Candidate says US going bankrupt

Presidential candidate Ron Paul, campaigning in Iowa, says that the US is going bankrupt.

Speaking to a group of supporters at the University of Iowa, the Republican candidate said that: "As time goes on, our country will realize that we can't afford to pay all the promises we've made." He said that our entitlements programs, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and our monetary policy are causing such a drain on the country's finances that in the very near future our trading partners abroad will lose confidence in the dollar and then there will be a very severe financial crisis, possibly worse than the Great Depression of the 30's. He said that we as a nation have made bad judgements in monetary policy and that it is the monetary policy that creates the economic "boom and bust" cycle. Dr. Paul, who is by profession an OB-Gyn physician, is also closely associated with Austrian School of Economics. (http://www.mises.org). The Austrian School (so named because it was originally developed in Austria, now centered in Auburn, AL) teaches that government intervention in the economy, no matter how well intentioned, always has detrimental effects in the long run. The teachings of the Austrian School, while seldom practiced here in the US, have been the basis of successful monetary and fiscal reforms in some Latin American countries. Dr. Paul wants to return to US to a sound, Constitutional monetary system, eliminate the Federal Reserve banking system and reduce the size, power and expense of the Federal government.