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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Oct 18, 2011 - 09:12pm PT
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Dingus;
It is not really within the Constitutional purview of the government to dole out money. Personally I'm not a Grinch or Scrooge, but the distribution of funds/assistance could be handled through other channels. It's strictly the extra-legal aspect of these things that really bothers me. Have we all become inured to the misfortune of others that we have to always let the government take over?
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donini
Trad climber
Ouray, Colorado
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Oct 18, 2011 - 09:14pm PT
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Another moron.
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Oct 18, 2011 - 10:32pm PT
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I'm quite confident the majority of Americans are behind the kinds of donations I wrote about, particularly when the crisis is underway.
Quite confident. Most... Americans are quite generous at heart.
At their personal descretion, yes. But having the Fed use tax-dollars with no vote is different in the terms you describe.
Why should I pay for people whose houses are destroyed when they were told to evacuate because their house is gonna get splattered?
BTW: Paul looked like a crazy old man tonight....
Still room on the Cain-Train.
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Eric Beck
Sport climber
Bishop, California
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Oct 18, 2011 - 10:38pm PT
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While I do think Paul is the best of all the republican candidates in that we both want to end our imperialist foreign wars, he is:
1. Pro life. I see this as a contradiction of his otherwise reasonably consistent libertarian principles.
2. Creationist. Where does this even come from in 2011?
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bluering
Trad climber
Santa Clara, CA
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Oct 18, 2011 - 10:47pm PT
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1. Pro life. I see this as a contradiction of his otherwise reasonably consistent libertarian principles.
2. Creationist. Where does this even come from in 2011?
Irrelevant in a presedential contest.
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High Fructose Corn Spirit
Gym climber
-A community of hairless apes
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Oct 18, 2011 - 10:48pm PT
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Irrelevant in a Presidential...
Hahaha.
.....
1. Pro life. I see this as a contradiction of his otherwise reasonably consistent libertarian principles.
2. Creationist. Where does this even come from in 2011?
I hear you. Loud and clear.
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Oct 18, 2011 - 10:50pm PT
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I believe that Paul is definitely more commited to getting us OUT of Afghanistan and Iraq, and not starting another conflict than most of the others running. I'm really tired of all these adventures we get into that wind up killing many of our bright young people. And spending borrowed money doing it.
Obama promised to "bring the troops home," but they're still there; now forces committed to central Africa. What next?
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Brokedownclimber
Trad climber
Douglas, WY
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Oct 19, 2011 - 12:43am PT
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Maybe people here have figured out that I neither like nor trust career politicians of almost any ilk?
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karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 19, 2011 - 12:52am PT
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eric beck, those views are the most disturbing for me too. I want the federal reserve bank ended so badly, but at what cost to the a liberal society?
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apogee
climber
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Oct 19, 2011 - 12:55am PT
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There's a small percentage of Paul fanatics out there who are aligned with most every position he holds. Then there's a larger group who find about 30% of his positions to be intriguing, but find the other 70% to be just too unrealistic, idealistic, or just plain wacky (I'm in this category).
It's funny, but otherwise rational people will consider odd alternatives like Paul when the political times are especially shitty. It's almost like they are so repulsed by the status quo that even someone they know is pretty much a whackjob looks appealing.
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the Fet
climber
Tu-Tok-A-Nu-La
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Oct 19, 2011 - 01:20am PT
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He was fantastic in Bruno!
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karodrinker
Trad climber
San Jose, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Oct 19, 2011 - 10:04am PT
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that scene in bruno was so funny!
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Mangy Peasant
Social climber
Riverside, CA
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Oct 19, 2011 - 10:37am PT
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Do you think we're better off without a Central Bank?
Sure, it's better off that we don't have depressions and inflations and financial chaos and the problems that we face. We of course wouldn't have this backdoor financing of big government fighting wars overseas and getting people to depend on the welfare state. None of that can happen without a Federal Reserve.
There are about a dozen major WTF items in the interview that Nohea posted, but I'll just comment on this one.
Paul's assertion above, about the benefits of eliminating a Central Bank, is completely ignorant of history. The US, and the world, has seen plenty of depressions, inflation, and "financial chaos" before there were central banks.
And is he really claiming that there was no financing of wars before 1913? (In the US, start with the Spanish American war and work backwards in time...)
