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Ron Paul
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas's 14th district
In office 1976–1977; 1979–1985; 1997–present
Preceded by	Rob Casey; Bob Gammage; Greg Laughlin
Personal details
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Carol Paul
Profession	Flight surgeon, Physician, U.S. Representative

Ronald Ernest "Ron" Paul (born 20 August 1935) is a 10th-term Congressman, obstetrician (M.D.), and a 2008 presidential candidate from the U.S. state of Texas, seeking the nomination of the Republican party.

As a Republican, he has represented Texas's 14th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1997, and had previously served as the representative from Texas's 22nd district in 1976 and from 1979 to 1985.

Paul advocates a limited role for the federal government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He has earned the nickname "Dr. No" because he is a medical doctor who votes against the bills he believes violate the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Paul is the "one exception to the Gang of 535" on Capitol Hill. He has never voted to raise taxes or congressional pay, and refuses to participate in the congressional pension system. He has consistently voted against the USA PATRIOT Act, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, and the Iraq War.

Early life and education

Paul was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to Howard Caspar Paul (1904–1997), the son of a German immigrant, and Margaret Paul (1908–2001), who owned a dairy farm outside Pittsburgh. He was the third of five sons born during the Great Depression. In his early years, Paul worked at his parents' dairy, delivered newspapers and worked in a drugstore.

He graduated from Dormont High School in Dormont, Pennsylvania, in 1953. Paul attended Gettysburg College, where he received his bachelor of arts degree in 1957, while delivering mail and laundry on the side.

He was then accepted to Duke University School of Medicine, where he received his Doctor of Medicine (M.D.) in 1961. He did his internship and residency training at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit from 1961 to 1962 and the University of Pittsburgh from 1965 to 1968.

Medical career

Paul interrupted his medical training to serve as a flight surgeon in the United States Air Force at Kelly Air Force Base in San Antonio from 1963 to 1965. He served in the Air National Guard from 1965 to 1968 while completing his medical residency in Pittsburgh.

Paul began his medical practice in Lake Jackson, Texas as a specialist in obstetrics/gynecology and has delivered more than 4,000 babies. He took over the practice of a retiring doctor and was busy as the only OB/GYN in Brazoria County. Paul said of his time as a doctor, "I delivered forty to fifty babies a month and did a lot of surgery."

Dr. Paul didn't accept Medicare or Medicaid as a physician; instead, he would do the work for free or work out a lowered payment for needy patients.

Personal life

Paul and his wife Carol have five children, 17 grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. He supported his children, three of whom also became medical doctors, during their undergraduate and medical school years, refusing to allow them to take part in subsidized federal student loan programs. He has not signed up for a congressional pension for the same reason.

When her husband was campaigning in the 14th District, Carol Paul decided to help his campaign by compiling family recipes into a cookbook and sending it to constituents. The cookbook is filled with pictures of the large Paul family, and constituents in the district often recognize Carol from the cookbook pictures; five editions have been published. She and other family members keep a "Recipe of the Week" on her husband's Congressional campaign website.

Paul usually goes home to Lake Jackson on weekends.

Eldest grandson Matt Pyeatt blogs about Paul.

Early congressional career and first presidential campaign

A prominent physician in his district when he went into politics, Paul became a delegate to the Texas state Republican convention in 1974. He had decided to enter politics on August 15, 1971, when President Richard Nixon went off the gold standard completely. He said,"After that day, all money would be political money rather than money of real value. I was astounded."

Paul was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for Congressman from the 22nd District of Texas in 1974, an election where Democratic candidates won heavily, against the incumbent Democrat Robert R. Casey. When President Gerald R. Ford appointed Casey as head of the Federal Maritime Commission, a special election was held in April 1976 to choose a new congressman. Paul won that election but lost six months later in the general election to Democrat Robert A. Gammage. He then defeated Gammage in a 1978 rematch. Paul won new terms in 1980 and 1982.

Paul delivered babies on Mondays and Saturdays during his entire term as the 22nd District representative.

