Congressman Ron Paul
Foundation for Rational Economics and Education
Dear Friend of Liberty:
The Founders’ inspired vision of limited government has been kept alive by the hard work and generosity of Americans who truly cherish individual Liberty average people like you and me.
In the toughest times times like we are facing right now in the life of our nation freedom fighters have always stepped forward for America—armed with whatever it takes and at whatever sacrifice—to answer the call to defend our liberty. That’s how America was born and how we, as a free and sovereign nation, have survived.
I have not known a time when the threats to our Liberty and the Founders’ vision have been greater than they are today. For Liberty to survive, it is imperative that we confront these new threats, in all of their ugly forms, both foreign and domestic.
We continue to see a major economic crisis unfolding in our nation. New government programs are started daily, and future plans are being made for even more costly government expansion. All are based on the belief that we’re in this mess because free-market capitalism and sound money failed. The obsession is with more spending, bailout of bad investments, more debt, and further dollar debasement. Many are saying we need an international answer to our problems with the establishment of a world central bank and a single fiat reserve currency.
These suggestions are merely more of the same policies that created our mess and are doomed to fail.
At least 90% of the cause for the financial crisis can be laid at the doorstep of the Federal Reserve. Their manipulation of credit, the money supply, and interest rates caused the various bubbles to form.
Congress added fuel to the fire by various programs and institutions like the Community Reinvestment Act, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FDIC, and HUD mandates, which were all backed up by aggressive court rulings.
The Fed and US Treasury have perniciously doled out trillions in subsidized loans to troubled banks and other financial institutions, and that number is growing through a revolving TARP slush fund which the Feds are using to bail out their huge corporate buddies. The Federal Reserve and Treasury constantly brag about the need for “transparency” and “oversight,” but it’s all just talk — they want none of it. They want secrecy while the privileged are rescued at the expense of the middle class.
It is unimaginable that Congress could be so derelict in its duty. It does nothing but condone the arrogance of the Fed in its refusal to tell us where the trillions in bailout money have gone. All Members of Congress should be outraged that conditions could deteriorate to this degree. It’s no wonder that a large and growing number of Americans are now demanding an end to the Fed.
The Federal Reserve created our problem, yet it manages to gain even more power in the socialization of the entire financial system. The whole bailout process this past couple of years has been characterized by no oversight, no limits, no concerns, no understanding, and no common sense.
Similar mistakes were made in the 1930s which ushered in the age of the New Deal, the Fair Deal, the Great Society and the supply-siders who convinced conservatives that deficits didn’t really matter after all, since they were anxious to finance a very expensive deficit-financed American empire.
All the programs since the Depression were meant to prevent recessions and depressions. Yet all that was done was to plant the seeds of the greatest financial bubble in all history. Because of this lack of understanding, the stage is now set for massive nationalization of the financial system, and even the means of production.
The Feds not only own and control car companies and financial institutions, their lust for power and control now extends to their malevolent scheme to nationalize our healthcare system and thereby take over one sixth of our entire economy. This will be a disaster if it happens!
I could go on but I know that you understand the crisis that we face and agree with me on what must be done to turn our nation around.
I hear from Americans like you who are up in arms about what is going on in our nation. Messages come into my congressional office morning, noon and night. Taxpayers are outraged by the huge bailouts, the massive expansion of government and the refusal by Congress and the leaders of both parties to follow the Constitution.
Many Americans are frustrated—many are outright angry—about failed government policies that just tighten the government’s noose around our necks. Many millions of fed up taxpayers have taken to the streets and town hall meetings in recent months to make sure their voices were heard by the uncaring Washington elites.
Since the financial crisis has become more and more apparent, and the attempts by the Fed and Treasury and Congress to solve the problem have become more desperate, my phone has been ringing off the wall with calls from media outlets wanting interviews and to get my opinions about what is going on and how we need to deal with it.
Several books that I have authored with the help of FREE have become instant best sellers as patriotic Americans search desperately for the intellectual and political ammunition they need to fight for the future of our country and to take back our freedom from the fascists who despise our Constitution and those of us who defend it.
During the presidential election, do you remember how the media scoffed at my suggestions that we were facing economic disaster? They laughed at my calls for limited government, for abolishing the Fed and the IRS, for cutting federal spending at home and abroad to balance our budget, and my call for a sound monetary system. Today, we are well into this economic crisis and they are not laughing any more.
The time is ripe for us to be at the forefront of offering workable solutions of calling for a return to limited, constitutional government, the need for honest money and low taxes, and the absolute need to expose and abolish the Federal Reserve which has done so much to undermine our currency and destroy one of the most productive economic systems in the history of the world.
My bill to audit the Fed has made tremendous progress. Together we have led the fight to get congressional hearings, 308 cosponsors, and unprecedented attention around the country for this legislation. Yet the banksters and a few of their weasel allies in Congress continue to do everything they can to water down or outright kill our movement to audit this monstrous institution.
I’m outraged at every such attempt to stop our bill in order to enable the secrecy and disruptive power of the Fed to continue. Some days I am so angered by the banksters’ underhanded shenanigans that I’m reminded of the famous battle cry of central bank foe Andrew Jackson as he moved to abolish the central bank: “By eternal God I will rout you out!” Jackson shouted as he demonstrated the courage to go against Congress and the Fed.
The task before us is huge. Our challenge is both political and philosophical, but either way, the solution must begin by properly educating Americans as to why our current out-of-control, misguided political and financial systems have failed, and what must be done to turn things around.
My Foundation for Rational Economics and Education (FREE) has been waging such an educational effort for several decades. We have had a great deal of success publishing newsletters and books and producing radio and TV programs teaching people about the Constitution and free markets and sound money.
FREE has done much to educate patriots like you and to win the battle for the hearts and minds of Americans young and old.
FREE is publishing books like my popular Foreign Policy of Freedom, and we have printed and distributed tens of thousands of Pocket Constitutions to students and groups nationwide.
Today, given the severity of the crisis we face, we must do even more in our battle to spread the truth It is imperative that we redouble and expand the work and scope of FREE’s educational effort. Right now, while people are still looking for answers and even the media is trying to figure out what in the world is going on, we must step in to fill the void that exists and to provide answers and solutions for the problems that we face.
You have been a faithful supporter of the cause of liberty. You understand the serious nature of the threats that confront us and the dangers posed to our freedom and our very way of life.
Our ability to lead this movement comes from your tax-deductible contribution to FREE. $50 or $100, or even $250 or more if you can afford it, is urgently needed to help fund the effort to turn our government and our nation around before it is too late. Please go to the FREE donation page now to contribute: http://www.free-nefl.com/html/contribute.html
Leadership is sorely lacking in Washington following the Democrats’ recent victory. It is time for true leaders like us to step forward and offer the vision needed to point Congress and our nation in the right direction and to halt the assault on our nation’s sovereignty.
This is a dangerous time. But it is also an historic opportunity. Please help today with your most generous, tax-deductible gift for freedom. We must act swiftly to counter the ongoing-attempt to socialize our nation and trample upon our freedom. The time is NOW and the need is urgent!!!
I’m counting on you.
In Liberty,
Ron Paul