# I think Ron Paul could pull it off **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 15, 2011, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343 "2011-12-15T21:37:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![mweb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@mweb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mweb)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/241 "2012-01-06T17:36:26Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > His general ideas on foreign policy are stupid but probably better than our current militaristic stance. Cut what spending? Cut taxes, seriously? OK the war on drugs has gotten out of hand, we should legalize pot make most other drugs at least prescription based. I disagree that they’re stupid. His foreign policy itself would cut a great deal of spending. Domestically, their is certainly some fat that can be trimmed. Yeah, once you cut a ton of spending, you can cut taxes. I wouldn’t advocate cutting taxes otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/242 "2012-01-06T17:37:22Z")
> [@mweb](#): > > Context is key as well, and he is pointing out an irony in that a lot of people want foreigners to be more likely to be checked out intensely at airports (not Paul), but the people who do the checking are more likely to be 1st or 2nd generation immigrants. He’s saying it’s ironic that people who “don’t look very American” are the ones doing the security screening. He’s not pointing out an irony in what people _want_. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/243 "2012-01-06T17:38:30Z")
> [@mweb](#): > > Domestically, their is certainly some fat that can be trimmed. This gets repeated again and again (I’m not singling you out, **mweb** ; it’s a constant refrain of the Tea Party, among others). I’d love to see a specific enumeration of what in the federal budget is “fat”. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/244 "2012-01-06T18:18:45Z")
What a difference when the thread’s title is changed from “Ron” to “Ru.” ---
**Author:** ![mweb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@mweb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mweb)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/245 "2012-01-06T18:19:57Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > He’s saying it’s ironic that people who “don’t look very American” are the ones doing the security screening. He’s not pointing out an irony in what people _want_. That’s your interpretation. I disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/246 "2012-01-06T18:20:30Z")
> [@mweb](#): > > That’s your interpretation. It’s not an interpretation, _it’s what he said_. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/247 "2012-01-06T18:25:16Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > What a difference when the thread’s title is changed from “Ron” to “Ru.” It makes no difference. Both Pauls have an equal chance of “pulling it off” in the sense of being elected President. ---
**Author:** ![mweb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@mweb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mweb)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/248 "2012-01-06T18:29:22Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > This gets repeated again and again (I’m not singling you out, **mweb** ; it’s a constant refrain of the Tea Party, among others). I’d love to see a specific enumeration of what in the federal budget is “fat”. Well ending the war on drugs would both generate and save considerable money. As far as specific examples from the budget, I would have to really analyze it. But it’s not like we don’t often hear about government waste in terms of spending. I’m guessing that lots of the people that repeat it again and again would point to some or many of the social programs. I would have to further look into those, but I suspect there can be reductions. I don’t claim to be anywhere near an expert on the budget. But with the deficit continually increasing, it seems that some reductions in spending have to occur. I’m not saying it would be easy to make the decisions on what to cut or that it wouldn’t hurt to cut some of these things. Hard decisions need to be made, though. ---
**Author:** ![mweb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@mweb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mweb)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/249 "2012-01-06T18:30:34Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s not an interpretation, _it’s what he said_. Ok, so there’s only way to interpret people’s attempts to make points. Got it. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/250 "2012-01-06T18:38:13Z")
> [@mweb](#): > > Ok, so there’s only way to interpret people’s attempts to make points. Got it. As long as you’re suggesting he might’ve meant something he plainly did not say, why not suggest he was actually talking about his favorite pancake recipe? Here’s what he said, with italics added: “We quadrupled the TSA, you know, and hired more people who look more suspicious _to me_ than most Americans who are getting checked,” he says. “Most of them are, well, you know, they just don’t look very American _to me_. If I’d have been looking, they look suspicious … I mean, a lot of them can’t even speak English, hardly. Not that I’m accusing them of anything, but it’s sort of ironic.” He says TWICE that he is talking about how those people look TO HIM. He is not commenting on the irony of how the hiring composition of the TSA compares to the types of people consumers want investigated. He is saying HE THINKS it’s ironic that the TSA has hired people who “don’t look very American” and “can’t even speak English” to conduct security at airports because those people look more suspicious than the Americans who get investigated. This isn’t a matter of interpretation. It’s a question of reading what he said. ---
**Author:** ![Terraplane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@Terraplane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terraplane)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/251 "2012-01-06T18:40:32Z")
> [@mweb](#): > > Umm, did he specify black? I don’t think so. > > Context is key as well, and he is pointing out an irony in that a lot of people want foreigners to be more likely to be checked out intensely at airports (not Paul), but the people who do the checking are more likely to be 1st or 2nd generation immigrants. So it’s not my fault you can’t understand the point. A reminder that Ron Paul said these people look un-American _to him_. Ron Paul himself, in his own words, said that _he_, Dr. Ron Paul, thinks they look un-American. Please explain to me how 1st or 2nd generation immigrants in a TSA uniform look un-American. How many generations will it take before they start to look American? How would you tell them apart from real Americans, and what criteria do you think Paul is using? ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/252 "2012-01-06T18:40:48Z")
