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LTC Stephen F.
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Thank you my friend Maj Marty Hogan for making us aware that August 20 is the anniversary of the birth of American author, physician, and retired politician Ronald Ernest Paul who served as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, and for Texas's 14th congressional district from 1997 to 2013.
From all accounts Ron Paul is a man of principle who has tried to leverage his libertarian foundation into legislation including reducing regulatory oversight by the U.S. government.
Happy 83rd birthday Ronald Ernest Paul!

Image: 2011-11-21 Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul speaks with voters after a town hall meeting in Keene, N.H., on Nov. 21 [Cheryl Senter/AP]

1. Background from
" 5 Things You May Not Know About Ron Paul December 4, 20112:03 PM ET by LINTON WEEKS
Everybody knows that Ron Paul is a doctor from Texas. Born in Pittsburgh in 1935, he graduated from Gettysburg College and Duke University's medical school. He was a flight surgeon in the Air Force. His wife's name is Carol. He has served as a Republican congressman for years and years.
Everybody knows that Paul has made bids for the presidency three times — as a Libertarian in 1988 and as a Republican in 2008 and this time around. And everybody knows he lost the first two.
Everybody knows that Paul has moved into second place behind Newt Gingrich in the Des Moines Register's most recent Iowa poll — following Herman Cain's decision to suspend his campaign.
And everybody knows that Paul favors low taxes, free markets and commodity-backed currency. Ron Paul has been Ron Paul for a long time.

But not everyone knows that Ron Paul is now selling a family cookbook on his campaign website or that he was a track star in college — he ran a mean 220-yard dash. And here are five other things that might surprise you about Paul.

1. He is a pretty good baseball player. In 1979, according to The Washington Post, Paul swatted a two-run homer over the left-field wall for the Republicans in the 18th annual congressional baseball game. But his team lost to the Democrats 7-3.

2. He was a frat boy. Karen Kwiatkowski, a co-author of the 2008 biography Ron Paul: A Life of Ideas, says that while Paul was a student at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, he was a member of Lambda Chi Alpha — one of a few national fraternities to take an early stand against cruel and dangerous hazing practices. One of Paul's fraternity brothers was fellow biology student J. Michael Bishop, who went on to win the Nobel Prize in 1989 for research into cancer-causing viruses.

3. He can deliver. As a doctor in Texas, Kwiatkowski says, Paul delivered more than 4,000 babies over the years. Most people may not know that Paul "has also been an outspoken proponent of midwifery, market-driven health care and, in his medical practice, he refused to accept federal funds." Even under great pressure from the Texas branch of the American Medical Association and the Texas Medical Board, Kwiatkowski adds, "Dr. Paul refused to accept Medicare and Medicaid funding even as he served many of the poorest residents of Brazoria County."

4. He might have run against offbeat musician Frank Zappa. This is from a 1987 Los Angeles Times item: Just before Paul was nominated by the Libertarian Party to run for president — at their gathering in Seattle — Robert Murphy, a Libertarian delegate from Oklahoma, approached Zappa and asked him to throw his hat in the ring. After meeting with Murphy for hours and studying the party's platform, Zappa declined. It would have been a Mother of Convention.

5. He was the victim of a political scam. In 1996 The New York Times — crediting The Austin American-Statesman — reported that the Republican National Committee pulled a dirty trick on Paul. According to the Times, Paul was running for Congress against fellow Republican Greg Laughlin, whom he eventually defeated in a runoff. During the campaign, an Austin marketing company called people and asked respondents who favored Paul if they would still support him knowing that he was in favor of legalizing drugs, pornography and prostitution. The real truth, the Times noted, was this: "Dr. Paul said he only favored repeal of Federal laws on drugs, pornography and prostitution, leaving states to prohibit them."

2. Background on his libertarian views from campaignforliberty.org/protectionism-abroad-socialism-home
"NATIONAL BLOG
Protectionism Abroad and Socialism at Home
POSTED BY Ron Paul August 20, 2018
One of the most insidious ways politicians expand government is by creating new programs to “solve” problems created by politicians. For example, government interference in health care increased health care costs, making it difficult or even impossible for many to obtain affordable, quality care. The effects of these prior interventions were used to justify Obamacare.

