A question to people with knowledge of US politics.

So eventhough I'm not American I'm following the presidential election rather closely. I know basics of politics, I understand what they are talking/debating about but it's the political system and power of hierarchy which I have problems with.

So in America you have Ron Paul, in my oppinion a top candidate, who wished to change MANY of the things wrong with America. His ideas sound fantastic and I really hope for the people of America that whomever gets to be in charge next is nothing like the last few presidents you've had....

Enough rambling, to my actual question!

1. IF someone, with very different views from other candidates and indeed most of his party, like Ron Paul became president, how much power would he actually have to change all these things?
2. Does he even have the hierarchical power to fight against a whole corrupt congress and system?
3. How easy would it be to end the federal reserve? I guess not as easy as the president signing a piece of paper right?
4. How much is involved getting out of war in the middle east? With this I mean paperwork and "voting" etc in Washington or whatever it takes, I don't mean "can we even leave the middle east in the situtation it is" that is irrelevant in this question as I'm talking about presidential powers
5. Foreign policy, how much direct influence does the president have over that?
I'm not trying to be pesimistic and say nothing is going to change in America, I hope with all my heart it does but I also wanted to know how much one man can change.
6. How could he change the financial system to protect us from what we're experiencing all over the world now, financial meltdown?

Sorry if I seem ignorant of certain things, I'm just looking at learning and gathering information. BTW I'm trying to get to grips with my own nation, Switzerlands, political system but that's giving me even more of a headache so don't feel bad that I'm ignorant if your system

This turned into a rather long threat full of ramblings and jumping topics I think. I'm not got at planning "large" pieces of writing nor do I claim to be, if you find spelling mistakes you may keep them

Peace

reply to post by Swizzy


Interesting questions. I posed a more narrow but similar question here on ATS a couple months back, and am linking it here in case any of the replies may add to the discussion.

www.abovetopsecret.com...

1. IF someone, with very different views from other candidates and indeed most of his party, like Ron Paul became president, how much power would he actually have to change all these things?

Not as much as you might think. He would be opposed in many things by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans in Congress, so most likely his effectiveness would be limited to executive decisions.

2. Does he even have the hierarchical power to fight against a whole corrupt congress and system?

No. How much has Obama accomplished since the Republicans took over the House? Very little.

3. How easy would it be to end the federal reserve? I guess not as easy as the president signing a piece of paper right?

My guess is virtually impossible, because it would take a unified president and congress, and the largest holders of wealth in the world would lobby against it.

4. How much is involved getting out of war in the middle east? With this I mean paperwork and "voting" etc in Washington or whatever it takes, I don't mean "can we even leave the middle east in the situtation it is" that is irrelevant in this question as I'm talking about presidential powers

The President, once authorized by Congress (which he has been), has virtually total control over the day to day strategies, tactics and operations of the military. But these are hugely complicated messes we are in, and you can see that it is taking Obama 3-4 years to pull out of them. His power is not limited by his authority but instead by the realities of the situation.

5. Foreign policy, how much direct influence does the president have over that?
I'm not trying to be pesimistic and say nothing is going to change in America, I hope with all my heart it does but I also wanted to know how much one man can change.

The President has a great deal of control over foreign policy.

6. How could he change the financial system to protect us from what we're experiencing all over the world now, financial meltdown?

He would have to get Democrats elected to Congress and then lobby for real, substantial reform of our banking regulations. He still would have limited control of the situation because of the extent the current lingering crisis is being caused by situations in other countries.

Thanks guys, that pretty much answered all my questions

I think we can all agree if someone wants to bring serious change to the USA they have a heck of a job ahead of them!

Good luck to the USA, may your people be screwed over for the last time!

I am afraid that it is not as simple as you are being led to believe.
It cannot be overstated how important the office of the president is, and how much power he wields. The last several administrations have been disastrous for the American people, largely because of the presidents we have had.
The president can withdraw the troops. This alone has enormous implications. A retreat from "empire" would save this country. Any candidate other than Ron Paul, will continue to squeeze every American for the benefit of this international, corporate oligarchy. Thus, America as we knew it, would be gone.
The president could rescind the onerous executive orders put in place by Bush, Clinton, Obama. He could order criminal inquiries into the actions of federal agencies. In short, he could begin to clean up D.C., and restore constitutional government.
Yes, he would be fought tooth and nail by the establishment. But, alternative sites, like ATS and others, do a great job of educating a growing and irate populace that is beginning to see through the mainstream media lies.
This is a new development in politics. The old rules no longer apply.
Ron Paul is the only one that is dangerous to the shadow government that actually runs things. There is a reason why, and to think that he could not accomplish a great deal for the common American is just wrong.

