The Left: Why Do They Attack Ron Paul?

By Zach Foster

Best read with the companion article The Right: Why Do They Attack Ron Paul?

“A nation that abandons the gold standard does not remain a great nation.”

—President Ronald Reagan

Why is it that people from across the political spectrum so passionately seek to vilify Ron Paul?  Ronald Reagan—blindly loved as an icon by conservatives and ultraconservative the way Lenin is loved by ultra-leftists—has become somewhat of a guiding light for modern Republicans, who use his tenures as Governor and President, his speeches, and his writings as their beacon for forming policy.  President Reagan clearly appreciated Ron Paul’s contributions to the House of Representatives as well as his contributions to public policy.

Many on the Left hate him for being such a capitalist.  He has repeatedly stated and made clear the need to re-implement the gold standard to restore America’s currency,[1] as well as fully auditing and then abolishing the Federal Reserve, lowering taxes, and leaving as much of society as possible to the free market.[2]  Leftists hate him passionately because those four little points, despite being the exact remedy needed to end the Second Great Depression and restore the economy to a state of stability and growth, go against EVERYTHING the Leftists believe in.

They don’t believe in the gold standard because they believe that slips of paper serve just fine as money and such is the way things ought to be; continuous spending and incurring of debt is acceptable to them.  They love the idea of bringing down the greedy banks, yet hate the idea of bringing down the biggest and most evil one—the Federal Reserve, center of monetary manipulation and inflation—because it would make their elected stooges live within their means, not having a permanently blank check with which to save the planet in all forms of philanthropy.

They hate the idea of lowering taxes for many reasons.  They think higher taxes on those greedy corporations will bring in more revenue to the government and save the economy[3][4]; they believe that pure profit creates jobs and lowering taxes has nothing to do with job creation.  They fail to see the direct connection with jobs created from profits and profits being sliced in the form of tax money owed.[5][6]  They fail as well to see how average workers keeping more of their money enables them to stimulate local economies.  They hate the idea of lowering taxes on common working men and women because along with providing roads, highways, and public schools, the nanny state ought also to provide the population with free college, free health care, and a fairy tale ending in life.

They buy into the utopian lie of Michael Moore’s Sicko that socialist Cuba is the model for health care[7] and Canada is at the top of education.  What they fail to realize is that the fancy hospital showcased in Sicko is the Party hospital where the high ranking cadres go—not the riff raff proletariat.[8]  They fail to see that free medical care and college in Canada is bankrupting the country, and there are obscene waits for getting into a clinic as well as a university.  It is easier for them to say that Ron Paul is in some corporation’s pocket, that he’s outdated and not up with the times (even though he’s always been ahead of his times), and they even like to say that he’s a racist.[9]  Amidst their cries of racism (ever weakening the effect of the race card by crying ‘wolf’), they fail to take into consideration his passionate belief that all men were created equal (‘men’ being an archaic term for people), and they disregard the hundreds or thousands of black and Hispanic babies he has delivered in his medical practice.

Furthermore, God FORBID he should support those greedy capitalists when they build private schools and private hospitals!  Even though it would result in a burden being lifted off the government’s shoulders, a reduction of crowding at and waiting to get into public schools and public health clinics, and more of the tax revenues being spent on fewer people (perhaps the neediest)...  [By the way, private institutions are not private “clubs” that operate on an invitation-only basis.]  The word “private” denotes private ownership and governing of such institutions independent of the local, state, or federal governments.  Anyone can get into a privately-run clinic or hospital, just like anyone can get into a public clinic.  Any high school or community college student can apply to a private-run institution (like Harvard, Azusa Pacific University, Stanford, etc.) just like they can also apply to a state university.

As a matter of fact, the author of this article—a student at a state university—fervently hopes that more private universities will open in the area, thus drawing students away to these better institutions, lowering tuition and fees (allegedly a response to being overburdened with students), and making it easier to get into classes that would otherwise be full, with students fighting to the death like the Children of the Corn just to get an adding authorization code for a full class.

After these analyses, the only logical answer to the question of why so many groups attack Ron Paul is that he fails to meet the criteria for a statist political party stuffed shirt whose existence is dedicated to satisfying special interests at the expense of the general coffers, the Constitution, and personal liberties.

The artwork used is the work of the author.  The image was compiled and edited from various open source images from Wikimedia Commons.

