Ron Paul and Justin Amash are extremely weak on defense

Ron Paul, Justin Amash, and their RINO supporters are spreading the myth that these two RINO Congressmen support a strong national defense and merely oppose foreign interventions and violations of civil liberties.

But this is not true. Paul and Amash ideologically oppose a strong defense, even of the US itself, and, apparently, they want the US military to be totally impotent, incapable of deterring America’s enemies.

In 2010, when Amash wasn’t yet in Congress, Paul joined with strident liberals Barney Frank (D-MA) and Ron Wyden (D-OR) to sponsor a bill that called for deep defense cuts that would’ve totally gutted the US military. Inter alia, they would’ve called for deep cuts in personnel, existing equipment stocks, and the force structure; withdrawal of the majority of US troops stationed abroad and closing their bases; deep cuts to the US nuclear arsenal; and deep cuts to modernization programs along with the closure of many such programs. In other words, a total disaster.

On the House floor, Paul and Amash always vote with the Democrats for amendments that would cut essential defense programs and against amendments that would strengthen America’s defense, as well as against final passage of defense bills. Don’t believe me? Just review the records of roll call votes on these amendments and bills on the House floor, both for the current year and for previous years. Paul (and Amash) have voted for amendments sponsored by Democrats that would chip away at America’s defense, and against Republicans’ amendments that would’ve strengthened it. For example, last year, they both voted to cut the Ground-Based Interceptor program, which protects the homeland, and ONLY the homeland, against ballistic missiles. It does not require nor partake any foreign intervention.

They have also repeatedly voted to cut off all foreign aid to Israel (when ONLY aid to Israel was subject to a vote), while voting AGAINST cutting off funding to Hamas and the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority (when ONLY funding for them was up for a vote). Amash has also voted against a gay marriage ban on naval bases, even though the Congress has full and exclusive authority to pass laws regulating these bases and what can happen on them. In short, both Paul and Amash are stridently leftist libertarians – RINOs masquerading as conservatives.

This year, House Democrats have, as every year, submitted many amendments which, if implemented, would gut America’s defense:

• To cancel the B variant of the F-35 fighter;
• To delay (de facto prohibit) the development of the Next Generation Bomber (which multiple experts, including retired USAF bomber pilot Mark Gunzinger, successive USAF Chiefs of Staff including the current one, successive SECDEFs from Rumsfeld to Panetta, and recently, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert, have said is absolutely necessary), designed to replace aging B-52s (the last of which was produced a full 50 years ago) and B-1s and complement B-2s, whose stealth technology is 1980s’ vintage and operate in highly-defended airspace over long distances with a large payload.
• To cut the GBI program by $400 mn and cancel studies for an East Coast missile defense site.
• To deny any funding for a new CMRR facility at Los Alamos, which is urgently needed, because existing nuclear weapon facilities are old and require complete renovation (they date back to the 1940s).
• To end the production of the V-22 Osprey, which is absolutely needed and is a veteran of three wars – the Afghan, Iraqi, and Libyan wars.
• To allow the SECDEF to unilaterally reduce America’s nuclear arsenal.

It’s almost certain that Paul and Amash (along with a few other House RINOs like W. James Sensenbrenner, Chris Gibson, and John Duncan) will support these. And by doing so, they will once again prove that they are liberals and are extremely weak on defense – as I’ve been saying all along.

Furthermore, it is mindboggling that House Democrats have introduced such destructive amendments and that Paul and Amash (or anyone, for that matter) would vote for such amendments. That’s treasonous.

Paul’s supporters and other libertarians claim that he and they support a Fortress America defense concept and that it would be better than my proposals or the current policy. But a Fortress America would have to be very well armed; it would still require a large defense budget and large weapon orders – including for next-generation bombers, interceptors of all kinds, ICBMs, SLBMs, submarines, tanks, and so forth. Yet, Paul and Amash are opposed to even that. They want America to be a completely disarmed country, or one whose military is tiny, equipped with small quantities of obsolete, worn-out weapons, and unable to fight effectively. In other words, the military they want – and which the Dems’ amendments and sequestration would create – would be like the Pope’s Swiss Guards: nice to look at, but no threat to anyone.

Both Ron Paul and Justin Amash – and anyone who shares their despicable views – must be permanently thrown out of the GOP.

http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2012/index.asp; http://www.rules.house.gov/Legislation/legislationDetails.aspx?NewsID=828