Ron Paul Talks abt the Constitution (59 QUOTES)

* Does the Constitution authorize this?
* How did we win the election in the year 2000? We talked about a humble foreign policy: No nation-building; don't police the world. That's conservative, it's Republican, it's pro-American - it follows the founding fathers. And, besides, it follows the Constitution.
* I take my orders from the Constitution
* Regardless of whether the President is named Bush or Clinton, and without respect to any particular political interest, we in Congress need to fulfill our oath of office and protect and defend the Constitution and our republic. Our constituents deserve no less, and should demand it of all of us.
* Why don’t we just open up the Constitution and read it?
* Since so many apparently now believe Washington and Jefferson were wrong on the critical matter of foreign policy, they should at least have the intellectual honesty to admit it.
* On the fourth day of July, in 1776, a small group of men, representing 13 colonies in the far-off Americas, boldly told the most powerful nation on earth that they were free. They declared, in terms that still are radical today, that all men are created equal, and endowed with certain inalienable rights that government neither grants nor can take away.
* The Constitution is written in plain, forthright text, and there is nothing mystical about it. It simply establishes a system of shared, limited power between the three branches of the federal government, while reserving most government power to the states themselves.
* The Constitution above all is a document that limits the power of the federal government.
* The Constitution does not empower government and grant rights, it restricts government in order to safeguard preexisting rights. When federal courts disregard this principle, acting as legislatures or failing to enforce Constitutional limitations, we get the worst kind of unaccountable government.
* It's easy to repeat the tired clich that times have changed since the Constitution was written. In fact, that's an argument the left has used for decades to justify an unConstitutional welfare state. Yet if we accept this argument, what other principles from the founding era should we discard? Should we reject federalism? Habeas corpus? How about the Second Amendment?
* The principle of limited government enshrined in the Constitution- limited government in both domestic and foreign affairs- has not changed over time. What has changed is our willingness to ignore that principle.
* It is precisely during times of relative crisis that we should adhere most closely to the Constitution, not abandon it.
* The beauty of the Constitution is that it encourages some degree of gridlock in government, making it harder for any branch to act capriciously or secretly. When we give any president- one man- too much power, we build a foundation for future tyranny.
* The history of the 20th century demonstrates that the Constitution is violated most egregiously during times of crisis.
* Ironically, the Constitution itself was conceived in a time of great crisis. The founders intended to place inviolable restrictions on what the federal government could do even in times of great distress.
* America must guard against current calls for government to violate the Constitution- meaning break the law- in the name of law enforcement.
* Consistency is sorely needed in Washington. A guiding philosophy of liberty, based on Constitutional restraints, should be followed consistently. Without philosophical consistency, the rule of law becomes nothing more than the imperial whims of the latest gang in Congress.
* A wise consistency is the foundation of free society.
* Most of the worst excesses of big government can be traced to a disregard for states' rights, which means a disregard for the Ninth and Tenth amendments.
* The principles enshrined in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence define the American way of life. Without those principles we become just another country, governed by whim and expediency, with no guiding vision beyond the ambitions of the latest politicians in power.
* Those who dismiss the Constitution ignore the link between the wisdom of our Founders and the freedom and prosperity we still enjoy today.
* America is not prosperous and relatively free merely by accident. It is prosperous and free because we still retain vestiges of our Constitutional system of limited government, with its emphasis on property rights and the rule of law.
* Our challenge is to create an America that lives up to the principles and ideals of our Founding Fathers.
* Only by using American troops judiciously and in service of the Constitution can we avoid the kind of endless military entanglements we witnessed in Korea and Vietnam. We honor our veterans by ensuring that their service to the nation is never in vain.
* One Republican member stated that the Constitutional requirement that Congress declare war is an anachronism and should no longer be followed, while a Democratic member said that a declaration of war would be "frivolous." I don't think most Americans believe our Constitution is outdated or frivolous, and they expect Congress to follow it.
* We are blessed to live under the Constitution, rather than under a King or dictator. Yet if we blatantly violate the Constitution by pursuing an undeclared war, we violate the rule of law. We invite the President, and future Presidents, to act in an imperial manner. We damage the separation of powers that is so critical to our freedom. We act more like Iraq than the United States of America when we ignore the Constitution.
* The young men and women who will be called upon to fight for the Constitution in Iraq deserve to see it followed at home.