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[1] Paul, Ron and Rockwell Jr., Llewellyn. The Case For Gold, 2^nd Edition. Ludwig Von Mises Institute. 2007.

[2] Paul, Ron. End The Fed. Grand Central Publishing. September 2010.

[3] Spitzer, Eliot. Sorry Republicans, Higher Taxes Will NOT Kill the Economy. Business Insider. February 2010. http://www.businessinsider.com/lets-get-over-the-idea-that-high-income-tax-rates-reduce-gdp-2010-2

[4] Higher taxes big sacrifice, but better roads. The Parthenon. February 2011. http://www.marshallparthenon.com/opinion/higher-taxes-big-sacrifice-but-better-roads-1.2485119

[5] Shuster, Bill. Lower taxes will create more jobs. Altoona Mirror. February 2009. http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/515879.html?nav=737

[6] Roskam, Peter. Higher taxes have consequences. The Daily Caller. March 2011. http://dailycaller.com/2011/03/30/higher-taxes-have-consequences/

[7] Moore, Michael. Viva Wikileaks! SICKO Was Not Banned In Cuba! OpenMike. December 2010. http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/mike-friends-blog/viva-wikileaks

[8] This Is the Famous ‘Great and Free Health Care’ That Regular Cubans Receive. The Real Cuba. http://www.therealcuba.com/Page10.htm

[9] Ron Paul’s Race Problem. Free Republic. May 2006. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1835179/posts

Socialist Health Care, part 2

By Zach Foster
Continued from Part 1

Rather than take socialistic measures, the federal government (if its high-ranking self-appointed messiahs felt they truly needed to get involved) should have taken steps to insure greater competition and quality control in the industry.  This could have been done through monetary incentives, such as handsome tax breaks for those insurance companies who mirror the government’s agenda for health insurance (such as implementing lower prices, raising or abolishing coverage ceilings, taking concrete effective steps to eliminating the “doughnut hole”).  This not only would have done much more to improve the quality of health insurance for consumers, but it also would have encouraged capitalism and the creation of wealth and jobs.  Respected economist Frank Chodorov, in his essay About Socialism and Socialists, completely refutes the socialist (and Marxist) notion that capitalism reaps nothing but longer working lower wages, and worse living conditions: “Capitalism has raised wages, not lowered them, as Marx predicted. So much so, that the worker with a washing machine and an automobile has lost every vestige of ‘working class consciousness.’ He even plays golf.”

Many socialists and left-leaning academic pseudo-intellectuals cite the “model” socialist health care in Canada and even communist Cuba.  The fact of the matter is that the socialist health care policy in Canada continues to bankrupt the nation and the quality of health care deteriorates. After all, doctors and other vital health care workers—human beings just like the rest of us—are not making money the way they did under capitalism and they lose the incentive to utilize all those years of school and all those hours of training.  In regard to Cuba being a model of socialist health care, the very idea is nothing but a myth.  Dr. Yuri Maltsev is a professor of economics at Carthage College and a Senior Fellow at the world-renowned Mises Institute of Economics.  Dr. Maltsev was the second highest ranking economist in the Soviet Union and was an advisor to Gorbachev, before defecting to the United States.  Having grown up in complete communism (be reminded that Marxists love to say that socialism and communism are the same thing), Dr. Maltsev knows the horrid inefficiency.  He also used to take his students on week-long field trips to Cuba where they consistently saw the economically damaging effects of socialism on the entire Cuban society, especially health care.  Health care is virtually nonexistent in Cuba, and the “model health care” that ignorant utopian American pseudo-intellectuals cite is simply an illusion for Castro’s propaganda.  The people who get quality health care in Cuba are the Communist Party cadres and visiting westerners whose currency holds much weight in the decrepit society.

Let it also be known that the poor receive better health care under capitalism.  Congressman Ron Paul has been a medical doctor for decades.  He writes: “As a medical doctor, I've seen first-hand how bureaucratic red tape interferes with the doctor-patient relationship and drives costs higher…  We should remember that HMOs did not arise because of free-market demand, but rather because of government mandates…  America had the finest doctors and hospitals, patients enjoyed high-quality, affordable medical care, and thousands of private charities provided health services for the poor. Doctors focused on treating patients, without the red tape and threat of lawsuits that plague the profession today. Most Americans paid cash for basic services, and had insurance only for major illnesses and accidents. This meant both doctors and patients had an incentive to keep costs down…”

Let the Congress take these things into consideration.  Let both capitalists and socialists take the proper steps to fix the health insurance industry!

Libertarian chair "sort of" commends Obama's Cuba decision

WASHINGTON - Mark Hinkle, Chairman of the Libertarian Party, sort of commends President Obama for his decision to just barely ease travel restrictions and restrictions on sending private financial assistance to the people suffering under the socialist government of Cuba.

Hinkle said, "The president has shown less-than-tremendous courage here. I suppose it's a tiny positive step that our government will permit Americans to send $500 to a Cuban every three months. And churches will be allowed to arrange trips to Cuba, as long as they jump through a lot of bureaucratic hoops first.

"However, it's such a small improvement in such an awful policy, that I'm not sure the president really deserves a compliment.

"It's absurd that the U.S. government prohibits travel and trade with Cuba. In addition to being an unjust violation of Americans' rights, it's bone-headed policy. If the goal was to topple the Castro regime, then the policy has been a spectacular failure. The embargo has probably strengthened, not weakened, the Castro dictatorship.

"Libertarians call for unrestricted access to travel to Cuba and complete freedom for Americans to engage in economic activity there.

"Unrestricted access to the world markets will help Cubans lift themselves out of their disastrous socialist economy. Libertarians know that free trade and free travel are a fast-track ticket to prosperity.

"Next time, Mr. President, try to do something a little more impressive."

The Libertarian Party platform says the following on free trade and migration:

3.4 Free Trade and Migration

We support the removal of governmental impediments to free trade. Political freedom and escape from tyranny demand that individuals not be unreasonably constrained by government in the crossing of political boundaries. Economic freedom demands the unrestricted movement of human as well as financial capital across national borders. However, we support control over the entry into our country of foreign nationals who pose a credible threat to security, health or property.

For more information, or to arrange an interview, call LP Executive Director Wes Benedict at 202-333-0008 ext. 222.

The LP is America's third-largest political party, founded in 1971. The Libertarian Party stands for free markets, civil liberties, and peace. You can find more information on the Libertarian Party at our website.

P.S. If you have not already done so, please join the Libertarian Party. We are the only political party dedicated to free markets and civil liberties. You can also renew your membership. Or, you can make a contribution separate from membership.

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Socialism

Kevin D Williamson (Author)

"Stalin’s gulag, impoverished North Korea, collapsing Cuba...it’s hard to name a dogma that has failed as spectacularly as socialism. And yet leaders around the world continue to subject millions of people to this dysfunctional, violence-prone ideology.

In The Politically Incorrect Guide™ to Socialism, Kevin Williamson reveals the fatal flaw of socialism—that efficient, complex economies simply can’t be centrally planned. But even in America, that hasn’t stopped politicians and bureaucrats from planning, to various extents, the most vital sectors of our economy: public education, energy, and the most arrogant central–planning effort of them all, Obama’s healthcare plan.

In this provocative book, Williamson unfolds the grim history of socialism, showing how the ideology has spawned crushing poverty, devastating famines, and horrific wars. Lumbering from one crisis to the next, leaving a trail of economic devastation and environmental catastrophe, socialism has wreaked more havoc, caused more deaths, and impoverished more people than any other ideology in history—especially when you include the victims of fascism, which Williamson notes is simply a variant of socialism.

Williamson further demonstrates:

-Why, contrary to popular belief, socialism in theory is no better than socialism in practice

-Why socialism can’t exist without capitalism

-How the energy powerhouse of Venezuela, under socialism, has become an economic basket case subject to rationing and blackouts

-How socialism, not British colonialism, plunged the bountiful economy of India into stagnation and dysfunction—and how capitalism is rescuing it

-Why socialism is inextricably linked to communism

If you thought socialism went into the dustbin of history with the collapse of the Soviet Union, think again. Socialism is alive and kicking, and it’s already spread further than you know.

What’s the central characteristic of socialism? That’s easy—it’s failure.

From North Korea to the American public education system, from Venezuelan oil companies to ObamaCare, the reports of socialism’s demise have been greatly exaggerated. Although the Soviet Union collapsed in ignominy, the central planning impulse that guided it endures in countless industries and government policies throughout the world. As Kevin Williamson explains in this myth–busting book, socialism never works because it can’t work. It assumes the authorities have all–knowing planning abilities that human beings don’t possess—and can’t possess. This central flaw has resulted in crushing poverty, devastating famine, and even mass murder. And yet the socialist “dream” is spreading—including here in America."