Dr. Ron Paul

I like that Dr. Ron Paul sticks to his 'constitutional' guns, however he needs to focus on the positive outcomes of his strategies.


The Economy
Dr. Ron Paul statement from WV:

"When the federal government runs out of gold and don't have anymore to spend, the government borrows and when the government can't borrow, it runs the printing presses, and when they do that, the value of the currency goes down."

I believe this type of statement labels Ron Paul a 'crackpot'. Most people don't care about printing presses, and currency not being tied to the amount of gold or assets a country has (hehe who is going to independently audit that :p )
It's a long leap to understand how his envisioned economy will make things better for everyone. He should provide concrete examples of success in the US and abroad. People are concerned and or misunderstand when he suggests things like removing the IRS, federal education, homeland security etc.


The War
Letter of Marque:

"Letters of Marque have been used at various times in history and it's one avenue that I'd like to see explored in the War on Terror and stop this wasteful spending overseas."

Again Dr. Ron Paul throws out a large statement without proper context. The statement 'wasteful' spending puts the War on Terror in a very negative light, which is tied to the lives lost on 9/11 and the continued lives lost in Iraq.
Additionally 'letter of Marque' have a lot of meaning to them that is not what Dr. Ron Paul intended. A letter of Marque is not, after all, a license to kill.

"These terrorists are dangerous. I'd like to see Letters of Marque granted to anyone willing to go after and hunt down Al Qaida."

Dr. Ron Paul presented this idea back in 2001 (again a policy derived from the constitution). Some may say just because it's in the constitution doesn't mean it's a great idea for today. International issues and laws aside, how would this be implemented? Why is the CIA incapable of this? Well the CIA are a very official representative of the US. Unofficial representatives that met some criteria, could move more freely in some other countries, with the letter of marque giving added support from the country in question. Again, the letter of marque would not be the pirates/privateers of old. Back then, the countries were in full out war... how often has the US declared war? Anyway the point is it's a very grey area at best that should be clarified for the general public before you toss your support into it Dr. Paul =)