“[T]he message of freedom is important,” was one of the first things Texas Congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul said to me during my private interview with him on Sept. 27. Nicknamed by many as the “Modern Thomas Jefferson,” he has spent more than two decades in Congress doing his best to adhere to the limitations placed on the federal government by the Constitution. But the congressman quickly dismisses any credit for his positions, insisting that he’s just following the rules and the principles of the founders.

A licensed ob-gyn and former captain and flight surgeon in the Air Force during the Vietnam War, Dr. Paul is regarded as the most consistent voter in the House of Representatives. That sounds like it might be campaign nonsense, but many things stand out about Paul that lend credibility to the hype: He has never voted to raise taxes, for an unbalanced budget, to raise congressional pay and has never taken a government-paid junket.

Paul has voted against the Patriot Act, against the Iraq War, against federal regulation of the Internet, and against increasing the powers of the executive branch. Paul does not even participate in the congressional pension plan, and he returns a portion of his annual budget to the U.S. Treasury each year. Consistent in his private life too, he’s been married to wife Carol for 54 years.

I had the opportunity to talk to this celebrity of American politics for half an hour while he rode to the airport to catch his flight home. Thanking him for the chance, the congressman laughed, waved his hands in the air and joked, “But you’re the meeeedia!” Paul has historically not been treated well by the media. He continued: “In all seriousness, I always encourage people to go into journalism. It’s an honorable profession, and we need people to tell us what’s going on and help keep the government honest.”

I led off with some criticisms of the congressman that were printed in the Daily a few weeks ago and asked Dr. Paul to rebut the statements. Happy for the chance, he turned toward me, sliding his knee up on the seat and leaned back against the door, listening intently. I said this expositor was highly critical of his position on Medicare and Social Security, suggesting that Paul’s philosophy on them is relevant only to those who are young and healthy. Congressman Paul has stated many times that he is against federal entitlements and people being hooked on government “from the cradle to the grave.”

Paul grinned, chuckling a little and shaking his head, dismissing the accusation with a wave. “I hear that all the time. I’ve said before — earlier tonight I said it — that I don’t want to get rid of services for people already dependent on them. I just — well first, I want to make it so we can afford it. Pretty soon we won’t have any money to give anyway so it won’t matter. But no, if someone is on Social Security or Medicare, I won’t get rid of it for them, but we should work to gradually phase it out or reduce it.” Paul went on, however, to suggest that, “there will always be people who need help.”

I asked the congressman if the federal government played any role in helping those who he said would need help, or if it was a local issue. “It wasn’t a problem when I was younger, before the government really got involved. Like with medical care: No one went without medical care that I knew about. I’m a doctor, and we never turned anyone away; we always seemed to work it out. And you know, churches and charities have always provided some of the best health care. Down in Texas, we’ve got the Shriners. They’ve got a great burn center there, and no one pays for treatment. So yes, I would say private organizations would better handle it, and the states could also do something too, and there’s always the counties and the cities.”

Ron Paul has gone on record as being in favor of an option for younger people to opt out of Social Security, and I asked him about it. “Oh yes, young people don’t need to be tied into this, and I’m definitely in favor of letting them out of it if they want. The problem is Social Security needs you out there working to pay for it for people on it now, so like I said, we need to cut spending and make it so we can afford it for the people dependent on it.”

Paul’s belief, in short, is that we can no longer afford programs like Medicare and Social Security for everyone, but those programs will be safe under his presidency for those who are currently dependent on them. Further, philosophically and constitutionally, one’s health care and retirement are private affairs, and if government is to be involved, it should be handled at the state and local levels because the people have more control at smaller levels of government.

Coming up soon: Ron Paul on the economy, Iran, abortion, gay rights, the Civil Rights Act and the space program.