A new episode of Five Minutes Five Issues posted on Friday. You can listen to it, and read a transcript, below. You can also find previous episodes of the show at Stitcher, iTunes, YouTube, and SoundCloud.
Listen to the new episode here:
Read a transcript of the new episode, including links to further information regarding the topics discussed, here:
The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity welcomes you to Five Minutes Five Issues.
Starting in five four three two one.
Hello, I am Adam Dick, a Ron Paul Institute senior fellow.
Let’s start.
Issue one.
When Ron Paul ran for the 2008 and 2012 Republican presidential nominations, Paul did not have the opportunity to speak his mind on the Republican National Convention main stage. Sure, Paul may have been allowed to speak at either of the Republican conventions — if Paul both endorsed the nominee and submitted his speech for review and editing. Each year, Paul instead spoke to thousands of his supporters at a venue near the party convention.
Issue two.
While in the United States House of Representatives, Rep. Barney Frank introduced the Ending Federal Marijuana Prohibition Act (HR 2306). Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) was the lead cosponsor of the bill. Frank and Paul also worked together in the House on reducing military spending. Along with Sen Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Water Jones (R-NC), who is now a Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board member, Frank and Paul requested the creation of the Sustainable Defense Task Force whose June of 2010 report recommends nearly one trillion dollars in military spending cuts over ten years.
On Thursday, Rolling Stone posted a fascinating interview with Frank, who is now retired from the House. Asked “What’s the next frontier in progressivism?” Frank’s response focuses largely on cutting military spending and ending the US government’s drug war. Frank begins his answer saying:
We have got to repudiate this Cheney-McCain notion that it’s America’s mission to govern the world. That would reduce the military budget by well over $100 billion a year.
Regarding the war on drugs, Frank says:
And there’s tens of billions to be saved by us legalizing all forms of drugs. End the stupid drug war.
Issue three.
Ron Paul Institute Advisory Board Member and two-time Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich made an insightful observation on his Facebook page this week regarding what would have been a smart move at the Democratic National Convention. Writes Kucinich:
The only way to heal the great breach in the Democratic party is for the convention to put the name of Bernie Sanders into nomination for Vice President of the United States, A Clinton-Sanders ticket may be the only chance to unite the party to put it on the path to victory in November.
Kucinich’s advice was not taken.
Watching the public dissent on the convention floor by many Sanders delegates, it looks like many of Sanders’ strongest supporters have little interest in working to elect Hillary Clinton. Indeed, hundreds of Sanders delegates even walked off the convention floor in protest.
How about the hundreds of thousands of Sanders supporters who came out to his mammoth rallies during the campaign? Maybe the majority of them will vote for Clinton. But, will they put up signs, make phone calls, walk neighborhoods, and encourage friends and family members to vote for Clinton?
Issue four.
Former New York City Mayor and current Donald Trump advisor Rudy Giuliani agrees with some Congress members that people should be barred from possessing guns if a US government bureaucrat puts their names on a so-called terror watch list. Giuliani also wants to take things further. Claude Brodesser-Akner reports at NJ.com that Giuliani said Wednesday that he would recommend to Trump that Muslim individuals who are on a terror watch list be required to wear electronic tags to track their movements.
Issue five.
My new book was published this month. It is called A Tipping Point for Liberty: Exposing and Defeating Leviathan Government. To find my book, just search for “A Tipping Point for Liberty” at Amazon.com.
—–
That’s a wrap.
Transcripts of Five Minutes Five Issues episodes, including links to related information, are at the Ron Paul Institute blog.
Five four three two one.
