Despite a strong earnings season, former Republican congressman Ron Paul is renewing his call for a market meltdown.

He sees additional near-term corrections gripping stocks as the budget deficit exposes more vulnerabilities to the United States’ capacity to do business.

“The fundamentals show that the spenders are in Washington. They’re alive and well. The deficit is skyrocketing like never before,” Paul said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Futures Now.” “The market is destined to go down.”

The libertarian’s comments came as the Dow kicked off May in the red and briefly fell back into correction territory. The index fell by more than 300 points on Tuesday before closing down by 64 points. The S&P 500 eked out a fractional gain.

Even with stocks under pressure, Paul contends the stock market is too expensive.

“The fundamental reason is that we’ve had too much printing of money — especially since 1971, especially with the QE. So, everything is artificial. There are big bubbles, so stocks are basically higher,” he said.

The former presidential candidate isn’t known for being subtle when it comes to his pullback calls.

“Ultimately, when these corrections have to occur, they always go down a lot more than people expect. Just like they go up higher than people expect,” Paul said. “A 50 percent correction with all the distortion that has existed for all these years — I think it’s very possible.”

Paul falls short on offering a timeline, but last August he estimated a correction could be less than a year away. On Feb. 2, his warning became a reality. However, the magnitude was less than 50 percent.

Still, he believes a wave of massive selling is still ahead.

“In spite of what looks pretty secure in the economy in the statistics, I think it’s in shambles. It’s a real mess,”‘ he said.

There is one investment in particular that Paul deems as safe: gold.

He already owns it. But with gold trading around its lowest level of the year and risks looming, Paul is considering buying more.

“I personally would be better off if I did buy a little bit more gold,” Paul said.