrial complex, Paul comments in the interview on examples in Europe and Latin America.

It all started so “harmless.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) wanted to access the information of a person being investigated for mass murder so, the FBI said, it could try to prevent more terrorist attacks.

A couple months later this has morphed into a situation where the FBI is offering to help police departments across America access secured information of any electronic device connected to criminal investigations and where members of the United States Senate are moving forward with legislation to force technology companies to give the government access to secured, including via encryption, electronic devices information.

First, the FBI’s bumbled handling of an iPhone connected to a mass killing in San Bernardino provided an opening for the FBI to seek a precedent-setting court order to require Apple to assist the government in overcoming the phone’s security. Rather convenient, one might say, for a government agency determined to search and seize with the minimum possible constraint. Then, when Apple resisted the court’s order that was obtained ex parte (without Apple being afforded an opportunity to present its opposing arguments), the FBI dropped the case, claiming it found people who helped it bypass the iPhone’s security. This is after the FBI had told the magistrate judge that the FBI needed Apple’s help to accomplish the task.

Now, a “law enforcement source” has told CBS News that “so far nothing of real significance has been found” on the San Bernardino iPhone. This latest development should come as no surprise. There were plenty of indications early on that the San Bernardino iPhone likely had very little to no information that would be helpful for pursuing the mass murder investigation or for protecting people from any potential terrorist attack.

Continue reading at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues posted today. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud.

Listen to the show here:

Read a transcript of the show, including links to further information regarding the topics discussed, here:

The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity welcomes you to Five Minutes Five Issues.

Starting in five four three two one.

Speaking with host Marc Clair on the Lions of Liberty Podcast this week, Ron Paul Institute Chairman Ron Paul answered the question he says he has been asked many times by people on university campuses: “What should I do?” In other words, what should an individual do to advance ideas Paul seeks to advance, such as respect of liberty at home and pursuit of a noninterventionist foreign policy?

Paul answers this question with a focus on not dictating to people a particular course they should take. Instead Paul answers “to each his own.” Yet, Paul also opines that there is a “moral responsibility” for someone who has discovered libertarianism to take action to advance “the cause of liberty” and mentions some examples of productive and creative activities people can pursue to advance that cause.

Continue reading at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues posted on Friday. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud.

Listen to the show here:

Read a transcript of the show, including links to further information regarding the topics discussed, here:

The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity welcomes you to Five Minutes Five Issues.

Starting in five four three two one.

Ron Paul, the former United States presidential candidate and Republican member of the US House of Representatives from Texas, strongly condemned on Wednesday presidential candidate Donald Trump’s proposal that the US government shut down remittances of money from individuals in America to individuals, often family members, in Mexico as a means to pressure the Mexican government to pay for building a wall between America and Mexico.

“I think it sounds like theft,” exclaimed Paul in an interview with host Kennedy at Fox Business. Paul continues that the proposed action also sounds both illegal and immoral.

Continue reading at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

Merle Haggard, who died today, will be remembered with appreciation by many people for his songs over the decades. Among those songs is “America First.” Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity Chairman Ron Paul included “America First” in a list of peace songs in his book Swords into Plowshares.

Continue reading at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

How about a Ron Paul Institute (RPI) conference this year? Ron Paul, RPI’s chairman, is excited about the idea. Of course, he would be a featured speaker at the conference.

The only barrier to making the conference a reality is money. The institute needs to spend its minimal resources on its ongoing activities; there are just not the additional funds now to pay for a conference as well.

Recently, the possibility of a conference became more real. I brought up the topic with an RPI supporter. He told me the conference sounds like a great idea. He donated $500 to help make it happen.

A few additional people kicking in big donations will immediately move the conference from the planning boards to reality.

RPI can put on a top-notch conference if it can raise an additional $5,000 in earmarked donations.

Please email me if you would like to make a tax-deductible donation of $500 or more toward putting on RPI’s first conference.

We are not asking anyone to make a donation right now. Instead we are asking for pledges of large donations for making the conference a reality.

If we receive enough pledged support to cover conference expenses, we will (1) ask the pledgers to make their donations, and (2) immediately begin conference preparations.

If we do not receive enough pledges, the conference will remain on the institute’s “wish list.”

One donation of $5,000, two donations of $2,500, five donations of $1,000, or ten donations of $500: That will bring about a conference featuring Ron Paul and other great speakers. That will also bring together people, from around America and the world, who value Ron Paul’s message.

Donors for the conference will be recognized as the conference’s Host Committee. Host Committee members will receive special perks, including an invitation to a private VIP reception with Ron Paul, additional conference speakers, and other notable people. Host Committee members will also have the satisfaction of knowing that their generous support enabled the conference to occur.

If you are excited about making this conference featuring Ron Paul a reality and are interested in pledging a tax-deductible donation of $500 or more earmarked for that purpose, please email me at adam@ronpaulinstitute.org.

Reprinted with permission from the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

Saturday saw marijuana prohibition protestors walking through the United States capital city to outside the White House. Once there, dozens — maybe hundreds — of the protestors smoked marijuana. The response of the many assembled police to the lawbreaking: two people were fined $25 each for public consumption of marijuana. Oh, and it seems some police chased protestors who had inflated a 51-foot “joint” after police had told them not to do so.

Continue reading at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.