Paul was the first congressman to propose term limit legislation for the House of Representatives, where he declined to attend junkets or register for a congressional pension while serving four terms. Paul was an unsuccessful candidate for the U.S. Senate in the 1984 GOP primary against Phil Gramm. In 1985, Paul returned to full-time medical practice and was succeeded in his seat by Tom DeLay, then a member of the Texas House of Representatives.

In the 1988 presidential election, despite no previous affiliation with the Libertarian Party, Paul won the nomination of the United States Libertarian Party for the U.S. Presidency. He placed third in the popular vote (with 431,750 votes - 0.47%), behind George H. W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. Although he had been an early supporter of Ronald Reagan, Paul was critical of the unprecedented deficits incurred by Reagan's administration, for which his opponent George H.W. Bush had been vice-president.

During his time as Libertarian candidate, Paul gained supporters nationwide who agreed with him on many of his positions-- on gun rights, fiscal conservatism, home-schoolers, right-to-lifers, and others who thought the federal government was heading in the wrong direction. These supporters formed a nationwide support base that encouraged him to return to office and supported him financially.

Later Congressional career

Campaigns

In 1996, with baseball player Nolan Ryan as his honorary campaign chairman, Paul was again elected to the House as a Republican, this time for the coastal 14th District rather than the 22nd District. Paul won the primary and went on to win the general election despite a much tougher battle than he had faced in the 1970s from opponent Greg Laughlin, who had support from leaders within the Republican Party, including House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Texas Governor George W. Bush. Incumbent Laughlin had switched from the Democratic Party to the Republican side the year before, but despite efforts by the national party, Paul won the primary by a large margin. His Democratic opponent in the fall election, lawyer Charles "Lefty" Morris, lost in a close margin despite running numerous attacks on Paul, including his past votes to repeal federal drug laws (he believes that should lie with the states) and portions of old newsletters, during the runup to the election along with the AFL-CIO. Paul countered by attacking Morris as a pawn of trial lawyers and big labor. He raised more money than Morris, with the help of his national network of donors: $1.2 million to Morris' $472,153. Ken Bryan, a Democratic consultant to some of Paul's opponents, has said, "He has one of the largest contributor bases in Congress, outside of the leadership." Most of Paul's contributions are given in small amounts by individuals.

The national Democratic Party and trade unions made similar efforts to defeat Paul in 1998, but he again won the primary and the election and outraised his opponent by a large margin, $2.1 million to $734,000. Opposing a Democratic rice farmer and former Matagorda County judge, Loy Sneary, Paul won by 11 percentage points partly because of ads warning voters to be "leery of Sneary". Paul accused Judge Sneary of voting to raise his pay by 5% and that he increased his judge's travel budget by 400%. Sneary's aides said he had voted to raise all county employees' pay by 5% in a "cost of living" increase. Paul countered that he had never voted to raise congressional pay.

In 2000, Sneary ran against Paul again, with Paul winning 60% to 40%. He raised $2.4 million to Sneary's $1.1 million in that campaign. Sneary lost these campaigns, according to former editor of local newspaper The Victoria Advocate Dan Cobb (whose editorial board supported Sneary over Paul) because he had tried to attack Paul during the campaign. He said, "It should be obvious by now that you can't attack him. All you can do is run a positive campaign. People in the Fourteenth feel they know exactly where Paul stands. He is consistent and adheres to his principles. He has great personal integrity."

Paul was re-elected in 2002. Unopposed in 2004, he was re-elected to his ninth term in the Congress, and he was re-elected again in 2006 for his 10th term by a 20-point margin.

Principles

Texas Monthly, calling Paul "both deeply principled and wholly uncompromised", wrote in 2001 that he does not take money from PACs, is not swayed by Congressional lobbyists, only votes on his "deeply held beliefs" and does not cut "backroom deals." They write, "The phrase 'honest politician' is an oxymoron; yet in the sense that Paul never, ever votes against his stated principles... the phrase describes him." Along with not signing up for a Congressional pension, Paul's Congressional office returns money to the government each year; in 2000, the sum returned was $50,000.

