My comment to him (entirely true - before this poll and another thread I read tonight, I had a lot of respect for Lou Dobbs and thought he was an exception in the establishment media):
Mr. Dobbs,
I noticed you recently put up a poll asking the question, "Which of the following candidates do you believe has the economic knowledge and leadership to guide the United States for the next four years?"
However, you left out the only candidate with an even remotely sensible economic plan: Ron Paul.
His plan is to:
- Drastically reduce government spending so we can reduce taxes or even eliminate the IRS (returning money to the private sector).
- Stop all of the money-printing the Federal Reserve does (which steals from every American).
- End corporate welfare and entitlements.
- Get rid of managed trade agreements.
- Let the market work.
No other Presidential candidate has a plan that could be considered anywhere near comprehensive; in fact, every other candidate's plan is practically the same disastrous plan we've had all along:
- Continue outrageous federal spending levels that we cannot afford and that put a terrible burden on future generations.
- Increase, decrease, or do little to change taxes (it doesn't really matter, given the spending levels - all choices here are irresponsible).
- Continue allowing the Federal Reserve to debase the currency.
- Continue the corporate welfare and favoritism that hampers competition and thereby artificially diminishes the size of the economy (which, long story short, results in a negative feedback cycle that decreases both wages and GDP, not to mention innovation). The only real difference in any of the other candidates is which special interests they would have the government subsidize. (The ones that bought them out, of course.)
- Continue participating in managed trade agreements, which pretend to enable "free trade" but actually do nothing but create a "giant sucking sound."
Ron Paul has spent most of his life studying economics, and he has written several books on the subject. Compared to him, all of the other candidates have the veritable understanding and foresight of a kindergartner. This is very apparent in the Republican debates: While Ron Paul is lecturing on the runaway inflation the Federal Reserve is causing by printing money to finance our debt, Fred Thompson is standing there trying to figure out what "inflation" even means. It is dishonest and disgraceful to leave any serious Presidential candidate out from such a poll, but leaving out the only good choice is simply asinine.
Mr. Dobbs, before today I had a great deal of respect for you as a serious news anchor and one of the very few who ever discuss important, relevant issues like immigration, outsourcing, globalization, or budget deficits. By omitting the only sensible choice for President from your poll, you have shown to me that your apparent worries about these issues are merely a front. If you cannot treat fairly the only candidate who even addresses any of your main talking points, you are clearly no better than any other talking head in the national media. I feel utterly betrayed by your now-apparent bias towards the establishment, and I'm upset that I ever allowed myself to be fooled into thinking you were any different.
Sincerely,
DARTH VADER (j/k on that one - I used my real name
)
