Ron Paul is clearly on a political roll. He's got his new book End the Fed running toward the top of the bestseller lists (#6 on both the Amazon and the New York Times bestseller lists), and last night he promoted the book on Comedy Central's Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

As has happened in the past, the liberal but thoughtful Stewart gave Rep. Paul a fair — even favorable — hearing. “You seem to have put a lot of thought and effort into this book,” Stewart began the interview, adding in mock scorn “and you call yourself a Congressman!” When Stewart asked Rep. Paul how he would prevent corporatism, the Congressman replied that he wanted to enforce anti-fraud laws. With the Federal Reserve, he added, “It's hard to enforce antifraud laws when the government is participating in the fraud.”

The television show appearance happened at a time his bill to audit the Federal Reserve Bank (H.R. 1207) received its first committee hearing since Rep. Paul first introduced the legislation in 1983. The bill clearly has enough support to pass the House; it has 295 cosponsors and the backing of House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, who has promised a committee vote. Every Republican in the House is signed on as a co-sponsor, in addition to more than 100 Democrats.

The increasing influence of Dr. Ron Paul, who was until recently a respected but ignored force in Washington, has not escaped the attention of the Washington Post and Politico.com in recent weeks. Rep. Paul's Daily Show appearance also comes at a time when the Ron Paul political machine is gearing up for 2010. Ron Paul's election year fundraising prowess has not diminished since the end of his presidential campaign. His Campaign for Liberty, the remains of his old presidential campaign, has raised $4 million since its February founding this year. And two Ron Paul-aligned senatorial candidates have each raised more than $1 million through the Internet for their campaigns, his son Dr. Rand Paul (who is running as a Republican for an open seat in Kentucky) and former economic advisor to the presidential campaign Peter Schiff (who is running as a Republican against Christopher Dodd in Connecticut).

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Paul Brown said:

	... Dr. Ron Paul is an American Hero in my eyes. He speaks of all things that can be done to bring us back to the greatest nation on earth and never fades from his views. All Politicians should follow his lead. God Bless America!
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September 30, 2009
Votes: +10

Jesse said:

POWER TO THE PEOPLE! GO RON PAUL! Dr. Paul cured my apathy. I have never before seen that kind of honesty and humility and transparency in a politician. People are so caught up in what Dr. Paul believes about social issues, but they miss the point. Dr Paul says "Take the power out of the Federal government, so YOU can decide how you want to live by voting locally..." Dr. Paul is for example personally against abortion but he says if you want it..you vote for it on a state level. This way no matter what your view on it is, your voice can be heard without Washington deciding for you. - Same for all social issues. POWER TO THE PEOPLE! GO RON PAUL!

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September 30, 2009
Votes: +9

Darryl Schmitz said:

	Great Article Thank you for the well-crafted, objective analysis. Jon Stewart's respectfulness and your fair reporting demonstrates the kind of public discourse that is healthy, not destructive.
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October 01, 2009
Votes: +7

KSH said:

	Wonder how he's stayed 11 terms? Because Ron Paul is the bomb - that explodes the Feds fraud!! Rock on Ron and thanks for the great interview and recommendation Jon!!
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October 02, 2009 | url
Votes: +1

MrDodats said:

... Mr. Paul has the right idea's most of them anyway. Unfortunatly some suspicions need to be addressed. Number one being. Why would someone be after all of this like Mr. Paul is. When the banks literally own the Government. They don't kind of own it. They really own it. When you see how Federally issued debt is issued and bought by the banks. How we have to pay interest on what they buy with paper. The whole thing is ridiculous. This puts the entire game of the government and the banks under the catagorey of really suspicious. First take a look at his publisher. Its kind of like the steer slaughtering himself and jumping on your dinner plate. Moreover the ignorant that follow things like this without connecting the dots. This is even more vexing than the people that are stuck in the charades. If Mr Paul grows a pair of doughnuts and actually means and does what the assumed intent is. With all of the garbage stripped out that would probably neuter what the content is. Then I would say right on Mr. Paul. IE DO IT FOR YOUR FREEDOM

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October 05, 2009
Votes: -4