First, I want to say, I am NOT endorsing any political candidate.  At this point, I don’t even know whom I will be voting for.  I do not want this post to stir up any controversy.  If you have read my blog for long, you know I don’t usually get into controversial discussions and that is NOT my intent with this post.  I am writing this post for educational purposes only, not to sway anyone’s opinion.  I will delete any comments that are rude or argumentative.  If you want to give an opinion, please keep it civil and respectful.  In fact, if you do know something about this subject, please step forward and give you opinion.  I would love to hear it, since I really don’t know that much about it.  Thank you.

I was talking with my brother about the up coming elections and we were discussing the various candidates.  We normally do not agree when it comes to politics, but one thing we do agree with this go around, we really are not strong on any candidate.  Well, he mentioned he was leaning toward Ron Paul.  Who??? I then realized there was a candidate, I had not even heard of.  Ok, that’s a problem.  So I do what I normally do when I want answers, I jumped on the internet (ok, no snickering!!!!).  Right now, two of my biggest concerns are health care and education.  He seems to be dedicated to changing both.  First of all, he is a doctor so I’m sure health care is a concern for him.  In fact, he was an OB/GYN and has 5 children of his own!!! But what really caught my attention is his views on education.  I really doubt any homeschoolers will find any fault in his views on education.  Here are some quotes:

“The federal government does not own our children. Yet we act as if it does by letting it decide when, how, and what our children will learn. We have turned their futures over to lobbyists and bureaucrats.”

“The federal government has no constitutional authority to fund or control schools. I want to abolish the unconstitutional, wasteful Department of Education and return its functions to the states.”

“To help parents with the costs of schooling, I have introduced H.R. 1056, the Family Education Freedom Act, in Congress. This bill would allow parents a tax credit of up to $5,000 (adjustable after 2007 for inflation) per student per year for the cost of attendance at an elementary and/or secondary school. This includes private, parochial, religious, and home schools.”

“I will veto any legislation that creates national standards or national testing for home school parents or students. I also believe that, as long as No Child Left Behind remains law, it must include the protections for home schoolers included in sec. 9506 (enshrining home schoolers’ rights) and 9527 (guaranteeing no national curriculum).”

“Federal monies must never be used to undermine the rights of homeschooling parents. I will use the bully pulpit of the Presidency to encourage a culture of educational freedom throughout the nation.”

There are several others that I did not include, but I think I made my point.  I will admit, having a President that much in favor of homeschooling is appealing, but the cynical side of me says I am not ready to commit at this time.  I just wanted to get this out because I felt if I knew so little about him, then there may be others who didn’t know anything about him either.  It would be a shame for someone not to get elected, just because they were not as well known.  I think we need to know who our candidates are and what they stand for so we can make an informed decision.

Here are a few other things I learned about him:

He professes to be a Born Again Christian.

He is Pro- Life.

He is a Libertarian.

He believes in a strong Constitution.

He believes that the separation of church and state is misrepresenting the Constitution.

You can find out more about him at his campaign website: