Posted on 09/13/2007 9:02:42 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Last week the Republicans had another debate, this one on FOX News. Not much has changed in the last few months; Rudy Giuliani is still in the lead in the polls and Fred Thompson is still in second despite the fact he didn't announce his intentions to run until a few days ago. What has changed, and changed for the worse, is the surging popularity of a Texas Congressman by the name of Ron Paul. I've been running into normal, intelligent people who support Paul, and it really scares me.
The reason Paul is as popular as he is has to do largely with his sudden support from Democrats and I have to admit, when I didn't know much about him I thought he sounded like a good candidate. He wants to end the Iraq war, have tighter borders, lower taxes and decrease spending, what's not to like? The problem doesn't lie with his policies and ideas, but rather his execution of said policies. How to end the war in Iraq: immediate pullout not only from Iraq, but from the whole of the Middle East. Never mind the slaughter that will occur with our exit. Paul, by the way, denies that this will happen, as the people saying it will are the same that said it would be an easy win. It was a mistake and we never should have been there.
He has more than one unworkable policy. Who else here wants to abolish the FDA? Dr. Paul is your man. His case against the FDA is that they take taxpayer money and are supposed to regulate the food and drugs coming into the country and those produced here, but there are still cases that get by them. Obviously, he claims, we would be better off with no Federal regulation. Corporations should police themselves. Paul is a big fan of the free market and wants to see an end of just about every federal agency that does anything useful or helpful. DEA? Gone. Medicare/Medicaid? History. IRS? The government has no right to take your money.
Paul is such a fan of the free market and letting businesses do whatever they want that during a recent session of Congress he was the one dissenting vote when Congress decided to stop giving tax money to corporations profiting from the genocide in Sudan. It seems pretty cut and dry, companies are making money off of a genocide. Why would you give them money to keep doing that? Paul's answer: We shouldn't tie the hands of corporations by limiting their business dealings. That pretty much covers foreign policy for Paul.
Paul doesn't like the federal tax system and actually signed a document circulated by the National Libertarian Organization a few years ago affirming this belief. Lower taxes is one of the tried and true methods of getting people to vote for you. The problem with Paul saying he'll get lower taxes is that it's not entirely true. Yes, your income will be less taxed, but Paul wants to raise the sales tax to 23 percent at the least. Have fun being poor, because you won't be able to afford anything under Paul's administration. What would be really interesting is seeing how much price gouging we would see with no regulatory bodies, but I'd rather not think about it.
More interesting is Paul's absolute belief in the free market. He wants to see an end of public service agencies and governmental controls. Private post offices, for example, would be bought up by companies and if you're not served by the same post office as say, the people sending you bills, you might never get the bill. Or you might incur a fee when you get the bill. Imagine all roads in the country being up for sale: Paul sees a future where this has happened and thousands of toll booths are being constructed across the country.
We wouldn't have a nutcase presidential candidate without him being a racist, not these days anyways. Paul luckily fits that bill. He's made his case against the African American community known very well, starting with this comment back in 1992, "If you have ever been robbed by a black teen-aged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be." Later he would say the age to be prosecuted as an adult should be lowered to 13 because "black males age 13 who have been raised on the streets and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult and should be treated as such." It's no wonder White Supremacist Website and forum Stormfront.org has come out in support of Paul, as has former Ku Klux Klan member and politician David Duke.
Here's a list of things Paul wants to end because they have had failures in the past, or he sees them as useless: CIA, FBI, Department of Homeland Security, FDA, IRS, Medicare, FBI, DEA, UN, NATO, NAFTA and CAFTA. That's the short list. This is my biggest problem with Ron Paul. He offers no constructive thoughts, only destructive ones. He doesn't think a single thing can be made to work if it failed even once. Bad intelligence? Cut it out completely, don't try to reform it.
Overall, Paul has no workable ideas. He wants to return to a gold standard, which would destroy the US economy. He wants to cut nearly every government department and build a giant wall (not a fence) on our border with Mexico. I honestly don't understand how people can think he would make a good president.
Thanks
With a few exceptions...
Ok, we’ll do it your way, the little jap kids won’t beat us bad for a long time...
The highway system could be considered part of the military and maintained as such. That’s how it was rationalized in the first place.
Followed a mail truck to work the other day, and no where does it say that nothing but mail may travel on those roads.
Try again.
L
100% in agreement, and we cannot forget that the SC has much authority in what the President can and cannot do. There is also the much-ignored amendment process.
The author is not very convincing. These are reasons to vote FOR Paul.
He should have just stuck to the pull-out-from-Iraq-now thing.
Very true. I even have an old map of the original DOD caches I found once.
I wonder how that would play with the masses though.
The road crews would at least be reliable...
I bid 3/4
Well, the states could do the work, for a fee, or private contractors. A little more competition to help keep everyone honest.
No, not the states...
For the love of...
Ok, sorry come drive though Mississippi...
Will have to read some MS news to get up to speed. Like everyone else, I'm preoccupied with what's going on in DC.
Save the time. You are missing nothing...
Like that’s a surprise...
Guess you missed our little Katrina comeback and the lack of Bitching from our coast...
But thanks for playing...
You have a customer I bet...
Probably a latte...
If you want the cost of health care to drop drasticly in this country, get rid of the FDA.
E.g. when I first moved to this area, the local drugist would give you penicillin, if you asked for it. So after a while, I knew that if one of my babies got an ear infection that a bit of penicillin would take care of it. Instead of paying $30 for an office visit and $5 for a prescription, I just paid the $5 for the medicine.
One of my older kids was responsible for FDA compliance, in her section, at a major drug manufacturer. The record keeping and reporting forms are a significant amount in the cost of our drugs.
Plus, you have to understand an enforcement bureaucrat’s mental attitude. If they don’t find things “wrong” then they are not doing their job. Of course there are so many rules and regulations, that they can usually find something wrong.
Another thing about government regulations is that they usually have a very bad effect on small businesses. E.g. when the underground gasoline storage tank laws went into effect in W.V., 2/3 of the gas stations went out of business, for the most part they were mom and pop operations.
Back in the early 60’s, I had a visit from an FBI agent because I had tried to use a photocopied draft card to get into a bar. Guess he didn’t have anything more productive to do with his time.
I think you are mixing Libertarian and Conservative ideas, but if that makes you feel better...
BTW you sound a little more stressed than usual, you once were a bit less snippy.
Strain I guess...
I do not fear lag time, or other potential downsides from putting the responsibility where it primarily belongs, first the parents, and then the local elected officials. The free market, if it is allowed (which it desperately needs to be allowed) to take part, will create an education system that is the envy of the world, with littloe or no Federeal interaction either necessary, or wanted.
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