New Ron Paul book: The Revolution at Ten Years

The Revolution at Ten - Campaign for Liberty - Norm Singleton, National Blog:

October 20, 2017 - "Campaign for Liberty Chairman Ron Paul's new book, The Revolution at Ten, is a great read.  One can learn more about economics, politics, history, and the philosophy of liberty from this 130-page book than from most lengthy academic works.

"Starting with the early legal codes protecting individual rights to the Magna Carta, the American Revolution, and the movement toward liberty in the 19th century,  Dr. Paul discusses how America abandoned the philosophy of limited government, free markets, and non-interventionist foreign policy in the 20th century.  Dr. Paul explains  how liberty was lost as progressives gained control over the government, began constructing a welfare state at home and a warfare state abroad. The progressive's crusade to use state power to "perfect" America and the world was facilitated by the twin mistakes of 1913 – the creation of the income tax and the Federal Reserve.

"Dr. Paul then recounts the rise of the rEVOLution in 2008 and 2012. While the media proclaims it is dead, Dr. Paul sees it as still growing as support for the ideas of Liberty continue to grow and the failures of progressivism become more obvious.

"The unifying theme of the book is that we are in the last stages of the progressive era and what replaces it depends in large part on how successful we are in getting a critical mass of people to embrace liberty and join our movement.

"Dr. Paul covers the major challenges facing us, including foreign policy, civil liberties, the 'deep state,' climate change hysteria, and, of course, monetary policy and the Federal Reserve. My favorite chapter is on cultural marxism. Dr. Paul ties the 'social justice warrior' crusade to censor all speech they deem offensive to the progressive goal of destroying civil society in order to use government power to exercise total control over individuals.

"The last two chapters of the book compare the libertarian society with one governed  by 'progressive' values and looks at the chaos that could come from the collapse of the Keynesian welfare-warfare state. Dr. Paul is optimistic that a free society can emerge after the next crisis.... Dr. Paul’s predictions should inspire us to redouble our efforts to work to grow the liberty movement and force the [pilot] to change course before an economic crisis leaves us no other choice."

Read more: http://www.campaignforliberty.org/revolution-ten
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Order from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Revolution-at-Ten-Years/dp/0996426558

Libertarian movement "on its last legs," says Campaign for Liberty official

A Revolution Squandered: National Libertarian Events Show a Moribund Movement on its Last Legs | The Liberty Conservative - Shane Trejo:

June 1, 2017 - "Back in 2013, Ron Paul had recently retired from Congress, and spirits were high.... Optimism permeated through the movement, and it was widely believed that his son, Rand, would realize its full promise....

"It took less than four years for all of those gains to be completely pissed away.... How could this movement fall to pieces so fast? The answer to this distressing question becomes self-evident when you pay attention to the actions of the Republican Liberty Caucus and the Libertarian Party. Both organizations held separate conventions this past weekend.

"The bulk of each conference consisted of nobodies telling other nobodies how not to achieve any tangible success. Reminiscent of chickens running around with their heads cut off, it is difficult to fathom what value a libertarian could possibly gain from attending one of these conferences....

"The RLC ... schedule was particularly underwhelming.... This time, the only elected official on the docket was Congressman Ted Yoho. Yoho, a Freedom Caucus member, was presumably chosen because the organization did not have the resources to fly out-of-state public officials to the Orlando event. This obvious lack of resources and functionality in the RLC is due to the gross mismanagement of the organization by the entrenched leadership.

"Of course, there was no change in the status quo.... The same officials returned to their spots despite chronic malfeasance. Most shamefully, liberaltarian crybaby Dave Nalle was retained as an 'At Large' board member of the RLC. Although he abandoned the organization and the Republican Party publicly last year ... to support his “Republicans for Gary Johnson' organization, which, like all of Nalle’s endeavors, achieved bupkis for the cause of liberty. The Gary Johnson Presidential campaign that was, of course, an incredible embarrassment that set the movement back immeasurably....

