Obama Talked About Change, Yet Nothing Has Changed

Channel: CNN
Date: 01/15/2010

Transcript

Ron Paul: We’ve been going in the wrong direction for a long time, not just with this administration. This administration has only had one year. The problems we have today are a consequence of bad policies for decades. It takes a long time to destroy a healthy, vibrant economy and it took these many decades to do it. And there are two parties that were responsible: The Republicans and the Democrats. It’s a much bigger issue than 1 year of politics.

[Obama] a good leader, but he’s going in the wrong directions. So I would say that I give him credit for being a good leader. But he just wants more government. He talked about change, and nothing has changed. Republicans, of course, when they are out of office, they want change too. And yet when we had our chance ten years ago to get in and make a difference, not much happened. So it’s a big problem changing the course of a nation. And I like the analogy that it’s hard to turn around an aircraft carrier. You don’t turn an aircraft carrier around on a dime.

Question: Would the United States be better off with Sen. John McCain as president?

Ron Paul: It would be neither. It wouldn’t be any better off and it wouldn’t be any worse off. It would have been the same policies. You know, Obama has followed McCain’s policy in the Middle East. He’s expanding the war, sending more troops to Afghanistan, bombing Pakistan, taking on Yemen and threatening Iran. And that’s exactly what McCain would have done, and that costs a lot of money.

Question: As a doctor, how do you feel about the health care legislation?

Ron Paul: It’s a disaster. But, fortunately, those of us who would like to go in a different direction are winning this argument and it’s the key issue of this year and next year (at the end of this year and this election). I think it’s going to bring about major changes in the Congress.

Economic concerns are the biggest issue and along with that, because it is an economic concern, is the worry about healthcare. They’re happy with what they have, they see healthcare changes being made in Washington as a threat to them. And others are concerned about the cost of it, and they see that’s related to the economy. So that’s a big issue as well.

This idea of trying to make you feel better by saying there is a jobless recovery – I mean, that is about the most fantastic oxymoron I’ve ever heard of. I mean, if you don’t have a job, how do you have a recovery? You don’t have a recovery until people get their jobs back.

Question: How has Congress changed since you first joined in the 1970s?

Ron Paul: No change at all. It’s the same old stuff. The change is occurring, though, but it’s changing in the country. The people are waking up, the tea party movement is significant. The college campuses are changing, the organizations that have been formed to try to change this country, so there are tremendous changes going on in the country. And I place a lot of hope in the next generation because they’re very interested in this subject. But, with Congress the same old stuff goes on and on.

Question: We had to ask… have you given any thought to 2012?

Ron Paul: I think about it all the time. I think about where I’m going on my vacation and when I’ll be seeing my kids and whether I’ll get my exercise in and things like that. No, I don’t think about the politics. I think about 2010 though. One year at a time.