Noam Chomsky: Ron Paul’s Policies Are “Just a Call for Corporate Tyranny”

Jan 18, 2012 30 Comments by Rippa

Alright, no racism chasing today. Yep, today we’re not going to talk about the new batch of racist articles from Ron Paul’s newsletters that have surfaced. Nope, I’m not going to mention anything racist connected to Ron Paul that reads like this: “We don’t think a child of 13 should be held as responsible as a man of 23. That’s true for most people, but black males age 13 who have been raised on the streets and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult, and should be treated as such.” Nah, no direct quotes from his newsletters today. Or at least something that sounds like something he or another writer might say. Today, I’m over that old debate, and it’s time for something new.

Instead, we’re gonna discuss my favorite subject; that would be, just how he plans to create jobs, and fix this economy. Now, maybe you’re a supporter of Ron Paul — actually, I’m hoping that you are — and hopefully you can tell me just how he plans to fdo this. Yeah I’ve heard all the jibber jabber about ending the wars, allowing people to smoke weed in public, and also the whole ending the Fed thing. But somehow, I have a hard time understanding just how all of this is going to be the boost the economy needs. I mean, that’s important to me considering how Obama has failed…

Or at least what they would have us believe.

Ever wonder what Ron Paul’s America would look like? Then read the budget outline that Paul released as part of his 2012 presidential bid. It promises to cut $1 trillion during his first year in office, balance the budget by 2015, withdraw us from all foreign wars and eliminate five Cabinet-level agencies in the process. Economists across the political spectrum say the impact of such drastic government spending cuts would be majorly disruptive and harmful to the economy in the short term.

“At the scale he’s talking about, it’s unlikely you could have an immediate reduction in government without hurtling the economy into recession,” says Kevin Hassett, economic policy director for the American Enterprise Institute and chief economic adviser to John McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign. Hassett maintains that Paul’s plan for a limited government “would be really positive” in the long run. But he also believes that there would be better means to achieving that end. “I think that you could achieve his long-run objectives with less short-run disruptions,” he concludes.

By reducing the deficit from more than $1 trillion to $300 billion in just a year, Paul’s plan would upend the economy at a time when it’s already fragile, says Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics for Moody’s Analytics. “That much deficit reduction in one year is going to be a huge drag on the economy . . . the reduction in spending is much greater than cuts in taxes,” says Faucher. “We’re seeing that impact in Europe right now, where severe fiscal austerity has caused big problems for the European economy.” While long-term deficit reduction is important, legislators need to make sure that the economy is strong before major cuts take effect, he adds, calling Paul’s plan “much more ambitious” than other Republican proposals to date. By comparison, the Congressional supercommittee is required to cut $1.5 trillion over a ten-year period—a feat Paul wants to accomplish in a little more than one year.

Liberal economists were even more dire in their assessments of the Paul budget. “This is almost having the economy fall off a cliff,” says Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, estimating that cutting $1 trillion in 2013 would prompt the unemployment rate to jump by 3 percentage points. Even if the $1 trillion in cuts were done over two or three years’ time, there would still be double-digit employment, Baker concludes. “This will make it extremely hard to balance the budget, since if the unemployment rate goes to 11 or 12 percent, then the budget picture will look much worse. If his response is still more cuts, then who knows how high he can get the unemployment rate.” (source)

I did however hear something about deregulation and loosening the reins on corporations though. However, I’m still not sure exactly how something like that would work. After all, wasn’t it deregulation that lead to this mess? Oh well, I know very little about economics; I mean having a degree in the subject only teaches you so much. But hey, maybe I can find someone smart enough, or smarter than me to tell me what he thinks. Something tells me that him being white and me being black, makes him more credible than I could or would ever be. So anyway, allow me to introduce Noam Chomsky and see what he has to say about his free market utopia. Hopefully one of you can tell me how he plans to “fix” things in the comments below; hell, I love new ideas and shit like that.

