Ron Paul Unveils a REAL Economic Stimulus Plan

Introduction


America became the greatest, most prosperous nation in human history through low taxes, constitutionally limited government, personal freedom and a belief in sound money.
We need to return to these principles so our economy can thrive again. When enacted, my plan will provide both short-term stimulus and lay the groundwork for long-term prosperity.

Other candidates talk a lot about stimulus packages, but my record stands alone. I have fought for these measures for years as a member of Congress and will make them a top priority as president.

Ron Paul, a 10-term Republican Congressman from Texas's 14th District, is currently the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee's Subcommittee on Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, and Technology. He has been named "Taxpayers' Best Friend" for 10 consecutive years by the National Taxpayers' Union. Ron Paul is also the author of several books on monetary policy and economics.

The Four-Point Plan

1. Tax Reform: Reduce the tax burden and eliminate taxes that punish investment and savings, including job-killing corporate taxes.
2. Spending Reform: Eliminate wasteful spending. Reduce overseas commitments. Freeze all non-defense, non-entitlement spending at current levels.
3. Monetary Policy Reform: Expand openness at the Federal Reserve and require the Fed to televise its meetings. Return value to our money.
4. Regulatory Reform: Repeal Sarbanes/Oxley regulations that push companies to seek capital outside of US markets. Stop restricting community banks from fostering local economic growth.

1. Tax Reform

• Eliminate Taxes on Dividends and Savings. The basis of capitalism is savings, and Americans who do so should be rewarded.
  • Pass HJ Res. 23 to encourage savings over consumption.

• Repeal the Death Tax. Attacking small businesses and breaking up family farms smothers growth and kills jobs.
  • Pass H.R. 2734 to make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

• Cut Taxes for Working Seniors. Grandmothers and grandfathers working to make ends meet should keep all the fruits of their labor.
  • Pass H.R. 191 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the inclusion in gross income of Social Security benefits.

• Eliminate Taxes on Social Security Benefits. That money belongs to seniors, not the government. They paid into the system for a lifetime, and they should be free to spend every penny as they see fit.
  • Pass H.R. 192 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the 1993 increase in taxes on Social Security benefits.

• Accelerate Depreciation on Investment. We need to help companies grow and create jobs.
  • Pass H.R. 4995 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce corporate marginal income tax rates.
  
  
  [*]Eliminate Taxes on Capital Gains. Investment should be embraced and rewarded.
  • Pass H.J. Res 23 (The “Liberty Amendment”), proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to abolishing personal income, estate, and gift taxes and prohibiting the United States Government from engaging in business in competition with its citizens.

• Eliminate Taxes on Tips.The single parents and working students who earn their income chiefly through tips deserve to keep all of their money. This tax on "estimated income" is unfair and should be ended.
  • Pass H.R. 3664 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide that tips shall not be subject to income or employment taxes.

• Support the Mortgage Cancellation Relief Act. Working families who lost their homes should not be punished a second time with a big IRS bill.
  • Pass H.R. 1876 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to exclude from the gross income of individual taxpayers discharges of indebtedness attributable to certain forgiven residential mortgage obligations.

2. Spending Reform

• Reduce Overseas Military Commitments.Our bases and troops should be on our soil.
  • It's time to stop subsidizing our trading partners in Europe, Japan and South Korea.

• Freeze Non-Defense, Non-Entitlement Spending at Current Levels
  • I vote against all bloated, pork laden spending bills and will veto them as president.

3. Monetary Policy Reform

• Televise Federal Open Market Committee Meetings. An institution as powerful as the Federal Reserve deserves full public scrutiny.

• Expand Transparency and Accountability at the Federal Reserve
  • Pass H.R. 2754 to require the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System to continue to make available to the public on a weekly basis information on the measure of the M3 monetary aggregate and its components.

• Return Value to Our Money. Legalize gold and silver as a competing currency.
  • Level the long-term boom and bust business cycle by passing H.R. 4683, which would repeal provisions of the federal criminal code relating to issuing coins of gold, silver, or other metal for use as current money and making or possessing likenesses of such coins.

4. Regulatory Reform

• Repeal Sarbanes/Oxley. It has seriously wounded our capital markets and helped make the UK a financial center at our expense.
  • Ending these misguided regulations would bring jobs flooding back to the United States
    
  • Pass H.R. 1049 to reform Sarbanes-Oxley and reduce the burden it places on small businesses.
• Repeal or Remove Costly and Unnecessary Federal Regulations. Neighbors know best how to help their neighbors.
  • We need to make it easier for community banks, credit unions, and other financial institutions to better serve their communities and to help people in these communities get access to credit and capital.
  • Pass H.R. 1869 to enhance the ability of community banks to foster economic growth and serve their communities, boost small businesses, increase individual savings, and for other purposes.