"Dr. No" can be "maddeningly uncooperative" to his Republican colleagues because he will not give in to pressure to vote for bills that spend taxpayers' money or that he feels violate the Constitution. Once when former House Speaker Newt Gingrich exhorted every Republican to vote the party line, he said that Paul was exempt. Fellow fiscal conservative Jeff Flake said in 2006, "When I'm the only no vote, I can usually rest assured he's on a plane somewhere."

Relationship with district

Paul continued to work as an obstetrician in Brazoria County, Texas even while serving in Congress, delivering many constituents' babies. As of 2001, he was one of few doctors in the House (eight, including dentists) and part of an even smaller group that continued to practice while in office. It is not unusual for him to be in his home district and hear a younger person call out, "You delivered me!"

Paul is against some legislation that coastal or rural congresspersons usually are not. Paul's district in Texas borders the Gulf of Mexico with 675 miles of coastline and also includes suburbs of Houston, and it was redistricted before the 2004 election. Paul is opposed to federally funded flood insurance because it requires those who do not live near flood zones to subsidize those who choose to live in an area that is prone to flooding and does not allow those in flood zones to choose their own insurer. In an "overwhelmingly rural region," Paul opposes farm subsidies because they go to big corporations rather than small farmers. Despite voting against bills with large support in Congress, such as the farm bill, the congressman's "contrarian nature" and devotion to lowering taxes appeals to voters in the 14th District.

While some politicians would find it unthinkable to vote against bringing "pork" to their home district, Paul spends time in the district to compensate for "violat almost every rule of political survival you can think of." He sometimes spends three to four days a week in his district addressing constituents' concerns, often accompanied by one of his 17 grandchildren. He attends graduations, civic ceremonies, and Boy Scout honor ceremonies. In an expansive district, it is not unusual for him to log more than 300 miles per day visiting constituents or handling their concerns. He is particularly effective at reaching 14th District voters on veterans' issues, such as procuring lost medals for war veterans who never received or lost their medals; he holds medal ceremonies for those whose medals are being presented. He has helped senior citizens of the district get free or low-cost prescription drugs through a little-known drug company program. His staff sends out birthday cards to constituents, as well as condolence cards on the deaths of family members.

Paul sponsors many bills in Congress, many of which, such as one he regularly introduces that would abolish the income tax, do not get out of committee. He has sponsored successful legislation to prevent the Department of Housing and Urban Development from seizing a church in New York state through eminent domain and a bill transferring ownership of the Lake Texana dam project from the federal government to Texas.

Legislation and affiliations

Paul remains on good terms with the Libertarian Party and addressed its national convention in 2004.

Paul served as honorary chairman and is a current member of the Republican Liberty Caucus, a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of individual rights, limited government and free enterprise within the Republican Party.

Unlike many political candidates, Paul receives the overwhelming majority of his campaign contributions (96.8% in 2005-2006) from individuals.

2008 presidential campaign

Ron Paul formally declared his candidacy for the 2008 Republican nomination in March 12, 2007 as a guest on Washington Journal on C-SPAN. Political analyst James Kotecki interviewed him regarding his candidacy, foreign policy, Congress and the Constitution, and personal liberties.

On February 20, 2007, prior to Paul formally announcing his candidacy, Radley Balko of FoxNews.com wrote an article titled "Ron Paul, the Real Republican?" Balko concludes the piece with these two sentences. "Of all the candidates so far declared, only Paul can credibly lay claim to the legacy of the Reagan-Goldwater revolution. How well he does, how long he lasts, and who ends up defeating him will reveal whether there's any limited government allegiance at all still stirring the Republican Party."

