On Tuesday, January 28, Ron Paul invited supporters to join him as he live-tweeted President Obama's 2014 State of the Union Address. Dr. Paul is known for having a broad online following, which has likely helped keep his Internet channel, The Ron Paul Channel, going. During the speech, Ron Paul responded to the president's remarks on the economy, education, health care, foreign policy, and other issues.
Here is a list of the top 5 tweets from @RonPaul during the State of the Union:
Arguably the one issue Ron Paul has gathered the broadest support on over the years is his stance on the US' foreign policy in the Middle East. While some have mistakenly called his foreign policy position "isolationism," Dr. Paul believes that military operations in the region over the past decade have not served the nation's best interests and have had a negative impact not only on our foreign policy, but on the region itself.
One specific foreign policy issue Paul commented on during the State of the Union address is the use of drone strikes in the Middle East and the adverse effect it has on reducing terrorism activities.
In 2013, education equality activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived an attempt on her life by the Taliban, explained to President Obama the true impact drone strikes have had on the region from a first-hand account. Earlier that year, Ron Paul's son, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.), received broad support for his filibuster to bring the use of drones to the forefront of public discourse.
January 29, 2014
While the use of drones is controversial, it is something that has bipartisan support -- a good example of how bipartisan consensus doesn't always equal the best solutions.
"The applause on foreign policy is bipartisan and that is not a good thing," Ron Paul later tweeted.
During his speech, Obama touted the successes under his administration's education program, Race To The Top. While there is much debate over the successes and failures of RTTP, a bigger debate is over the role the federal government should have in public education. For Ron Paul, the answer is no role at all.
January 29, 2014
Ron Paul did observe the hypocrisy that is common in partisan politics has he mentioned how some of the same Republicans who did not stand up and cheer RTTP did applaud when President Bush pushed No Child Left Behind.
Depending on who you talk to, the fact that President Obama touched on tax reform may have come as a surprise, but he did raise an important point: most people can agree that reform is needed. It is the approach to tax reform that lawmakers disagree on. A major reform Ron Paul believes is necessary to improve the tax system in the United States is a repeal of the Sixteenth Amendment in the U.S. Constitution.
#SOTUJanuary 29, 2014
While Obama discussed the Affordable Care Act, a subject he jokingly noted was hard to get Republican support, he touted the millions of young people who were able to get coverage under their parents' plan, the millions of people who now had health care under private plans or medicaid, and the fact that zero people under the law could be denied health care insurance because of a pre-existing condition. However, he neglected to mention the millions of people who lost coverage because their plans did not meet the requirements of the new law.
January 29, 2014
As it was with the job numbers, figures are rarely quoted in net growth or loss because it sounds better to say 8 million jobs were created over the last 5 years or millions of people now have insurance to disguise the whole truth of the situation. In order to move forward on these issues, Americans need the facts.
As Ron Paul is considered the "Godfather" of the Liberty Movement, it only seems appropriate that he would include this into the discussion:
January 29, 2014