[Peace-discuss] road trip to Iowa for Ron Paul?

[Carl G. Estabrook]

Bob--

I wouldn't be able to participate but I would contribute/fund-raise  
for the effort.

The difference between Paul and the other Republican candidates (and  
Obama) on war issues couldn't be more obvious. I'm delighted to see  
that you're doing something about it.

The two most important things the federal government does is kill  
people and transfer wealth from the majority to the rich.

The Obama administration has proved itself even more brutal and  
efficient at those tasks than its predecessor. It has expanded wars in  
the Mideast and Africa, and has conducted a good-cop/bad-cop charade  
on government spending with the Republicans to attack social supports.  
And the beneficiaries of Obama's policies are the 1%, whose wealth has  
increased at an accelerating rate, even after the financial crisis -  
as more and more Americans are coming to recognize.

Ron Paul of course votes consistently against Obama's wars, on ethical  
and political grounds. And he commendably voted against Obama's  
mendacious debt deal.

Unfortunately, on economic policy Paul is a notorious believer in the  
debt and deficit malarkey peddled by both parties. What Paul believes  
as a matter of "libertarian" conviction is being used by others -  
often cynically - to scare Americans into accepting the elite's  
austerity program. (Wealth is so concentrated in America that an  
emergency tax of 15% on investable assets over $1 million would make  
the deficit disappear  - and 99% of American would not be subject to  
the tax.)

Nevertheless Paul votes correctly - against both the wars and the debt  
deal - and is the only major party candidate to do so.

Best wishes for your efforts,

Carl


On Nov 15, 2011, at 8:21 PM, Robert Naiman wrote:

> In December 2003/January 2004 - when I was a graduate student - I
> spent the winter break in Ames, Iowa, as a volunteer for Kucinich,
> coordinating the campaign in Ames.
>
> I am thinking of doing something similar now - for Ron Paul.
>
> The Iowa Republican caucus is essentially an open primary. You just
> have to show up, register as a Republican, and then you can vote.
>
> A new Bloomberg poll shows that the race is a four way statistical
> tie: Cain, Paul, Romney, Gingrich.
>
> This means that any mobilization effort could tip the balance.
>
> What if we got a group of people from C-U, picked a target where we
> thought we could be useful (the Kucinich campaign sent me to Ames
> because it's a campus town), rented an apartment for a month, and
> worked on mobilizing peace voters for the caucus on January 3?
>
> -- 
> Robert Naiman
> Policy Director
> Just Foreign Policy
> www.justforeignpolicy.org
> naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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