Ron Paul as Hypocrite?

[green73]

Walter Block:

The latest unwarranted attack on Ron Paul is that he is a hypocrite: he opposes social security, and yet accepts checks from that organization for his own personal use.


Ron responds, plaintively, that he opposes fiat currency, and yet has some of it in his wallet. He favors the privatization of the post office, and yet mails letters through that system, and accepts mail others have sent him through the US Post Office. He also uses government highways, even though he would like to see this service privately provided. (See my book on that subject, for free, here)


But the story goes deeper than that; far deeper. This is only the beginning of Dr. Paul’s hypocrisy. This evil hypocrite also eats food, despite the fact that the government subsidizes agricultural products. He also wears clothing, ditto. And, sinner that he is, he also lives in a house. But the statists are also busily subsidizing housing, not least by lowering interest rates to unwarranted levels. Does this man’s hypocrisy never end? No. This is only the tip of the iceberg for this scalawag. Why, the man gives lectures to tens of thousands of students at public universities, and private ones, too, that accept government funding.


I could go on and on in this vein, but I think that a mainstream journalist, even of the meanest intelligence as virtually all of them are, can now see where I am going with this. It is impossible to live in the present day U.S. without being involved, in numerous ways, with the state apparatus. Does this mean that we are all precluded from advocating the free enterprise system, private property rights and the marketplace? Evidently it does, at least for some folk. For shame.

 

[libertyfanatic]

What a joke

 

[Sola_Fide]

Thanks, that was good. The government has its tentacles in every aspect of our life sadly.

 

[Lucille]

Walter Block: Ron Paul as Hypocrite? [re Social Security]

Ron Paul as Hypocrite?

The latest unwarranted attack on Ron Paul is that he is a hypocrite: he opposes social security, and yet accepts checks from that organization for his own personal use.

Ron responds, plaintively, that he opposes fiat currency, and yet has some of it in his wallet. He favors the privatization of the post office, and yet mails letters through that system, and accepts mail others have sent him through the US Post Office. He also uses government highways, even though he would like to see this service privately provided. (See my book on that subject, for free, here)

But the story goes deeper than that; far deeper. This is only the beginning of Dr. Paul’s hypocrisy. This evil hypocrite also eats food, despite the fact that the government subsidizes agricultural products. He also wears clothing, ditto. And, sinner that he is, he also lives in a house. But the statists are also busily subsidizing housing, not least by lowering interest rates to unwarranted levels. Does this man’s hypocrisy never end? No. This is only the tip of the iceberg for this scalawag. Why, the man gives lectures to tens of thousands of students at public universities, and private ones, too, that accept government funding.

I could go on and on in this vein, but I think that a mainstream journalist, even of the meanest intelligence as virtually all of them are, can now see where I am going with this. It is impossible to live in the present day U.S. without being involved, in numerous ways, with the state apparatus...

So true:

Nothing Outside the State

The areas of life that remain outside the government’s participation, taxation, subsidization, regulation, surveillance, and other intrusion or control have become so few and so trivial that they scarcely merit mention. We verge ever closer upon the condition in which everything that is not prohibited is required. Yet, the average American will declare loudly that he is a free man and that his country is the freest in the world. Thus, in a country where more and more is for the state, where virtually nothing is outside the State, and where, aside from pointless complaints, nothing against the State is permitted, Americans have become ideal fascist citizens. Like the average German during the years that Hitler ruled Germany, most Americans today, inhabiting one of the most pervasively controlled countries in the history of the world, think they are free.

Nothing Outside the State: Part II

Leave Us the HELL ALONE

 

[FSP-Rebel]

good post

 

[mconder]

It should be pointed out that he is not accepting his congressional pension and returns a portion of his congressional budget, which I'm sure is more than his paltry SS check.

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

The last thing he said in that interview was that he pays more into SS than they give him back in his SS checks.

-t

 

[SilenceDewgooder]

Morning Joe Wrong on Ron Paul and Social Security

http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/reawakening-liberty/2012/jun/21/ron-paul-social-security-morning-joe/

TAMPA, June 21 2012 — Ron Paul appeared on MSNBC’s Morning Joe yesterday, giving one of his most succinct criticisms of the Republican Party to date. Host Joe Scarborough had recently endorsed Paul and explained why he had voted for him in his Republican presidential primary.

