Ron Paul Attacks Obama, Romney On Civil Liberties
Texas Congressman Ron Paul, the only remaining GOP candidate who is actively campaigning against Mitt Romney, has stepped up his attacks on President Barack Obama and Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney on their positions regarding civil liberties for U.S. citizens. The Paul campaign says explicitly on its blog that, "Obama worse than Bush on civil liberties, Romney no different from Obama."
In particular, the Ron Paul 2012 campaign cites both Romney and Obama's support for the National Defense Authorization Act which permits the detention of U.S. citizens without the right to counsel or an initial hearing before a judge to determine whether the detention is lawful if the U.S. citizen is accused of terrorism.
Paul's criticism comes just as U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) joined Romney on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania. Rubio also came under attack last year by Tea Party members and libertarian-leaning Republicans for his support of NDAA which prompted Rubio to issue
a letter where he attempted to explain why he supported the National
Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012:
"Several people have asked about
my votes on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year
2012. In particular, some people are wrongly suggesting that this
legislation will allow the military to capture and indefinitely detain
any American citizen, and that the US Armed Forces would be able to
perform law enforcement functions on American soil because of the
authority conferred under Sections 1031 and 1032 of the Act. While I
do have other serious concerns with this legislation, those particular
assertions could not be further from the truth. I want to take this
time to explain what the law actually does, what my position is on
these issues, and why I joined with Senators Demint, Coburn and Lee to
vote for those specific sections, but against cloture on the final
bill.
Section
1031 of this act merely affirms the authority that the president
already has to detain certain people pursuant to the current
Authorization for Use of Military Force; in fact, this same section of
the bill specifically states that nothing stated in Section 1031 is
intended to expand the president’s power. In addition, this section
sets specific limits on who can be detained under this act to only those
people who planned or helped carry out the 9/11 attacks on the United
States or people who are a member of, or substantially support,
Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or their respective affiliates. There is no
language that could possibly be construed as repealing the Posse
Comitatus Act and allowing the US military to supplant your local police
department in carrying out typical law enforcement activities."
Rubio endorsed Romney last month, a week after former Florida Governor Jeb Bush's
endorsement. Rubio said that Mitt Romney offers "A
stark contrast to the President's record.... I think all of the
candidates who have run in the race have a lot to be proud of - they
offered a lot to the debate. But I just can't buy into this idea that,
by their own admission, there saying the only way they can win this race
is by having a floor fight in Tampa in August, and I think that's a
recipe to deliver four more years to Barack Obama - and our country,
forget about the Republican Party, our country cannot afford that. And
so we have got to come together behind who I think has earned this
nomination, and that's Mitt Romney."
Rubio's letter where he defended his support for NDAA can be read in its entirety here.
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SIMILAR ARTICLES:
Ron Paul's Young Voter Popularity Shows Media Bias
Why Should Ron Paul Supporters Stay In The GOP?
Brevard Times Endorses Ron Paul For GOP Nominee
Brevard Donates Most To Paul Out Of GOP Candidates
