This result is totally amazing.see http://www.ronpaul.com/ Rassmussen polls are considered to be very reliable and yet we have a republican of high integrity beating the imagery/power of the Murdoch Press and Hollywood,who want war at the behest of corporate greed.Ron Paul is approaching 80 and I thought that the Hollywood superficiality would bar him from any consideration of being a leader.

Ron Paul has been a humble man of unbending intent.He wants to rid the US people of a parasitic pariah called the US Federal Reserve, a private group of 12 banks that finanance and own the US currency.He wants to end the wars and bring our troops home.One of the reasons for our resilience against the GFC is that we the people of Australia still own our currency.

I don't agree with all of Ron Paul's economic free market ideals,but he has the basics right of small Govt,individual reponsibilty and truly free markets,without the dominance of global cartels.

I found this interesting too, Arjay. Although possibly for very different reasons, since as you know, I'm not a paid-up member of the Ron Paul butt-kissing team.

I did notice that a straw poll at the Conservative Political Action Conference on February 20th made Paul a clear favourite over Mitt Romney, with nearly 50% more votes.

However, it is highly unlikely that Paul, who will be 75 on August 20th this year (is that "nearly 80" Arjay?) will run against Obama in 2012. From a "party machine" viewpoint, Romney is the money candidate.

So it is what is behind the numbers that is important to come to grips with. The conservatives in the populace have clearly hardened their views against Obama over the months. Unsurprisingly, given the tortoise-slow pace with which Obama's "change" is taking place, and the backdrop of a country that has been fiscally gutted by the massive bloat in debt - largely cheered on, one needs to remind oneself - by the previous government.

Of course, faced with the direct choice, the result could simply reflect party lines. But also to come out of the poll were the following gems:

"Obama earns 79% support from Democrats, but Paul gets just 66% of GOP votes. Voters not affiliated with either major party give Paul a 47% to 28% edge over the president."

This would further support the theory that Paul would eventually be edged out of the race - you couldn't put up a candidate that is on the nose with a third of your own party.

And this one is the wild card.

"Twenty-four percent (24%) of voters now consider themselves a part of the Tea Party movement, an eight-point increase from a month ago. Another 10% say they are not a part of the movement but have close friends or family members who are."

The Tea Party. Has anyone been following Doonesbury recently?

http://images.ucomics.com/comics/db/2010/db100401.gif

So thanks for the thread Arjay. But don't get your hopes up for a President Paul any time soon.

Or later, for that matter.

Pericles,
The majority of Americans have "hardened their views against Obama over the months" not because of "the tortoise-slow pace with which Obama's "change" is taking place" as you claim, but because of the overwhelmingly radical nature of the change.
Obama lied to attain power, aided and abetted by the media.
The people are realising the true nature of the changes he is attempting to promulgate and they don't like it.
And who can blame them?
No reasonable person wants to see their country destroyed by a radical who doesn't share their values.

*Unsurprisingly, given the tortoise-slow pace with which Obama's "change" is taking place*

I'd have to disagree on that one Pericles. I'm a fairly regular
Bloomberg viewer and they keep people pretty well up to date
politically, including live Congressional inquiries, presidential
speeches etc.

Obama is an incredibly active president, with a shedule like
few before him. But he also has a task like few before him.
Getting Congress to do anything, is a bit like herding cats!

But that is only part of the story. Rather then shoot from
the hip, claiming to know it all, he regularly calls together
America's leaders in all sorts of fields, so that they can
all have an input into future changes. Fudanmental changes.

When it comes to financial regulation etc, there is a huge
amount of debate going on and that takes some time.
Rather do it properly and introduce legislation that has
been thought through, then rush through something that simply
won't work.

But as we saw with the healthcare debate, there is a limit.
Rather then being constructive, if people like the republicans
and lobbyists, switch to pure obstruction as they did, then
he'll soon change tack and get things moving.

He's not bad either, when he does, for he's the first bloke
to achieve anything on healthcare, for about the last 50 years.

Stay tuned for the rest, he still has nearly 3 years to go.

Yabby,
"if people like the republicans
and lobbyists, switch to pure obstruction as they did"
The Senate had an effective Democrat supermajority until Massachusetts fell to the GOP in January this year. They still have 57% plus Lieberman and Sanders, who caucus with the Democrats.
The congress has a Democrat majority.
It's not Republican obstructionism.
Obama has alienated many of his own Democrats with his radicalism.
That's why many of them vote against his agenda.
As for lobbyists, I didn't realise that they had a vote.

Pericles,my hopes are not high.If Ron Paul looks like being President they may try to assassinate him.Obama has out lived his usefulness and his narcissism may well be his demise.

Most of the corrupted Republicans dislike Ron Paul much like the corrupted Democrats.The monetarist system of diluting people's wealth via fractional reserve scams must come to an end.The FED is continuing to create fiat counterfeit money to prop up the Wall St bubble.

