Author: Adam Dick

In a recent interview at CNN, David Stockman, who is a Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board member and was director of the Office of Management and Budget during the Reagan administration, critiqued the Trump administration for pushing militarism and the drug war that fuel the problems they are supposedly fighting.

Stockman explains that “we’re bombing, droning, we’ve destroyed the whole Middle East,” resulting in blowback against Americans, increased terrorism, and the creation of refugees. He further criticizes the immediate Trump administration action to expand the militarism inherited from the Obama administration – instead of curtailing it – by “huffing and puffing” toward, and “drawing red lines” regarding, Iran. Stockman succinctly summarizes the problem: “We have too many wars.”

Continue reading “David Stockman Challenges Trump Administration’s Militarism: Video”

US House Member Justin Amash (R-MI) announced Wednesday on Twitter that the Obama administration has agreed to the request Amash and fellow House Member Walter Jones (R-NC) made to President Barack Obama on December 19 that a classified briefing be provided for all Congress members concerning evidence being used to support claims that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 US presidential election to help Donald Trump’s campaign.

Amash says in his Twitter post that the briefing will occur on Friday.

While Amash and Jones requested that the briefing take place immediately, it is scheduled to occur almost a month after their request. Indeed, the briefing will occur too late to assist Congress members in taking part in deciding whether or not actions should be taken against Russia in response to purported election interference, given that Obama imposed responsive US actions against Russia, including the expelling of 35 Russia diplomats, two weeks ago.

Walter Jones is a Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board member.

Reprinted from The Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity. Massie is a member of the Ron Paul Institute.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) has plans to bring a congressional delegation to Russia. Rohrabacher is quoted in a Wednesday article by Robert Costa in the Washington Post as saying a purpose of the trip is to discuss with Russian officials “how we can work with the Duma.” The Duma is a legislative body of the Russian government.

Rohrabacher, as chairman of the Europe, Eurasia, and Emerging Threats Subcommittee of the Foreign Affairs Committee, has a significant role in the United States House of Representatives regarding US relations with Russia. In this position, Rohrabacher has on occasion forcefully made the case for easing tensions between the US and Russia. For example, in March of 2015, Rohrabacher, speaking during a meeting of the subcommittee concerning Ukraine, criticized the US government’s effort “to basically defeat and humiliate Russia.” He argued that the US goal should instead be “to do what is right by Ukraine and bring peace to Ukraine.”

Continue reading “Rep. Dana Rohrabacher Goes to Moscow”

“I think it’s politics more than anything else,” says former House of Representatives Member Ron Raul (R-TX) regarding calls for an investigation of purported hacking by the Russian government influencing the United States presidential election. Interviewed Wednesday on Fox Business, Paul continues that, even if Russia did what is alleged, Paul does not think it “made any difference.”

Paul — providing perspective on the matter — notes that the US government is interfering with elections around the world “all the time.” Paul also suggests reviewing the history of US government involvement in foreign countries, including “how many countries we invaded, how many people we have killed in order to have our guy in.” Looking to this history, Paul concludes, “we don’t have much room for condemning anybody else.”

Watch here a clip from the interview, in which Paul also comments regarding the Texas member of the Electoral College who cast a vote for Paul for president on Monday:

Speaking this week with host Kennedy at Fox Business, US House Member Thomas Massie (R-KY) insisted that Donald Trump’s performance as president should be judged according to whether Trump adheres to the nonaggression principle that Massie describes as “the heart of libertarian principles.” Massie proceeded in the interview to define briefly the nonaggression principle as that “you don’t attack somebody if they don’t attack you.”

Massie volunteered that the thing he is most optimistic about with Trump having won the presidency “is we’re not going to war with Russia.” Massie continued that such a war may have been in the future if Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton had won the election. Further, Massie expressed optimism regarding some of Trump’s Cabinet choices, saying, “I wouldn’t call any of them libertarian yet, but, on the spectrum of smaller government or bigger government, I personally know some of them and they’re definitely small-government-type people.”

Continue reading “GOP Rep. Thomas Massie: Judge President Trump on Adherence to Nonaggression Principle”

During consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in the spring, the proposal that women be required to sign up with Selective Service just as are men started on a roller coaster ride in the United States Congress. That ride had a couple more turns this week. On Tuesday, a United States Senate and House of Representatives conference committee, which was creating a compromise version of the NDAA because the two bodies had passed differing bills, released a final bill that leaves out such a requirement. Then, on Thursday, the Obama administration announced support for requiring women to register with Selective Service.

If women are mandated to register with Selective Service, then the expectation would be that women are in the pool of people for drafting into the military if conscription is reintroduced in America. Thus, such a mandate in the NDAA or other legislation may be viewed as a women draft provision.

In the spring, a women draft provision was added to the House version of the NDAA in a peculiar way. Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) proposed the requirement during House Armed Services Committee consideration of the bill. Hunter said he did so to start a debate regarding the ongoing expansion of women’s involvement in US military combat, which he opposes. But, then, the committee voted on April 27 to approve the requirement, with Hunter voting against his own proposal.

Continue reading “The ‘Draft Women’ Legislation Roller Coaster Ride”