Now that Ron Paul has entered the “Top Tier” of candidates, and with the fall of Gingrich, it looks like the GOP primary may come down to Romney vs. Paul. While Romney would be better than Obama, Ron Paul is the best choice. Here are several reasons why:

Our Spending Problem

The US Government is $15 Trillion in debt, or about $50,000 per American. Under the Obama administration, that debt is growing by over $1 Trillion a year. This is unsustainable. It is the biggest problem facing America today.

Romney did hold the line on spending as Governor of Massachusetts, but he hasn’t offered any clear plan on how to cut. In stark contrast, Ron Paul has offered a plan to cut $1 Trillion in spending in the first year.

Jobs Jobs Jobs

The US is struggling with high unemployment. The establishment answer is for government to “create jobs”. That answer is wrong. Government-created jobs come from taxpayer money, exacerbating the spending problem. And government simply is not good at choosing where to create jobs. The Solyndra debacle is a great example (and it’s not just Obama’s fault).

Ron Paul knows that real jobs are created by the private sector. Government interference in the economy discourages small business entrepreneurs.

The deeper problem is how big government leads to crony capitalism. Both Obama and Romney play that game, as a listing of their major contributors shows:

Obama gets large contributions from employees of big corporations. Romney gets his from the banks and financial sector. Perry is funded by the energy industry. These special interests are focused on getting money for themselves, not for creating jobs.

Ron Paul’s contributions are more spread out among regular people not tied to any company or industry. His biggest contributors are soldiers.

Foreign Policy and National Security

Our national security depends on our ability to defend our own country. We are spending ourselves into bankruptcy, which will badly impair our national defense. By cutting, including our military spending overseas, we will save our economy and our capacity to protect the borders of this country.

The establishment criticism of Ron Paul focuses on his foreign policy. They call him “extreme” because, for example, he wants to eliminate all foreign aid – where the government gives our money to other countries. The establishment is out of step with the people – a majority of Americans favor cutting foreign aid.

Another example is the concern about Iran developing a nuclear weapon. The establishment says Ron Paul is dangerous because he would allow Iran to do so. Yet the same establishment is remarkably quiet about the fact that George W. Bush allowed North Korea to do the same.

No one knows better about threats to our country than our soldiers on the front lines. As mentioned above, they are his leading contributors. Read more about this from The New York Times.

The Constitution and Civil Rights

While the media frequently refers to Ron Paul as a libertarian, his core message really centers on the Constitution. The Constitution limits the federal government. By overgrowing its constitutional limits, the federal government interferes with states’ rights to manage their own affairs, and with the private sector creating jobs.

As part of federal overreach, our individual civil rights are impaired. Congress just passed the NDAA which authorizes indefinite detention without trial. Similarly there has been a great deal of concern about the Patriot Act.

You may or may not like California legalizing medical marijuana. But do you really think the federal government should interfere with a state’s decision on the issue? This story cuts to the core of both states’ rights and civil liberties under the Constitution.

Beware the False Attacks

There are many insiders who fear Ron Paul, and they have relaunched a plethora of old attacks against him. You have to recognize that those who criticize him are engaging in propaganda, and that they don’t really care about these issues. What they really care about is protecting the flow of government money their special interests receive.

1. Ron Paul is a racist – This is not only false but idiotic. Ron Paul is the only candidate who criticizes the racism in our government policies. In 1979, Ron Paul voted for Martin Luther King Day. Newt Gingrich voted against it. Why aren’t the same critics calling Gingrich a racist? The National Review is among the critics, despite its own history of racism.
2. Ron Paul hates Israel and/or Jews – I’m Jewish and I support Ron Paul. There are others, such as David Kretzmann. I’ve looked at all the criticism and most of it fails miserably. Ron Paul is the only candidate who recognizes Israel as a sovereign nation. Back in 1981 Ron Paul was one of only a few who supported Israel when it bombed the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak. The difference is that the establishment views Israel as a client state, where we give Israel money and Israel obeys us. Ron Paul views Israel as a sovereign and independent nation.
3. Ron Paul is a kook – Running up $15 Trillion in debt is crazy. Ron Paul is the only one with real answers. In a political world full of big spenders, he certainly is outside the mainstream. That’s exactly what we need.
4. The newsletters – This is the strongest criticism of Ron Paul. He did allow his name to be used on newsletters that contained controversial material. At best you could call some of it politically incorrect. But it is widely agreed even by his critics that the objectionable bits are not in his writing style, and they are not consistent with the things Ron Paul has been saying for decades. Ron Paul did do a poor job as a publisher in this regard, 20 years ago. That is the strongest criticism against him, and it isn’t much. These bits were a very small part of a lot of material, including some anti-racist comments. The critics fail to mention that mostly the newsletters were about investing, especially in gold. And they certainly don’t mention the parts that openly reject neo-Nazis, David Duke and the KKK, like this:
5. Ron Paul is unelectable (or can’t beat Obama) – Ron Paul consistently polls better against Obama than all GOP candidates other than Romney. He polls better among independents and Democrats than Romney does.

Consistency and Honesty

Even his critics concede that Ron Paul is the most consistent of any of the candidates. He has been saying the same things about government for decades. He does not change his views to fit polls nor to get campaign contributions.

That consistency means something – honesty. No one doubts that Ron Paul says what he means and that he means what he says. In contrast, the flip-flopping by Romney, Gingrich and Obama show that they are inconsistent, calling their honesty into question.

It’s time for an honest leader. It’s time for Ron Paul.