The Political Insider

America is at its best when it lives up the principles and limits on government outlined in the U.S. Constitution.

America is at its worst when sleazy politicians and elites ignore the Constitution to empower and enrich themselves.

For those who know him, former Congressman and Republican Presidential Candidate never minced words – and his incredible farewell speech from Congress is the perfect way to honor the American Revolution.

Paul 2012: ‘Our Constitution, which was intended to limit government power and abuse, has failed’

When libertarian icon and former Texas U.S. Congressman Ron Paul left Congress in 2012, he told the world that the political class had long subverted the limited government principles that made America great.

It was a message that sounded an awful lot like Donald Trump’s a short four years later.

In his farewell address to Congress, he did not hold back.

“Our Constitution, which was intended to limit government power and abuse, has failed,” Paul declared on the House floor in his 2012 goodbye to the House.

“The founders warned that a free society depends on a virtuous and moral people,” Paul said. “The current crisis reflects that their concerns were justified.”

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While serving in the House since 1976 (he left Congress for a while and came back in 1996), Paul is perhaps best known for his 2008 and 2012 Republican presidential campaigns, in which thousands of people, mostly young, would attend his campaign rallies.

At the time, Paul became close to a household name.

Paul said in 2012, “All branches of our government today are controlled by individuals who use their power to undermine liberty and enhance the welfare/warfare state, and frequently their own wealth and power.”

Paul continued, “If it’s not accepted that big government, fiat money, ignoring liberty, central economic planning, welfarism, and warfarism caused our crisis, we can expect a continuous and dangerous march toward corporatism and even fascism with even more loss of our liberties.”

Then Congressman Paul said Washington leaders refused to admit the country was broke.

“The major stumbling block to real change in Washington is the total resistance to admitting that the country is broke,” Paul said. “This has made compromising, just to agree to increase spending, inevitable since neither side has any intention of cutting spending.”

“The country and the Congress will remain divisive since there’s no loot left to divvy up.”

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Paul On America’s Acceptance Of Liberty

“I have thought a lot about why those of us who believe in liberty, as a solution, have done so poorly in convincing others of its benefits,” Paul pondered during his last House floor speech. 

He continued, “If liberty is what we claim it is – the principle that protects all personal, social and economic decisions necessary for maximum prosperity and the best chance for peace – it should be an easy sell.” 

“Yet, history has shown that the masses have been quite receptive to the promises of authoritarians which are rarely if ever fulfilled,” Paul lamented.

Paul’s message – the message of the Founding Fathers – is one we must remember this Fourth of July.

Watch Paul’s speech below: