Ron Paul - Wait, what?

[Rpruett]

makingmusic476 said:

He wishes to cut back the role of government in all areas of life, which is not always a good thing.  For example, I think healthcare is a necessary service that should be provided by the government, like defense, law enforcement, fire protection, and roadways.  This is obviously something Ron Paul disagrees with. And we are actually the only major western power that does not provide universal healthcare to its citizens.  For some reason we choose to spend our money on soldiers and bases instead of doctors and hospitals.  

Who cares about Healthcare?  The problem in America isn't the lack of Healthcare, its the lack of affordable healthcare.  As for the quality of Healthcare? It's still one of the best if not the best in the world.   The question is, reducing the cost,  the answer is not involving the government in that process.

I actually think the government should start funding post-secondary education for its citizens as well. I believe an equal opportunity meritocracy is best for its people, and in our current society healthcare and a college education are necessary to do well in life.  Those who can't afford such things are going to be inherently disadvantaged vs those who can.  Any two people with equal intellect, physical ability, and work ethic should be able to make it similarly far in life (barring the impact of random chance), regardless of their ability/inability to afford such things.  Publically funded post-secondary education, however, is also something he would be against.

Why fund secondary education when not everyone is a scholar.  Why shouldn't everyone have to live on their own merit good or bad?

He's proud of having never voted to raise taxes.  Fuck that, I say.  Cut military/drug spending and increase taxes, then spend that money on paying down our debt and heavily improving our infrastructure (healthcare, education, internet access, mass transit).  This will provide jobs, improve our economy, and make life better for all Americans.

We don't need to raise any taxes, we need to stop spending absurd amounts of money on BS programs.  We're already over taxed.

And lastly, there are his economic policies.  His favor of the Austrian school of economics scares me, given the power "too big to fail" corporations have over us already. We should never allow any non-government entity to have that much sway.  At least the government is kept somewhat in line through elections.  Or revolution, if need be.

We should never allow a government entity have that much sway.  I would far prefer business to have power than government.

Plus, he wants to return us to the gold standard.  When will people realize that gold, just like paper money, is only as valuable as we perceive it to be?  Anything we might want to use as a universally accepted payment for goods is going to have a relative value, and basing our money on gold doesn't change that.

No, you're wrong.  Paper money is a fiat currency.  Drastically different than gold.  Absolutely wrong. 

 

In the end, the economy is the current most important issue on the table, and I don't think he'll handle that well, as much as I love his other ideas.

What is bad about his economic policy?  Not spending money?  Going back to the gold standard?  Cutting taxes and putting more money back into every citizens pocket?