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Rippa

About the author

RiPPa is the creator, publisher, and editor-in-chief of The Intersection of Madness & Reality. As a writer, he uses his sense of humor, sarcasm, and sardonic negro wit to convey his opinion. Being the habitual line-stepper and fire-breathing liberal-progressive, whether others agree with him, isn’t his concern. He loves fried chicken, watermelon, and President Barack Obama. Yes, he's Black; yes, he's proud; and yes, he says it loud. As such, he's often misunderstood.

http://twitter.com/robertbc Robert Craighead

Socialist is for Pro-Government = Tyranny vs. Constitutionalist is for Pro-People = Liberty

I’ve made up my mind, Obama in ’12 I hate my freedoms…

http://rippdemup.com/ RiPPa

So, Ron Paul’s economic policies are “pro-people,” but yet it would give corporations free reign? Are you stupid, or are you stupid??

Common Sense

How many bail outs did Dr. Paul vote for? zero. President Obama??
Goldman Sachs received 814 billion dollars from the FED in 2009 and 2010. Who contributes the most to Mitt Romney? Goldman Sachs… Who contributes the most to President Obama? Goldman Sachs… enough said.
Common Sense

Na man.. Central Banking gives corporations power… you ever hear of a cat named Thomas Jefferson?
SoObvious

RiPPa, clearly, you misunderstand the difference between capitalism and corporatism. Corporations need to only be regulated so that they must operate in a way that does not defraud or harm its workers or the public, but what we have in the US is CORPORATISM. This is where big corporations lobby the government for special privileges and the government is favoring some corporations over others, thus squelching competition by means of government rather than the free market deciding. This is not the same as capitalism or free enterprise where the market (the people) decides what corporations we want. You generalize your idea of capitalism far too simply and that is why you think Robert Craighead is stupid for wanting corporations to be free.
CORPORATISM is what squelches competition and favors the fat cats both in some corporations and in government. Corporations are not the root of the problem, they will always work to advance their self-interest and their shareholder’s interests. This is okay, good even! It’s government favoring certain corporations to artificially squash competition which may be needed in the market that is damaging to everyone, especially the American People. Government is not eliminating competition that has done anything wrong, they are simply doing it by favoring and doting on the biggest corporations who throw the most lavish parties for them. This is why limiting the government’s power to protecting us is of the utmost importance. It’s actually you who needs to learn a few things RiPPa, not Robert Craighead.

Roberto Aguilar

‎”Racism is simply an ugly form of collectivism, the mindset that views humans only as members of groups and never as individuals. Racists believe that all individual who share superficial physical characteristics are alike; as collectivists, racists think only in terms of groups. By encouraging Americans to adopt a group mentality, the advocates of so-called “diversity” actually perpetuate racism. Their intense focus on race is inherently racist, because it views individuals only as members of racial groups.:” ~ Ron Paul
Free trade makes sense (June 7, 1999)
[...] if someone says they are for “free trade,” one must look carefully what they really mean, for the classic (and common sense) definition does not apply.All to often in Washington, free trade is used when one really means “subsidized trade,” or, tax dollars being funneled to foreign governments to buy American products. Similarly, the phrase can mean to use tax dollars to bail-out American firms for risky overseas ventures, or managed trade by the World Trade Organization to serve powerful special interests.On the other hand, those of us who oppose using the taxes of American citizens to prop-up foreign governments or American corporations are derisively called “isolationists.” There are indeed some people who are isolationists. They call themselves “fair traders,” though. Exactly what this means is open to debate. All too often it involves letting the government determine what is and is not “fair” in the private trading between individuals who live in different countries.Sadly, these definitions all hinge on the assumption that there are essentially only two options: tax dollars being used to subsidize corporations/foreign governments, or no trade whatsoever without the rubber stamp of government bureaucrats and special interest groups.The bottom-line of both options, of course, is higher taxes for Americans. Higher taxes to finance the subsidies, or higher taxes on incoming products (and make no mistake, a tariff is a tax, paid by the American consumer).There is another way. Free trade and free markets are, without a doubt, the best guarantor of peace. But this requires something all too few in Washington want: less government intervention.It is indisputable that individuals know better how to provide for their families than government. It is also indisputable that a company is better equipped to know what its market will tolerate than a bureaucrat in Washington. In this way, a person is able to determine what goods best meet their individual needs, weighing numerous factors in their decision. But when government intervenes, it no longer becomes possible for an individual to provide for their family and business in the most expedient fashion. This is the antithesis of liberty.”We don’t need government agreements to have free trade. We merely need to lower or eliminate taxes on the American people, without regard to what other nations do. Remember, tariffs are simply taxes on consumers. Americans have always bought goods from abroad; the only question is how much our government taxes us for doing so. As economist Henry Hazlitt explained, tariffs simply protect politically-favored special interests at the expense of consumers, while lowering wages across the economy as a whole. Hazlitt, Ludwig von Mises, Friedrich Hayek, Murray Rothbard, and countless other economists have demolished every fallacy concerning tariffs, proving conclusively that unilateral elimination of tariffs benefits the American people. We don’t need CAFTA or any other international agreement to reap the economic benefits promised by CAFTA supporters, we only need to change our own harmful economic and tax policies. Let the rest of the world hurt their citizens with tariffs; if we simply reduce tariffs and taxes at home, we will attract capital and see our economy flourish.” CAFTA: More Bureaucracy, Less Free Tradeby Rep. Ron Paul, MD

