Ron Paul Wins Nationwide Zogby Blind Poll

Sizeable majority of Americans looking to vote for candidate who protects liberty, shrinks government, brings troops home

Paul Joseph Watson
Prison Planet Exclusive
Monday, November 19, 2007

A new nationwide Zogby telephone poll reveals that a sizeable majority of Americans are looking to vote for a candidate who protects liberty, wants to shrink government and immediately withdraw troops from Iraq - all traits common to Texas Congressman Ron Paul. As part of a spread poll commissioned by Jones Productions, respondents were provided with descriptions of four different candidates and asked to choose who they would vote for based on each one's attributes and political platform.

Candidate A is a 10-term US Congressman from a large Southern state who is an advocate for a smaller government and individual liberty. This candidate believes in strictly following the Constitution and has never voted to raise taxes. He has never voted in favor of the war in Iraq or the Patriot Act, and wants to bring troops home as soon as possible. As a former doctor, this candidate has delivered more than 4,000 babies. One of this candidate's goals is to return America to the gold standard, and he believes that the current monetary policy needs to be drastically overhauled because of the dollar's decline.

Candidate B is a former governor from a Democratic state in the Northeast. Before that, he was credited for essentially saving the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He is a Mormon and family man who is considered a moderate-to-conservative member of the GOP. While Governor, he signed the first state laws in the nation requiring all citizens of this state to obtain health insurance. He is a strong supporter of keeping troops in Iraq although he has been critical of how the war has been handled.

Candidate C is a former two-term senator from a Southern state who was a long-time lobbyist before running for public office. He was chief Republican council for the Congressional committee that investigated Watergate in the early 1970s. He was an actor playing supporting roles in several major motion pictures before entering the Senate, and returned to a prominent role as a New York City prosecutor in a popular network television series after leaving office. He has mostly supported the war in Iraq, but has said he would have managed it differently.

Candidate D is a former two-term mayor of a major city in the Northeast, and is considered a moderate member of the party on social issues. As Mayor, he presided over a dramatic drop in crime in his city, and is best known for his leadership in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He established a worldwide security consulting business after leaving public office at the end of 2001 He has been a supporter of President Bush since leaving office and supports the war in Iraq.

RESULTS

32.8 per cent chose the description matching Ron Paul, while just 18.6 percent chose the description matching Rudy Giuliani. Just 12.6 per cent went for Fred Thompson's description while 15.1 per cent went for Mitt Romney.

The results clearly illustrate that the country is crying out for Ron Paul, which is why the establishment have launched a PR offensive to marginalize him in order to suppress the Congressman's name recognition.

The sample used for the poll had mainly never or rarely used websites popular with Ron Paul supporters, such as You Tube, MySpace and Facebook, showing that if Internet users who don't use land lines were more fairly represented, the numbers would be even more in favor of the Congressman.

In another poll question, the survey found that the majority of Americans are more likely to vote for a candidate who wants to begin an immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq.

Over 49% said they were more likely to vote for a candidate who would begin immediate withdrawal, compared to just under 41% who said they would vote for staying the course and around 10% who were not sure.

Iran calls for removing U.S. dollar as major oil trading currency

Xinhua
Sunday November 18, 2007

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said here on Sunday that it is necessary to replace U.S. dollar with other major hard currencies in oil trading.

Ahmadinejad made the remarks at a news conference in the third summit of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' (OPEC) in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

"There should be a credible and good currency to take over U.S. dollar's role and to serve oil trades," he said.

Oil producing countries are not benefited much from the current oil prices, said he, attributing it to the devaluation of the U.S. dollar and the high taxation imposed by western banks.

"The money had come to a handful of super-rich capitalist," he said, calling for the establishment of an specialized bank named "OPEC bank" to safeguard the interest of OPEC member states in the oil trading.

Hugo Chavez, Venezuelan president, first put forward the idea of an "OPEC bank" in the summit's opening speech on Saturday, saying that OPEC can make research of new resources and seek more cooperation to reduce climate changes.

Regarding the Gulf situation, Ahmadinejad ruled out the possibility of a new war in the region, saying that if any power did it, it would commit huge mistakes and would be unable to manage the war.

He then said that Iran and the neighboring Gulf countries share the same culture and have friendship, and Iran would consult with other Arab nations on a plan to enrich uranium in a neutral country.

Ahmadinejad arrived in Riyadh Friday to attend the OPEC summit, which ended on Sunday night with the issue of Riyadh Declaration.

In Europe, weak dollar wrecks Americans' dreams

Sylvia Westall
Reuters
Monday November 19, 2007

Andrew Curry once loved going out for dinner and drinks in Berlin, feeling far wealthier in the German capital than he did at home in the United States.

With the dollar now worth about 20 percent less than when he first arrived in 2005, the 30-year-old freelance journalist has a leaner lifestyle.

"I used to be able to brag that Berlin was really affordable but now my rent actually works out on par with Washington and New York. It's pretty terrible," said Curry, whose income is almost exclusively in the devaluing currency.

"I do everything to try to spend fewer euros now."

The weak dollar and recent tax laws are hurting many of the 350,000 or so Americans who live in the European Union, especially those who are paid in dollars.

It is being felt by students, professionals and pensioners in Berlin, Paris and London -- where the dollar is at a 26-year low against sterling and, according to a Reuters poll, expected to stay above $2 to the pound for the next six months.

Full article here.

Jim Rogers Urges People to Sell U.S. Dollar Holdings

Aaron Pan and Paul Gordon
Bloomberg
November 15, 2007

Nov. 15 (Bloomberg) — Investor Jim Rogers urged people to get out of the dollar and says he expects to be rid of all his U.S. currency assets by summer next year.

“If you have dollars, I urge you to get out,” Rogers said in an interview from Singapore. He is chairman of New York-based Rogers Holdings, formerly known as Beeland Interests Inc. “That’s not a currency to own.”

The dollar fell 9.5 percent this year against a basket of six major currencies as a housing slump slowed the economy and losses stemming from subprime mortgage defaults spread among U.S. banks. Rogers, who said last month he was shifting out of all his dollar assets, plans to buy commodities, Japan’s yen, the Chinese yuan and the Swiss franc.

Interest rate futures traded on the Chicago Board of Trade show a 72 percent chance that the central bank will lower its target rate for overnight loans between banks to 4.25 percent on Dec. 11, its third reduction this year.

Rogers, who predicted the start of the global commodities rally in 1999, criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke for comments on the currency before a congressional committee on Nov. 8.

“He is a total fool,” Rogers said. “He said Americans who buy only American goods are not affected if the value of the U.S. dollar goes down. I was terrified.”

Bernanke said the only effect of a weaker dollar on a typical American with their wealth in dollars, buying consumer goods in dollars, would be “their buying powers, it makes imported goods more expensive.”

Rogers said that’s not right.

“If you only buy American products and the dollar goes down, the price of oil goes up, copper goes up, wheat goes up,” he said. “That affects you. He doesn’t understand the economy as far as I can see.”