Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, plans to cut $1 trillion in federal spending if elected president and he doesn’t care if defense and national security ‘hawks’ dislike his intended cuts.
“A lot of people say that cutting a trillion dollars in one year, ‘thats radical,’ but I operate on the assumption that the radicals have been in charge for far too long,” Paul said about government spending in general.
Among other things, Paul promised that his economic plan would “cut significantly from the militarism – not one penny from the veterans and not one penny from defense – from the militarism.” His plan includes a 15 percent cut in Department of Defense spending, which would return the Defense Department budget to 2006 levels and “cut all war spending.”
During the question-and-answer session, Paul said that “it sounds like neoconservatives want endless wars,” charging them with favoring unilateral presidential action, absent congressional approval. “There are going to be some diehard neoconservatives who think that fighting another war [is good],” Paul said, apparently considering President Obama’s decision to send armed military advisers to Uganda. “In fact, they’d like about two more [wars],” he added. Paul said he expected to gain Democratic support for his opposition to “militarism and corporatism.”
Paul even disavowed ariline security as a government national security responsibility, with the exception of certain international flights. He said he would leave security to the airlines which must “accomodate the passenger” – unlike the Transportation Security Agency. “They like to annoy us, it seems like on purpose,” Paul said of the TSA agents, adding that “the groping of little girls and elderly women and men, as well – it is atrocious.”