"As bad as the RLC may be, that organization still cannot hold a candle to the Libertarian Party when it comes to shaming the cause.

"The Libertarian Party held its Libertarian State Leadership Association this past weekend.... Keep in mind, this is not some ordinary event.... This is the heart and soul of the party. Always aching to put its best foot forward, here is what the official party posted on Twitter from the conference:

• #LSLA2017: Keeping the Libertarian Party an unwelcome place for the #AltRight and Nazis.
• Using fully informed juries to protect minorities #LSLA2017 panel #FIJA

"Never fear, minorities! These white people are coming to save you.

"LP members, it is time for a reality check. The organization is already doing a good enough job of keeping people out of the party. That is the last thing the LP needs to focus upon. Nobody with any dignity or self-respect wants to be anywhere near your clown show.... None of these alt-right bogeymen are ever showing up. They are already part of an interesting and vibrant movement that is gaining steam, so why would they ever want to trade down to some laughable freak show?"

Shane Trejo is the Media Relations Director of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Michigan, State Director of the Michigan Tenth Amendment Center, and County Coordinator for Michigan Campaign for Liberty.

Read more: http://www.thelibertyconservative.com/revolution-squandered-national-libertarian-events-show-moribund-movement-last-legs/
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Ron Paul campaigning for Fed oversight board

Ron Paul Wants a Spot on Federal Reserve Board of Governors:

December 19, 2016 - "Ron Paul's group, Campaign for Liberty, is trying to get him a spot on the U.S. Federal Reserve's Board of Governors, a senior politics editor with the Huffington Post reports.

Sam Stein ‏@samsteinhp

Ron Paul’s group, Campaign for Liberty, is pushing to get Ron Paul nominated to the U.S. Federal Reserve's Board of Governors.

10:45 AM - 18 Dec 201

"Paul, a former GOP member of Congress from Texas, earlier this week criticized the Federal Reserve, saying it was manipulating the economy.

"'We do not work on a free-market principle, we do not have sound money, it's all manipulated,' he told Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business Network.

"'Prices are going to go up and the money's going to be so bent according to political reasons and not because of business decisions, so we want the government out of it. We want people to save money, create capital, but capital cannot come from the Federal Reserve working with a computer; that's the fallacy and that's why zero rates of interest didn't work because they weren't realistic.'

"The Board of Governors oversees the work of the Federal Reserve Banks and plays a major role in crafting U.S. monetary policy. There are seven members, all appointed by the president of the United States.

"Paul established Campaign for Liberty, his nonprofit political organization, during his presidential run in 2008 with the purpose of spreading his idea that the government should be limited in its role."

Read more: http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/ron-paul-federal-reserve-board-of-governors-campaign-for-liberty/2016/12/18/id/764560/
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Ron Paul coalition fragments in 2016

Where are all the Ron 'Paulite' libertarians in 2016? - Daniel Libit, CNBC:

April 14, 2016 - "Last month, Walter Block, a libertarian professor of economics and long-time acolyte of Ron Paul, pinched his nose and co-launched a group, Libertarians for Trump.... While he finds much of Trump's domestic agenda odious, Block very much likes Trump's noninterventionist foreign policy positions.

"Still, Block insists his group ... advocates only for Trump as the Republican nominee, and it intends to promptly disband after the primary. Then, Block said, even his vote is up for grabs. 'If it was Bernie [Sanders] versus Donald, I would vote for the Libertarian [Party candidate] for sure," he told CNBC.com. 'If it was Donald versus Hillary [Clinton], I would have a much harder time. I would have trouble deciding.'

"His conundrum is not unique among his kind. Four years after its political awakening, and in the absence of an obvious rallying point, the Ron Paul coalition finds itself in a diffuse, conflicted and confused diaspora. Paul's devotees .. are now erratically strewn across the political spectrum of the 2016 election, ... attaching themselves to Trump's populism, Ted Cruz's conservatism and even Sanders' socialism....

