You Thought Ron Paul Was Outspoken When He Was in Congress? You Won't Believe What He's Saying Now

Ron Paul. Photo: U.S. House of Representatives.

The "intellectual godfather" of the Tea Party movement, Ron Paul represented the voters of Texas in Congress for nearly a quarter-century -- raising Cain the whole way. He's criticized the war on drugs and the war in Iraq, supported less government spending and lower taxes, and even called Ronald Reagan's term as president "disgraceful." A libertarian at heart, there's probably not a voter on either the right or the left that he hasn't irked at one time or another over four decades of government service.

Paul retired from Congress in 2013 and now heads the Voices of Liberty website, where he seeks to "rally liberty-minded activists, influence the climate of ideas, and offer actionable solutions on issues of importance to American liberty and freedom." We reached out to Paul to hear his thoughts on how foreign relations and foreign policy are impacting the U.S. economy in general, and U.S. defense companies in particular.

Here's what he had to say, in his own words.

The Motley Fool: Dr. Paul, you recently argued on Voices of Liberty that "military spending, like all government spending, hampers private sector growth by taking resources away from investors, entrepreneurs, and consumers while contributing significantly to the national debt." You highlighted China's smallerdefense budget -- $188 billion -- as one reason its economy appears to be outperforming ours, and urged that America "return to the policy of peace and free trade."

Could you expand on that?

Ron Paul: The U.S. is hardly a beacon of free trade, though it ought to be. As to the military, its job is not to serve the investment banks and exporters by attacking "bad actors," but to protect the lives and property of the American people in America from foreign enemies. A good first step would be to stop creating foreign enemies by ending our interventionist foreign policy. ...

The current role of the U.S. military is to enable the U.S. and its crony companies to dominate the globe. This is not compatible with free-market capitalism or peace. ... States seeking to dominate the globe militarily often find themselves bankrupted and resented, ultimately dominated by those who were once on the receiving end. It is far better to engage in mutually beneficial free trade which boosts the American economy while creating friends instead of enemies overseas. No empire!

TMF: The Pentagon is budgeted to spend more than $615 billion this fiscal year. What do you think a more appropriate level of defense spending might be? What specific programs do you think deserve to be cut?

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You Thought Ron Paul Was Outspoken When He Was in Congress? You Won't Believe What He's Saying Now