Paul supporters boo Boehner, decry establishment-favoring rules changes

By Jonathan Terbush/Raw Story

Irked by changes to the presidential nominating process that will make future contests more favorable to establishment candidates like Mitt Romney, Ron Paul backers at the Republican convention loudly booed House Speaker John Boehner as he presided over the final adoption of those rules on the convention floor.

Though not as fractious as some had anticipated—Paul supporters had talked of staging a little rebellion and trying to nominate Paul  from the floor at the convention—the spat highlighted the divided nature of the party just as the presidential race hits the home stretch.

The divide centered around several changes to the nominating process pushed through Fridayat a meeting of the powerful Rules Committee by Romney’s top legal advisor, Ben Ginsberg, that were designed to make it more difficult for an insurgent campaign to secure delegates en route to the convention. The changes dictated that delegates be bound to vote in accordance with the results of state primaries and caucuses, thus limiting the ability of candidates to boost their support later on at state conventions.

Paul lagged significantly at the polls, but his supporters quietly worked behind the scenes to propel their chosen delegates into the mix, meaning that he could have more support on the convention floor than he enjoyed at the ballot box. The new changes effectively nixed that strategy for future campaigns, drawing the ire of Paul supporters, activists and other conservatives who said the change would limit grassroots campaigns.

On top of that, the Republican National Committee also barred twenty Paul supporters from Maine from serving as delegates, saying that their election violated party rules.

Fast forward to Tuesday, where Boehner stood before the convention and put the new rules up for a voice vote to all the assembled delegates. Though both the ayes and nays boomed as loud as each other, Boehner quickly said the rules were adopted and moved right along, prompting a chorus of boos and chants of, “Shame on you.”

Paul himself has been hesitant to embrace his party during what is otherwise a tightly choreographed, unanimous show of party loyalty and fervency. He declined to speak at the convention, claiming organizers offered him a speaking gig on the condition that he let them vet his speech and that he offer a full endorsement of Romney. In an interview with the New York Times, he said he doesn’t “fully endorse” Romney’s candidacy, and later told Fox News that he was unsure if he would even vote for him.

GOP Rep. Ron Paul Admits He Takes Social Security, Which He Once Likened To Slavery

By Pat Garofalo/Think Progress

Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), a libertarian hero, last year said that allowing Social Security to exist is akin to permitting slavery. But during an appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe today, Paul admitted to the Huffington Post’s Sam Stein that he collects Social Security checks anyway:

STEIN: A bit of a personal question then, are you on Social Security? Do you get Social Security checks?

PAUL: I do.

STEIN: Well, I mean, is there — you just told younger generations that they should ween themselves off this social contract.

PAUL: That is true.

STEIN: But you haven’t done it yourself…Don’t you think you chould have set a good example for the future generations. You’re not the wealthiest man in congress, I know that, but you have enough means to take care of yourself in retirement…Couldn’t you have set an example?

PAUL: No. I think the programs are so designed, just as I use the post office too, I use government highways, I do that too, I use the banks, the federal reserve system, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t work to remove this in the same way on Social Security.

Watch it:

Paul is, of course, not the only conservative to benefit from government programs that he or she opposes. But his crankish view of the Constitution has brought him to the conclusion that Social Security is altogether unconstitutional, which also hasn’t stopped him from collecting benefits.

Ron Paul on endorsing Romney: ‘No way!’

By Eric W. Dolan/Raw Story

Although his son Rand has endorsed Mitt Romney, Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) said Tuesday that he has no plans of doing so himself.

“Well, it looks like he has the delegates, yes,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer. “But he doesn’t have the control of the hearts and minds of the people.

“And right now, a lot of people — a lot of delegate who are pledged to vote for Romney are actually very strong supporters of ours and will be strongly supporting us when we want to put things into the platform to say, hey, we don’t need another war,” Paul continued. “Yes, we do need to audit the Federal Reserve. Yes, we ought to really cut spending.”

“I take it you’re not yet ready yourself to endorse Romney, are you?” Blitzer asked.

“No, not really,” Paul responded. “No way.”

