Originally Posted by TomSmith
I don't know why I am even bothering to respond because the Ron Paul that I saw during the campaign provided little more than comic relief. He had the microphone during a national debate and said absolutely nothing of value.

There's apparently no accounting for taste.

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You appear to be under the impression that Paul was running for dictator rather than president. How exactly would he "tear huge bloody strips out of the government"?

First, of course, there are executive orders, vetos, pardons, and the rank of Commander-in-Chief. However, in a world where Paul had been elected President, there would also be a significant amount of public backlash against rebellious politicians in both parties.

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Like it or not, our government is a system that was designed for compromise. How would Ron Paul fit into a system like that? Where would the legislation be coming from to put these changes into effect?

Funding bills are frequently fairly contentious. Requiring every funding bill to override a veto will wind up in at least some of them being significantly delayed, or even failing to pass. Government agencies without funding can either die abruptly, ignominiously, and destructively, or legislation to wind them up gracefully can be passed.

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If he can't get Republican support for his ideas now, why would they support him as president? Yeah, he can veto all he wants but eventually the majority Dems in congress will modify their legislation just enough to override that veto.

Once more: in a world where Paul had been elected President, he would have a fair amount of political support.

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Maybe you missed my final point.

I didn't miss it. I just didn't address it, because it wasn't (or at least shouldn't have been) addressed to me. You need to ask Dr. Paul those questions. What I know is that he was running for President rather than governor, not why he was.

"But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain--that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist." --Lysander Spooner, 1867