> [@mweb](#): > > But with the deficit continually increasing, The deficit isn’t continuously increasing. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/253 "2012-01-06T18:42:33Z")
I’d love to see him whip it out and pull it off. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/254 "2012-01-06T18:46:44Z")
> [@mweb](#): > > Well ending the war on drugs would both generate and save considerable money. How “considerable” that would be depends on how one calculates the the societal cost of a potential increase in legalized drug use, including the cost of law enforcement to handle additional crimes committed in order to get money for drugs. I’m not saying that decriminalizing some aspects of drug use is a concept that totally lacks merit. I am dubious that we’ll save and/or generate gobs of money that way (I suspect drug lords/smugglers will have some say about the degree to which their product will be superseded by any legally produced drugs). It is also questionable to claim that drug laws in total are racist; one could easily argue that “ending the war on drugs” is likely to have some detrimental effects on minorities. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/255 "2012-01-06T18:47:16Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > I’d love to see him whip it out and pull it off. What, his Fountainhead? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/256 "2012-01-06T18:47:55Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > What, his Fountainhead? His fake eyebrow? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/257 "2012-01-06T18:51:19Z")
> [@mweb](#): > > But with the deficit continually increasing, Not this again. The deficit has decreased every year under Obama, and the first year was lower than the last Bush budget. It’s not very high right now, historically, when calculated as percent of GDP. See the charts at [Deficit charts](http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/federal_deficit_chart.html). The \*\*debt \*\*is increasing, as it must whenever there is a deficit of any size. Even if you got the deficit down to a dollar, the debt would increase. Therefore, you’re not only wrong on the basics you’re also wrong on the argument. A very real economic argument to be made that \*\*increased \*\*spending during a recession is the best policy. You can dispute that and argue that real cuts need to be made, but you need to specify those cuts: anybody who uses the meaningless talking point about government waste - no real economist thinks that waste is a significant percentage of a $2.7 trillion budget - doesn’t deserve to be listened to. Similarly, anybody who claims that the deficit is too large or that the debt is increasing by just looking at a number doesn’t deserve to be listened to because that number - like all numbers - has meaning only in a context, and that context is how to revive the economy at this particular time. Most people don’t understand either economics or government. Those are difficult subjects. Making an argument about something you don’t know even the most basic points of by repeating someone else’s talking points is certain failure. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/258 "2012-01-06T19:34:09Z")
“Gov. Romney makes a good point questioning whether I might be too old to be President. But can a really old guy do this!” ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/259 "2012-01-06T19:54:58Z")
> [@mweb](#): > > Umm, did he specify black? I don’t think so. He probably didn’t mean black, he probably meant not white. > [@](#): > > Context is key as well, and he is pointing out an irony in that a lot of people want foreigners to be more likely to be checked out intensely at airports (not Paul), but the people who do the checking are more likely to be 1st or 2nd generation immigrants. So it’s not my fault you can’t understand the point. > > I asked for different links to thinks you said without backing up. That was clear. It’s not my fault you haven’t provided them. You seem to be deliberately misreading what Ron Paul said. I haven’t seen evidence of him saying that whites are superior to minorities but he was saying that brown skinned people don’t look American to him, while white people do. > [@kenobi\_65](#): > > This gets repeated again and again (I’m not singling you out, **mweb** ; it’s a constant refrain of the Tea Party, among others). I’d love to see a specific enumeration of what in the federal budget is “fat”. Ron Paul has been pretty specific about what he would cut. He would cut a LOT fo the defense department, he would virtually eliminate all social programs and all departments outside of state, treasury and defense. > [@mweb](#): > > That’s your interpretation. I disagree. Its not a matter of interpretation. Its a matter of reading comprehension. > [@mweb](#): > > Ok, so there’s only way to interpret people’s attempts to make points. Got it. People are not arguing the point that Paul was trying to make, they are saying that when you say that the folks don’t look American to him, what is it that made him think they didn’t look American? > [@Jackmannii](#): > > How “considerable” that would be depends on how one calculates the the societal cost of a potential increase in legalized drug use, including the cost of law enforcement to handle additional crimes committed in order to get money for drugs. > > I’m not saying that decriminalizing some aspects of drug use is a concept that totally lacks merit. I am dubious that we’ll save and/or generate gobs of money that way (I suspect drug lords/smugglers will have some say about the degree to which their product will be superseded by any legally produced drugs). It is also questionable to claim that drug laws in total are racist; one could easily argue that “ending the war on drugs” is likely to have some detrimental effects on minorities. Minorities picked up for possession are convicted at three times the rate of whites picked up for possession, perhaps not racist in intent but perhaps racist in execution and certainly racist in effect. If they legalized recreational drugs, Carlos Escobar will not be controlling the manufacture and distribution of these drugs, Merck and CVS will. Perhaps some drug dealers will go legit but then they will in fact be as legit as all the bootleggers who went legit after prohibition. I can point to all sorts of social ills associated with alcohol, especially on the minority community and noone is trying to reinstate prohibition for the sake of the minorities. We’ve been down this road before. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343/260 "2012-01-06T20:56:48Z")
Don’t be too hasty! One benefit of the war on drugs? Check emergency room admissions for marijuana overdose. They are _waaaay_ down! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343.md?page=12) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-think-ron-paul-could-pull-it-off/606343.md?page=14)