Now, the failures of Obamacare are being used to justify further government intervention in health care. This does not just include the renewed push for socialized medicine. It also includes supporting new laws mandating price transparency. The lack of transparency in health care pricing is a direct result of government policies encouraging overreliance on third-party payers.

This phenomenon is also observed in foreign policy. American military interventions result in blowback that is used to justify more military intervention. The result is an ever-expanding warfare state and curtailments on our liberty in the name of security.

Another example of this is related to the reaction to President Trump’s tariffs. Many of America’s leading trading partners have imposed “retaliatory” tariffs on US goods. Many of these tariffs target agriculture exports. These tariffs could be devastating for American farmers, since exports compose as much as 20 percent of the average farmer’s income.

President Trump has responded to the hardships imposed on farmers by these retaliatory tariffs with a 12 billion dollars farm bailout program. The program has three elements: direct payments to farmers, use of federal funds to buy surplus crops and distribute them to food banks and nutrition programs, and a new federal effort to promote American agriculture overseas.

This program will not fix the problems caused by Tramp’s tariffs. For one thing, the payments are unlikely to equal the money farmers will lose from this trade war. Also, government marketing programs benefit large agribusiness but do nothing to help small farmers. In fact, by giving another advantage to large agribusiness, the program may make it more difficult for small farmers to compete in the global marketplace.

Distributing surplus food to programs serving the needy may seem like a worthwhile use of government funds. However, the federal government has neither constitutional nor moral authority to use money taken by force from taxpayers for charitable purposes. Government-funded welfare programs also crowd out much more effective and compassionate private efforts. Of course, if government regulations such as the minimum wage and occupational licensing did not destroy job opportunities, government farm programs did not increase food prices, and the Federal Reserve’s inflationary policies did not continuously erode purchasing power, the demand for food aid would be much less. By increasing spending and debt, the agriculture bailout will do much more to create poverty than to help the needy.

Agriculture is hardly the only industry suffering from the new trade war. Industries — such as automobile manufacturing — that depend on imports for affordable materials are suffering along with American exporters. AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka (who supports tariffs) has called for bailouts of industries negatively impacted by tariffs. He is likely to be joined in his advocacy by crony capitalists seeking another government handout.

More bailouts will only add to the trade war’s economic damage by increasing government spending and hastening the welfare--warfare state’s collapse and the rejection of the dollar’s world reserve currency status. Instead of trying to fix tariffs-caused damage through more corporate welfare, President Trump and Congress should pursue a policy of free markets and free trade for all and bailouts for none."

Fed Hates Gold & Why the Middle Class Needs Gold August 20, 2018
"Gold is money, despite the propaganda saying otherwise. Don't be the last to know this important fact. Ron Paul discusses on today's Liberty Report"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQoj5ZcjH8U

FYI COL Mikel J. Burroughs LTC Orlando Illi Maj Bill Smith, Ph.D. Maj William W. 'Bill' Price CPT Jack Durish Capt Tom Brown CMSgt (Join to see) MSG Andrew White SFC William Farrell SGT (Join to see) Sgt Albert Castro SSG David Andrews Sgt Randy Wilber Sgt John H. SGT Charles H. Hawes SGT Mark Halmrast PO1 William "Chip" Nagel CPT Gabe SnellLTC Greg Henning
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PO3 Phyllis Maynard
PO3 Phyllis Maynard
>1 y
LTC Stephen F. from reading his I formation, it is very clear that he is a thoughtful and committed individual towards those ideals he believes in. It would be interesting to see what his USA would look like today
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PO2 Rick Fox
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It looks like I share birthdays with several noteworthy people in history.
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Lt Col Charlie Brown
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I agree with him about our tax policy which makes little to no sense, and I give him credit for standing by his views.
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Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
Lt Col John (Jack) Christensen
>1 y
Ya, I'll agree with you on that. His other views are just a bit too whacko for me though.
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