For most of the segment, the hosts concentrated on Paul’s ideas, policy positions and vision for the future of the party. However, near the end of the segment, Sam Stein decided to ambush Paul on Social Security. After Paul explained his position on letting young people opt out of the program, Stein asked Paul if he collected Social Security payments himself. When Paul replied in the affirmative, Stein implied that Paul was being hypocritical by collecting Social Security payments while asking young people to opt out.

Non sequitur.

Ron Paul’s plan to phase out Social Security does not ask people who have paid into the program to forego the benefits. Those he wants to give the opportunity to opt out would also not be taxed to support Social Security. Perhaps somewhat surprised by the line of inquiry, Paul did not give the best answer he’s ever given to this question. However, he explained it in detail in my own interview with him last year.

Under Paul’s plan, those who have paid into the program would continue to receive the benefits they were promised. The funds not collected from young people who opt out would be raised from savings realized by Paul’s cuts to overseas military spending and elimination of federal departments.

So, Paul is not asking young people to do something that he is not willing to do himself. As he pointed out on Morning Joe, he’s still paying into Social Security right now.

From a strict libertarian perspective, there is a strong argument to be made that even those who have paid into the program have no “right” to collect Social Security payments. After all, the people who would have to pay to support me when I reach retirement age are innocent victims. They did not receive the money that I paid in. That money was spent on the generation before me (and looted for other government boondoggles as well).

In other words, I don’t have a right to steal a young person’s car just because some anonymous older person stole mine in the past. Stripped of “social contract” baloney, there’s really no difference between that and Social Security.

The “trust fund” argument holds no water either. Since the early years of the program, the lawful process for building this “trust fund” has been to replace surpluses with the government’s own bonds. There is only one way to redeem those supposed investments – to tax people in the future, not only for the principal but for interest owed on the loan.

This also raises an interesting question. If a 34-year-old makes a Social Security payment and the government puts any surplus from that payment into a 30-year treasury note, where would the government get the money to redeem the bond when that same person is 64 and ready to collect?

From him, of course. These are the kind of absurdities that occur when theft is legalized.

Ron Paul’s plan does not hold anyone to these strict libertarian standards. That’s probably because voters, no matter how conservative they say they are, aren’t really ready to cut one dollar from the federal budget. If they were, they would have nominated Paul for president instead of Mitt Romney, who will send Congress a $4 trillion federal budget if elected.

The media don’t have to agree with Ron Paul’s positions on the issues, but misrepresenting them this way is cheap pandering to the basest emotions of their audience. Paul may be a lot of things, but one thing he is not is a hypocrite. MSNBC and Morning Joe should admit that they did their audience a disservice by suggesting that he is.

 

[angelatc]

The last thing he said in that interview was that he pays more into SS than they give him back in his SS checks.

-t

Well, he isn't finished collecting yet. SS has an earnings cap, so while Dr Paul probably earned wages that exceeded the median during his years as a practitioner, his contributions were capped at a much lower rate. Of course, he had to pay both the employer and employee contribution, so that probably makes a big difference.

 

[July]

Yup....good article. And this also why I kinda have trouble with the no compromise/work outside the system argument. Its nearly impossible to do. The government is so invasive, it's only a matter of degree at this point.

 

[green73]

Media Spin? Do mods even f---ing read posts be wielding their all-powerful hand?

 

[tangent4ronpaul]

Well, he isn't finished collecting yet. SS has an earnings cap, so while Dr Paul probably earned wages that exceeded the median during his years as a practitioner, his contributions were capped at a much lower rate. Of course, he had to pay both the employer and employee contribution, so that probably makes a big difference.

I'm pretty sure he's talking about what is taken out of his paycheck as a member of Congress now.

-t

 

[green73]

LOL, Luc, I posted this and it got moved to media spin. LMFAO!!!!!!

 

[donnay]

Media Spin? Do mods even f---ing read posts be wielding their all-powerful hand?

Now LRC is considered media spin?

 

[Lucille]

I put this same one in grc. Maybe that's why they moved yours to media spin?

 

[Kotin]

sorry messed up a merge and had to leave the comp for a sec... fixed..

 

[July]

I thought it was in 'media spin' because the media just tried to spin Ron's stance on social security? And this article is a rebuttal (and a good one, at that).

 

[Henry Rogue]

He has a right to be returned what was taken from him.

 

[Elwar]

Newsflash! Ron Paul does not live in the woods of Alaska living off of roots and berries!!!

 

[satchelmcqueen]

that douche of an interviewer should have done more research and included that ron doesnt take his government pension and also returns tons of money from his office to the treasury each year.