Rep. Walter Jones: Congress Should Debate Nine More Years in Afghanistan

Posted on by May 14, 2015

Speaking Tuesday on the United States House of Representatives floor, Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC) again urged Congress to exercise its constitutional responsibility by debating and voting on if the United States government will continue militarily intervening in Afghanistan for nine more years. Referring to Afghanistan as “well known by historians as the graveyard of empires,” Jones, a Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity Advisory Board member, details the high cost in thousands of US troops killed, tens of thousands more US troops wounded, and hundreds of billions of dollars spent by the US government in the first 14 years of the Afghanistan War. Jones proceeds to note that a new bilateral security agreement President Barack Obama has entered into with Afghanistan “ties us — our nation — to a failed policy for another nine years.”

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

Judge Andrew Napolitano’s Two-Minute Case against Extending Expiring PATRIOT Act Provisions

Posted on by May 8, 2015

Judge Andrew Napolitano presents this week at the Fox News website his concise, two-minute argument for the United States Congress allowing some of the most liberty-threatening PATRIOT Act provisions to expire at the end of this month. Napolitano, who packs much powerful analysis and information into the short video presentation, argues that the PATRIOT Act both “completely destroys the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution” and “doesn’t keep us safe.”

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

Radical Texas Marijuana Legalization Bill Passes in State House Committee

Posted on by May 8, 2015

Texas took a step toward leapfrogging past all the states that have legalized marijuana for medical and recreational use so far. In March, Texas State Rep. David Simpson introduced legislation (HB 2165) that would remove references to marijuana from the state criminal code so the plant would be legal just as are tomatoes. And, you know what, Simpson’s bold, no-compromise, forget about “taxing and regulating” move is yielding success in a state many people write off as destined either to never legalize marijuana or to be one of the last states to legalize marijuana. On Wednesday, the Criminal Jurisprudence Committee approved Simpson’s bill by a 5 to 2 bipartisan majority — after HB 2165 was moderated in the committee to retain marijuana restrictions for juveniles.

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

Reps. Jones and McGovern In-Depth Discussion of Congress’ Constitutional War Powers

Posted on by May 5, 2015

Friday morning, viewers of C-SPAN’s Washington Journal were treated to nearly an hour of in-depth discussion among Reps. Walter Jones (R-NC) and James McGovern (D-MA) and show host Peter Slen regarding the representatives’ efforts to bring to the United States House of Representatives floor debates and votes on whether to end or continue the US government’s various wars. The representatives, one a Republican and the other a Democrat, also discuss their newly created Constitutional War Study Group that will seek to regularly gather Congress members for education related to Congress’ constitutional war powers.

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

Ron Paul Rewind: Oppose PATRIOT Act Renewal, Respect the Fourth Amendment

Posted on by May 5, 2015

On February 8, 2011, then-Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) spoke against renewing what he termed “the three worst parts” of the USA PATRIOT Act during a US House of Representatives debate over legislation that would do just that. The provisions, without congressional action, were set to sunset — cease being United States law. Paul’s side lost that evening. But, liberty-restricting provisions of the PATRIOT Act, including section 215, are set to automatically sunset on June 1 unless the Congress again passes legislation to extend them. If the so-called “do-nothing Congress” would just live up to that label in regard to this matter, advocates for liberty would have something to cheer about come June.

But, powerful forces are arrayed in support of Congress renewing the PATRIOT Act provisions before they expire. In the Senate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is fast-tracking legislation to extend the soon to expire provisions another five years. In the House of Representatives, a newly-tweaked USA FREEDOM Act, which last year earned infamy for its support for government violation of freedom and the slimy process by which it advanced through the legislative process, may be pursued as an avenue to extend the about to expire PATRIOT Act provisions. Reauthorizing the provisions would facilitate the National Security Agency (NSA) and other US government agencies continuing to operate mass surveillance.

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

Andrew Napolitano on Unjustifiable Killings of Americans in Baltimore and Overseas

Posted on by April 29, 2015

You can hear a high level of outrage in the voice of Judge Andrew Napolitano when he discusses on the Alan Colmes Show on Tuesday the death of an American in police custody in Baltimore, Maryland and the use of United States drones to kill three more Americans overseas. Napolitano expresses outrage regarding the killings themselves, as well as processes followed in the Baltimore and US governments that facilitate such killings and hide their details.

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

Ron Paul: End the Fed that Funds Perpetual War and Puts War Profiteers on the Gravy Train

Posted on by April 28, 2015

Speaking April 11 in Austin at the University of Texas, former presidential candidate and United States House of Representatives member Ron Paul stressed the importance of ending the Federal Reserve. In particular, Paul explains how the Fed allows the US to pursue “perpetual war” and to put war profiteers in the military-industrial complex “on the gravy train.”

Paul, who serves as Chairman of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity, made his remarks regarding the Federal Reserve and its relationship to war in a wide-ranging presentation before an audience including hundreds of college students. Paul’s presentation was part of the “Stop the Wars on Drugs and Terrorism” conference sponsored by the Future of Freedom Foundation and Young Americans for Liberty.

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Kansas One-Ups Texas by Adopting Concealed Carry without Classes, Fees, or a Surveillance Database

Posted on by April 24, 2015

Many people perceive Texas as a bastion of rugged individualism and minimal government. Kansas not so much so. This month both states’ governments are moving toward implementing laws removing some restrictions on people carrying handguns. Yet only Kansas is doing so without requiring an individual to take a course, pay a fee, and put his personal information into a government database — perfect for facilitating surveillance — before being able to legally carry a handgun.

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

VA Sending Veterans’ Mental Health Information to the FBI to Aid Gun Restrictions

Posted on by April 22, 2015

A February 2012 memorandum of understanding between the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) lays out a process pursuant to which the VA has been regularly sending to the FBI mental health information about VA patients. So reports Patrick Howley at the Daily Caller on Tuesday. The mental health information transferred is intended to aid the FBI in adding individuals to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) list of individuals restricted from owning or possessing guns.

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