Adam Dick

The proposed Authorization for Use of Military Force that President Barack Obama submitted to Congress on Wednesday would allow United States ground troops to engage in battle around the world. No matter what aspirations Obama may declare regarding limiting the use of US ground troops, the proposed AUMF places little to no restraint on their use in the ISIS War.

Obama spoke truthfully in his statement announcing his AUMF proposal when he said, “The resolution we’ve submitted today does not call for the deployment of US ground combat forces to Iraq or Syria.” Though truthful, Obama’s comment is deceptive because it leaves out some important information. Left unsaid is the fact that the proposed AUMF authorizes Obama and the next US president to deploy ground troops worldwide at their discretion.

The proposed AUMF, should it become law, gives the president and his successor the broad power “to use the Armed Forces of the United States as the President determines to be necessary and appropriate against ISIL and associated persons or forces…” anywhere in the world for three years after the AUMF’s enactment. The AUMF also contains one provision purportedly limiting the use of US ground troops. This provision states that the broad power given to the president “does not authorize the use of the United States Armed Forces in enduring offensive ground combat operations.”

A quick, uncritical read of the proposed AUMF may suggest that the “enduring offensive ground combat operations” provision in the AUMF means the AUMF bars US ground troops from engaging in battle. However, further consideration reveals the AUMF may be used to justify unlimited use of US ground troops.

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

Jesse Ventura released this week his new podcast conversation with Ron Paul. It is a pleasure to hear Ventura engage Paul in an unrushed, wide-ranging examination of United States wars and foreign policy, with some discussion of other matters including marijuana and the economy thrown in the mix. One particularly intriguing portion of the conversation comes near the end when Ventura asks Paul — a three-time presidential candidate — a fun, rapid-fire set of questions about what Paul would do as president. Ventura seems surprised, as likely are many listeners, when Paul answers that Grover Cleveland is the president Paul would most like to use as a model for a Paul presidency.

Paul and Ventura’s exchange regarding Cleveland, who served two terms as president in 1885-1889 and 1893-1897, follows:

Ventura: Now, question five: The president you’d most want to model yourself after?

Paul: Grover Cleveland.

Ventura: Grover Cleveland? That’s interesting. Why?

Paul: Well, he was an old-fashioned conservative Democrat; he was a noninterventionist overseas; he was a very, very strong gold standard person; and he vetoed more bills than anybody else — and he did it based on principle. So, he was in many ways the last, you know, libertarian-type president. There were others that had leanings, but he was the best over a long period of time.

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

From California State Senator Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) proposing legislation to prevent parents of children attending government or private schools from making their own decisions regarding vaccinations, to American Conservative Senior Editor Rod Dreher suggesting the US government should mandate vaccinations, vaccination orthodoxy enforcers are out en masse this week. Fortunately for freedom, Judge Andrew Napolitano has written a new editorial emphatically challenging their threat to individual rights and defending constitutional limitations on the US government’s power.

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

Despite Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Patrick Leahy (D-VT) of the Senate Judiciary Committee expressing concern about the US government using a license plate tracking system to monitor vehicle movements in America, we should not expect the US Congress to pass any significant rollback of the mass spying program. As we have seen with the US government’s telecommunications mass spying program administered largely by the National Security Agency, a large-scale effort to defeat any significant rights-protecting legislative response should be expected. Further, only insignificant to counterproductive “reform” legislation — portrayed deceptively as a major rollback — will likely be pushed through the legislative process.

If Congress will not act to protect the people’s rights, who then can limit the license plate tracking program? State governments can. Without license plates, there can be no US government license plate tracking program. A state government can protect individuals from the US government’s snooping by ending the state’s requirement that license plates be displayed on automobiles. In taking this action, a state would also protect people from spying and tracking by private individuals and entities, as well as by state and local government police, bureaucrats, and contractors.

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

Commenting Wednesday in a Sky News panel discussion, Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity Advisory Board Member Dennis Kucinich questioned how President Barack Obama planned to pay for the “wish list” of government programs Obama presented in the State of the Union speech of the previous night while the US spends trillions of dollars on empire.

“Where’s the money gonna come from?” asks Kucinich when questioned by host Martin Stanford about the community college proposal promoted in Obama’s Tuesday evening speech. Kucinich proceeds in his response to blame Obama’s pursuit of wars at a cost of trillions of dollars for standing the way of proposals like those on the wish list:

The president has throughout his term prosecuted wars that will end up costing trillions of dollars, and he is still reaching forward with a foreign policy that is going to be very expensive, with America continuing to be the policeman of the world.

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