As for the consequences of shutting down the Fed completely, I can give you my opinion, but no one is advocating closing the doors of the Fed by force.

If the Fed was closed down tomorrow, their would be chaos until the market chose its new money. The treasury might start printing U.S. notes again. People with gold and silver coins would be in good shape. Other people would have to trade food or guns or ammo for those coins. This is assuming the government wouldn’t declare martial law and lock us all up in camps, which is probably what would happen.

Luckily, no one is saying we should close them down overnight. Legalizing competing currencies would keep them in check or they would close their own doors. You see, throughout history the people have always chosen precious metals to be their money. Only governments have chosen paper money. There is a reason for that.

3. Dr. Paul would take action. He would engage them diplomatically to see what we can work out with as far as the Strait of Hormuz and abandoning their nuclear program. Since he is opposed to sanctions, they would have no reason to close the Strait anyway, but they would surely talk about how to avoid it.

If after talking they still want to close the Strait, they would have to enforce that by attacking one of our ships entering the Gulf through Oman’s territorial waters in the Strait. This would lead to the destruction of the Iranian navy and a vote in Congress to see if we would take it further.

5. Closing our bases would not embolden our enemies. It would pacify them. Our bases are the reason they are emboldened in the first place. What are you worried about them doing if we get out of their countries? They don’t have armies or navies to come here, and if they were just going to send suicide bombers our bases over there don’t stop them from doing that now.

I saw you said something in another post about Russia and China’s imperial goals, so maybe you think our presence over there stops Russia and China. First of all, I have no idea where you get the idea they are building an empire. The Chinese don’t have troops anywhere in the world except China. They are doing what we should be doing, trading with these countries, not raining bombs on them. Russia isn’t at war anywhere either. They aren’t our enemies, although we will make them our enemies if we continue what we are doing.

I know this question is not for me but I agree they would like to spread their interests, though I think China and Russia would be more interested in securing trade interests and resources than spreading ideology of Communism which they recently have been moving away from.

Do you really believe that Russia and China are innocent bystanders in the middle-east? If not, then you must concede that the United States must play a role in helping guide world affairs to serve its own interests.

We have to define what are USA interests? Spreading democracy using force or protecting resources such as oil in the middle east. The US reserve currency is dependent on the petro-dollar tied to oil trade. Without other countries trading dollars for oil, there is no value in the dollar as currency except locally.

To me it looks like the US is protecting oil interests in the region. Indirectly we are subsidizing oil companies by using the US military for protection. At one time I did not understand why we are having wars to protect Saudi Oil and Kuwait profits while the huge oil reserves off the US coast and arctic sit undeveloped.

It becomes more clear it is all about the petro-dollar which the US started with Nixon. Instead of gold backing dollars its oil. Countries that do not want to trade in Petro dollars get bombed by the US. Examples are Iraq, Libya and now Iran decided to trade oil in Euros or Chinese Yuan. So yes the US has its interest in keeping the world reserve currency in petro dollars.

One thing I know is Ron Paul champions states rights. With the drug war what Ron Paul could not do at the Federal level he would encourage at the state level. States could pass their own laws to regulate drugs as they do with alcohol and prescription drugs.

The problem is the Feds come down hard and say they are breaking Federal Law yet there is no law in the constitution that prohibits drugs. A good example is there was a prohibition amendment passed to outlaw alcohol, eventually it was also repealed via another amendment.

A way states can do this is through Nullification of unconstitutional laws.This was actually favored by Thomas Jefferson as a way to check Federal acts that were unconstitutional. Now this has been argued and shot down by the Federal courts, but there has never been a President with a spine to stand up for the states. Ron Paul would do that, and not send out Federal troops to arrest state workers as other presidents would. Think Arizona immigration laws and President Obama.

Have you looked at our country lately?

How many Branch Davidians were burned up in Waco because they believed in Jesus and owned guns? Or do you look at the you tube videos of our citizens being pepper sprayed by thugs with badges at peaceful demonstrations? Or how about innocent people being gunned down in their homes because the informant gave the SWAT team the wrong address? Or women being tazed out of their cars for questioning the all mighty officer? Old ladies having their Depends searched at airports by TSA?