Common Sense

Thanks for an educated response. Most people hop on the hate bandwagon. The main stream media has obviously divided people over race and all kinds of bullshit. We need to come together and look at the message. screw the person and the politics.. look at the message. not the propaganda. But this is American and thats why we can have these conversations! Peace people!

Roberto Aguilar

http://camprrm.com/ ecreation Resource Management is a private company that operates campgrounds and other recreational facilities in National Forests and state parks under long term concession agreements. We have over 175 sites in 11 states, and this site is designed to help you find the right location for your vacation.
Roberto Aguilar

I hope this can clear up any questions on Paul’s stance on corporate tyranny.
Roberto Aguilar

As a rebuttal to the meme that is short-sighted, irrational and misinformed.
Roberto Aguilar

“Before joining AEI, Mr. Hassett was a senior economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and an associate professor of economics and finance at the Graduate School of Business of Columbia University, as well as a policy consultant to the Treasury Department during the George H. W. Bush and Clinton administrations. He served as an economic adviser to the George W. Bush 2004 presidential campaign and as Senator John McCain’s chief economic adviser during the 2000 presidential primaries. He also served as a senior economic adviser to the McCain 2008 presidential campaign. Mr. Hassett is a columnist for National Review.” http://www.aei.org/scholar/kevin-a-hassett/

Roberto Aguilar

no wonder he’s against Ron Paul’s plan. He stands to lose his job if Paul’s elected AND he works for the people that started this whole mess. Maybe you should look up your sources before committing to them.

santiamriver

Three cheers to Mr. Chomsky for telling it like it is. Ron Paul , aside from the fact he is a white supremacist, is a joke when it comes to any of his policies or his wish list of what he wants to do. His America would be the exact opposite of liberty, freedom or his bastardized, misinterpreted version of the Constitution.

Common Sense

explain
klarekerry31

totally abdsurd answer !!end wars and wars on drugs and patriot act and ndaa tsa fema camps is enough for you??

santiamriver

Not only shouldn’t ronnie pukepaul be president (and he won’t), he should be removed as congressman, or any position of power. Lynching would be a good alternative that he is familiar with.

TBWillies

You sir, have a lot of hate in your heart. I pitty you, immensely.

http://twitter.com/ndroock1 nilo de roock

Ever heard of First Things First? Let’s end the killing and torture of civilians in the name of war First. – With Obama heading for war with Iran vote for Ron Paul. Please.
Anonymous

very simple..He believes government role according to the constitution is not to create jobs..It to protect liberty for the individual from the majority,,You suppise to be such an intellectual but we are a republic not a democracy,You may not like that but thats how our country was set up.. So he wants to roll back pre-1913 before the feeral reserver was enacted and before there was income tax. he realizes that in order to do that we can not be the policeman of the world and have a entitlement society..Get rid of workfare and warfare..He also believes the government has a role to enforce contract law and not bailout corporations that go broke..Under obama we have socialism for the rich and capitalism for the middle class and socialism for the very poor..Your also the genius that said even if 911 was an inside job it does not matter. I do admit Ron Paul does not articulate his ideas because it is very hard to do that in 30 sec soundbites..

