"The creation of a 12 member committee to preside over $1.5 trillion in spending decisions, and the exclusion of the rest of Congress also means lobbying firms can focus their efforts on an anointed few, which is certainly more manageable for them than having to deal with the entire Congress. Every cut considered will, of course, have a recipient on the other end whose livelihood is being threatened. The probable outcome is that any cuts realized will be more a function of lobbying prowess than the merits or demerits of the actual programs on the chopping block.
Make no mistake – I am enthusiastically for cutting government spending. The goal should be to eventually reduce government down to the size and scope of its constitutional limitations. However, the process of getting there must also be constitutional. Concentrating such special authority to fast track legislation affecting so many special interests to a small, select committee is nothing more than an unprecedented power grab. Only fears of an impending catastrophe could have motivated Members to allow this legislation to be rushed through Congress. The founding fathers had strong feelings about taxation without representation and under no circumstances would they have felt excluding 98% of Congress from fiscal decisions was appropriate.
I see nothing good coming out of this Super Congress. I suspect it will be highly vulnerable to corruption and special interests."
Ron Paul, August 10, 2011
11 August 2011
Skepticism re the "supercommittee"
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Just sour grapes that he wasn't selected.
ReplyDeleteYou wish it was just sour grapes, Karl.
ReplyDeleteWould you put that kind of decision-making power about anything else - say, oh I dunno; maybe health care? - in such a tiny little committee's hands? And would you be so blindly willing to abide by their rulings as you apparently are about the economy? Yeah - I thought not.
The chickens of American economic policy are coming home to roost, and when they do the U.S. economy is going to collapse under their weight. People like Karl are just whistling past the graveyard.
We're all just going to have to get it through our heads that the US is not the #1 economic superpower in the world anymore, and we have to stop acting as if it is. It had its kick at the can for a long time, and now it's someone else's turn to lead the pack.
Seriously Karl, try contributing something beyond an ad hominem.
ReplyDeleteBack to topic, this is sadly inevitable; the mechanics of democracy (and its self deluded little brother, constitutional republic).
Much as I love Ron Paul, and will gladly vote for him, he cannot stem the tide of democratic implosion.
I highly recommend Hans-Hermann Hoppe 's brief lecture "The Impossibility of Limited Government" as a better summary explanation of why this kind of stupidity is unavoidable given our current system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7zwT3Fq_QU
Karl feel free to just egg my house instead of offering an intelligent rebuttal.
Paul fits the old cliche "even a stopped clock" to a t. The rest of the time his anti government views are ridiculous and extreme.
ReplyDeleteThus far we've not heard a single argument against his ideas, only lazy personal attacks.
ReplyDeletenext they can Burn the congress building, and that will give an excuse for martial law. Then the Twelve will take the place of the whole congress. Then Herr Obama can have them executed and claim total power~!
ReplyDelete"Anti government" isn't true, neither of Ron Paul, nor of the most of the others at which the epithet is being flung. "Anti This Government," which is short for "Anti The Parts Of This Government which are Ruinous, Unconstitutional, or Both," is.
ReplyDelete032125,
ReplyDeleteSure, let me just set aside a few years to line out all the problems with extreme neoliberalism . I won't even touch upon the racist element that seems to be drawn like moths to his antebellum fantasies and constitutional fetishism.
He's right about a few issues now and then, but he's horrifying most of the time.
I greatly respect Ron Paul's willingness to call things like he sees them. Unfortunately it's possibly also the reason that he hasn't gained more political clout. He's one that I'm reasonably certain hasn't been bought.
ReplyDeleteMy slogan for 2012: They've failed us. Vote Third Party.
Steve, I am so surprised to hear you resort to calls of racism and "antebellum fantasies" (presumably post Civil War) because gosh, we've never heard that before:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.tomwoods.com/blog/interview-with-a-zombie/
Oh wait... yep.. you're offering slightly more complex, thinly veiled ad homimens.
The Supercongress is an incredibly stupid idea. The chance that it will ever be able to agree on anything is nil. What we need to worry about is the automatic spending cuts that will go into effect when the committee can't come up with a plan.
ReplyDelete--Swift Loris
Numbers dude,
ReplyDeleteWell yes he's a racist as are a number of his followers obviously.
A reporter for the New Republic digs up some of Ron Paul's old newsletters, and what he finds is often racist, homophobic and paranoid.
I'm less scared by his obvious racist leanings as I am by his bizarre and refuted views on economics. Sick lunatic.
Gees, tough crowd. Try to make a joke... Sorry it wasn't up to your standards.
ReplyDeleteI'd bet, though, that Paul's take on this super committee would be very different had he been selected. Put him on the committee and he'll be singing its praises.
I have my doubts about this plan. Obama and Boehner came up with a compromise but couldn't sell it to their parties. Any bets on whether any plan from this super committee will be acceptable to a majority from either side?
In Congress we've got a lunatic fringe who feel bound by out-of-context pledges they signed in order to get elected, and others who are more beholden to their sponsors than to those they are supposed to be representing. They're more interested in being able to say that they took a tough stand than they are in solving the country's problems. They're playing chicken; who's going to blink last as the country goes off the cliff? Shame on such "representatives" and on those who elected them.
Years ago a successful congressman or senator was one who knew how to build compromise. Now it seems more important to take an extreme view.
And having everyone trying to work together was not going to work either. It's like trying to mix iron and clay.
ReplyDelete