Ron Paul: US Troops Will Come Home ‘Because We’re Flat-Out Broke’

It may seem as if nothing can restrain the United States government’s intervention overseas. But, Ron Paul says economic conditions will impose a limit and that that means the days of expansive US military intervention are numbered.

The former presidential candidate and US House of Representatives member drew applause at a Ludwig von Mises Institute event in Phoenix, Arizona on November 7 when he predicted that US troops will come home because the government is “flat-out broke.”

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

Will Oakland Raiders Linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong Go to Prison for ‘Taunting’ a Police Dog?

It is not even a man bites dog story. Instead, it is just a man barks at dog story. Yet, for one National Football League (NFL) player it is a story that threatens to conclude with his incarceration.

Oakland Raiders Linebacker Ray-Ray Armstrong’s alleged barking at a dog on Sunday may cost him thousands of dollars in fines and several years in prison. Why you ask? Because Armstrong is alleged to have barked at a police dog, and, in this age of SWAT, some dogs are protected by the law much more than are ordinary people.

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

35 House Members Ask Speaker Paul Ryan for ISIS War AUMF Vote

A group of 35 US House of Representatives members, led by Reps. Jim McGovern (D-MA), Tom Cole (R-OK), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Walter Jones (R-NC), Peter Welch (D-VT), and John Lewis (D-GA), sent a letter on Friday to House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) expressing that it “is critical that the House schedule and debate an Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) as quickly as possible” in regard to US government actions in and around Iraq and Syria.

Going to the heart of the matter, the letter states:

We do not share the same policy prescriptions for US military engagement in the region, but we do share the belief that it is past time for the Congress to fulfill its obligations under the Constitution and vote on an AUMF that clearly delineates the authority and limits, if any, on US military engagement in Iraq, Syria and the surrounding region.

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

Participating in Class? School Cops Can Arrest You for That Too

Some people came to the defense of school cop Ben Fieldes who last week yanked a student in a Spring Valley High School math class in South Carolina out of her seat and attached desk, hurled her across the classroom floor, and arrested her. They said Fields’ actions were justified because the student was occupied with her cell phone instead of participating in the class. Now comes news from the College of DuPage in Illinois that school cops can do pretty much the same thing to a student who is participating in class.

Former DuPage student Jaclyn Pazera filed a lawsuit this week against the college. The lawsuit is in response to two school cops, caught on video, yanking her from her seat and attached desk, pinning her to the ground, and handcuffing her while she was attempting to participate in her philosophy class at the college last year.

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

Ron Paul: New House Speaker Paul Ryan is ‘Almost the Opposite of a Libertarian’

Speaking this week with host Kennedy on Fox Business, Ron Paul Institute Chairman Ron Paul ridiculed the suggestion that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI), who became Speaker of the House of Representatives last week, may advance libertarian goals in the House. Instead, Paul declares “it’s going to be the same old thing” in the House with Ryan in the top leadership position.

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

Rep. Peter Welch’s Short and Direct Answer to Obama Sending Combat Troops to Syria

In a short and direct statement Friday, Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) presented the case for Congress debating and voting on the United States military intervention in the Middle East that the Obama administration has now escalated with the announced insertion of US special forces into the fighting in Syria.

“Make no mistake, this is war,” says Welch. “When will Congress finally accept its responsibility?” Welch asks. Welch follows his query by noting that “[t]he Constitution is clear that only Congress can authorize war.”

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Peter Van Buren Got it Right: Killed Delta Force Member Used to Build PR for US Ground Troops Announcement

Always question why people in government suddenly do something they just about never do. Your questioning may well provide insight into what the government will do next.

On Tuesday, author Peter Van Buren, who worked at the United States Department of State for 24 years, engaged in just such questioning. Van Buren noted, in his article “About That Delta Force Guy Killed in Iraq…,” the oddity of the “very public attention given at the highest levels in Washington” to the death of Delta Force Member Joshua Wheeler in a strike mission in Iraq given that the “United States does not formally acknowledge the existence of Delta Force, and rarely mentions the names of any of its members, even after they leave the service.”

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

Don’t Get Too Excited about Bernie Sanders’ Marijuana Legalization Proposal

Many marijuana legalization proponents are excited by the Wednesday announcement that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) will introduce legislation in the United States Senate that would remove marijuana from the list of banned drugs under the Controlled Substances Act. Many people are jumping to the obvious conclusion that the legislation would thus remove the US government from the marijuana prohibition business altogether, leaving each state to do as it pleases regarding the plant. The press release of Sanders’ presidential campaign announcing Sanders’ marijuana law reform proposal, however, suggests that that conclusion is wrong.

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

Niya Kenny is a Brave Young Lady

Sometimes parents exaggerate in praising their children. But the mother of Niya Kenny, an 18-year-old student at Spring Valley High School in Columbia, South Carolina, is spot-on when she describes as brave Kenny’s actions in response to school cop Ben Fields on Monday roughing up and arresting a fellow student. “My child, and I’m not mad at her, she was brave enough to speak out against what was going on and didn’t back down and it resulted in her being arrested,” says Kenny’s mother.

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

Rep. Jim McGovern: ‘Long Past Time’ for Congress to Stop Deferring to Obama on Afghanistan

In response to President Barack Obama announcing on Thursday that he will “maintain our current posture of 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through most of next year,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) issued a statement the same day calling on Congress to “take responsibility for this conflict and vote on an Authorization for the Use of Military Force that clearly defines the current mission and ensures that there is a clear strategy for withdrawal.”

McGovern and a bipartisan group of House of Representatives members have for years been emphatically both opposing the repeated elongation of the United States military action in Afghanistan and pushing for Congress to deny Obama a bank check in regard to the Afghanistan War.

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