"[S]old to us with false information," unconstitutionally waged, and fought at the price of more than 3,000 American and over 650,000 Iraqi lives, the American invasion of that country has been nothing short of a disaster. Ron Paul voted against the war, has spoken out against it on the House floor and elsewhere, and advocates the recall of American troops.

"It's time that American soldiers quit being killed, and it's time for us to quit killing other people who have not attacked us."

“Any time our government declares war, whether it’s a war on drugs, or a war on illiteracy, or a war on terrorism, beware.” Whenever a nation is at war, civil liberties suffer. The war on terrorism is no exception. Waging a war against terrorism is like waging a war against guns, or bombs, or night attacks. Terrorism is a tactic; it is a tool—it is not an enemy. Because it’s not an enemy, it cannot be defeated. The war on terror will have no end, unless we end it.

This does not mean that we shouldn’t defend ourselves against terrorism. It means that declaring war on terrorism sets an unrealistic standard for victory, and that it is time to set new standards and new goals.

One of the most divisive issues in American politics is also one of the most unnecessary—just try to find a clause of the U.S. Constitution that grants the federal government authority over abortion. Ron Paul is personally pro-life, but believes that abortion is a matter for the individual states, and that a pro-life culture cannot be created by government fiat.

"Roe v. Wade was wrongly decided, but not because the Supreme Court presumed to legalize abortion rather than ban it. Roe was wrongly decided because abortion simply is not a constitutional issue...The federalization of social issues, originally championed by the left but now embraced by conservatives, simply has prevented the 50 states from enacting laws that more closely reflect the views of their citizens."

As the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, Ron Paul knows a little about Federal monetary policy. Historically, Republicans believe in low taxes and a conservative, balanced budget. Dr. Paul is no exception. But most Republicans today have forgotten that low taxes without a balanced budget are a recipe for inflation, ever-increasing debt, and eventual monetary disaster. Liberals want to raise taxes to support bloated spending programs. Ron Paul would like to decrease taxes and spending, and tackle the root of the problem as well: the Federal Reserve system itself.

When the government finishes spending all the tax money, it borrows. When it has borrowed as much as it can, it simply prints what it "needs." As the money supply increases, the value of each dollar decreases—and prices soar. Ron Paul understands that inflation is not just a problem for the government to solve; it's a problem for the government to avoid creating.

"Congress has an insatiable appetite for new spending, but raising taxes is politically unpopular. The Federal Reserve, however, is happy to accommodate deficit spending by creating new money through the Treasury Department. In exchange, Congress leaves the Fed alone to operate free of pesky oversight and free of political scrutiny. Monetary policy is utterly ignored in Washington, even though the Federal Reserve system is a creation of Congress.

The result of this arrangement is inflation."

"Gun control historically serves as a gateway to tyranny. Tyrants from Hitler to Mao to Stalin have sought to disarm their own citizens, for the simple reason that unarmed people are easier to control. Our Founders, having just expelled the British army, knew that the right to bear arms serves as the guardian of every other right. This is the principle so often ignored by both sides in the gun control debate. Only armed citizens can resist tyrannical government."

Open borders and amnesty are not the answers to the American immigration problem. This is a nation of immigrants—legal immigrants who came (and come) here to work and build their dreams. We should be providing these immigrants with a clear, fair, and efficient process by which to legally enter and become part of America.

Unfortunately, the system we have is light-years away from the system we need. An "incoherent and unfair" legal process, laxly enforced visa rules, birthright citizenship for the children of illegals, and the perverse incentive of providing welfare services for people who are here against the law combine to undermine any sense of logic, decency, and security in America's immigration policy.

"The talk must stop. We must secure our borders now. A nation without secure borders is no nation at all. It makes no sense to fight terrorists abroad when our own front door is left unlocked."

"Iran doesn't have a nuke and is nowhere close to getting one, according to the CIA. If they did have one, using it would guarantee almost instantaneous annihilation by Israel and the United States... With a policy of containment, we stood down and won the Cold War against the Soviets and their 30,000 nuclear weapons and missiles. If you're looking for a real kook with a bomb to worry about, North Korea would be high on the list. Yet we negotiate with Kim Jong Il. Pakistan has nukes and was a close ally of the Taliban up until 9/11... Yet we not only talk to her, we provide economic assistance...