Internet popularity

There are many indicators that Paul is widely supported on the Internet. The term "Ron Paul" has been measured as the top Internet search term by Technorati.com since May 9th, which ranks popularity in the blogosphere. The U.S. News & World Report article titled "Ron Paul's Online Rise" states "Technorati spokesman Aaron Krane confirmed that, to the best of the company's knowledge, the online support for Paul is genuine. (Tech-savvy devotees occasionally attempt to enlist programs called "bots" to artificially boost their candidate on search engines, but Krane said Technorati is usually able to detect and delete the cheaters.)"

Paul also ranked 517th on Wikicharts, a measurement of most-viewed Misplaced Pages pages, above Republican contenders such as Mitt Romney, Rudy Guiliani, and John McCain. Paul's standing in individuals' webpages, such as Joshua Dorkin's TimeForBlogging.com and YouTube have surged to place him well ahead of all other Republican candidates. The next closest Republican candidate, Romney, has 1,955 subscriptions. On May 20, 2007 Ron Paul overtook Obama in number of YouTube subscriptions at 5,684 and as of May 22nd, Paul's YouTube subscriptions surged further to 9,569.

Historian and political columnist Thomas Woods asserts "the news media is now trying to keep out of the limelight the one presidential contender (Ron Paul) who has actually bucked the establishment and does something other than parrot government/media slogans." The national spokesman for the John Birch Society has published similar assertions. Some opinion-editorials (op-ed) pieces have commented that avoiding the large media organizations and campaigning by Internet may be beneficial.

May 3 GOP Presidential Debate

Ron Paul participated along with nine other Republican presidential candidates in a televised 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates Debate on May 3, 2007. An MSNBC online vote following the debate showed Paul with 40 percent of more than 70,000 votes, higher positive ratings and lower negative numbers than any of the other nine candidates in the debate. An ABC News survey on which candidate came out on top in the debate showed Paul leading with 85 percent. C-SPAN had similar results with over 70 percent favorable for Paul. ABC News attributed Paul's success to viral marketing by his supporters, noting that Paul has a "robust online presence", and noted that online polls are not scientific and they do not indicate that Paul has widespread support among the actual national voting population.

After the debate, Pat Buchanan told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann that Ron Paul came the closest of all the candidates to classic conservatism. Donald Luskin told CNBC that Paul was his "pro-stock market candidate."

May 15 GOP Presidential Debate

In a May 15 2007, GOP debate in South Carolina, Paul commented that America's history of interventionism in the Middle East has led to an unpopular view of the U.S. in Middle Eastern countries. Agreeing with what has previously been asserted by the 9/11 Commission Report and the Central Intelligence Agency's specialists on al Qaeda, Paul stated that the CIA removal of an elected Iranian leader (the CIA's encouragement of a military coup in 1953 against the democratically elected leader of Iran Mohammed Mosaddeq in Operation Ajax) and the bombing of Iraq in the 1990s, culminating in the ongoing Iraq war, has led to increasing anti-American sentiment in the Middle East. Then he said:

They attack us because we've been over there. We've been bombing Iraq for 10 years. We've been in the Middle East . I think Reagan was right. We don't understand the irrationality of Middle Eastern politics. Right now, we're building an embassy in Iraq that is bigger than the Vatican. We're building 14 permanent bases. What would we say here if China was doing this in our country or in the Gulf of Mexico? We would be objecting.

After Paul had completed his answer, Rudy Giuliani interrupted the moderator and interjected that he thought Paul was implying that America had invited the September 11, 2001, attacks; he said:

That's really an extraordinary statement. That's an extraordinary statement, as someone who lived through the attack of September 11, that we invited the attack because we were attacking Iraq. I don't think I've heard that before, and I've heard some pretty absurd explanations for September 11th.

Paul defended his previous statement, which did not mention 9/11 specifically, but did say "they attack us" and further explained:

I believe the CIA is correct when it warns us about blowback. We overthrew the Iranian government in 1953 and their taking the hostages was the reaction. This dynamic persists and we ignore it at our risk. They’re not attacking us because we’re rich and free, they’re attacking us because we’re over there.

