Congressman Ron Paul
Text of Video Address – Feb. 19, 2007
www.RonPaulExplore.com

Thanks for joining me.

After serious consideration with my family, and in response to many requests, I have agreed to form a presidential exploratory committee, as a preliminary step to becoming a candidate in the Republican primary for the 2008 election.

My concerns for the future of our country are deeply held. The Republican Party has floundered in its effort to shrink the size of government and restore our constitutional republic.

Instead, in recent years our deficits have exploded, entitlements are out of control, and our personal liberties are threatened. We have embarked on a dangerous and expensive foreign policy, acting as the world's policeman and nation builder.

Very simply, we no longer can afford the extravagance of this ever growing and intrusive government, both at home and abroad.

Last year alone our long-term obligations increased by $4.6 trillion dollars. The problems seem overwhelming, but in reality they are not complex. We only need the will to go forward with the solution.

We have lost our way and strayed from the free society our Founders secured for us in the Constitution, but there's no reason the principles that made us the greatest nation ever can't be restored.

We merely need to respect and follow the rule of law – the U.S. Constitution – and elect leaders determined to stand firm in its defense.

Liberty once again must become more important to us than the desire for security and material comfort.

Personal safety and economic prosperity can only come as the consequence of liberty. They cannot be provided by an authoritarian government.

To expect government to take care of us from cradle to grave undermines the principles of liberty.

Returning to the dark ages of dictatorship is no substitute for resuming the most modern and grandest experiment known to man – promoting human liberty by strictly limiting the arbitrary power of government.

Political and economic conditions today are at a crucial crossroads.

A financial crisis is looming, and our foreign policy of empire building cannot last. Both conditions threaten our prosperity, safety, and above all, our liberties. The foundation for a police state has been put in place, and it's urgent we mobilize resistance before it's too late.

But today's problems need not lead to despair. Instead we must become energized, and use this time of turmoil to offer the American people the solution found in freedom in all that we do. We must reject the bureaucratic management of our lives and the economy.

We stand on the threshold of a true revolution of ideas. As the welfare/warfare state loses its steam, we now see how the seeds of the freedom movement over the past 40 years are starting to bear fruit.

A nation under great stress is ripe for a change.

A major change in direction is not a theoretical dream, but actually quite possible.

Central planning is intellectually bankrupt – and it has bankrupted our country and undermined our moral principles.

Respect for individual liberty and dignity is the only answer to government force, force that serves the politically and economically powerful.

Our planners and rulers are not geniuses, but rather demagogues and would-be dictators--always performing their tasks with a cover of humanitarian rhetoric.

The collapse of the Soviet system came swiftly and dramatically, without a bloody conflict – surprising many. It came as no surprise, however, to the devotees of freedom who have understood for decades that socialism was doomed to fail. Communism, like all socialism, failed intellectually and failed practically.

And so too will the welfare/warfare state fail, and then our cause will be heard. The love of liberty will not die.

Opportunity is now at our doorstep.

We need now only to mobilize the army of true believers to present the case for the principles that built America, and can make her great once again.

The American experiment over the past 200+ years has provided us with the greatest amount of personal freedom and subsequent wealth known in all of history.

Yet today, because of our careless attitude toward freedom and the responsibilities it requires, we face a crisis that everyone recognizes but few understand.

A free society is based on the key principle that the government, the president, the Congress, the courts, and the bureaucrats are incapable of knowing what is best for each and every one of us.

They don't know how to run the economy, regulate our lives, or manage a world empire.

A government as a referee is proper, but a government that uses arbitrary force to direct every aspect of society threatens freedom.

Such governments have failed thousands of times over the centuries.

The time has come for a modern approach to achieving those values that all civilized societies seek.

Only in a free society do individuals have the best chance to seek virtue, strive for excellence, improve their economic well-being, and achieve personal happiness. It is only through this personal effort that peace and freedom can be secured.

The worthy goals of civilization can only be achieved by freedom loving individuals.

When government uses force, liberty is sacrificed and the goals are lost.

It is freedom that is the source of all creative energy.

If I am to be your president, these are the goals I would seek.

I reject the notion that we need a president to run our lives, plan the economy, or police the world.

Our goal always should be the preservation of liberty. It is much more important to protect individual liberty and privacy than to make government even more secretive and powerful.

These goals are worth fighting for.

There is hope for America.

Please support me in these efforts.

Thanks for listening.

Source: Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee