me: >>> I saw a fragment of Jon Stewart interview Congressman Ru Paul on "the >>> Daily Show." Has anyone read his "End the Fed" book? does he want the >>> gold standard? does he receive campaign contributions from the gold >>> mining interests?
David Shemano: > RON PAUL??!! You think Ron Paul supports a gold standard because he receives > campaign contributions, and if he stopped receiving campaign contributions > and expressed his true beliefs, he would support inviting Zimbabwe's finance > minister to run the Fed? Do you truly rule out the possibility that > ideological opponents actually believe what they say?< NO, I don't know if he receives campaign contributions from gold interests or not. That's why I used the question mark in my fourth sentence. In fact, from what I know about Paul, I doubt that he developed his ideology (a.k.a. "principles") in response to legal bribes of that sort. I would guess that he's the type of principled money libertarian encouraged by the socioeconomic environment of the West (including Texas). Somehow government subsidies help breed "rock-ribbed" individualism there. However, any congresscritter with those principles -- including adherence to the gold standard -- would attract campaign contributions from gold interests, among others. To some extent, the US political system follows Darwinian rules, so that those who receive more campaign contributions are more likely to survive, to stay in office. So that gold-based contributions may have produced Paul as an incumbent congresscritter despite his presumed personal honesty. (He's been in the House of Representatives since 1978.) Once ensconced, of course, the rules help make incumbents exempt from Darwinian competition. But incumbents attract even more campaign contributions. This raises the cost of both breaking the principles and compromising with others. BTW, according to the Wikipedia: >Paul also believes the long-term erosion of the U.S. dollar's purchasing power >through inflation is attributable to its lack of any commodity backing. >However, Paul does not support a complete return to a gold standard..., >instead preferring to legitimize gold and silver as legal tender and to remove >the sales tax on them.[citation needed] He also advocates gradual elimination >of the Federal Reserve System.< BTW2, I do think it's a good idea to audit the Fed and to stop this illusion of its independence. It's only independent (to the extent that it is) from the wrath of voters; it's quite chummy and responsive to financial interests (Wall Street and the banks), though sometimes it tries to represent their long-term interests instead of their short-term ones. -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list pen-l@lists.csuchico.edu https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
