Statement before the Joint Economic Committee Hearing on “The Economic Outlook”

Congressman Ron Paul

Statement before the Joint Economic Committee

Hearing on “The Economic Outlook”

April 2, 2008

 

Mr. Chairman,

I have never been opposed to regulation, although my idea of regulation differs from that of many people in Washington.  The free market and its forces of supply and demand are the most effective regulator of the private sector, and have never been known to fail absent government intervention.  But piling more public sector regulation on the private sector will have a detrimental effect on the health of our financial system and sow the seeds for the next financial meltdown.

 

What we in Washington should be discussing is increased regulation and scrutiny of public sector regulatory and oversight agencies such as the Federal Reserve Board, the SEC, and others.  The Federal Reserve’s actions got us into at least one depression in the last century, and have led to continued cyclical difficulties, including the current economic slowdown.

 

Back in the 1970s, government-caused inflation reached levels high enough that the Nixon administration decided to implement wage and price controls.  Placing blame on greedy speculators, unscrupulous mortgage originators, or panicky investors, is a common reaction on the part of government.

 

The solution called for, despite the numerous documented failures of government regulation, is always more regulation, more government involvement in and control over the economy, and less free enterprise.  Never is the blame placed squarely where it belongs, which is on the shoulders of legislators and regulators whose actions distort the market, prohibiting legitimate market activities and encouraging the development of labyrinthine and opaque financial schemes.

 

The latest regulatory plan from the Treasury Department, with the potential to turn the Federal Reserve into a super-regulator overseeing state-chartered banks, bank holding companies, and acting as a guarantor of market stability, is another in a long line of half-baked government responses to financial difficulty.  Recession after recession has not impressed upon government leaders the reality that the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy activities are what lead to market instability.

 

“The business cycle,” contrary to what Secretary Paulson and others seem to believe, is NOT endemic to the free market.  It is always and everywhere the result of monetary inflation and subsequent malinvestment, which when it is discovered must of necessity be liquidated in order for a true recovery to occur.  Delaying the liquidation will only prolong the crisis and ensure that the next crisis will be more severe. 

 

Every government intervention will result in a distortion of the market and a subsequent shock somewhere down the line in the future.  It is about time that we recognize the failure of government intervention, get our hands out of the private sector, and for once allow the market to function.

Ron Paul Jesse Ventura Ticket? Don’t Count This One Out

Ron Paul Jesse Ventura Ticket?  Don’t Count This One Out News flash!  Republican Congressman Ron Paul is still on the Republican ballot running for President of the United States.  Jesse Ventura would like to run but said “it’s too late and he doesn’t have the money”.  Like peanut butter cups, peanut and chocolate perfect together, Ventura spoke highly of Paul on Tuesday night’s episode of Larry King Live.  There was an implied suggestion that Ventura might like to be Ron Paul’s running mate.

“I wish there was an option for ‘none of the above’, I bet that choice would win,” Ventura said of John McCain, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. 

Ventura ran for Governor of Minnesota in 1998 as the nominee for the Reform Party of Minnesota (he later joined the Independence Party of Minnesota when it broke from its association with the Reform Party of the United States of America). His campaign consisted of a combination of aggressive grassroots events and original television spots, designed by quirky adman Bill Hillsman, using the phrase “Don’t vote for politics as usual.” He spent considerably less than his opponents (about $600,000), and is widely regarded as one of the first candidates to effectively use the Internet as a medium of reaching out to voters in a political campaign.

He won the election in November 1998, narrowly (and unexpectedly) defeating the major-party candidates: St. Paul mayor Norm Coleman (Republican) and Minnesota Attorney General Hubert H. “Skip” Humphrey III (Democratic-Farmer-Labor).

Ventura went on to gain the highest approval rating of any governor in Minnesota history, with some polls ranking his public approval as high as 73 percent in 1999.

Ron Paul meanwhile will take center stage along with Congressman Barney Frank on Wednesday.  Ron Paul and Barney Frank have contacted Susan Schwab requesting the details of a trade agreement between the United States and the European Union, according to a report on Poker Pages.  Both Congressmen have proposed legalizing Internet gambling, especially online poker.

