Below is one of Ron Paul's statements from his weekly column, Texas Straight Talk.
Can Foreign Aid Save Africa?
"Congress is poised to pass the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) authorizing up to $50 million in unconstitutional foreign aid. The bill passed out of the Foreign Affairs Committee with a bipartisan agreement to nearly double the President's requested amount. It is always distressing to see officials in our government reach across the aisle to disregard Constitutional limitations.
Much of this aid will run through government-to-government channels and will be vulnerable to corruption. Some of the aid will be sent to faith-based organizations who, along with accepting government largess, will now be subject to governmental controls and will soon become more dependent on taxpayer funding than private funds. If they accept the aid, they must be careful of the vague language regarding what types of programs they can run. For example, the requirement that 33% of any funding received must go toward abstinence-only programs has been dropped and replaced with a 50% requirement toward behavior change. Many humanitarian organizations are incensed by the politicized requirements placed on their work, and feel they are being forced to continue failed programs at the expense of more effective ones.
The obvious question remains: Why are politicians in the United States deciding what is best for people in Africa ? And why are taxpayers in the United States being forced to fund –for example - family planning facilities that perform abortions?
In fact, Afrobarometer, a leading source of data on public attitudes in Africa asked Africans what their main developmental concerns were. They found that Africans are much more concerned about jobs, agriculture and basic infrastructure than they are about health issues like AIDS.
Africans should decide what is best for Africa . American taxpayers should decide what charities deserve their money. Forcibly taking money from the United States and sending it overseas is unconstitutional and immoral.
The energy that lobbying groups and celebrities expend for charitable causes here on the Hill could be better put to use actually addressing problems. It is sadly symptomatic of the trend toward bigger government that instead of private fundraising efforts, people put their hand out to Congress. It is unfortunate that some activists prefer funding taken by force, to donations freely given.
These efforts, though well-meaning, are misguided. The truth is all the foreign aid in the world will not transform Africa into a thriving, healthy continent. The economic growth of Africa depends on African entrepreneurs, liberalized trade policies, and political and economic freedom. The best thing we could possibly do for Africa and for our own country, is to stop sending misguided aid, and stop protectionist trade practices that prevent African farmers and producers from competing in our markets. Perhaps then Africa's leaders would focus less on how to get aid out of the United States , and more on the economic vitality of their own countries."
"The fact is Dr. Paul is a genius in his strategy and we are further ahead in delegates than you think and we can win the nomination."
I was an administrator for the Democratic party for over 6 years and I am well educated in the nomination process, I left the party to support Dr. Paul so I know what I am talking about.
I know many of you are new to the election process but don't worry.
I am going to go into some depth of how this all works so read and then read again if you need to.
Did you know that the delegates can actually vote to unbind their delegates that are bound by state rules? Did you know that delegates can actually overturn any previous vote? Did you know the delegates have control of the entire process?
The MSM is not reporting how to become the nominee in a situation like this so I will tell you to stop getting your info from the MSM.
I know many of you are bummed about Dr. Paul not getting more votes in the states popular vote BUT THAT IS BECAUSE YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW THE ELECTION SYSTEM WORKS : Let me explain to you the reality of how to become the nominee.
First stop looking at who wins each states popular vote for most of these states the vote by the people is really nothing but a straw poll and have no real bearing on who will become the nominee. The only way this matters is if 1 person receives 1191 delegates that are bound by state rules to be committed to that candidate. So if a candiate like McCain now has 906 delegates now but he doesn't reach 1191 WHICH HE WILL NOT most of the delegates the state awarded him mean nothing and keep in mind in most of the states most of the people that represent the 906 for McCain are actually Ron Paul supporters. NOW there is no possible way that anyone in the race can achieve this goal now because of the major split in state wins by the candidates.
Normally Convention Delegates do not matter because the convention is not brokered and we have a clear winner because someone has 1191 delegates. BUT THIS YEAR IS DIFFERENT. This will be a brokered convention there is no way around it. Do you see how the Ron Paul campaign strategy will work.