Watch video, courtesy of CNN, below:

Sources say Ron Paul signed off on racist newsletters

By Muriel Kane/Raw Story

Republican presidential hopeful Ron Paul has consistently denied having written — or even read — the inflammatory racist and anti-gay remarks that went out under his name in newsletters he published in the early 1990s. Although numerous associates agree that Paul does not hold racist views, however, it appears that he may have known more about the racist articles than he has been willing to admit.

The Washington Post reported on Friday that three people with first-hand knowledge of Paul’s operations say “he was deeply involved in the company that produced the newsletters, Ron Paul & Associates, and closely monitored its operations, signing off on articles and speaking to staff members virtually every day.”

“It was his newsletter, and it was under his name, so he always got to see the final product. … He would proof it,’’ former company secretary Renae Hathway told the Post.

According to these sources, the main author of the racist passages was Lew Rockwell, who was then the vice president of Paul’s company.

The Post also details how closely entangled Paul’s political career, his business ventures, and members of his own family were during those years. According to one source, who chose to remain anonymous, Paul and his associates made a deliberate choice in the late 1980s to increase sales of the newsletter by making it more provocative.

“It was playing on a growing racial tension, economic tension, fear of government,’’ the source stated “I’m not saying Ron believed this stuff. It was good copy. Ron Paul is a shrewd businessman.’’

Cato Institute President Ed Crane, who frequently lunched with Paul during this period, similarly told the paper that when the two of them discussed how to increase the circulation of Paul’s newsletters, they agreed that “people who have extreme views” were most likely to respond. Paul told Crane his best response had come when he used a mailing list from the racist and anti-Semitic newspaper, Spotlight.

If that was the strategy, it apparently worked. According to the Post, political disclosure forms show that between 1984 and 1995, Paul went from being up to $765,000 in debt to having a net worth of up to $3.3 million.

A Paul spokesperson contacted by the Post for comment expressed doubt about the assertions made by Crane and the other sources.

New Batch Of Ron Paul Newsletters Just As Racist As The First

By BENJY SARLIN/TPM

A brand new batch of Ron Paul newsletters raises questions for the libertarian Republican — as well as a host of embarrassing fresh passages to go along with such classics as “the coming race war” and “the federal-homosexual cover up on AIDS” from earlier reports.

Ron Paul claims “probably ten sentences out of 10,000 pages” were objectionable in his long-published newsletter series, even as he denies having ever written the content in question (or even having seen most of it). But, asTPM has reported and a new collection of Ron Paul newsletters posted by The New Republic confirms, racism, homophobia, and fringe conspiracy theories seem more like the newsletters’ raison d’etre than a rare aberration. In fact, even short promotional letters for the publication name-checked many of the most toxic passages.

Once again, contempt for African Americans and warnings of a “race war” are central themes in the most recently released materials. One issue warned “every honest American should be armed” to prepare for the coming violence.

“Today, gangs of young blacks bust into a bank lobby firing rounds at the ceiling,” one issue read, continuing: “We don’t think a child of 13 should be held as responsible as a man of 23. That’s true for most people, but black males age 13 who have been raised on the streets and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult, and should be treated as such.”

Another issue from 1993 defended Marge Schott, who used to own the Cincinnati Reds, after she notoriously referred to her players as “million-dollar niggers.”

“Remember the thought crimes from the novels of Orwell and Huxley?” the article reads. “It’s not fiction in America if the case of Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott is any evidence.”

In one 1988 issue, the newsletters suggest Israeli involvement in a terrorist attack in Berlin, foreshadowing a similar suggestion in a previously released issue that Israel may have been behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

Gays and especially AIDS victims were frequent targets, with a boatload of junk science cited to back up its hateful claims. Newsletters claimed the federal government was lying about how AIDS was transmitted and suggested it could be passed on through sneezes, breathing, or even contact with mail or delivery packages. An advertised book purported to tell the “the true and horrifying story of the witch-lesbo-feminists who are running America.”

Then there are the usual conspiracy theories: FEMA camps set up to intern Americans, suspicion that Bill and Hillary Clinton murdered their friend Vince Foster, secret societies running the world, etc.

TPM reached out to a Paul spokesman as to whether the candidate stands by his assertion that only eight to ten statements in the newsletters were offensive within a large body of work but did not receive an immediate reply.

