The restoration of liberty and the importance of the constitution’s use in government affairs have been two of Ron Paul’s campaign commitments in an effort to improve economic struggles in America. These issues, as well as others, were discussed at the Paul’s town hall meeting in Fort Worth on Wednesday night.

More than 3,000 supporters attended the event at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in support of Paul, chanting “President Paul” and “Ron Paul” prior to his appearance.

Robert Paul, son of the presidential candidate and local physician, opened the event with his family and said a few words to introduce his father.

In Ron Paul’s opening statement, he said, “Revolution is alive and well in Texas,” in response to the enthusiastic crowd of supporters.

Ron Paul said he blamed Congress and the Federal Reserve for the loss of value in U.S. currency. He said the government was wrong in thinking they could borrow, spend and print money without economic repercussions.

He said trillions of dollars had been wasted on war, and too many wars had been lost. He said he wanted to pull troops out of Afghanistan.

In addition, the repeal of the USA PATRIOT Act and the Affordable Care Act were among some of Paul’s plans if he was elected president, he said.

He said in the past 70 years, the American public lost respect for the U.S. Constitution and its role in government. He said the people should only send those who had read the Constitution to Congress.

He said he believed the president of the United States should not be able to start wars without proper permission from Congress. He also said the idea that the president does not need permission from Congress, but from the United Nations instead, was troublesome.

The candidate compared today’s issues with nuclear war with his experience of being drafted in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He said they did not resort to nuclear war to end it.

He said while there was an obligation to keep the country safe, war should not be used as a weapon.

“Look at what could be achieved with peace that couldn’t be achieved with war,” Paul said.

Paul said that the U.S. was $4 trillion in debt from war. He said cutting foreign spending should be a primary focus.

“If you do what we want, we’ll pay you money. If you don’t, we’ll bomb you,” Paul said in description of how the U.S. communicated with other countries.

Paul said the war on drugs had proven to be a failure, and that prescription drugs were more dangerous than illegal drugs. He said legalization of such illegal drugs should be permitted.

For instance, Paul said he did not believe the growing of hemp should be illegal because it is not dangerous.

“You would have to smoke a cigar of hemp bigger than a phone pole to get high
from it,” he said.

Civil liberties had been undermined in the past 10 years, Paul said. He said it was not acceptable to sacrifice liberty for safety.

The candidate said he was concerned with restoring liberty and confidence among the American people, and that Americans had lost confidence in themselves and had relied too heavily on the government.

“When people become dependent, they lose their sense of worth,” Paul said.

The changes that need to be made in the U.S. would not just be done by either Democrats or Republicans, but it would be a revolution among all people, Paul said.  

According to RonPaul2012.com, his campaign issues included abortion, health care, economy, national defense, ending the Federal Reserve, taxes, Second Amendment, worker’s rights, homeschooling, immigration and energy.