When a candidate wins delegates by winning a primary that does not mean there are actual people that won acting as delegates- these are virtual delegates.
What do I mean by virtual delegates: A virtual delegate is just a number - there are no actual people YET that will go and vote for the candidate who won the particular state at the national convention. We call these people convention delegates
The actual delegates are voted on (in most states) at a statewide delegate caucus after the Primary (which is just a giant preference poll) Who can be delegates? Anyone. In closed Primary states they must be registered Republicans, in Open Primary states they can be Republicans, Democrats, Independents.
Out of the 2,380 delegates sent to Minneapolis St. Paul in September:
• 463 delegates are bound all the way through the convention some of those 463 are Ron Paul's people.
• 565 delegates will be bound through one ballot. That is, they have to follow the results of the state election on the first ballot. After that, if no candidate has a majority of delegates, they are free to vote as they please and Mccain will not receive over 50% on the first ballot.
• 383 will be bound through two ballots then they are free to vote for whom they wish.
• 318 will be bound through three ballots then they are free to vote for whom they wish.
Bottom line is less than 1/2 of the delegates are bound by state party rules. Now do you see how we can win this thing?
So what happens now you ask? You look at the number of delegates that Dr. Paul has that are uncommitted to the other candidates and will support him. these delegates are not decided by the popular vote ie: straw poll of the people. Since no one will have enough delegates to skate them through to the nomination we now must look at how many delegates NOT VOTES but delegates Dr. Paul has that are 100% uncommitted to the other candidates and will be 100% for Dr. Paul and are free to vote for whom they wish.
This race will go all the way to the convention for there is no other way for someone to receive the nomination until the convention.
The RNC will convene its annual Winter Meeting - and voters will continue to cast their ballots in the nation's primaries and caucuses. Candidates for delegate and alternate delegate to the convention will be elected - and thousands of convention participants and guests will begin planning their trips to Minneapolis-Saint Paul The first week in September 2008
SO WHAT DOES ALL THIS MEAN?
This means that all of the people that registered to become a delegate for Dr. Paul can go to the convention and cast their vote for Dr. Paul, now think about what I just said : Do you think for one second that all the people that voted for Dr. Paul and filed to become a delegate will not show up at the convention to vote for the good Doctor? Of course they will just like they battled the rain and the sleet and the 15 below zero winter weather to knock on doors and wave signs spreading our message.
Now I assure you that even though we didn't win the popular vote in many states WE DID PICK UP THE MAJORITY OF DELEGATES THAN ALL THE OTHER CANDIDATES IN MOST EVERY STATE EXCEPT A FEW. So yes they won the straw poll and we won what counts which is delegates.
Doesn't Dr. Paul need to WIN 5 states to be on the ballot at the convention for the nomination?
NO THIS IS NOT TRUE for people were just confused on how it actually works.
We only need the majority of delegates from 5 states to be put on the ballot NOT THE POPULAR VOTE OF 5 STATES and I assure you we have picked up the majority of uncommitted delegates for Dr. Paul in more than 5 states.
Do any of you remember seeing posts by myself and many others that said BECOME A DELEGATE? There is still time in most states to become a delegate for the convention and we are picking up more of them every day.
So please STOP! you worry too much because you do not understand how the election system works and you thought we lost didn't you? I assure you we have not!
The fact is Dr. Paul is a genius in his strategy and we are further ahead in delegates than you think and we can win the nomination.
I hope this gives a better understanding of how we have been winning even though most of you thought we were not.
NOW LET'S KEEP WORKING! FILE TODAY AND BECOME A DELEGATE BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!
I was watching Slacker last year before the nomination was all sealed up and wouldn't you know it, a big old Ron Paul billboard goes rolling by. I was pretty shocked. I had not remembered that part of the film at all. Worth a rewatching for sure.