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Ron Paul Questions Ben Bernanke 04/02/08

So This Is Why Bush Allowed Torture…

It has been said in the past that the Bush administration is not only reckless but lawless.  The extent of this lawlessness was made abundantly clear yesterday.

In what we could only wish had been an April Fool’s Day joke, the Department of Justice declassified and released a 2003 Office of Legal Counsel memo advising the Pentagon that laws and treaties forbidding torture and other forms of abuse did not apply to U.S. interrogators because of the president’s wartime power.

What kind of harm, you might ask, would be prohibited under the standard established by this memo?  Very little, it turns out.  It declared that an interrogation technique must “shock the conscience” in order for it to be illegal.  But it gets even worse.  The memo also asserted, “Whether conduct is conscience-shocking turns in part on whether it is without any justification.”

Just because one lawyer at the Justice Department wrote a memo asserting that certain conscience-shocking actions were justified and therefore legal does not change the real truth here:  The Bush administration has flagrantly violated domestic law and international treaties.

The only question now is what should be done.

Prosecutions may be appropriate.  Impeachment should not be out of the question.  But what is needed immediately is a thorough investigation into the Bush administration’s understanding of the extent of the president’s power as commander-in-chief.

Please send an email to your representatives in Congress, urging them to support wide-ranging hearings into the abuses of executive power that have occurred over the past seven years.  Just click here to get started:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=23997

At this point in history, we must be concerned not only with punishing Bush administration officials for wrongdoing, but also with setting standards for the next administration.  We must establish now that the “war on terror” has NOT created a “wartime president” with unlimited powers.  If we do not, then we can only expect executive power to expand in the future.

Tell your representatives in Congress you are concerned about excessive executive power by sending an email today:

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/1027/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=23997

And after you have sent your email, please use our Tell-A-Friend option to encourage others to do the same.

Thank you for taking action.

Best,
Steve

Steve Fox
Campaign Director
American Freedom Campaign Action Fund

P.S.  If you support the work of the American Freedom Campaign Action Fund to fight excessive executive power, please consider making a contribution to our efforts.  Just click on the following link to get started:

https://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2165/t/2629/shop/custom.jsp?donate_page_KEY=2644

April a Busy Month for Ron Paul

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If you think Ron Paul is finished with his campaign, take a look at his April schedule.

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by Chris Johns
(Libertarian)

A look at Ron Paul’s website reveals an active month in store for the Texas Congressman. With rallies scheduled at several Pennsylvania colleges and universities, a speaking engagement at his alma mater Gettysburg College, a trip to Maryland, an appointment with the Nevada Republican State Convention, and yesterday’s appearance with Glenn Beck, April could prove to be one of the busiest months Dr. Paul has faced.

This is, no doubt, wonderful news to those who have been closely following Ron Paul’s campaign. Congressman Paul knows how to pack a house, and no matter the size of the facility, one can be sure that those anxious to hear Paul speak will test the local Fire Marshall’s tolerance a bit. If tickets were sold for admission, the value would be such that the ticket itself may become valuable enough to use as a private volunteer barter currency. That is, unless the Justice Department hears about it.

The internet crowd, which mainly consists of well, everybody, will also find delight in Paul’s busy April schedule. Every time Ron Paul addresses a crowd, indeed every time he utters a word on television or radio, his words are almost instantly uploaded to YouTube where his loyal supporters “bump” the video, express their devotion the good doctor, and voice their disappointment with everything from the Federal Reserve to the war in Iraq.

Although Dr. Paul hasn’t dropped out of the race, he and his faithful supporters are slowly coming to terms with the idea that barring a well placed lightening strike, Dr. Paul will not be the Republican nominee. Yet Dr. Paul presses on, spreading his message of freedom, sound money, and peace to anybody willing to hear it. Ron Paul said early in his campaign that he was going all the way to the Republican National Convention. From the look of his April schedule, that still appears to be the plan.