| Feb. 8th, 2012

Ron Paul Sends Rand Paul's Note

By Exception Staff | August 13, 2010

"[W]e all get caught up in sound bites and pay too much attention to media reports," Congressman Ron Paul wrote in an email to his supporters. "So I thought you should hear straight from [his son, Republican candidate for Senate in Kentucky] Rand about his fight for Freedom."

Here is the full letter from Rand Paul, republished here for informational purposes only:

Sometimes, the political process makes us all just a bit cynical and jaded — myself included. We look at what the Washington DC establishment — the career politicians, the corporate lobbyists, and the entrenched bureaucracy has brought us, and we throw up our hands, thinking, "they're all the same."

I don't like to yell too loud, or beat my chest. But I want to take a moment to remind you why I am not your typical politician, and why this is not a typical campaign or movement.

Among the many reasons:

I will never, ever vote for a taxpayer bailout of a private industry. Whether it's big banks, automakers, or any other industry — you succeed or fail on your own.

I will not vote for an unbalanced budget. I will not vote for a tax increase. Ever.

I will fight for new rules like a Balanced Budget Amendment and Term Limits.

I will not take ANYTHING off the table in the fight to balance the budget. Anyone who says something like they will "freeze non-defense discretionary spending" is blowing smoke at you and hoping you won't notice. That would balance the budget — MAYBE — in about 80 years.

We have to keep our promises to seniors and keep our country strong, but every area has things that can be cut. Every agency has things that are duplicative or that could be done better or cheaper.

I will propose and force a vote on an Enumerated Powers Act, to force Congress to point to the part of the Constitution that justifies their bills.

I will fight for the Bill of Rights. Democrats often love the 4th amendment. Republicans the 2nd. I will fight for them all, which means fighting for your free speech, gun rights, and civil liberties. Laws that infringe on ANY of these make the federal government more powerful, and we cannot continue to allow that.

I will not allow our troops to be the world's policeman, and I will force a vote on a Declaration of War if any President seeks to commit our military to battle.

What you've just read above is an agenda unlike any politician in the country. While solidly conservative, it also shows first, a great loyalty to the Constitution and to our freedom. You cannot fight for liberty while voting for bills that embolden the state. You cannot fight for some of our founding rights without others. And you cannot enable change in Washington by sending the same old people there.

For anyone who thinks elections don't matter, or all candidates are the same, I urge you to read this one more time. I don't think it's a stretch to say that few candidates running for office this year will so fully embrace this agenda of freedom and prosperity, of fighting the power of the federal government while working to ensure that the rights of Americans are restored.