By your standard, we should be surrounded by the world’s armies and starved out.

We push back when pushed. Why is it wrong for Iran to push back when pushed?

The problems we have took 100 years to create. We don’t get out of it overnight. But the first two years of a Ron Paul presidency will be full of the changes he can make as president, and will have a positive impact on our economy and our quality of life here in the USA. If that first congress that he works with is resistant to his ideas, chances are enough of it will get replaced during midterms to help him in the last two years, because the people will see he is right.

2) Actually, I didn’t jump to any conclusions. Dr. Paul repeatedly states he wants the Federal Reserve audited and eliminated. Auditing the Reserve in a public manner will have nasty repercussions and closing it will end the U.S. dollar and it’s reserve currency status. Just out of curiosity, if the U.S. dollar is no longer the reserve currency of the world then what is and what are the potential consequences?

3) The entire middle-east has been nothing but a “cold war playground” for Russia, China, and the United States. I don’t succumb to the whole “American imperialism” philosophy because it blatantly ignores the Russian and Chinese Imperialism going on around the world. Even in the United States these countries have used their influences to spread communism and affect politics.

4) Israel is a nation that is as self-serving as the United States. Its interests lie in the preservation of its people and its Judah Christian heritage. There is not a nation on the planet that places the interest of another nation before their own.

5) Again with the American Imperialistic stance. Do you think Russia and China have reservations about spreading communism and oppression throughout the world? Do you really believe that Russia and China are innocent bystanders in the middle-east? If not, then you must concede that the United States must play a role in helping guide world affairs to serve its own interests.

6) … and perhaps this is where we differ… I see the necessity of government in the same way as Thomas Jefferson stated its necessity in the Declaration of Independence. The way I see it, two things have happened: people do not understand how the United States government is suppose to work and many that do, believe their opinions do not matter to their representatives.

Finally, I’ve considered myself a social and fiscal conservative for, at least, 20 years and the points expressed by Kristol and Bismarck do not represent either value.

Socially, many of my political concerns are based around maintaining the belief that my inalienable rights come from God and while individual freedom is important, certain laws must exist and be enforced to maintain a civil society.

Fiscally, I believe in responsibility and accountability. The United States Federal government was never intended to offer services above and beyond what States can offer their own constituents. It was meant to perform the task of protecting life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness or put simply, national defense. Think of all the income the Federal government would have for national defense if it, simply, did its Constitution job and nothing more.

2) I did not ask about the history of the gold standard and fiat currencies. I asked if anyone thought about the consequences of making a Federal Reserve audit a matter of public record or, for that matter, eliminating the Federal Reserve altogether. What kind of ramifications will this have?

3) Again, you are trying to give me a history lesson that I already know. My question refers to the here and now. Dr. Paul has stated that he does not believe Iran is a threat, but they are threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz. I asked if Dr. Paul would ignore this or take action.

5) Agreed, we can not afford an empire, so the question is “How does Dr. Paul plan on closing these bases without emboldening our enemies?

Well, the most direct thing Paul will do in stopping the War on Drugs is vetoing unbalanced budgets. If you can’t pay for a war, there is no war. The second most direct thing he will do is secure our border with Mexico. Currently we have 625,000 troops stationed all over the world. We defend the borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan better than the one between Mexico and Texas. Ron Paul will bring those troops home and put them on our own borders. This will undoubtedly have the effect of drastically lowering the importation of illegal drugs into the U.S from Mexico. In the long term, Ron Paul will bring both sides of the partisan isle together on this issue. The right wants to balance the budget, and the left understands the that the Drug War is a complete failure which disproportionately punishes minorities. One other thing Ron Paul will do is pardon non-violent drug offenders. This has the effect of rendering federal drug laws useless, but will also save the tax payer hundreds of millions of dollars that are spent on incarcerating these people. Can you imagine the political awakening that would occur if a President pardon such a large group of people? Congress will have no choice but to get behind President Paul and his crusade to end the Drug War.