"The current state of the Paul coalition ... suggests ... its support had much more to do with Paul's outsiderism, than his libertarianism. It is this reality that dawned too late on the presidential campaign of his son, Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, who thought he could expand on his father's base of support by appealing to establishment Republicans as well as true libertarians ... the campaign's internal polls found that of Iowa voters who said they supported Ron Paul in 2012, only about a third identified generally as having libertarian leanings....

"Paul commits his time to leading the Campaign for Liberty and the Ron Paul Institute, a foreign policy nonprofit.... But perhaps Paul's greatest political legacy is Young Americans for Liberty, a libertarian student organization that Paul is not formally affiliated with, but which grew out of his 2008 presidential campaign. It currently counts 600 college chapters and 200,000-plus members....

"Cruz, despite Paul's withering criticisms, has arguably made the most consistent effort to attract his former supporters, even name-checking libertarians in his Iowa Caucus victory speech. Prior to Rand Paul dropping out of the race, Cruz had already snatched the support of Iowa state Sen. Jason Schultz, who endorsed Ron Paul in 2012, and Joel Kurtinitis, an activist who served as Paul's regional director. Cruz also won the endorsement of former Libertarian Party presidential candidate Bob Barr, who has gotten crosswise with Paul in the past....

"But at least one political organization sees a unique opportunity this election — the national Libertarian Party. 'This is a year where things are so uncertain, and where the two parties are split among themselves, that it could be a very big opportunity,' said Wes Benedict, the Libertarian Party's executive director. Past nominee Gary Johnson's 1,275,871 votes in 2012 represented a high-water mark for the party in its 44-year history....

"During the 2013 Virginia gubernatorial race, Libertarian Party candidate Robert Sarvis ended with almost 7 percent of the vote, the most a third-party candidate has netted in the South since 1970.

"Immediately after Rand Paul's exit from this year's nominating contest, the Libertarian Party saw notable spikes in new donors, according to figures provided to CNBC.com. The party is on the ballot in 32 states (and Washington, D.C.) — the most of any third-party — and Benedict says he's confident it will be on all states' ballots for November."

Read more: http://www.cnbc.com/2016/04/14/where-are-all-the-ron-paulite-libertarians-in-2016.html
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Paul draws libertarian flak over Tom Cotton letter

Why Real Libertarians Hate Rand Paul - The Daily Beast - Olivia Nuzzi:

March 20, 2015 -  "Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) penned an open letter to 'the leaders of the Islamic Republic of Iran.' The letter stated, rather condescendingly, that Iranian leaders 'do not fully understand our constitutional system.' Soon a new president would be in office, Cotton wrote, and that president could (if Republican, would) 'revoke' any executive agreement President Obama signs.

"Cotton, a neoconservative ... opposes U.S. engagement with Iran, and he has previously expressed a desire to halt any dialogue between the two countries over Iran’s nuclear program. 'The end of these negotiations isn’t an unintended consequence of congressional action,' Cotton told the Heritage Foundation in January. 'It is very much an intended consequence. A feature, not a bug, so to speak.'

"Paul has historically favored the negotiations Cotton seeks to stop. In 2012, he objected to new sanctions on Iran. In January, as his likely Republican primary competitors Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio warned of the threat of a nuclear Iran, Paul appeared skeptical.... Paul’s position on Iran has always been closer to Obama’s than to that of his fellow Senate Republicans — until March 9, when he joined 47 of his fellow Senate Republicans in signing the letter.

"'This is more than a flip-flop. This is a backflip,' Justin Raimondo, the editorial director of Antiwar.com, told me on Wednesday. 'This was the last straw. I’ve put up with a lot from that guy! I’ve had to defend him like a Jesuit. I’m done. Let somebody else do it'....

"Raimondo acknowledges that he was much like many of the other Paul supporters I’ve spoken to: not entirely satisfied with the senator but willing to tolerate him if it meant hearing some of what Raimondo believed expressed on the national stage. 'I thought he was going to start a real debate about foreign policy in this country, and I thought he was a reasonably principled yet pragmatic politician,' Raimondo said. 'And now, apparently he’s just a panderer who would do anything to please people who hate him anyway and will continue to hate him no matter what he does — even if he changes his last name'....