But he also like the constitution says the states could have as much socialism they want..Just not from the federal government. he also is against the drug war which cost alot of money and puts non violent criminals in jail..You dismiss his anti-war as “jibber jabber” i guess killing and uprooting millions of people for corporate interesst is jibber-jabber. What kind of monster are you?

Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be
dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other.
War is the parent of armies; from these proceed debts and taxes; and
armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the
many under the domination of the few. In war, too, the discretionary
power of the Executive is extended; its influence in dealing out
offices, honors, and emoluments is multiplied; and all the means of
seducing the minds, are added to those of subduing the force, of the
people. The same malignant aspect in republicanism may be traced in the
inequality of fortunes, and the opportunities of fraud, growing out of a
state of war, and in the degeneracy of manners and of morals engendered
by both. No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare.

There are valid arguments against libertarian.Mostly they disregard the exponietal rise in technology and how that effects society..And that even if you did everthing they wanted i am not so sure there would be enough jobs..But most people including you just mock and i think the reason is your jealous that young kids like his ideas more than yours..

you lose all respect by not speaking out about 911 being an inside job.
http://rippdemup.com/ RiPPa

So Ron Paul is antiwar? Really? Then why did he vote against setting a date for a pullout of Iraq in 2007? LINK:
http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll186.xml

Common Sense

Bro
Roberto Aguilar really took you to school
klarekerry31

he is totally anti-war a,h.!!

http://rippdemup.com/ RiPPa

So Ron Paul is antiwar? Really? Then why did he vote against setting a date for a pullout of Iraq in 2007? LINK: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/roll186.xml
NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/24/washington/24cong.html
http://twitter.com/Liberty4ALady Lady Beth

http://youtu.be/JXt1cayx0hshttp://youtu.be/JXt1cayx0hs
http://www.facebook.com/jcaryl Jason Caryl

“………
Paul’s plan would upend the economy at a time when it’s already fragile, says Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics for Moody’s Analytics” >so this is your idea of a valid source of economic evaluation? From the Director of macroeconomics for MOODY’s? Isn’t Moody’s the for-profit rating corporation which provided AAA rating status for derivatives being sold that caused the worst financial disaster since the Great Depression? Even after it was well documented that these derivatives were toxic? Rippa……..your journalism is a Ripp-off.

http://rippdemup.com/ RiPPa

My journalism? Excuse me, what you cited was a direct quote from the Washington Post. Secondly, it wasn’t Moody’s, it was S&P. But just in case you think “my journalism” and or economic analysis is in question. How about you read what Paul Krugman had to say about Ron Paul’s Austrian Economics. Oh and BTW, if you feel like questioning what he says, you might want to take that up with the Nobel Prize committiee or maybe an actual Economics professor because they taught me the same damn thing in college::

¶Mr. Paul identifies himself as a believer in “Austrian” economics — a doctrine that it goes without saying rejects John Maynard Keynes but is almost equally vehement in rejecting the ideas of Milton Friedman. For Austrians see “fiat money,” money that is just printed without being backed by gold, as the root of all economic evil, which means that they fiercely oppose the kind of monetary expansion Friedman claimed could have prevented the Great Depression — and which was actually carried out by Ben Bernanke this time around.¶O.K., a brief digression: the Federal Reserve doesn’t actually print money (the Treasury does that). But the Fed does control the “monetary base,” the sum of bank reserves and currency in circulation. So when people talk about Mr. Bernanke printing money, what they really mean is that the Fed expanded the monetary base.¶And there has, indeed, been a huge expansion of the monetary base. After Lehman Brothers fell, the Fed began lending large sums to banks as well as buying a wide range of other assets, in a (successful) attempt to stabilize financial markets, in the process adding large amounts to bank reserves. In the fall of 2010, the Fed began another round of purchases, in a less successful attempt to boost economic growth. The combined effect of these actions was that the monetary base more than tripled in size.¶Austrians, and for that matter many right-leaning economists, were sure about what would happen as a result: There would be devastating inflation. One popular Austrian commentator who has advised Mr. Paul, Peter Schiff, even warned (on Glenn Beck’s TV show) of the possibility of Zimbabwe-style hyperinflation in the near future.¶So here we are, three years later. How’s it going? Inflation has fluctuated, but, at the end of the day, consumer prices have risen just 4.5 percent, meaning an average annual inflation rate of only 1.5 percent. Who could have predicted that printing so much money would cause so little inflation? Well, I could. And did. And so did others who understood the Keynesian economics Mr. Paul reviles. But Mr. Paul’s supporters continue to claim, somehow, that he has been right about everything.¶Still, while the original proponents of the doctrine won’t ever admit that they were wrong — my experience is that nobody in the political world ever admits to having been wrong about anything — you might think that having been so completely off-base about something so central to their belief system would have caused the Austrians to lose popularity, even within the G.O.P. After all, as recently as the Bush years, many Republicans were all for printing money when the economy slumps. “Aggressive monetary policy can reduce the depth of a recession,” declared the 2004 Economic Report of the President.¶What has happened instead, however, is that hard-money doctrine and paranoia about inflation have taken over the party, even as the predicted inflation keeps failing to materialize. For example, in February, Representative Paul Ryan, who is somewhat inexplicably regarded as the party’s deep thinker on matters economic, harangued Mr. Bernanke on how terrible it is to “debase” a currency and pointed to a rise in commodity prices in late 2010 and early 2011 as evidence that inflation was finally coming. Commodity prices have plunged since then, but there is no sign that Mr. Ryan or anyone else is having second thoughts.
klarekerry31