While Paul's assertions have received criticism from some pundits from the political right (particularly FOX news commentator Sean Hannity and GOP spokesman Michael Steele) as well, other reports have found that Ron Paul is factually correct with his assertion. Former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer, who headed the CIA's team of bin Laden specialists for years, agreed with Paul's statements:

I thought Mr. Paul captured it the other night exactly correctly. This war is dangerous to America because it’s based, not on gender equality, as Mr. Giuliani suggested, or any other kind of freedom, but simply because of what we do in the Islamic World – because 'we’re over there,' basically, as Mr. Paul said in the debate."

Since the debate, Ron Paul and his position have also been defended by Lew Rockwell, Pat Buchanan, Accuracy in Media, and other conservative and libertarian as well as more liberal commentators, including Joy Behar and Rosie O'Donnell on ABC's The View.

In a press release following the debate, Paul's campaign chairman Kent Snyder said in response to Giuliani, "It is clear from his interruption that former Mayor Giuliani has not read the 9/11 Commission Report and has no clue on how to keep America safe" and on May 16, during an appearance on The Situation Room with CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Paul asked for an apology from Giuliani and suggested that Giuliani should read the 9/11 Commission's Report.

Andrew Sullivan, an early supporter of the war, responded to Paul's remarks by saying:

The question serious supporters of a real war on terror must now ask is: will continuing the fight in Iraq help reverse this trend or cement it for decades to come? Is the war making us less secure and the world much less safe? Would withdrawal or continued engagement makes things better? At the very least, it seems to me, this question should be on the table in the Iraq debate. And yet the Republicans - with the exception of Ron Paul - don't even want to talk about it. Until they do, they are not a party serious about national security.

In the debate, only Paul and John McCain would not endorse the United States using torture to obtain information from prisoners.

Paul took a close second (25%) to Romney, who received the most votes (29%) in a Fox News-sponsored unscientific poll. On other sites, such as ABC News and MSNBC, Paul was the night's winner, according to respondents in similar polls.

Political positions

In his 2008 presidential campaign, Paul has stated that he would like to "reinstate the Constitution and restore the Republic." His voting record is consistent in rejection of a welfare state role for the federal government, and advocacy of hard currency and a non-interventionist foreign policy.

Paul is the only 2008 Republican presidential candidate to have voted against the Iraq war in 2002 and has offered alternatives, such as granting the President authority to grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal, which would allow war to be carried out against individuals rather than foreign countries and allow local bounty hunters familiar with the Afghanistani terrain to be hired to capture Osama bin Laden and his co-conspirators. Paul released a statement about the bill: "Paul's bill would allow Congress to authorize the President to specifically target Bin Laden and his associates using non-government armed forces. Since it is nearly impossible for U.S. intelligence teams to get close to Bin Laden, the marque and reprisal approach creates an incentive for people in Afghanistan or elsewhere to turn him over to the U.S." Paul would also allow armed commercial airline pilots.

Paul's desire to secure U.S. borders remains a key topic in his 2008 presidential campaign. He opposes the North American Union proposition and its proposed integration of Mexico, the United States of America, and Canada. Paul voted "yes" on the Secure Fence Act of 2006, which authorizes the construction of an additional 700 miles of double-layered fencing between the U.S and Mexico. Paul opposes illegal immigration as well as amnesty for illegal immigrants. He also introduced legislation that would amend the Constitution to stop giving automatic citizenship to babies who are born in the United States to non-citizen parents, which has been in effect since the 14th Amendment was ratified in 1868.

In the May 3, 2007, GOP Debate, Paul stated that as President, he would seek the immediate abolition of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the abolition of the income tax. As Congressman, he has long fought for the prohibition of direct taxes by repeal of the 16th Amendment which created the income tax.

Paul is pro-life, and supports allowing individual states to decide on the legality of abortion, which is not an enumerated power of the federal government. Accordingly, he has challenged Roe v. Wade for its unconstitutionality.

