Ron Paul Attacked by Conservative Leader Gary Bauer

Conservative leader Gary Bauer, best known for leading the Family Research Council and making a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, slammed Republican presidential candidate U.S. Rep. Ron Paul of Texas on Wednesday, arguing that the congressman from the Lone Star State was not a conservative in the mold of Ronald Reagan.

I'm not a card-carrying member of the Ron Paul Fan Club, noted Bauer, who is now with Our American Values and the Campaign for Working Families PAC. "While I admire his devotion to the idea of limited government, his views on many issues are out of step with the Republican Party. So much so that Paul once left the GOP and ran for president on the Libertarian Party ticket.

Yet his supporters routinely claim that he is the only true Reagan conservative in the race. In fact, Paul even has a new ad out touting his support for Ronald Reagan. Thanks to the Perry campaign, we have been reminded of how Ron Paul really felt about Ronald Reagan, continued Bauer. In 1987, as he was preparing his third-party presidential bid, Paul formally resigned from the Republican Party and blamed, of all people, Ronald Reagan for his leaving.

Bauer cited Pauls letter of resignation from the Republican Party in which the congressman attacked unprecedented deficits, massive monetary inflation, indiscriminate military spending, an irrational and unconstitutional foreign policy, zooming foreign aid, the exaltation of international banking, and the attack on our personal liberties and privacy under the Reagan administration.

As Ronald Reagan stared down the Soviet Union, rebuilt our military and fought a hostile Congress (I know because I was there!), Ron Paul ran for the exits, insisted Bauer. What exactly was Paul referring to when he wrote about Reagan's irrational and unconstitutional foreign policy? Did he mean rescuing American medical students held by Cuban commandos in Grenada? Did Paul oppose Reagan's military strikes on Libya after Gadhafi was implicated in the deaths of U.S. soldiers? When it came to the Soviet Union, Reagan's strategy was simple: We win, they lose. Was Paul, like Ted Kennedy, an advocate for coexistence with the Soviets? These aren't rhetorical questions.

One trait folks seemingly admire about Paul is his consistency. Well, I'll give him that. In condemning Ronald Reagan's indiscriminate military spending, we can see now that his teaming up with radical leftist and conservative-hater Barney Frank to slash the defense budget is nothing new. Paul has been trying to slash our defense spending for years, noted Bauer in conclusion. I haven't gone back to check the votes, but I assume that Ron Paul supported Jimmy Carter's efforts to gut our military. Favoring small government is one thing; but providing for the defense of its citizens is the primary obligation of government at every level. It's not clear to me that Paul understands that or the world we live in.