PAULS PLAN IS AGAINST OBAMAS G.SACHS OCCUPATION !

klarekerry31

Chomsky in avery bad interview!!Ron Paul is the answer against bank occupation and G.Sachs!!AUDIT THE FED is one of the most important issue in actual economic crisis!!where the FED make Secret loans of trillions and more debt slavery for the average american pay for it!!MONEY IS DEBT !I am economist and no other candidate understand better economics than him! Fed is printing too much money!!DRUGS WAR !!RPAULis ready to end it and to end prison for minor crimes THAT PUT EACH YEAR THOUSANDS OF BLACKS AND HISPANICS BEIND BARS!!ENDthe Patriot Act and Fema Camps!!
http://twitter.com/JeffreyPBrown Jeff Brown

There’s a huge difference between the idea and it’s implementation. Even if Ron Paul gets in the White House, doesn’t mean his ideas will come to light. One of the best things that can be done for all is to make the issuing of currency competitive and attach its value to a standard. The reason we have inflation even the possibility of hyper-inflation is because the govt. has a monopoly on the currency. If there were other sources of currency, it would limit the inflation. What the govt. should do is issue just enough to pay for taxes. That’s it. But what about commerce? Well, there are currently community business co-ops that have been in place for half a century with their own currency that works independent of the government. They are individual centered, meaning there is no unemployment. If a company is declining, instead of cutting someone’s job, prices are cut, innovation increased, or a person is found work at another place of business in the co-op. Prof. Richard Wolff believes the cure is to cut out business hierarchy and the power of the few and give it all to the employees. Make them the board of directors and decision makers. Similar idea in the co-ops, more democratic centered businesses. The thing that causes inflation is money put into the economy without services and products bought / sold. So limiting the govt. is HUGE. It is basically the Fed. and money monopoly that causes inflation, unemployment, and high prices. All the bad stuff. What is needed is an economy that is truly based in supply and demand operating in a free market and the vote of the dollar spent by the consumer. Unfortunately, we have a state capitalism and have had it since the 1930s. But here’s the kicker. Trying to get the guys in power, the international central bankers and the corporations who make HUGE profits, to allow these changes. That’s where the real work comes into play. During the depression, there was plenty of money in the economy then as now, but held by the rich. Roosevelt told the rich, either pay 94 cents on the dollar tax (after first $25,000 which is like $350,000 now) or I let the unions organize and socialist groups terrorize your profits. Guess what, they gave in. Maybe only in dire times this time as well will the correct democratic changes be implemented.
Klarekerry31

RON PAUL IS THE ONLY CLEAN CANDIDATE AGAINST FED &WARS !! FOR END THE FED!CHOMSKY IS A DECADENT INTELLECTUAL WITH NO SENSE OF ECONOMY!WAKE=UP FOR RON PAUL SLOGAN END THE FED STOP DEBASING THE DOLLAR THE POOR &MIDDLE CLASS WILL IMMEDEATLY BENEFIT!