Here is what the the president COULD do.

He could get on national television and TALK to the people. He can be transparent, he can tell us after spending a certain amount of time going through detailed analysis and intelligence that he came to the conclusion that we SHOULD do such and such or such and such would happen. Instead of making political speeches or state of the union addresses, he could be honest, no insane speech with fancy keywords injected into them to motivate the people, tell the cold hard truth about spending, wars, and corruption.

Some of you might say, well the establishment and media won't let them. Well I'm not saying they won't do that. But it is something he COULD do that holds a ton of influence.


But let's not make this soley about the president, Americans have a lot of power too, its not about what HE can do for US but what WE can accomplish TOGETHER. If we are able to get a president like Ron Paul in office, it would be a complete waste to finally have an honest man in office with the solutions to the problems and we just go about our day like nothing happened. We should be at the doorsteps of our congressmen and senators everyday demanding their resignation and replacing them with liberty candidates that WILL abide by the constitution and WILL represent their constituents. Somebody that WILL keep their oath of office or be forced to resign. Most states can recall all elected officials, though we can't do it here in California.


Remember people, this is the INFORMATION AGE. And if we can't even help spread information that has already been dissected for us to those that aren't as well informed, well we take the blame too. We have the internet, a powerful tool to fight the establishment with knowledge and wisdom.

Like I've said before, this government, this political system is merely a game. Like any other game out there you have options.

1) You can opt out of playing - if you do your homework, you can really be off the grid and out of their control, a sovereign, if you will.

2) You can play the game not knowing the rules - the situation we're in right now.

3) You can learn the game and win it - this is something we all need to work on because this game is very complicated and can't be won by one person, it is a group effort and we are all ignorant of the details while the opposing team is made of professionalss that have been at it for quite some time.

reply to post by Swizzy


I'm no expert but I'll give it a shot answering your questions.

1. IF someone, with very different views from other candidates and indeed most of his party, like Ron Paul became president, how much power would he actually have to change all these things?

In reality? Not much. There would be a lot of head butting and vetoing going on. Things wouldn't progress very fast, if at all. Our current two-party system is a disaster. It's always "us -vs- them" and they forget that the PEOPLE are what matter. Not what color your tie is. But... that's the way things go around here.

2. Does he even have the hierarchical power to fight against a whole corrupt congress and system?

No. I mean if he stands alone.. which it looks like he does. Then no. Unfortunately. Too many people with too much power lurk in the halls of DC.

3. How easy would it be to end the federal reserve? I guess not as easy as the president signing a piece of paper right?

Not easy at all. We don't know the truth about how the Fed is run or what true powers it has. For all we know they own America outright since 1913. They don't seem to have to answer to Congress or the Senate. I think if RP did get elected he would certainly try. But unfortunately he would run into fierce opposition.

4. How much is involved getting out of war in the middle east? With this I mean paperwork and "voting" etc in Washington or whatever it takes, I don't mean "can we even leave the middle east in the situtation it is" that is irrelevant in this question as I'm talking about presidential powers

He has the power to call back all troops right now. In fact under the War Powers act, they shouldn't even still be there. It's as simple as saying "pack it up".

5. Foreign policy, how much direct influence does the president have over that?
I'm not trying to be pesimistic and say nothing is going to change in America, I hope with all my heart it does but I also wanted to know how much one man can change.

I think the president has a lot of say in it. However again, it has to pass through the various branches of government.. which takes time. Sometimes these measures just stall out all together, or get forgotten. Other times Democrats or Republicans try and tack on their own little programs to a bill which in turn makes things even more difficult to move along.

6. How could he change the financial system to protect us from what we're experiencing all over the world now, financial meltdown?

If our financial system was changed to a more positive one, we would be fine. If the US was to end Free Trade right here and now, you would see the jobs return. If they were to change the tax laws, people would have more money to spend. If we were to end fiat money, well... a lot would change and at least be stable. Things right now are horrible. Money is made out of thin air, for the benefit of a minor few.

I know these probably aren't the best answers for your questions.. I'm just running out of characters.