"'He is taking his base for granted,' Raimondo complained.... 'I think he’s counting on the organizational muscle of the Ron Paul groups like the Campaign for Liberty [and] Young Americans for Liberty — but these are libertarians! They don’t take orders from the central committee!'....

"'It’s curious,' Christopher Preble, the vice president for defense and foreign policy studies at the libertarian Cato Institute, said of Paul’s decision. 'There’s a certain level of disappointment and surprise,' he said, but 'it’s not unique to libertarians'...  Overall, Preblo said, the Iran letter is 'just sort of embarrassing'....

"Jack Hunter, a reliable Paul defender and co-author of his first book, told me: 'I don’t necessarily agree with him signing the letter. I guess he has his reasons.' He acknowledged the letter was 'perhaps' a departure from the senator’s pro-negotiation position."

Read more: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2015/03/20/why-libertarians-hate-rand-paul.html
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The libertarian network behind Rand Paul

The Libertarian Network That Rand Paul Hasn’t Walked Away From And Can’t Totally Control - BuzzFeed News - Rosie Gray & Kate Nocera:

February 22, 2015 "Last month, Rand Paul greeted a crowd of like-minded supporters: gun-rights enthusiasts with a libertarian bent in New Hampshire, the state where the Republican senator seems most likely to chase presidential primary votes.

"Event organizers wouldn’t let press into the event, devoted to guns, but reporters were able to see Paul greeting supporters in a black letterman-style jacket bearing the letters “NAGR.”
The acronym stands for National Association for Gun Rights — an alternative group to the behemoth National Rifle Association, the group that NAGR says just isn’t committed enough to the Second Amendment.

"Paul routinely signs his name to their mailers. He’s helped fundraise for the group on conference calls. But NAGR is just one of the wide network of libertarian activist groups that Paul remains aligned with, even as he prepares for a presidential bid this year.

The informal network of groups — NAGR, the Campaign for Liberty, the National Pro-life Alliance, and the National League of Taxpayers — are something of a holdover from Paul’s more libertarian purist father. The groups operate independently from one another and from Paul, but their connections to the family run deep. Their activists provided a foundation of operative support for Ron Paul’s presidential campaigns. But they didn’t stop when the elder Paul retired: The groups fundraise aggressively and many have used Rand Paul’s name to solicit donations and raise their profile....

"Voters on their massive distribution lists get communications with Paul’s name or messages signed by him, gaining exposure and a fundraising base for him. An email from the National League of Taxpayers for example, will go out under Paul’s name and ask supporters to sign a petition supporting a balanced budget amendment and then say contributions to the group are “urgently needed.”

"Rand Paul’s connection to the network is no real secret — the libertarian groups were the subject of stories from reporters like David Weigel and others last year. The question in many of those stories was the same: If and when would the senator walk away from the groups.

"A year later, the answer seems clear: Rand Paul isn’t walking away from the groups, and they’ll continue to use his name on their promotional materials, even if he can’t control what they do."

Read more: http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/the-libertarian-network-that-rand-paul-hasnt-walked-away-fro
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Young Americans flock to liberty-leaning groups

Pro-liberty generation: Limited government groups grow in OR and beyond « Watchdog.org - Shelby Sebens, Northwest Watchdog:

May 9, 2013 - "Meet the new pro-liberty, limited-government generation, frustrated with the establishment and, maybe, a burgeoning trend.

"As more young people buck the traditional college political groups in favor of liberty-minded organizations, an older generation of libertarian and conservative politicos is taking notice....

"Ashley Greenacre is a sophomore at Oregon State University who  started Libertas, a freedom focused group named after the Roman Goddess of liberty. The national Campaign for Liberty, which focuses on holding government accountable to the U.S. Constitution, helped to entice Greenacre....

