[peaceandlove]

Congressman Ron Paul ~ TEXAS STRAIGHT TALKS

3/29/2010: "Healthcare and Economic Realities" Page #5, Post #107

3/22/2010: "Healthcare Reform Passes" Page #5, Post #106
3/15/2010: "Supporting the War Instead of the Troops" Page #5, Post #105
3/8/2010: "Census: A Little Too Personal" Page #5, Post #104
3/1/2010: "Bizarre Spending Habits" Page #5, Post #103
2/22/2010: "Government Stimulus, One Year Later" Page #5, Post #102
2/15/2010: "Are US Taxpayers Bailing Out Greece?" Page #5, Post #101
2/8/2010: "More Spending is Always the Answer" Page #4, Post #97
2/1/2010: "Spending Freeze Not Likely" Page #4, Post #96
1/25/2010: "Legalize Competing Currencies" Page #4, Post #94
1/19/2010: "Government is Too Big to Succeed" Page #4, Post #93
1/11/2010: "Why the Fed Likes Independence" Page #4, Post #92
1/4/2010: "Keynesianism Delivers a Decade of Zero" Page #4, Post #91
12/26/2009: "Healthcare Reform is a Lump of Coal" Page #4, Post #90
12/21/2009: "Iran Sanctions are Precursor to War" Page #4, Post #89
12/14/2009: "The Fed's Money Monopoly" Page #4, Post #88
12/7/2009: "Who Wants War?" Page #4, Post #87
11/30/2009: "Healthcare Freedom or Healthcare Bureaucracy?" Page #4, Post #86
11/23/2009: "Audit the Fed Attached as an Amendment" Page #4, Post #85
11/16/2009: "Competition With the Government?" Page #4, Post #84
11/9/2009: "Healthcare Reform is Economic Malpractice" Page #4, Post #83
11/2/2009: "Government Statistics and Lies" Page 4, Post #82
10/26/2009: "Anything Less Than Full Disclosure is Unacceptable" Page 4, Post #81
10/19/2009: "The Very Busy Politicians in Washington DC" Page 4, Post #80
10/13/2009: "Saving Face in Afghanistan" Page 4, Post #78
10/5/2009: "Bombs and Bribes" Page 4, Post #77
9/28/2009: "The Real Reasons Behind Fed Secrecy" Page 4, Post #76
9/21/2009: "Trade Wars and Protectionism are not Free Trade" Page #3, Post #75
9/14/2009: "Healthcare Reform is More Corporate Welfare" Page #3, Post #74
9/8/2009: "Government Solutions Lack Understanding" Page #3, Post #73
8/31/2009: "The Fed's Interesting Week" Page #3, Post #71
8/24/2009: "We Need Sunlight to Disinfect the Legislative Process!" Page #3, Post #69
8/17/2009: "The Free Market as Regulator" Page #3, Post #68
8/11/2009: "Cash for Clunkers" Page #3, Post #67
8/3/2009: "Healthcare Plan Based on Economic Fantasy" Page #3, Post #66
7/27/2009: "The Immorality of Taxpayer Funded Abortion" Page #3, Post #65
7/20/2009: "Healthcare is a Good, Not a Right" Page #3, Post #64
7/13/2009: "Fed Independence or Fed Secrecy?" Page #3, Post #63
7/6/2009: "Celebrating the Fight for Freedom on the Fourth" Page #3, Post #61
6/29/2009: "Cap and Trade Will Lead to Capital Flight" Page #3, Post #60
6/22/2009: "International Bailout Brings Us Closer to Economic Collapse" Page #3, Post #59
6/15/2009: "Moving Towards Tobacco Prohibition" Page #3, Post #58
6/8/2009: "GM, Amtrak and an Increasingly Fascist America" Page #3, Post #57
6/1/2009: "Fight Government Encroachment into Healthcare!" Page #3, Post #55
5/25/2009: "Torturing the Rule of Law" Page #3, Post #54
5/18/2009: "Audit the Fed, Then End It!" Page #3, Post #53
5/11/2009: On Af-Pak: Stop "Helping" Page #3, Post #52
5/4/2009: "When Government Plays Doctor" Page #3, Post #51
4/27/2009: "Secession: the Ultimate States' Right" Page #2, Post #50
4/20/2009: "Responses to Piracy" Page #2, Post #49
4/13/2009: "Fewer Taxes for Real Economic Stimulus" Page #2, Post #48
4/6/2009: "Budget Expands Government as Economy Contracts" Page #2, Post #47
3/30/2009: "End the War on Drugs" Page #2, Post #46
3/23/2009: "Bankruptcy IS Economic Stimulus" Page #2, Post #45
3/16/2009: "Earmarks Don't Add Up" Page #2, Post #44 PLUS RECENT VIDEO INTERVIEWS
3/9/2009: "Imagine" Page #2, Post #43
3/3/2009: New Interviews ~ BLOOMBERG, CNBC, MSNBC, WASHINGTON WATCH
3/2/2009: "Is Spending the Answer?" Page #2, Post #41 MORE ADDED
2/23/2009: "On Transparency of the Fed" Page #2, Post #40
2/16/2009: "On Reinstating the Draft" Page #2, Post #39
2/9/2009: "Freedom From Government" Page #2, Post #38
2/2/2009: "Cures for Our Economic Disease" Page #2, Post #37
1/26/2009: "Stimulus for Who?" Page #2, Post #36
1/19/2009: "Strengthening or Weakening the Economy?" Page #2, Post #35
1/12/2009: "Stimulating Our Way to Rock Bottom" Page #2, Post #31
1/5/2009 "Opportunities for Peace and Nonintervention" Page #2, Post #29
Also Video: Ron Paul Speech in Congress on Madoff and US Government Ponzi Schemes 1/5/2009
12/29/2008 "Transition and Hope" Page #2, Post #27
12/22/2008 "Government and Fraud" Page #2, Post #26,
12/15/2008 "Economic Freedom or Socialist Intervention?" Post #22
12/8/2008 "Gun Control: Protecting Terrorists and Despots and the Economy" Post #21
12/1/2008 "The Neo-Alchemy of the Federal Reserve" Post #19
11/24/2008 "The Bailout Surge at Post" #15
11/10/2008 "The Economy Under The New Administration" Post #14
10/28/2008 "Spending the Economy Into Oblivion" Post #7
11/3/2008 "The Moral Hazard of Regulation" Post #11
ALSO GREAT NEW VIDEO WITH LINK AT POST #10 Please don't give up the FIGHT!