Source: http://www.ronpaul2008.com/prosperity

 

>Repeal the Death Tax. Attacking small businesses and breaking up family farms smothers growth and kills jobs.
Pass H.R. 2734 to make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

This is a humbug for three reasons. First, it seldom happens. I would be surprised if 100 small businesses a year were broken up because of death taxes.

Second, the problem arises because the family fuhrer insists upon retaining power until the day he dies. If power was transferred long before the Old Man died there would be no problem. The Wife and I are planning to transfer assets to the kids long before we die. If I can't trust the kids while I am alive I sure are not going to give them anything after I am dead.

Third, the stinking rich have a very small percentage of their assets in a form that generates income tax because they spend only a very small percentage of their assets every year. With no death tax, their assets would accumulate from generation to generation virtually untaxed and accumulating with the power of compound interest. As their total assets increase, so their power over the working class increase because, while stocks accumulated as capital gains are not taxed until sold, the shares are voted every year.


Is any $billionaire going to vote shares in a way which will transfer his power to the working class? fat chance of that! Why did Andrew Carnagie build free libraries in every big city while playing his workers starvation wages? Because he thought 90% of his workers were to stupid to make good use of any increased pay. He build the libraries for the smart 10%. In other words, Social Darwinism. Starve out the people with inferior DNA.

 

>Return Value to Our Money. Legalize gold and silver as a competing currency.
Level the long-term boom and bust business cycle by passing H.R. 4683, which would repeal provisions of the federal criminal code relating to issuing coins of gold, silver, or other metal for use as current money and making or possessing likenesses of such coins.

It is legal for citizens to exchange gold and silver. It is not legal to manufacture private money that looks like govt money.

 

>Eliminate Taxes on Social Security Benefits. That money belongs to seniors, not the government. They paid into the system for a lifetime, and they should be free to spend every penny as they see fit.

Paul should be sanctioned for propagating the myth that the payroll tax constitutes personal savings. It is a capped income tax. It is not a savings plan.

 

Correct. Which is why it should be scrapped. Paul used to believe this, but surprise surprise, he has changed his mind.

Agree.

Agreed.

I don't think this affects many seniors. This is pandering.

Agreed, but see above. I agree with the rest of point 1, but think his plan would be moot if he would propose real tax reform that is Constitutional in nature. With a flat or fair tax, we wouldn't need the myriad of deductions. Any plan that leaves the IRS basically as is is no real reform. Where is AMT elimination in his plan?

Agreed. and he should stop taking so much pork for his district. He's part of the Washington problem, not a part of the solution.

Maybe. Would they become the theater that Congress can become? There should be more sunshine, but no Hollywood.

Agreed.

Agreed.

I wish Paul would:
1. give more detail
2. embrace more of a market-based and Constitutional approach. He still leaves the IRS pretty much in tact and doesn't embrace full free market ideals to the point I'd like. But he has some decent fodder.

 

Paul doesn't believe Social Security is a savings plan, he wants to stop taxing the money that the seniors are currently recieving in SS benefits. He also wants to let everyone who is not collecting benefits get out of the Social Security program entirely since they will never see a penny back that they have paid into it. His plan is to end Social Security, without neglecting the seniors who are currently depending on it.

This is just a small intro to his plan. His ultimate plan is to get rid of the IRS and repeal the 16th amendment to get rid of all income tax. He also wants to cut all un-constitutional spending both here and abroad, and return to the old GOP platform that Reagan ran on to get rid of the DOE, NEA, etc. and reduce the size of the federal government.

You can read more at the following links:
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/debt-and-taxes/
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/inflation-tax/
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/social-security/
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues/

 

His web statements have been at odds with his debate statements at times. Of course, that's true of all the pseudocons and Democrats as well.

 

What are some of the statements that you have found at odds?

I think if you add up the total time he has been given in the debates for statements it would be under 15 to 20 minutes for all of the debates combined. At the recent MSNBC debate they gave him a total of 6 minutes from the entire debate, compared to 20 to 30 minutes for the other candidates.

I find it odd that you call Paul a "pseudocon" while his is the most conservative candidate that is running on the majority of the issues.

 

#3 sounds exciting. Televise the Federal Reserve board meetings? Put them on at the same time as "American Idol" and I think Simon Cowell may be looking for another job.:thumbs:

 

Did anyone else notice how the moderators of the debate Thursday night went down the line asking each candidate about their Economic Stimulus Plan, but then skipped Ron Paul and went to Huckabee, by the time they got back to Ron Paul 20 minutes later, they had changed the topic. They didn't give him much of a chance to discuss his plan at the debate, but Ron Paul discussed these issues at a rally in Boca Raton following the debate:

http://jgrubbs.blogspot.com/2008/01/big-event-in-boca-raton.html

 

Ron Paul Can Fix US Economy Claims Reynolds

 

It isn't! acceptable