Rep. Ron Paul rails against 'Big Labor,' talks economics during Hudsonville campaign stop
Published: Sunday, February 26, 2012, 9:53 PM Updated: Monday, February 27, 2012, 3:20 AM
Zane McMillin | zmcmilli@mlive.com By Zane McMillin | zmcmilli@mlive.com
HUDSONVILLE — Republican presidential primary underdog and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul fired up supporters Sunday during a campaign stop in Hudsonville, where he blasted Congress on domestic and foreign policy issues and expressed support for a national Right To Work law.
The campaign rally at the city’s Pinnacle Center attracted nearly 1,600 supporters, including West Michigan residents, labor workers and small business owners.
It was Paul's second Michigan stop ahead of Tuesday's primary, the first being a Saturday appearance at Central Michigan University.
The Texas congressman was short on Michigan-specific comments, and spent a bulk of his nearly hour-long speech harping on domestic and foreign policy issues he said have pitched the country headlong into economic despair.
“The federal government does a lousy job providing the atmosphere necessary to be competitive and be able to compete around the world because they overtax and they overregulate,” Paul said to raucous cheers from rally attendees.
Early on in his remarks, Paul lambasted Congress for perceived inaction on or inability to solve problems facing the country.
"I think Congress is about 20 years behind," he said. "We need changes quicker now than ever before."
Paul, who has lagged behind his opponents in recent polls, was joined at the rally by U.S. Rep. Justin Amash, R-Cascade Township, who, like Paul, has built a reputation on pushing civil liberties issues to the fore while questioning the constitutionality of many government actions.
Amash touted Paul’s record opposing the National Defense Authorization Act and the contentious Patriot Act, which the candidate himself tore apart as threats to civil liberty during his remarks Sunday.
Amash also lauded a budget proposed by Paul that would trim $1 trillion in federal spending during Paul's hypothetical first year in office.
“Three of the four candidates offered budget proposals that would increase the debt; only one of the four had a budget proposal that would decrease the debt,” Amash told Paul’s supporters, later adding the candidate “has had a real impact on the Republican Party.”
Paul spent ample time discussing his widely publicized belief in abolishing the Federal Reserve, an entity he said is guilty of deflating the American dollar’s value and hindering, not helping, the national economy.
When Paul evoked the Federal Reserve on multiple occasions during Sunday’s rally, attendees broke into chants of “End the Fed!”
“On the (Fed’s) 100th anniversary, I hope we have a bill passed ... that says we’re going to repeal the Federal Reserve,” Paul said, prompting more cheers from the riled crowd.
Paul's stance on labor issues also were spotlighted during Sunday’s rally, where the candidate expressed support for a national Right to Work law.
Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder has said he does not intend to take up the Right to Work issue, citing political melees in Wisconsin and Ohio over such policies.
But Paul railed against what he called the undue influence of “Big Labor” in economic and other issues as reason for such a law nationally.
“States have tried to get around this by having Right to Work laws, and try to compensate for the special power that has been granted to the unions,” Paul said.
“This distorts the market,” he said, “and the states that have not compensated, they have suffered the very most and therefore it has to be addressed.”
Paul’s stance on that issue was viewed favorably by Terry Bowman, president of Union Conservatives, who offered brief remarks prior to Paul’s speech.
Bowman, an Ypsilanti resident and United Auto Workers union member, organized Union Conservatives to represent union members who might disagree politically with the labor union at large.
“It is very union-worker friendly, and that’s important for union workers to understand,” Bowman said of Right to Work policies. “The union officials tell them it’s anti-union, and it’s union-bashing, but it’s not true at all.”
Bowman ironically added Michigan should construct a fence at the Indiana border, where Right to Work recently became law, “just to keep businesses from leaving.”
During the rest of his speech, Paul touched on issues including defense spending, foreign policy, entitlement programs such as Social Security and what he called the failed War on Drugs.
Paul advocated for a return to aspects of pre-World War I foreign policy, wherein the country offers help abroad in some areas while "minding its own business" elsewhere.
The candidate further expressed desire to shutter the country's military bases across the globe, and bringing home all troops from foreign conflicts Paul said have brought "nothing but grief."
Paul's messages resonated with rally participants, including Dan Schafer of Muskegon, who accused mass media of stifling Paul on matters of national import.
“There’s nobody else that’s even talking about the Federal Reserve because they’re all part of it,” Schafer said. “If we don’t get (Paul) in there, this country is lost.”
Paul has scheduled Monday campaign stops in the Detroit area and Michigan State University in East Lansing.