TEXAS STRAIGHT TALK ~ A weekly column.

Congressman Ron Paul
New Every Monday at http://www.house.gov/paul
or phone 1-888-322-1414 for recorded message.

October 20, 2008 "Too Big to Fail?"

NEW ERA OF SLAVERY

In the midst of highly unpopular bailouts of Wall Street, many justifications have been given about why Washington feels the need to act. Some claim that capitalism and the free market are to blame, but we have not had capitalism. If you compare our financial capital to our aggregate debt, this would be obvious. In the same way, we have not had a truly free market. The monetary manipulations of the Federal Reserve, a complex tax code, the many “oversight” agencies and their mountains of regulations show that we are far removed from a free market economy.

Another unsatisfying argument is that certain entities have to be bailed out because of their economic importance. Supposedly, some entities can be so big, so important, that no matter what they do, citizens must perpetually sustain them.

Even limited government has a basic duty to defend against force and fraud. Some argue that force is somehow permissible just because the entity engaging in it is "economically significant." But one could use this reasoning to prop up slavery. It could be deemed unfortunate but economically beneficial, and indeed these arguments have been used historically to deprive people of their liberty. But slavery should never be tolerated regardless of any economic benefit, just as systemic fraud should not be tolerated. Some banks on Wall Street should fail. Fannie and Freddie should fail. They are perpetrating fraud against the people. Yet, government insists on rewarding behavior which should instead be investigated, prosecuted, and punished.

There has been much evidence of fraud at Fannie and Freddie, but when one man, Franklin Raines, defrauded the organization out of millions of dollars through illegal accounting tricks, and ends up agreeing to pay back just a fraction, one could argue that it was well worth it to him. Fannie went on to only get more deeply involved in subprime mortgages after this investigation. Several organizations are suffering right now precisely because the free market is trying to work and punish mismanagement, if only the government would get out of the way and let it. Perhaps banks are not lending to each other because they know that complicated accounting standards, created in part to defend against confiscatory tax policy, enables false fiscal pictures to be presented, which erodes trust. But this is not a time for the government to step in with more burdensome and complicated regulations, or more foolish liquidity injections. This is a time for some banks to fail, and remaining banks to deal honestly and transparently once again. More regulations will only result in more lies.

Just as economies that turned away from slave labor had a transition period, our economy would transition as well, but in the end, if we turned to honest, sound money and a truly free market, we would end up with a more just society, founded on truthfulness and decency, not subject to the violence of force or the whims of fraudulent institutions. Unfortunately, it seems we are headed into a new era of slavery, however, where all taxpayers will be forced to render to the Fed and big banking interests the bulk of the fruits of their labor, possibly through higher taxes but definitely through the eroding force of inflation.

See Also: www.campaignforliberty.com