Independent thinkers like myself and my readers often have a difficult time choosing whom to vote for. Neither national party truly serves the interests of liberty and individualism. Both are much more interested in maintaining their grip on power than in serving the interests of the country. Both parties stay in office by catering to special interests. The only difference is the particular special interests in question.

There is an exception, however. His name is Ron Paul, a congressman from Texas. He is officially registered as a Republican, and unsurprisingly is not popular with Democrats. However, the Republican leadership hates him as well. In fact, they hate him so much they have supported Democrats running against him. A brief overview of Congressman Paul’s record should make it easy to see why:

  • He has never voted to raise taxes.
  • He has never voted for an unbalanced budget.
  • He has never voted for a federal restriction on gun ownership.
  • He has never voted to raise congressional pay.
  • He has never taken a government-paid junket.
  • He has never voted to increase the power of the executive branch.
  • He voted against the Patriot Act.
  • He voted against regulating the Internet.
  • He voted against the Iraq war.
  • He voted against funding for thinning of national forests
  • He voted against funding a web site promoting storing nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain.
  • He does not participate in the lucrative congressional pension program.
  • He returns a portion of his annual congressional office budget to the U.S. treasury every year.
  • Congressman Paul introduces numerous pieces of substantive legislation each year, probably more than any single member of Congress.

If you are a Blue-Dog Democrat who wants out of Iraq, but is worried about handing the financial reins to the current Democratic front-runners, you should consider Ron Paul. If you are a Republican who thinks the party has lost its way with its massive spending, its war on civil liberties, the disastrous war in Iraq, and its culture of corruption and incompetence, you should consider Ron Paul. If you are an independent who is tired of having to choose between the bad candidate and the even-worse candidate, you should consider Ron Paul. In my mind, he is the only honest man left in Washington.

Over the past decade we have seen a staggering increase in the power of our government over every aspect of our lives. The results speak for themselves. It is plain that the government does not deserve the trust that it has been given. Ron Paul is the only major candidate who is committed to returning that power to the people.

Whatever your political affiliation, I urger you to give him a look. Check out his voting history, his politics, and his character, and make up your own mind. Then pass his name on. Whether or not you choose to support him in the end, his is a message that needs to be heard.