2. How does Ron Paul plan to handle replacing our fiat currency? Who will produce it and what will it be?

It is important to first understand that the days of the dollar as a viable currency are quickly coming to an end. The debt of the United States is now passing $15 Trillion. We have a running deficit of $4 Trillion. This is entirely unsustainable even in the short term. What most people don’t realize is that the United States has $60 Trillion in debt obligations. The dollar is quickly becoming worthless. The Chinese, who hold hundreds of billions of dollars, are going to be sending those dollars back over here once they feel the time is right. When is the time right? When they will lose more wealth by holding on to dollars than by losing their biggest trading partner. This will be a huge event that will mark major hyperinflation in the U.S.

Ron Paul will bring change to monetary policy in a similar way that he will with the drug war. One, he will pardon those who have been imprisoned for coining gold and silver to use as currency. This will mean it is open season in the United States to start using other currencies instead of the Dollar. When people see more stability in gold and silver, and a wildly uncontrollable dollar, they will favor using precious metals. Already, people are converting their savings from dollars to gold and silver. The people’s awareness of this issue will grow and they will put demands on Congress to repeal unconstitutional monetary laws. Two, an audit of the Fed already occurred because of Ron Paul. That is how we found out that the vast majority of the bailout money from 2008 when to offshore central banks. If you don’t understand what this means, please read carefully. The government forcefully took money from you through the inflation tax and handed it for free over to foreign interests. You were stolen from. Ending the Fed will restore economic stability, not destroy the economy.

So, who will make our new currency(-ies)? The free market will. We, the People, will get to decide what our money will be instead of having a extremely secretive banking cartel force their monopoly on us.

3. Will Dr. Paul attempt to ignore Iran as they start a global energy war and if not, how does he plan on handling the situation as Commander-In-Chief?

If you think Iran is the aggressor in this situation, you need to go look at a map of all the U.S. military bases that surround them. Let’s flip this around and see how you feel about it. Russia has put 10 forward bases on the Mexico/U.S. border, 20 on the Canadian/U.S. border, has a fleet of naval vessels operating in the Pacific just off the coast of California and in the Atlantic dangerously close to our nation’s capital as well as many of our major cities including New York and Boston, and they are not so covertly engaging in Black Ops destroying our power plants and killing our citizens (who happen to be scientists). The United States then says, if you don’t back off we are going to close the Gulf of Mexico to all traffic. Then Russia comes out and says “Look! SEE! The U.S. wants to destroy us!”

Is it any surprise that the government and media are pressing for yet another war? The same thing happened to Iraq. There were supposed to be “Weapons of Mass Destruction!”, “We can’t let the proof arrive in the form of a mushroom cloud!” We need to recognize war propaganda for what it is if we are going to be a free people. Also, consider where you get your information from. The companies that make billions off of government contracts for war machines also own the apparatus known as the Mainstream Media. They produce the weapons for war, they produce the public support for war through the media, and they control the war apparatus (a.k.a the government). President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us about the “Military-Industrial Complex”. We didn’t listen.

Now if you are really concerned about Iran shutting off oil trade, then you are 100% AGAINST war with Iran. Glad to hear it! Ron Paul will immediately pull our naval forces out of the region, which will drastically reduce tensions in that area overnight. Iran wants to trade with the world because that is how they increase their wealth. Remember, Iran is threatening to shut the Strait of Hormuz because of actions WE ARE CURRENTLY TAKING. We need to change our tune to get what we want, which is peace and prosperity.

4. Considering that America would still be a British territory without the aid of France in the Revolutionary War, will Dr. Paul ignore Israel should things escalate?

You should go back and rethink/reword your question. Right now your reasoning is “240 years ago France spent blood and money to help us, therefore, we should spend blood and money to help Israel today.” This doesn’t make a shred of sense.

But I guess your point is, “Will Ron Paul help Israel if she is invaded or attacked?”

Well why doesn’t the United States stop sending foreign aid to Israel’s enemies. That would be a great start. Ron Paul will end ALL foreign aid. We gave over $30 Billion to hosni Mubarak. We send money to Syria. All those weapons that were used against us in 1991 and 2003 by Iraqis were made right here in the United States. They were given to Saddam Hussein in the 80′s as foreign aid. Stop arming Israel’s enemies and there won’t be such a threat to them.