Ron Paul bills taxpayers $50,000 for first class flights

By David Edwards/Raw Story

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has campaigned on cutting the size and cost of government, but it turns out the Texas Republican is a big spender when it comes to air fare.

An Associated Press report published Monday found that since May 2009, Paul had billed taxpayers for 31 round-trip flights and 12 one-way flights, all first class.

In all, taxpayers paid $52,000 for flights where cheaper tickets were available. AP found that Paul’s office could have saved $27,621 by selecting economy tickets instead.

We always get him full refundable tickets since the congressional schedule sometimes changes quickly,” Paul’s chief of staff Jeff Deist explained.

But a review of the records showed that nearly two-thirds of the tickets were purchased two weeks in advanced or earlier.

“You could almost always beat the government rate,” Taxpayers for Common Sense vice president Steve Ellis told the wire service. “They need to be walking the walk, and one of the ways they can do that is to be fiscally responsible for how they spend their member office money.”

Throughout his presidential campaign, Paul has blasted his Republican opponents for not being serious about cutting spending.

“You are a big spender,” the candidate told former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum at a debate earlier this month. “You are a big-government conservative. To say you are a conservative is a stretch. Somebody has to point out your record.”

Ron Paul is not a goddamn liberal

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Conspiracy Theorist Alex Jones Rallies For Frequent Guest Ron Paul

by Eric Hananoki/Media Matters

Though Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul has received scorn from some in the media, he can count on a loud -- and toxic -- supporter: radio host Alex Jones, one of the country's leading conspiracy theorists and promoters of the claim that 9-11 was an inside job.

The Alex Jones Show and Jones' website Infowars.com have turned into a virtual get out the vote organization for Paul's campaign. Jones has repeatedly urged followers to donate, volunteer and vote for Paul. Jones' attention isn't a one-way street: Paul has appeared on Jones' radio program at least thirteen times since the beginning of 2010 and said he relies on shows like Jones' to "get the truth out."

Jones describes himself as "one of the very first founding fathers of the 9-11 Truth Movement." Jones also subscribes to a wide assortment of conspiracy theories about global elites enacting one-world government; secret FEMA camps; weather control; mass sterilization; the Oklahoma City bombing; the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster; vaccines; and the government using productslike juice boxes to "encourage homosexuality with chemicals so that people don't have children."

The radio host has declared that Obama's birth certificate is a fraud. Jones also wrote, produced and directed the DVD The Obama Deception, which purports to show that the "Obama phenomenon is a hoax carefully crafted by the captains of the New World Order. He is being pushed as savior in an attempt to con the American people into accepting global slavery."

Despite Jones' radical conspiracy theories, Paul has appeared on Jones' program since 1996. In 2007, Jones donated $1,000 to Paul's 2007 presidential campaign. New York magazine reported that Jones is a "longtime friend" of Paul and he "takes some credit for Paul's rise to prominence, calling his radio show 'part of the concrete slab that the Ron Paul rocket is fueling on.'"

Jones is also a "dear friend" of Fox News senior judicial analyst and fellow 9-11 conspiracy theoristAndrew Napolitano. Napolitano regularly hosts Paul on his Fox Business program and gives himfavorable coverage. Napolitano was a guest speaker at a Paul fundraiser in 2009.

FREQUENT JONES GUEST

Ron Paul has been a regular guest on The Alex Jones Show. Paul has appeared on the show at least thirteen times since the start of 2010, according to a Media Matters search.* (Appearances: December 13, 2011; August 31, 2011; June 28, 2011; April 5, 2011; January 21, 2011; November 23, 2010;October 8, 2010; August 18, 2010; July 1, 2010; May 26, 2010; April 5, 2010; March 4, 2010;January 7, 2010.)

After he interviewed Paul on March 4, 2010, Jones said he's "honored that I've been interviewing him since 1996." In a March 27 New York profile, Joe Hagan reported of the relationship between Jones and Paul:

Alex Jones has been broadcasting since the mid-nineties, when Ron Paul, during a run for Congress in 1996, became a frequent guest. Jones takes some credit for Paul's rise to prominence, calling his radio show "part of the concrete slab that the Ron Paul rocket is fueling on."