"The fast-growing national group Young Americans for Liberty began in 2008 as Students for Ron Paul and has grown to nearly 400 chapters nationwide and about 125,000 activists, YAL communications director Bonnie Kristian said....

"The Western Liberty Network, a nonprofit education organization focused on training at the grassroots level, is holding a 'passing the torch' youth conference May 24-25 at the Valley River Inn in Eugene. The event is $50, including breakfast and lunch but financial assistance and registration scholarships are available. Students selected for the registration scholarships are also eligible for travel and lodging assistance."

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John Tate of Campaign for Liberty explains libertarianism's appeal

John Tate of Campaign for Liberty explains libertarianism's appeal | Washington Times Communities interview by Joseph Cotto:

"FLORIDA, January 30, 2013 — Libertarianism has found tremendous success across our country over the last several years. Right now, that seems unlikely to change.

"At the crest of this political tidal wave has been the Campaign for Liberty. Founded by former U.S. Representative Ron Paul during the 2008 election cycle, it has grown into a formidable organization. With the guiding mission of informing Americans about Constitution-related issues, it has found a considerable degree of popularity among younger voters.

"In this first part of our discussion, John F. Tate, the Campaign’s president, explains how libertarianism came to find support among American voters, his opinion of what the Ron Paul movement’s most important accomplishment is, whether or not he expects social libertarianism to gain prominence, if libertarianism appeals to those with left-of-center views, and more.   "

Read interview here: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/conscience-realist/2013/jan/30/asking-john-tate-why-do-so-many-americans-libertar/
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Ron Paul Republicans win House races

Ron Paul Republicans win House races | The Daily Caller - W. James Antle III:

November 7, 2012 -  "Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul will retire from Congress next year after serving for 12 terms, but several Republicans influenced by the iconic libertarian-leaning lawmaker will be arriving to take his place.

"Thomas Massie won the race to replace retiring Kentucky Republican Rep. Geoff Davis, beating Democrat Bill Adkins by 20 percentage points. Massie, an ally of Paul’s son, Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, raised nearly 10 times as much money as Adkins, according to the Lexington Herald-Leader.

"Michigan Republican Rep. Justin Amash, who was already vying to be the House’s next 'Dr. No' in his first term, was re-elected with 58 percent of the vote....

"In a neighboring Michigan district, Ron Paul Republican Kerry Bentivolio was elected to the House seat formerly held by GOP Rep. Thaddeus McCotter....

"Many other candidates endorsed by Ron and Rand Paul, as well as Paul-influenced organizations like Campaign for Liberty, were on the ballot Tuesday, including Texas Sen.-elect Ted Cruz. But these three Republicans most self-consciously identified with the Pauls’ calls for deep spending cuts, auditing the Federal Reserve, and a more restrained foreign policy.

"They all raised money from Paul’s vast national network of donors, which helped them remain competitive in their primaries and the general election."

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/07/ron-paul-republicans-win-house-races/
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Ron Paul's Political Director Jesse Benton Quits Campaign for Liberty - Hit & Run : Reason.com

Ron Paul's Political Director Jesse Benton Quits Campaign for Liberty - Hit & Run : Reason.com, Brian Doherty:

September 11 - "Jesse Benton, Rep Ron Paul's controversial political director and the de facto guy in charge of the political end of the Ron Paul operation (though never officially the "campaign manager") has left the position in the larger Paul machine he held between the 2008 and 2012 runs, senior vice president of the Campaign for Liberty. (Benton also managed Rand Paul's winning Senate campaign in 2010 in the interim.)"

Benton said ... in his public resignation letter to Campaign for Liberty president, and Paul 2012's official campaign manager, John Tate: "After much soul searching, I have decided that my passion lies in direct electoral politics, and I plan to work on campaigns.... It is therefore with a heavy heart that I write to tell you that I will not rejoin Campaign for Liberty’s staff this fall....

"Benton is also married to Paul's granddaughter Valori Pyeatt."

Read more: http://reason.com/blog/2012/09/11/ron-pauls-political-director-jesse-bento
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