1. The president has power over the military and can immediately end the wars. This answers a further question down. He also has veto powers to block unconstitutional bills, and the power to pardon people, such as political prisoners, non violent drug offenders, and extrajudicial prisoners of war.

2. He can't over rule the congress, but is equal to the congress. he can veto unconstitutional bills or endorse publicly certain bills.

3.a presidents immediate power over the federal reserve is to appoint a chairman who would stop the printing press. But the senate could block this. The president could also ignore legal tender laws because they are still unconstitutional under the constitution, which says states could only use gold and silver as legal tender.

the president has direct control over the military, so he could bring troops home overnight if that was physically possible.

Originally posted by Swizzy
So eventhough I'm not American I'm following the presidential election rather closely. I know basics of politics, I understand what they are talking/debating about but it's the political system and power of hierarchy which I have problems with.

Many good answers have been given already but I'll throw my hat into the mix.

1. IF someone, with very different views from other candidates and indeed most of his party, like Ron Paul became president, how much power would he actually have to change all these things?

Many of these questions, in my opinion, are based on the premise that the Executive (in which the president is head of) is more powerful than the other branches of government (Judicial and Legislative). Currently, I believe there has been a power shift that has been ongoing since the early 1900s in the United States in this regard -- mainly the creation of the Federal Reserve and the 17th Amendment (debatable on the effect but essentially stripped away the numerous States' voices within the Senate).

Another poster here pointed out that the office of the President is no more greater than that of Congress or the Judicial.

Someone like Ron Paul wouldn't be the first nor the last to be faced with conflicting opinion or staunch resistance to their vision. Effective use of the Bully Pulpit no show the American public how certain laws and/or legislation are not in the best interests of the country (Federally speaking) goes a long way.

2. Does he even have the hierarchical power to fight against a whole corrupt congress and system?

Each branch has their checks against each other and the president does have latitude in their ability to fight against Congress. The figure-head position of the Vice-President is a start. A strong vice-president could have profound effects on the Senate (the vice-president is the president of the Senate). While they wouldn't wield major power -- pushing agenda and vision are needed and something that has lacked in the Executive for decades.

3. How easy would it be to end the federal reserve? I guess not as easy as the president signing a piece of paper right?

Any president would be up for a monumental task to end the Federal Reserve. Educate via the Bully Pulpit, make the case and start swaying the public -- who in turn begin the long process of weeding out those who wish to keep the behemoth alive -- and it could be done. It wouldn't however be an overnight process.

4. How much is involved getting out of war in the middle east? With this I mean paperwork and "voting" etc in Washington or whatever it takes, I don't mean "can we even leave the middle east in the situtation it is" that is irrelevant in this question as I'm talking about presidential powers

Since the president is the head of the military this can be relatively easy, but as another poster mentioned -- the reality of the situation is different. The president must execute the laws passed by the Congress (who authorized military actions in Iraq and Afghanistan etc.) Some senators have made attempts to repeal such authorization but to no avail.

5. Foreign policy, how much direct influence does the president have over that?

The president is our chief diplomat and this is by far the largest duty that the president retains. Though such policy still needs to be routed through the Senate (treaties, confirmations, etc) and is why I stated having a strong vice-president is a good thing.

6. How could he change the financial system to protect us from what we're experiencing all over the world now, financial meltdown?

In my opinion -- this is where my initial statement I stated here on the false premise that one man can change the things such as the financial situation. There has been a long pendulum swing in the minds of the citizen's that believe that the president has the power to just change things over night -- and I am not talking about the vision but the actions of that person.

The system created here in the United States was to protect against that very thing, yet people believe that if only Mr. X or Mr. Y becomes president than all our ills and failings will be corrected.

1. With all the exectuitive power given to these people we call "presidents" now day's he will have alot of power to change anything he damn well pleases!

2. See response to #1

3. It is that easy. Repeal the Federal Reserve Act. ( I still can't believe the website uses the www.federalreserve.gov... site address! They are not part of the government!
4. Seeing as there has never been a formal declaration of war, Should be real easy!!!!
5. From what I've seen, he has direct control over it! What ever he say's goes! Should look into Secretary Clinton having an affair with Obama! I mean he is buying all of her propaganda!
6. Easy as pie. Undo the Federal Reserve Act, Restore power of the monetary policy to the congress as it was set up for.