Paul doesn't embrace the full Jones package, of course. And Jones's views have grown to include conspiracy theories from the left as well--he's a crossover artist. "They blew it up, period!" he barks, speaking of the Twin Towers. "The hijackers were trained at U.S. military bases! They were part of drills! They nerve-gassed them onboard the aircraft! They flew the damn planes into the buildings!

"I mean, the point is, you start trying to go over the evidence of 9/11, it will make your mind melt down if you actually sat there with the endless documented facts," he continues.

During a June 28, 2011, interview, Jones asked Paul about the media pulling "dirty tricks" against him. Paul responded, in part, that he relies on people like Jones to "help get the truth out."

ENDORSEMENT / PRAISE

Alex Jones has repeatedly praised and backed Ron Paul's presidential bid on his radio show. Jones is also the publisher and director of Infowars.com, which has posted numerous pieces praising Paul's policy positions and explicitly encouraging readers to support his campaign.

In 2009, Jones started an effort to draft Paul to run for president again in 2012. Jones' Infowarsshop.com sold t-shirts with the words "Draft Ron Paul 2012" and pointing to Infowars.com.

During a January 21, 2011, interview, Jones told Paul he's "drafting you right here" and if he runs, "you've got my full support of our millions of listeners.":

JONES: I don't think you have any choice but to run for president. And, or bare minimum Senate. And it is your destiny, Congressman Ron Paul. You're almost forty years of standing up for liberty. And, so I'm drafting you right here and I know my listeners are. And if your health holds up -- you've taken care of yourself. Barring that, I just hope and pray, sir, that you do run for president. And I think the sooner you announce, the better, so we can get the money and the energy and the grassroots behind you. And I want you to know you've got my full support of our millions of listeners.

In a December 20, 2011, video, Jones told followers that Paul is "the only one who isn't a carbon taxing, open border promoting, Obama socialist healthcare loving globalist like Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, and others. Or for that matter Rick Perry."

On the day of the Iowa caucuses, Infowars.com posted articles encouraging readers to "vote for Ron Paul" in a Drudge Report poll and ran a video showing why "Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate who will follow and defend the Constitution. The other guys only say they will."

Jones' Infowarsshop.com sells a t-shirt endorsing Ron Paul:

Infowars.com regularly highlights stories favorable to Paul, and defends him from attacks by the media and other politicians. Recent articles include such headlines as "Gingrich-Linked Propagandist Recycles Debunked 'Racist' Ron Paul Smear"; "NY Times Attacks Ron Paul For Living in the Real World"; "Iowa Outcome Ideal for Ron Paul"; "CNN Deliberate Insider Hit Job on Ron Paul"; "Ron Paul Doubles Vote Tally, Captures Equal Number of Delegates As Romney & Santorum"; and "Ron Paul is in The Fight of His Life, We Must Stand With Him!"

FUNDRAISING

Infowars.com has implored readers "to donate as much as they can afford to Paul's campaign today." For example:

• A December 8 Infowars.com article stated: "Now has never been a more important time to get behind Ron Paul's 2012 presidential campaign, and we encourage all our readers to donate either before or on the day of the next scheduled money bomb by visiting http://www.ronpaul2012.com/." The same message was sent to subscribers of Infowars' email newsletter on December 7.

• A December 16 Infowars.com article asked readers "to donate as much as they can afford to Paul's campaign today. In just over two weeks 2011 will be over and all supporters will be eligible to give up to another $2,500 in 2012. Go to the Ron Paul 2012 website to donate now."
• A December 16 Infowars.com article asked readers to "help make this year's Tea Party Day Moneybomb a success" and linked to a Ron Paul campaign donation page.

Jones has regularly fundraised for Paul while he's appeared on his show. For instance:  