Moreover, Ron Paul links his pro-life position closely to his libertarian views.

Paul said, "There is but one special interest that we should be working for, and that would solve just about all of our problems, and that is our Liberty."

Books authored

• Challenge to Liberty. Lake Jackson, TX: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education
• Gold, Peace, and Prosperity. Lake Jackson, TX: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education ()
• Ten Myths About Paper Money. Lake Jackson, TX: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education
• The Case for Gold. Reprinted by Cato Institute, 1982; Ludwig von Mises Institute, 2007. ISBN 0-932790-31-3. ()
• A Republic, If You Can Keep It
• Mises and Austrian Economics: A Personal View. Auburn, AL: Ludwig von Mises Institute, 1984.
• Freedom Under Siege: The U.S. Constitution After 200 Years. Lake Jackson, TX: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, 1987. ( Book distributed with permission in 7 parts in pdf-format)
• A Foreign Policy of Freedom. Lake Jackson, TX: Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, 2007. ISBN 0-912453-00-1

References

1. McCullagh, Declan (2002-07-01). "Perspective: They call him Dr. No for good reason". CNET News.
2. "Congressman Ron Paul". United States House of Representatives. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
3. http://www.house.gov/paul/press/press97/prjan30.htm
4. ^ Paul, Carol (2007-03-16). "The American Dream - Through the Eyes of Mrs. Ron Paul". Daily Paul. Cite error: The named reference "dailypaul" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
5. Reitwiesner, William Addams. "The Ancestors of Ron Paul". Wargs.com. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
6. http://dailypaul.com/node/53
7. "PAUL, Ronald Ernest". United States Congress. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
8. ^ Gwynne, S.C. (2001-10-01). "Dr. No". Texas Monthly. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
9. ^ Burton, Danielle (2007-03-23). "10 Things You Didn't Know About Ron Paul". U.S. News & World Report. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
10. "Congressman Paul's Legislative Strategy? He'd Rather Say Not." Washington Post
11. Paul, Debbie (2007). "Recipe of the week". Ron Paul Congressional campaign. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
12. "Congressman Paul's Legislative Strategy? He'd Rather Say Not." Washington Post
13. Nystrom, M.A. (2007-5-17). "Ron Paul on the Importance of America's Jury System". {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
14. ^ Paul vs. Laughlin - Ron Paul's campaign against Representative Greg Laughlin on Find Articles accessed on May 5 2007
15. "Congressman Paul's Legislative Strategy? He'd Rather Say Not." Washington Post
16. Campaign Notebook], Houston Chronicle, 8-14-1998
17. State Races, Texas on CNN accessed at March 4 2007
18. "Congressman Paul's Legislative Strategy? He'd Rather Say Not." Washington Post
19. Liberator online archive on Advocates for self-governing accessed at March 4 2007
20. Republican Liberty Caucus of Florida accessed at March 4 2007
21. Martin, Gary (2007-03-12). "Paul formally launches presidential bid". San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved 2007-03-13.
22. Ron Paul announcing candidacy on C-SPAN
23. James Kotecki interviews Ron Paul
24. "Ron Paul, the Real Republican?" FoxNews.com accessed May 9, 2007.
25. ^ Ron Paul's Online Rise
26. wikicharts May 9, 2007 data
27. http://www.timeforblogging.com/2007/05/11/the-real-2008-political-internet-sensation-ron-paul/ "The Real 2008 Political Internet Sensation: Ron Paul" TimeForBlogging.com
28. "YouTube stats" techPresident.com
29. "Ron Paul Official Daily Update" ronpaul2008.com
30. "Defeat the Media Clones" LewRockwell.com
31. "Media Elites Struggle to Keep Ron Paul Under Wraps" The John Birch Society
32. http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_alex_wal_070512_media_blackout_boost.htm "MEDIA BLACKOUT BOOSTS PAUL CAMPAIGN" "The Internet is very well capable of disseminating Ron Paul’s message of Hope for America."
