Name: Ron Paul

Age: 72

Office sought: Presdient of the United States

Party affiliation: Republican

Occupation: U.S. Representative from Texas 144th District; medical doctor

Family: Wife Carol, five children, 18 grandchildren

Canddiate’s Web site: ronpaul2008.com

What can the federal government do to reverse the economic downturn?

The disastrous fiscal policies of our own government, marked by shameless deficit spending and Federal Reserve currency devaluation, may be the greatest threats facing our nation today. It is this one-two punch — Congress spending more than it can tax or borrow, and the Treasury printing money to make up the difference — that threatens to impoverish us by further destroying the value of our dollars. To reverse the downturn, I have proposed a four-part plan that calls for lower taxes, elimination of wasteful spending, a sound monetary policy, and regulatory reform.

Do you favor a new federal jobs initiative that could put people to work repairing the nation’s infrastructure?

The federal government has neither the constitutional authority nor the competence to determine the infrastructure needs of a nation as large and diverse as the Unites States. Responsibility for infrastructure should be returned to states and local governments. If Congress wishes to pursue a truly effective tax plan, it should not take from taxpayer Peter to give Paul a government “make-work” job, but instead cut taxes and regulations that prevent economic growth and job creation.

How will the war in Iraq affect the next Congress and President?

The next Congress and president will be forced to either end our occupation of Iraq or continue to bankrupt our nation by borrowing from China and Saudi Arabia to finance our approximately $12 billion a month war budget for Iraq and Afghanistan alone. Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimates that the Iraq war could cost us between $1 and $2 trillion before it is over. If the next president and Congress continue on the present course, then I believe they will further endanger our national security and worsen the current economic trouble we are facing.

Do trade pacts, such as NAFTA, need rewritten to be accountable to workers, communities, and the environment?

Trade pacts such as NAFTA and CAFTA are not “free trade” at all; they are managed trade agreements. True free trade does not take thousands of pages to explain and only involves two words: low tariffs. I favor withdrawing from these agreements. Free trade occurs in the absence of government interference in the flow of goods, while NAFTA and CAFTA represent more government. Workers, communities, and the environment will all benefit if we end government interference and pursue true free trade.