• On April 5, 2011, Jones told Paul that the "day you announce we're going to try to setup a money bomb."
• During a June 28, 2011, interview, Jones told Paul he has "a good chance" of becoming president and said, "we've got to supercharge your campaign." Jones later asked Paul, "what can they do to be part of this second American revolution, or the restoration of the Republic? Give us the orders from the headquarters. What do we do to supercharge a campaign that's already on fire?" Jones later asked, "And when's the next money bomb? And folks can give right now at RonPaul2012.com."
• During an August 31, 2011, interview, Jones told his listeners to "donate at RonPaul2012.com, knock on doors, get involved in your party precincts, become a delegate. Ron Paul can win and will win if we get behind him."
• On December 13, 2011, Jones reminded listeners to get active for Paul: "RonPaul2012.com. It is absolutely essential, obviously, everybody go out and get ready to try to be delegates, everybody hit the ground in Iowa. I know I have family who's actually gone to Iowa, so there is a massive grassroots operation. All the different ways people can get involved are at RonPaul2010.com." Jones later said that "now is the time for the maximum effort. And certainly, I'm glad you ran again, look at the incredible effect you and others have had since your last run four years ago. You've got a real shot if people believe and take action."

*Because a complete guest archive for The Alex Jones Show does not appear to exist online, Media Matters searched available resources such as Jones' YouTube page, Alex Jones websites (unofficial and official), and RonPaul.com (an unofficial supporter page).

Ron Paul Claimed An AIDS Patient Is ‘A Victim Of His Own Lifestyle’ In 1987 Book

By Igor Volsky/Think Progress

In recent days, Ron Paul has tried to distance himself from damaging newsletters from the late 1980s and 1990s by attributing racist and anti-gay statements to ghost writers and disavowing the most incendiary sentiments. “It wasn’t a reflection of my views at all…I think it was terrible,” Paul said of the letters, which blamed AIDS on the gay community and likened black people to criminals. “It was tragic, and I had some responsibility for it, because the name went out in my letter. But I was not an editor. I (was) like a publisher.”

But despite his denials, CNN’s Peter Hamby reports that Paul included many of the controversial ideas in his 1987 book, “Freedom Under Siege: The U.S. Constitution after 200-Plus Years.” That work — published under Paul’s name — attributed AIDS to the gay “lifestyle” and suggested that victims of sexual harassment should simply quit their jobs:

In one section of the book, Paul criticized people suffering from AIDS or other contagious diseases for demanding health insurance coverage. “The individual suffering from AIDS certainly is a victim – frequently a victim of his own lifestyle – but this same individual victimizes innocent citizens by forcing them to pay for his care,” Paul wrote. [...]

“Employee rights are said to be valid when employers pressure employees into sexual activity,” Paul wrote. “Why don’t they quit once the so-called harassment starts? Obviously the morals of the harasser cannot be defended, but how can the harassee escape some responsibility for the problem? Seeking protection under civil rights legislation is hardly acceptable.”

Indeed, Paul did not disavow authorship of the newsletters until 2001 and defended their contents throughout the 1990s. For instance, in 1996, “Paul said statements about the fear of black males mirror pronouncements by black leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson” and explained that his comments on blacks contained in the newsletters should be viewed in the context of “current events and statistical reports of the time.”

Ron Paul blames ‘ghost writers’ for racist newsletters

By Muriel Kane/Raw Story

In an apology for racist newsletters that went out under his name twenty years ago, GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul’s campaign issued a statement on Friday acknowledging that Paul had been guilty of a “lack of oversight” and should have paid more attention to the “ghost writers” who were responsible for the distasteful articles.

According to Reuters, in addition to the newsletter, whose contents have been known and discussed for years, a direct-mail ad for the newsletter has now surfaced that warns about a “coming race war” and a “federal-homosexual cover-up” to play down the impact of AIDS. The ad was sent out over Paul’s signature in 1993, at a time when he was not a member of Congress..

“Dr. Paul did not write that solicitation,” Paul spokesman Jesse Benton wrote in an email on Friday. “It does not reflect his thoughts and is out of step with the message he has espoused for 40 years.”

Paul supporters have slammed the publicity being given to the newsletters and the ad as an attempt to derail his campaign. For outside observers, however, the campaign’s statements appeared to raise as many questions as they answered.

Scholars contacted by Reuters for comment pointed out that even though Paul’s own statements over the years have shown a continuing support for minority rights, his apparent lack of interest in keeping track of what was being published under his name raises questions about his “managerial competence.”

Politics professor Larry Sabato noted, “Ron Paul would have us believe that this newsletter went out under his name and a direct-mail solicitation for it went out under his signature, yet he knew nothing about it. That is not credible. Or is it that Paul can’t control his own staff? … At the very least, more explanation is needed.”