Ron Paul discusses rising energy costs and Iran.

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"The day that we stop asking questions is the day that we have let the seeds of despotism grow at our front door."

Ron Paul Claims Pelosi Spiked Iran Bill
Wednesday, June 18, 2008 5:07 PM
by: Rick Pedraza

Representative Ron Paul says House Speaker Nancy Pelosi removed a section from a bill passed by Congress which would have barred the U.S. from going to war with Iran without a congressional vote, claiming she did so at the behest of the leadership of Israel and AIPAC.

Paul, a former Republican presidential contender who formally removed himself from the party’s nomination race last week, makes the allegation on C-SPAN during a recently held foreign policy conference in Virginia.

Paul says Pelosi’s first act as House Speaker in 2006 was to “deliberately” remove a portion of a legislative spending bill which said the United States “can't go to war with Iran without getting approval from Congress.”

According to Paul, Pelosi and her allies in the chamber's Democratic leadership initially accepted the bill designed to outline an Iraq exit strategy, but during a revision of the legislation excluded the statement regarding the need for congressional approval of any military assault on the neighboring country of Iran.

“She [Pelosi] removed it deliberately,” Paul says. “And then, the astounding thing is, when asked why, she said the leadership in Israel asked her to. That was in the newspaper, that was in 'The Washington Post,' that she was asked by AIPAC and others not to do that."

Paul implies Pelosi, desperate to advance her flawed spending legislation, bargained away the proposal that would have been the House leadership's primary vehicle for challenging the administration's policies in the region.

According to John Nichols, who covered the story about Pelosi’s capitulation at the time for “The Nation,” Pelosi was "under pressure from some conservative members of her caucus, and from lobbyists associated with neoconservative groups that want war with Iran, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).”

Paul's allegation is corroborated by 'The Asia Times', which in another article published at the time says AIPAC was strongly against attaching "a provision to a Pentagon spending bill that would require President Bush to get congressional approval before attacking Iran. AIPAC was strongly against it because it viewed the legislation as taking the military option 'off the table.' The provision was killed."

The article also cites Congressman Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, as saying [Pelosi's] decision was due to AIPAC.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php? ... a&aid=9393

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Survival of freedom requires a moral people. Absent this, the Constitution has no meaning, no matter how well written. ~ Ron Paul
http://kitchener911truth.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/Steeper33

Ron Paul: I hear members of Congress saying “if we could only nuke Iran”
Steve Watson / Infowars.net | July 4, 2008
http://www.infowars.com/?p=3121
Congressman Ron Paul has warned millions of radio listeners that the US is heading into a deadly confrontation with Iran, revealing his disbelief at members of Congress who have openly voiced support for a pre-emptive nuclear strike on the country.

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Survival of freedom requires a moral people. Absent this, the Constitution has no meaning, no matter how well written. ~ Ron Paul
http://kitchener911truth.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/Steeper33

[font=Georgia]This is why Ron Paul dropped out of the presidential race, so he can secure his congress seat and stomp out people that lie. Go Ron Paul!!![/font]

Ron Paul vs. Ben Bernanke 7/16/08
Ron Paul takes on evil fed chairman Ben Bernanke. Opening Statement and Q&A.
http://digg.com/business_finance/Ron_Pa ... Bernanke_4
http://ronpaulnews.net/

_________________
Survival of freedom requires a moral people. Absent this, the Constitution has no meaning, no matter how well written. ~ Ron Paul
http://kitchener911truth.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/Steeper33

_________________
Survival of freedom requires a moral people. Absent this, the Constitution has no meaning, no matter how well written. ~ Ron Paul
http://kitchener911truth.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/Steeper33

How Foreign Policy Affects Gas Prices
By Ron Paul
19/08/-08 "ICH"
http://www.informationclearinghouse.inf ... e20548.htm

We've heard how the value of the dollar affects gas prices – and indeed the price of everything. I was pleased that my request for a hearing on such was granted by the Financial Services committee and we were able to hear some very informative testimony. Certainly domestic policies, regarding off-shore oil drilling bans, ethanol mandates, refining capacity, and CAFE standards are interventionist and harmful enough in the energy market.



But how does foreign policy affect gas prices? One important factor is that oil on the world market has been priced in dollars exclusively since 1973. Only two leaders have gone against this arrangement - Saddam Hussein in 2000 and more recently Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with the recently opened Iranian Oil Bourse which trades in non-dollar currencies. But since oil is otherwise exclusively traded in dollars, this means that oil producers have vast amounts of assets held in dollars. Especially since the War on Terror and the PATRIOT Act, many oil-producing nations and banks are concerned the US government may freeze assets based on flimsy pretexts. This fear contributes to dollar weakness, and therefore also high oil prices.



Recently I and other members of Congress spoke out against H Con Res 362 and exposed this seemingly innocuous bill for what it really is – a call for a blockade and a build up to war with Iran. Thankfully it has not come to the floor for a vote as I had fully expected it would. But to even propose legislation like this, and get an alarming 261 cosponsors, makes the oil markets jittery and encourages more capital flight from the dollar. We only isolate ourselves on the world stage with actions and attitudes like this. After all, how can it be wise for the rest of the world to bank on America, when we tend to freeze assets and blockade entire countries for no good reason?



Another major factor is our intervention in international military conflicts. These conflicts are often much more complicated, and have more to do with oil than our own leaders are willing to acknowledge. Too often the side we support points our weapons right back at us down the road. The best policy is always free trade with all and entangling alliances with none, but instead we isolate ourselves by picking sides and making enemies out of our friends or potential friends. In the recent conflict with Russia and Georgia, it appears that once again the administration is going to pick sides and send taxpayer money, when we are in a deep recession here at home. There is no good reason for us to put a dog in every fight around the world.



The contributing factors in the price of oil are complicated and legion. The fact is, it is an immensely valuable resource, and, as our demand for this resource is great, our relationships with world leaders who control it should be handled with reason and intelligence. However, our interventionist mindset when it comes to foreign policy never ceases to get us into sticky situations, for which we pay a premium at the gas pump.

Ron Paul is a Republican United States Congressman from Lake Jackson, Texas, a physician, a bestselling author, and a former 2008 U.S. presidential candidate.

_________________
Survival of freedom requires a moral people. Absent this, the Constitution has no meaning, no matter how well written. ~ Ron Paul
http://kitchener911truth.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/Steeper33

_________________
Survival of freedom requires a moral people. Absent this, the Constitution has no meaning, no matter how well written. ~ Ron Paul
http://kitchener911truth.blogspot.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/Steeper33