33. "MSNBC Republican Debate Poll" MSNBC accessed May 9, 2007
34. "WHICH REPUBLICAN CAME OUT ON TOP?" ABC News
35. "Ron Paul Press Hub Polls"
36. ABC analysis of "The Ron Paul Effect"
37. "Ron Paul in Debate at Reagan Library (May '07)" YouTube
38. ^ "Rudy Giuliani Vs. Ron Paul, and Reality". The Nation. 2007-05-16. Retrieved 2007-05-16. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
39. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEZO7MPxJIs
40. Buchanan, Patrick J. (2007-05-18). "But Who Was Right -- Rudy or Ron?". Townhall.com.
41. As cited in the 9/11 Commission Report, Osama bin Laden's 1996 fatwa, (bin Laden, Osama. "Bin Laden's Fatwa". PBS. Retrieved 2007-05-20.) entitled "Declaration of War against the Americans Occupying the Land of the Two Holy Places," published in a British newspaper, reveals his anger with specific American policies as his reason for declaring war against the country. In his fatwa, bin Laden cites his reasons for attacking America. In order, they are:
    1. American involvement in the Middle East, including U.S. armies in Saudi Arabia
    2. Palestine, and
    3. Bombings of Iraq in the 1990s.
42. http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2007/05/19/former-head-of-cias-osama-unit-backs-up-rep-ron-paul/
43. http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/paul-said-it.html
44. http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55763
45. http://www.aim.org/aim_column/5461_0_3_0_C/
46. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jetwXdBMwbQ
47. Ron Paul Press Release May 16, 2007
48. "May 16, 2007". The Situation Room. May 16, 2007. CNN. {{cite episode}}: Check |episodelink= value (help); External link in |episodelink= (help); Unknown parameter |episodelink= ignored (|episode-link= suggested) (help)
49. http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2007/05/blowback.html#more
50. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/sunday/la-oe-brooks18may18,0,2989659.column
51. You Decide: Viewers Say Who Won Tuesday Night's GOP Presidential Debate Fox News Poll for May 15 GOP debate
52. "Interactive: Rate the candidates". MSNBC. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
53. "Who Won Tuesday Night's Debate?". ABC News. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
54. Ron Paul (2001-10-11). "Paul Offers President New Tool in the War on Terrorism". Rep. Ron Paul, official website. Retrieved 2007-05-21.
55. Ron Paul (2006-10-02). "Rethinking Birthright Citizenship". Rep. Ron Paul, official website. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
56. position on states' authority regarding abortion laws
57. The Partial Birth Abortion Ban speech
58. http://en.wikipedia.org/Political_positions_of_Ron_Paul
59. "Ron Paul talks about the abusive Patriot Act!"

External links

Official sites

• Presidential Campaign Website
  • Forums
  • Meetup
  • YouTube
  • MySpace
  • Facebook
  • Eventful
• U.S. House of Representatives Office of Ron Paul

Documentaries, topic pages and databases

• United States Congress. "Ron Paul (id: P000583)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Ron Paul in "America: Freedom to Fascism"
• 2005-2006 Campaign Contributions OpenSecrets.org
• Financial Disclosure statement 1st quarter 2007 The Washington Post
• Articles and Archives on LewRockwell.com
• Voting Record The Washington Post
• On the Issues - Ron Paul issue positions and quotes
• Project Vote Smart - Ron Paul
• Congresspedia - Ron Paul
• Online NewsHour - Ron Paul

Grassroots campaigns

• Ron Paul 2008
• Students for Ron Paul

• 1935 births
• Living people
• American anti Iraq War activists
• American libertarians
• American political writers
• American Christians
• Current members of the United States House of Representatives
• Duke University alumni
• Libertarian Party (United States) presidential nominees
• Members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas
• Paleolibertarians
• Physicians in the United States Congress
• Politicians from Pittsburgh
• Proponents of free trade
• Texas Republicans
• University of Pittsburgh
• United States presidential election, 2008
• People from Texas
• Texas politicians