Ron Paul believes in absolute free markets ,but free trade is not fair trade.There should be tarrifs on sweatshop labour to make the cartels pay fairer wages.

Good news. We hear than jobs growth is happening in the USA.An analysis will show that the jobs are in Govt agencies like Homeland Security to supress the American people rather than private enterprise productivity.Remember guns and butter? The production of guns benefits a few,but in the long term it is destructive for all.A true indication of growth will be in manufacturing not just public sector expansion.

I thought Ron Paul was 78.75 makes him more electable.He wants to return to the US constitution and give individuals back their rights and freedom.Obama and Bush have tried to destroy it.Obama is a narcissist and toady boy to the corporate elites who want to invade Iran for it's oil.Presently the US has delivered almost 400 bunker busting bombs to Diego Garcia which are probably intended for Iran.Israel has been pushing for the invasion of Iran under the ruse of it getting a single nuke.Here is the hypocracy. It was revealed that the USA was funding a Russian group of scientists helping Iran develop it's nuclear technology.Israel has 200 nukes and the means to deliver them.Why does Iran get all the attention?

At least the US people are beginning to show awareness untainted by the lies/omissions of the Corporate media.This is our only hope of stopping the next world war.The scene is set with all the ingredients and more,that started past wars.They want their filthy wars because the truth will destroy their power base.

If Ron Paul's popularity grows between now and 2012 at a fraction of the rate it has grown since 2008, he will be the next president.

Sienna,I don't know that we have the time.Once the USA invades Iran under pressure from Israel,a whole new dynamic will envelop the world's political relationships and economics.China gets 40% of it's oil from the Middle East of which 12% come from Iran.China like Japan pre WW2,will not tolerate it's energy sources being compromised.

This unlike other eras is war promoted at the behest of corporate greed and power.While WW1 was also influenced by corporate greed ,today we see oligarchy whereby Govt has been bought out by large corporate interests.

The time to act is now and stop the invasion of Iran.This is the trigger for a world conflagration.

"[W]e are seeing a true political revolution. No sitting House member in American history has ever matched a sitting President in terms of public polls."
http://www.lewrockwell.com/north/north836.html

Interesting statistic.

>>No sitting House member in American history has ever matched a sitting President in terms of public polls<<

Nixon's popularity rating hit 26% at one point. George Bush hit 28%.

And Jimmy Carter managed 22% in a July 1980 Harris poll.

No sitting house member could have matched that?

I wonder.

Pericles I have not been a avid Ron Paul supporter for nothing over the last 18 months.Given the opportunity,he will make positive changes and turn this depression around.

Pericle's and Yabby have taken great delight in bagging me over my revelations of the Federal Reserve and how they have raped the financial system ,but now the egg is on their faces.A bit of humility would not go astray.

Hehe, I have news for you Arjay. My only real concern is that
you are going to die of worry, but your posts continue to amuse
me :)

Just to keep you informed what the mainstream are doing in the US.
Ron Paul, the evil Fed stealing money and your other favourite
conspiracies hardly get a mention amongst people that matter.

Goldmach Sachs are the hot topic, Washington Mutual are a hot
topic. The charges against GS and one of its vice presidents
are incredibly well timed, just when investment banks were
pulling out all lobbying stops to prevent any form of regulation!

What a coup for Obama! His team once again show great judgement,
but its probably gone over your head, as you worry about the world
ending. Ah well, it keeps you off the streets, but please
don't have a heart attack with worry :(

.

Yabby you still don't get it.Goldman Sachs are milking the real economy to further prop up their theft from the real producers in society.The depression has just begun and the delusional suits are still perveying their concoctions of theft at the behest of productivity.

Join us in the protest of war against Iran.If Israel or the USA invade Iran,then we are all in serious trouble.The psychopaths care not for their own safety,only that their vision be realised.They will take us to the brink.

Deary me Arjay, next you will be slitting your wrists.

I remind you that Obama is far smarter then Bush and is very
much an inclusive president, who just happens to have very good
relations with both the leaders of China and Russia.

But your favourite 911 conspiracy website, as I remember it, does
offer bargains of a year's worth of groceries, for the really
concerned. Grab their offer Arjay, for you are doomed! :)

That's a chuckle, Arjay.

>>Pericle's and Yabby have taken great delight in bagging me over my revelations of the Federal Reserve and how they have raped the financial system ,but now the egg is on their faces.A bit of humility would not go astray.<<

Here's my confident prediction.

Ron Paul has as much chance of becoming the President of the United States of America as you do.

In fact, I'd probably give you the edge over him, given your views are a little more moderate than his.

The political reality is that he is on the nose with his own supporters. Even in a straight Democrat v. Republican shoot-out - which after all is what the Rasmussen poll was really all about - they couldn't get Paul across the line.

Rasmussen is a mischief-maker, by the way. He learned his craft when he worked for George Bush as a consultant, so he knows exactly which buttons to push, and when.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if the idea of a head-to-head Obama/Paul poll wasn't fed to him by the Republican machine, as a way to flush Paul out of the woodwork early. The "Paul for Pres" platform will be exposed to scrutiny, and allow the suits to slide Mittney in on a safety-first, "look ma, no extremists here" strategy.

Does that demonstrate enough humility for you?

Israel is pushing for the invasion of Iran by November this year.AIPAC published full page letters in the Washington Post and the Wall St Journal,demanding that harsh action be taken against Iran.Why is it legal for Israel to secretly have 200 nukes and Iran not even one?

Call me alarmist if you will,but attacking Iran will destabilise the world.It will deepen the GFC and create more wars.

Pericles you would choke on the word 'humility' before it passed you lips.

According to Pericles upside-down and back-the-front logic, when the American government makes wars based on straight-out lies, forgery and other deceit; debases the currency on a grand scale generating widespread economic destruction and chaos; shovels billions of dollars into the coffers of corporations friendly to the state; makes a policy of perennial war; takes over whole industries; and tries to justify an unprovoked, “preemptive” attack on Iran with nuclear weapons - all in breach of the Constitution - that’s fine, that's democracy in action, but if tens of millions of ordinary people object to this legal, moral and intellectual corruption, they are “extremists”.

I've told you tens of millions of times, Peter Hume, don't exaggerate.

>>if tens of millions of ordinary people object to this legal, moral and intellectual corruption, they are “extremists”.<<

There is only one that I labelled extremist.

I said "The "Paul for Pres" platform will be exposed to scrutiny, and allow the suits to slide Mittney in on a safety-first, "look ma, no extremists here" strategy."

He is extremist in his religious belief.

http://www.joegrossberg.com/archives/003012.html

He is extremist in his monetary theory.

http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/13/gold-standard-fed-intelligent-investing-ron-paul.html

He is extremist on drugs

http://www.ronpaul.com/2009-03-30/ron-paul-end-the-war-on-drugs/

He is extremist on pro-life

http://www.yoursdaily.com/different_views/ron_paul_roe_v_wade

He is extremist on gay marriage

http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul207.html

...and so on.

This is not to say that I don't agree, to some extent, with his position on some issues. In fact, I do.

But there is no doubting that the label "extremist" fits him to a "T".

This will, inevitably, prevent his endorsement by the Republican Party for the Presidential nomination.

And he is highly unlikely to get there as an Independent, while the Tea Party is merely transient noise.

So, whatever ills you ascribe to the present product of US democracy, Ron Paul is not going to be the cure.

But far be it from me to dampen anyone's enthusiasm to cheer on a loser, if it makes them feel better about themselves.

Pericles ,Ron Paul is a catalyst for change.He does believe in freedom,the Constituition and true democracy, so if people disagree they can change it.

Presently we live in an oligarchy in which the corporates have bought out our Govts.You only have to look locally here to see the corportate influence.We have sold off our Govt income earning assets to pay for debt which should never have existed.

Our own RBA can create our currency without borrowing from China.We have borrowed $ billions in stimulus money that has been wasted on school projects costing 4 times more than they should.Only big companies get to tender so the money goes to the big end of town to inflate share and property prices.The local communities miss out.

So the RBA increases rates to soak up this inflationary money and the worker gets taxed to pay for the loan.We are paying thrice.Firstly for the interest on inflationary money to China,then on the depreciation of our currency due to it's diluting our currency and yet again on our own mortgages.It is a corporate rort.Rudd was pannicked into this by the RBA into stimulus.All he had to do was keep rates low.

The Corporate elites control both he Democrates and Republicans via the Federal Reserve.Ron Paul and a few others are standing up to this corporate facism which are pushing for wars and loss of civil liberties.

Peter Hume,I agree with your observations.Only a fool or those who benefit by this rapacious oligarchy would want to see it prosper. Our system is very corrupt.

Without freedom we cannot have creativity and thus our society will enter a new dark age.Pericles and Yabby are dinosaurs with beaker frog syndrome.They have yet to realise that the temperature of fiat money will cook them.I like that,"frog dinosaurs".The former is a lower form of evolution still alive,very stupid and the latter a higher form,that specialised too much in size,just like Globalisation.

Perhaps Pericles/Yabby focus to much on the monetary side which in reality should be a result of productivity,not the cause.The tail is wagging the dog.

*Pericles and Yabby are dinosaurs with beaker frog syndrome.They have yet to realise that the temperature of fiat money will cook them.*

Deary me Arjay, sounds like you have lots of sleepless nights ahead
of you, worrying about all this! Fair enough, whatever floats
your boat.