* The Constitution grants Congress exceedingly limited regulatory and tax powers, because the founders were tired of having their business affairs managed by the Crown. So they created a strictly limited government, which allowed freedom and capitalism to flourish.
* The Constitution requires a congressional declaration of war precisely because the founders wanted the most representative branch of government, not an imperial President, to make the grave decision to send our young people into harm's way.
* Ultimately we cannot make ourselves safer simply by creating new departments, spending more taxpayer money on federal police, or sending more troops into yet another foreign land.
* Real homeland security requires a reexamination of our policies and priorities abroad, and a commitment to the Constitution at home.
* It's hypocritical and childish to dismiss certain founding principles simply because a convenient rationale is needed to justify foolish policies today. The principles enshrined in the Constitution do not change. If anything, today's more complex world cries out for the moral clarity provided by a noninterventionist foreign policy.
* Americans now more than ever must trust the great Constitutional institutions that have served us well for more than 200 years. The separation of powers and rule of law are cornerstones. Remove them and our way of life will quickly crumble.
* The history of the 20th century shows that the Constitution is violated most often by Congress during times of crisis; accordingly, most of our worst unConstitutional agencies and programs began during the two world wars and the Depression. Ironically, the Constitution itself was conceived in a time of great crisis. The founders intended its provision to place inviolable restrictions on what the federal government could do even in times of great distress. America must guard against current calls for government to violate the Constitution- break the law- in the name of law enforcement.
* We need a new method to prioritize our spending. It’s called the Constitution of the United States.
* Liberty cannot be preserved unless each branch of government stays within the confines of its Constitutionally authorized powers.
* The separation of powers created in our Constitution is not an antiquated notion or a rhetorical theory, but rather a critical doctrine which is needed today more than ever.
* Most of our mistakes can be laid at the doorstep of our failure to follow the Constitution.
* There's no logical reason to reject the restraints placed in the Constitution regarding our engaging in foreign conflicts unrelated to our national security. The advice of the founders and our early presidents was sound then and it's sound today
* Money and power are important only because the government wields power not granted by the Constitution.
* If we hope to restore any measure of Constitutional government, we must abandon the policy of policing the world and keeping troops in every corner of the earth. Our liberties and our prosperity depend on it.
* We don't need somebody in Washington telling us what we can do, because we don't have perfect knowledge. And that's the magnificence of our Constitution and our republic. We sort out the difficult problems at local levels, and we don't have, you know, one-case-fit- all.
* We should take our marching orders from our Constitution.
* If you look at every single problem we are facing today it is because of the lack of respect for the Constitution.
* We need a new method to prioritize our spending. It’s called the Constitution of the United States.
* I believe that almost every single problem that we're facing today has come about because we haven't been a stickler for the rule of law. We haven't followed the Constitution, and that's where we ought to begin.
* The fact that the problems have been created by the lack of respect for the Constitution, the answers can be found there.
* We live in a great country. We need to fall back on the traditions of our Constitution, and the traditions of America.
* The role of the president as Commander in Chief is to direct our armed forces in carrying out policies established by the American people through their representatives in Congress. He is not authorized to make those policies. He is an administrator, not a policy maker. Foreign policy, like all federal policy, must be made by Congress. To allow otherwise is to act in contravention of the Constitution.
* The founders were absolutely right: stay out of the internal affairs of foreign nations, mind our own business, bring our troops home, and have a strong defense.
* It is a road to our financial disaster if we don‘t read the Constitution once in a while.
* A policy that endorses peace over war, trade over sanctions, courtesy over arrogance, and liberty over coercion is in the tradition of the American Constitution and American idealism. It deserves consideration.
* Early in our history, the advocates of limited, Constitutional government recognized two important principles: the rule of law was crucial, and a Constitutional government must derive just powers from the consent of the governed.
* We were hardly encouraged by the American revolutionaries to pursue an American empire. We were, however, urged to keep the Republic they so painstakingly designed.
* When you amend the Constitution just by ignoring it, you're in big trouble.
* Both parties cite the Constitution when it suits their purposes, but both regularly violate it-- particularly through legislation that exceeds the enumerated powers of Congress and tramples on states' rights.
* We have allowed our Constitutional republic to deteriorate into a virtually unchecked direct democracy.