Many of Paul's ideas have no basis in historical fact or any established economic theory. Much of his logic is based upon the thesis that "things are bad now, so if we do the opposite, things will be good." He mixes a contrarian theme with his own personal interpretation of the Constitution and brands that as "freedom." The alternatives he proposes are incredibly shallow and utterly unproven, yet he consistently claims that they will somehow fix everything.
Before anyone cheers for Paul's ideas, ask yourself a few questions:
 What is he really proposing?
End the Fed: Great, then what? And why would this alternative be any better? Have we already had something like that before? Were things really better then?
Competing currencies: Do you really want your daily financial activities to include a trip to the currency exchange? Would there be middlemen and speculators involved in this activity?
The list goes on...
For example, we had this in the good ol' days before the Fed: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panic_of_1873 (note the mention of the use of precious-metals for currency...)
Ron Paul has a lot of people believing that US history started around 2006.
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CrackAddict
Trad climber
Canoga Park, CA
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Oct 19, 2011 - 06:21pm PT
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Ron Paul offers bitter medicine to be sure, but the other side offers a fantasy. How many times have we heard politicians promise to balance the budget in 10 (or 15) years? Always the "savings" are back loaded onto the end of the time period and never materialize. "Most economists" is a category that no doubt includes Paul Krugman. Every time I read one of his editorials I wonder how that idiot got a Nobel Prize in economics. None of those PhD wielding economists predicted the mortgage bubble, Ron Paul did. For Keynesians the solution to our successive crises is always to issue more debt. Debt is what got us into this mess in the first place.
The Department of Education didn't exist when I went to elementary school. Our public schools were no worse then than they are now, and were arguably better. So obviously the billions we have poured into that payoff to the teachers' unions hasn't accomplished much. Eliminating the Department of Education is fine by me. Scrapping Obamacare is also fine by me, as it does nothing to address the real problem -- ever increasing health care costs. When the government subsidizes something, whether it's health care, education, or ethanol, the costs go up.
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CrackAddict
Trad climber
Canoga Park, CA
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Oct 19, 2011 - 06:32pm PT
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What is he really proposing?
End the Fed: Great, then what? And why would this alternative be any better? Have we already had something like that before? Were things really better then?
Simply allowing interest rates to rise or fall based on market forces would give us a much more stable economy. The single biggest cause of the housing bubble was an event initiated by the Fed (at Dubya's behest): after 9/11, Greenspan pushed rates down to nearly zero. This allowed banks to borrow essentially for free, and to purchase Fannie/Freddy securities at nearly 7%. The updraft initiated the housing bubble.
Booms and Busts are a part of capitalism, but they are larger and more frequent as a result of the Fed's manipulation.
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August West
Trad climber
Where the wind blows strange
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Oct 19, 2011 - 07:23pm PT
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It's funny, but otherwise rational people will consider odd alternatives like Paul when the political times are especially shitty. It's almost like they are so repulsed by the status quo that even someone they know is pretty much a whackjob looks appealing.
I think Ron Paul is mostly wacko. However, when you have a choice between status quo politician A and status quo politician B, I can understand voters lodging a protest vote for a whackjob. A protest vote doesn't have to mean that you voted for a person that you think is appealing.
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survival
Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
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Oct 19, 2011 - 08:22pm PT
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He's 100% for individual freedom, unless you happen to be a pregnant female who wants a choice.....
Although the legalizing drugs is a good idea.
Too bad I agree with whoever said his voice is like nails on a chalboard.
Verdict: Too damn ugly to be POTUS. So at least he has that in common with Fattrad.
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Nohea
Trad climber
Living Outside the Statist Quo
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Oct 19, 2011 - 08:26pm PT
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Mr. Paul would not dismantle the Fed in one quick swipe. Read his book "End the Fed" where he lays out a potential path for the transition. It will still be very tough for him to get too much done because the main DemPub party will still have majorities.
Since he was a Dr who has delivered babies he says and I can understand his support for life beginning at conception. (Edited: Funny Ron)
A quick review of history will show you we have had more recessions and to a deeper extent since the Fed has had a monopoly on the currency and banking sector. We followed Karl Marx's central bank recommendation to a "T".
Have a great day! Even if you do keep you ears covered and say vote Obama or your an idiot. The good dr needs to look up confirmation bias.
Aloha,
will
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Toker Villain
Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
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Oct 19, 2011 - 08:41pm PT
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How many babies have you delivered Will?
Doesn't Hawaii limit you to 10?
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