Intervention just doesn't work. It backfires and ultimately hurts American citizens both at home and abroad. Spreading ourselves too thin around the world actually diminishes our national security through a weakened military. As the superpower of the world, a constant interventionist policy is perceived as arrogant, and greatly undermines our ability to use diplomacy in a positive manner.

Conservatives, libertarians, constitutionalists, and many of today's liberals have all at one time or another endorsed a less interventionist foreign policy. There's no reason a coalition of these groups might not once again present the case for a pro-American, non-militant, non-interventionist foreign policy dealing with all nations. A policy of trade and peace, and a willingness to use diplomacy, is far superior to the foreign policy that has evolved over the past 60 years."

"When the Homeland Security department first was conceived, some congressional leaders and administration officials outrageously told a credulous rank-and-file Congress that the new department would be "budget neutral." The agency simply would be a reorganization of existing federal employees, we were told, and would not increase the federal budget. In fact, the agency was touted as increasing efficiency, rather than expanding federal power. Of course the original 32-page proposal sent over by the White House quickly grew to 282 pages in House committees, ending up at more than 500 pages in the final version voted on last week – with a $3 billion price tag just for starters. The sheer magnitude of the bill, and the technical complexity of it, makes it impossible for anyone to understand completely. Rest assured that the new department represents a huge increase in the size and scope of the federal government that will mostly serve to spy on the American people. Can anyone, even the most partisan Republican, honestly say with a straight face that the Department of Homeland Security does not expand the federal government?

The list of dangerous and unconstitutional powers granted to the new Homeland Security department is lengthy. Warrantless searches, forced vaccinations of whole communities, federal neighborhood snitch programs, federal information databases, and a sinister new "Information Awareness Office" at the Pentagon that uses military intelligence to spy on domestic citizens are just a few of the troubling aspects of the new legislation."

Every year, our government—which is to say, the taxpayers—spends $9.2 billion to lock up people who use, produce, or sell illegal drugs. That figure does not include the cost of state or federal law enforcement, or international programs, such as military support and crop-killing in countries such as Colombia and Afghanistan. The total annual cost for the Drug War is roughly $40 billion.

You don't need to approve of drug use to believe that this is financial insanity. We are spending an outrageous amount of money trying to reign in the consequences of a black market created by drug prohibition, and we are demonstrably losing the "war." It is time to recognize that we are making the problem worse by driving it underground.

As you read this, the construction of what is known as the “NAFTA Superhighway,” a 10 lane international toll road system complete with passenger & freight trains, fiber-optic cable lines, and oil & natural gas pipelines, stretching from the heart of Mexico deep into Canada, has begun. Although most Americans have not heard about this multi-billion dollar venture, it is being built, and it may herald the end of American sovereignty.

“The proposed highway is part of a broader plan advanced by a quasi-government organization called the ‘Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America,’ or SPP…," according to Dr. Paul. "The ultimate goal is not simply a superhighway, but an integrated North American Union--complete with a currency, a cross-national bureaucracy, and virtually borderless travel within the Union. Like the European Union, a North American Union would represent another step toward the abolition of national sovereignty altogether.”

This issue should be at the forefront of the political debate during this election cycle, but unfortunately the media has failed to cover the ongoing project, and most of the candidates either know nothing about it or would just as soon pretend it doesn’t exist. Ron Paul has educated himself and stands firmly against the SPP.

Education should be controlled by parents. Decades of federal funding and standards have done nothing to improve schools across the country; instead, we've built a massive federal bureaucracy, attempted to buy state authority with fractions of the costs imposed, and tied the hands of local school boards—all at the expense of American children. It's time to admit that even the most generous bureaucrat can't force a child to learn.

Ron Paul introduced legislation in the House of Representatives to provide parents with an education tax credit of up to $3,000—a plan supported by nearly 70% of Americans, but defeated by the U.S. Congress.

Your healthcare is none of the government's business. Decades of regulation and well-intentioned legislation have resulted in one of the most expensive healthcare systems in the world—alongside an increasingly unhealthy population. It is no coincidence that as government control over your medical care has increased, your choices have narrowed and your costs have gone up.

"For decades, the U.S. healthcare system was the envy of the entire world. Not coincidentally, there was far less government involvement in medicine during this time. America had the finest doctors and hospitals, patients enjoyed high-quality, affordable medical care, and thousands of private charities provided health services for the poor. Doctors focused on treating patients, without the red tape and threat of lawsuits that plague the profession today. Most Americans paid cash for basic services, and had insurance only for major illnesses and accidents. This meant both doctors and patients had an incentive to keep costs down."