Luckily I will never have your worries, for I have a different
relationship to money then you have. For me its purely a means
to an end and not an end in itself. Unlike you I don't worship
money, so I sleep very soundly indeed.

People today are as free as they have ever been. They are free to
trade globally, free to borrow when they need to, free to be as
productive as they choose to want to be. Some make the most of
these incredible opportunities, others hardly know they exist,
others spend their life complaining about the system and blame
it for their failures.

If you are failing Arjay, forget the system, look in the mirror.

Yabby.Is that the best ad hominen argument you can muster from the depths of your ignorance?

Oh no Arjay, that was hardly an ad hominem, more like a bit of
good advice!

I find your delusions highly amusing, which is why I read them.
But I also have a bit of a hobby in neuroscience, so am always
curious as to why people like yourself, runner, richie and others,
float off on their little clouds.

But your posts in general have given me the impression of somebody
who once was doing very well, not so well anymore. So you are
lashing out, looking for something/someone to blame. Its a
human foible, few ever have the honesty too examine themselves.
Its easier to go into denial.

You may have at least half a point, Arjay.

>>Pericles ,Ron Paul is a catalyst for change.<<

Ron Paul was probably the single most influential godfather of the Tea Party movement, for example. And his son, Rand, will probably get a good run at politics by hanging onto his coattails.

He does articulate, in broad terms, some of the difficulties of managing a massive deficit, and the dangers of printing too much paper money.

Certainly, the concern shown by the average voter on the manner in which the US is facing up to the massive shift in the global financial power-base, could well manifest itself through a form of protest vote. And the Ron Paul publicity machine will undoubtedly be front-and-centre in any such activity.

What it doesn't change, however, is the fact that the vast majority of Paul's proposed solutions, particularly those on debt and the medium of value exchange, are based on false premises.

So while he may be a highly active part of the problem - in the sense that he magnifies the issues to the point, almost, of caricature - he most certainly will not emerge as part of the solution.

Because there is no silver bullet here. It's all down to plain slog, shoring up the economy that overblew itself on debt, and a "live now, pay later" lifestyle.

We've had the "live now". That's in the past.

It's only natural that this is now the "later" that we all knew had to come.

Ron Paul's debt solutions based on false premises? What are they?
The FED must go.That ideal I passionately share with RP. It is the influentially corrupt organisation on the planet,with it's tentacles right throughout the corporate world.

The gold standard, for one, Arjay.

>>Ron Paul's debt solutions based on false premises? What are they?<<

This is Ron talking to Steve Forbes earlier this year.

"If we were stranded on an island and one of us decided, "Well, we need some money. So we're going to take these pieces of paper and I'll write numbers on them and it'll be money," it would be preposterous. Money comes out with real value. So over the many, many centuries, literally thousands of years, gold and silver has been used"

http://www.forbes.com/2010/01/13/gold-standard-fed-intelligent-investing-ron-paul.html

Spot the fallacy, Arjay.

If you were stranded on a desert island, there would be absolutely no difference between a piece of paper with numbers on it, and a piece of gold.

Think about it.

"Here" says Paul Gaugin, "I'm hopeless at fishing, here's a piece of paper in exchange for the fish you just caught. When I catch some, you can give it back"

"That works for me" says Robinson Crusoe.

Both are happy.

"Ah," says Arjay. "But what's stopping Paul just writing out another piece of paper when he wants some more of Robinson's fish?

Well, nothing, actually.

Robinson might be happy to collect any number of them from Paul, for a time. Then he thinks, wait a minute, I'm not accepting any more of Paul's bits of paper until he catches some damn fish, and I can swap the paper back for them."

But at least Paul has been fed for a while.

In Ron's gold standard, it would work this way.

"Here, Paul" says Robinson Crusoe, "I'm hopeless at fishing, please accept this coloured rock in exchange for the fish you just caught. When I catch a fish, you can give it back to me"

"With pleasure," says Gaugin.

Next day, Gaugin catches some more fish, and Robinson once again catches none. But Robinson has given away the only piece of yellow rock on the island. He will have to go hungry, until he learns to catch fish.

What can he do?

"Hey Paul" he says, "here's a piece of paper..."

Both are happy.

Pericles,I agree that the gold standard is flaw in RP's ideals since there is not enough gold on the planet to be a floor for any currency.However we could use a wider spectrum of value ie Govt assets,energy,minerals etc to underpin a currency,so that the banksters don't thieve by the creation of too much fiat currency.

Ron Pual has you nailed Pericles,since you and the Wall St thieves will then have their wings clipped and thus you will have to get a real job.
I would offer you one in my factory if you had the skills,but alas the dinosaurs of corporate greed/oppression,lack the creativity and integrity to make it to this new awakening.