Libertarians purport to believe in the autonomy of individuals, not communities. A consistent libertarian would find X equally objectionable whether it is a national, state or local government that does it.
I believe his position seems to be that in the constitution the states should have the power to decide for themselves in many matters.
I feel like I have a larger voice on the state level than the national. Also, if things don’t turn out how I like, it is much easier to move to a state that seems to share the same values as me than move to a different country.
He’s the sponsor of HR 300, which would deny the Supreme Court and other federal courts any jurisdiction over
If I’m reading that right, Alabama could pass a law proclaiming the Southern Baptist Church to be the Established Church of the State of Alabama and be immune from any challenge (based on the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution) in any federal court. Conversely, the State of Alabama could outlaw the practice of Southern Baptism without being subject to any check by the federal courts, as the bill would strip the federal courts from jurisdiction over free exercise as well as establishment of religion cases. A state could also outlaw abortion or bring back sodomy laws.
Ron Paul has sponsored a “Health Freedom Protection Act” which would substantially gut the FDA’s already limited authority to protect consumers against quackery in the dietary supplement industry. Basically, his legislation would shift the burden of proof on unsubstantiated health claims to the FDA.
Paul’s website also lists this statement:
“The government should never have the power to require immunizations or vaccinations.”
Yes, he’s an antivax loon who’d put our children at risk in the name of “health freedom”.
He’s a doctor (ob/gyn) so I wouldn’t so quickly dismiss his views. I don’t know enough about the FDA situation to have an opinion, but I certainly agree with not requiring vaccinations at a federal level.
Ideologue first, doctor second. (Would Howard Dean’s views be equally persuasive?)
Why is contagious disease a problem that’s any different from one state to another?
I’ve known more than a few Libertarians who were anti-choice, and I never understood the logical headstands they did to make that fit in with the rest of their views.
Most Libertarians seem to be against the death penalty. Speaking from a strictly logical view, if you don’t believe it’s ok for the state to kill people, wouldn’t unborn people fall under the category of “people?”
No, he screamed, so his opinion is worthless now.
Different states have different climates and populations. Take this Influenza map for example: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/weekly/weeklyarchives2006-2007/images/usmap05_small.jpg
The Paul statement demonstrates opposition to “government” mandating of vaccines, not just the federal government. In this video he again suggests that he views mandatory vaccination as unacceptable government coercion and makes ignorant statements about vaccination and public health.
You can be a physician and express moronic views about health for political expediency or other reasons, as in the case of a noted ex-Republican leader (Bill Frist) who confidently diagnosed a coma patient’s supposedly improved mental status from a video (later it was found at autopsy that her brain had markedly atrophied and the alleged improvements were not possible).
Paul has thrown in his lot with alternative medicine wingnuts on the cited issues.
Favorable in the sense of picking it apart and making it look nothing like the proposal. Then it has to get thru the Senate. Good luck with that.
Not to mention that a president can’t pass any laws to begin with. 
So someone shows up at JFK airport from sub-Saharan Africa and cannot produce a certificate showing that he’s been vaccinated against Yellow Fever. You think he should be let in the country?
Except that the “state” isn’t performing abortions, nor sentancing people to have them done.
Back to the OP, has anyone else noticed an inordinate amount of vandalism being done by the Ron Paul campaign in their areas? By vandalism, I mean spray-painting (not chalking) Ron Paul slogans on sidewalks, covering local street signs with Ron Paul signs, etc. I’ve noticed this in multiple states, and if I didn’t already think Ron Paul was batshit insane I was certainly turned off when I saw those.
Have I seen the exceptions, or the results of a few bad apples on the Ron Paul campaign, or have others noticed this as well?
I think you’re mainly seeing the few bad apples. The thing is with the Paul campaign is that the “hardcore” followers are probably 10 times as hardcore as that of any other candidate. At lot of the more level headed Paul supporters have written open letters on blogs and such trying to get these folks to tone it down a notch or two, but I doubt it will sink in.
I have to be honest, there are a number of positions that Ron Paul seems to hold that seem to be pretty close to how I see many issues.
Having said that the issues that I disagree with him on, I disagree so strongly, that I could never in good conscience vote for him. The idea of returning to the gold standard, for one; his position on vaccination, for another.
I fully expect to end up voting for whomever wins the Democratic primary process, but I refuse to take part in that. I distrust both major parties, and refuse to give either my allegiance.
Free Range Otter, I’ve seen a number of hand-made signs, but no tagging or vandalism.
I would seriously consider voting for Ron Paul if not for the fact that he was insane. And when I say “insane”, I mean that according to the English-language definition, not the more common usage which holds that anyone who disagrees with the speaker is “insane”. For instance, Ron Paul honestly believes in the NAFTA Superhighway, which is in roughly the same plausability category as UN black helicopters and plots to take away our guns.
I’d never heard of this thing. So I just did a quick Google search for it.
Here’s Ron Paul’s own newsletter article about it.
I thought the guy was insane before this, of course. But… :eek:
I have several friend’s who are anti-vax nutjobs, and none of their children have smallpox.