Ron Paul Front and Centre on HuffPo

[jabf2006]

I loved seeing this pop up on my screen:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_jXowXlrAau4/TQJnnyfCKoI/AAAAAAAAEiY/sHWa_AQupjs/s1600/RonPaullHuffPo.bmp

[cswake]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/10/ron-paul-wikileaks-defense_n_795014.html

[jabf2006]

Providing the link...good idea!

[puppetmaster]

comments overwhelmingly in support or Dr. Paul!

[cswake]

I even see some of the DU people that (almost) always bring up the racist newsletters saying positive things:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x9743113

[puppetmaster]

lol....this mod is a tool and she doesn't even know it.


HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
mrsmdressup 3 minutes ago (1:05 PM)
2012 FansFollow
Ron Paul decided to be a Republican*, therefore he is a part of the "neo-conse*rvatives". And, although he claims to be a libertaria*n, I see him more as an anarchist, so it's no surprise that he would defend this.

I still haven't made up my mind about how I feel about this whole WikiLeaks thing...I'*m waiting to see what they have on the banks before casting judgment.
Permalink | Share it

[hazek]

Man this it tick me off when I read comments like this one:


I think that Paul has some exceedingl*y wrongheade*d ideas, more then a few. But once and a while "even a paranoid has real enemies". Thus, I find myself in agreement with him on Wikileaks.

or


If he wasn't totally insane he'd have my vote.

or


I used to be a disciple of Paul's, but less regulation of Wall Street didn't work too well.

or


Not a big fan of Ron Paul...but I do look forward to him being the one who will be monitoring the Federal Reserve.

Fking sheep.

[sailingaway]

comments overwhelmingly in support or Dr. Paul!

There are something like 23 or 32 pages of comments.... read a few, and yes they were largely in favor of Ron at least 'on this one issue'....

[puppetmaster]

A mod with savvy.
HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
helenwheels 39 minutes ago (12:34 PM)
2009 Fans
WOW! Well done, Ron Paul.

Just read the first sentence, so far, but love the smack right to the gob of the neocons.

Sweet.

[FunkBuddha]

I saw one dumbass saying something to the effect of "Sure he sounds good on this but where was he during the Bush regime? Why didn't he speak out on the wars and the housing bubble?"

[Feeding the Abscess]

Someone start the Ron Paul = Duke Nukem meme.

It's really the only one that fits him anymore. Way too badass for anything else.

[charrob]

bump

[fisharmor]

Someone start the Ron Paul = Duke Nukem meme.

It's really the only one that fits him anymore. Way too badass for anything else.

I don't like the idea of comparing him to a guy that was mildly entertaining for a while, then promised something big and strung us all along for 10 years promising to deliver.

[Feeding the Abscess]

I don't like the idea of comparing him to a guy that was mildly entertaining for a while, then promised something big and strung us all along for 10 years promising to deliver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_Nukem_Forever

The Duke lives

[crazyfacedjenkins]

I saw one dumbass saying something to the effect of "Sure he sounds good on this but where was he during the Bush regime? Why didn't he speak out on the wars and the housing bubble?"

you should send that dipshit this

Fannie and Freddie

by Rep. Ron Paul, MD

Paul in the House Financial Services Committee, September 10, 2003

Mr. Chairman, thank you for holding this hearing on the Treasury Department's views regarding government sponsored enterprises (GSEs). I would also like to thank Secretaries Snow and Martinez for taking time out of their busy schedules to appear before the committee.

I hope this committee spends some time examining the special privileges provided to GSEs by the federal government. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the housing-related GSEs received $13.6 billion worth of indirect federal subsidies in fiscal year 2000 alone. Today, I will introduce the Free Housing Market Enhancement Act, which removes government subsidies from the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and the National Home Loan Bank Board.

One of the major government privileges granted to GSEs is a line of credit with the United States Treasury. According to some estimates, the line of credit may be worth over $2 billion. This explicit promise by the Treasury to bail out GSEs in times of economic difficulty helps the GSEs attract investors who are willing to settle for lower yields than they would demand in the absence of the subsidy. Thus, the line of credit distorts the allocation of capital. More importantly, the line of credit is a promise on behalf of the government to engage in a huge unconstitutional and immoral income transfer from working Americans to holders of GSE debt.

The Free Housing Market Enhancement Act also repeals the explicit grant of legal authority given to the Federal Reserve to purchase GSE debt. GSEs are the only institutions besides the United States Treasury granted explicit statutory authority to monetize their debt through the Federal Reserve. This provision gives the GSEs a source of liquidity unavailable to their competitors.

The connection between the GSEs and the government helps isolate the GSE management from market discipline. This isolation from market discipline is the root cause of the recent reports of mismanagement occurring at Fannie and Freddie. After all, if Fannie and Freddie were not underwritten by the federal government, investors would demand Fannie and Freddie provide assurance that they follow accepted management and accounting practices.

Ironically, by transferring the risk of a widespread mortgage default, the government increases the likelihood of a painful crash in the housing market. This is because the special privileges granted to Fannie and Freddie have distorted the housing market by allowing them to attract capital they could not attract under pure market conditions. As a result, capital is diverted from its most productive use into housing. This reduces the efficacy of the entire market and thus reduces the standard of living of all Americans.

Despite the long-term damage to the economy inflicted by the government's interference in the housing market, the government's policy of diverting capital to other uses creates a short-term boom in housing. Like all artificially-created bubbles, the boom in housing prices cannot last forever. When housing prices fall, homeowners will experience difficulty as their equity is wiped out. Furthermore, the holders of the mortgage debt will also have a loss. These losses will be greater than they would have otherwise been had government policy not actively encouraged over-investment in housing.

Perhaps the Federal Reserve can stave off the day of reckoning by purchasing GSE debt and pumping liquidity into the housing market, but this cannot hold off the inevitable drop in the housing market forever. In fact, postponing the necessary, but painful market corrections will only deepen the inevitable fall. The more people invested in the market, the greater the effects across the economy when the bubble bursts.

No less an authority than Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan has expressed concern that government subsidies provided to GSEs make investors underestimate the risk of investing in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Mr. Chairman, I would like to once again thank the Financial Services Committee for holding this hearing. I would also like to thank Secretaries Snow and Martinez for their presence here today. I hope today's hearing sheds light on how special privileges granted to GSEs distort the housing market and endanger American taxpayers. Congress should act to remove taxpayer support from the housing GSEs before the bubble bursts and taxpayers are once again forced to bail out investors who were misled by foolish government interference in the market. I therefore hope this committee will soon stand up for American taxpayers and investors by acting on my Free Housing Market Enhancement Act.


--source (http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul128.html)

[PermanentSleep]

Ron Paul for President! If you don't like the D's and you don't like the R's give them both their worst nightmare. Ron Paul in the Oval Office.

^^From the comments section.

[RM918]

More broken clock comments than you can shake a stick at.

[FunkBuddha]

you should send that dipshit this

Fannie and Freddie


I gave up the will to argue with dumbasses on the internet back sometime around late '07 or early '08.

[hazek]

More broken clock comments than you can shake a stick at.

It makes my head explode.

[puppetmaster]

I actually am pleased with most comments.....really surprised by the good comments, ....remember these people could vote for Ron and I think some just may.....they consider RP the lesser of three evils....Dems, Repubs....then RP!!

[Chieppa1]

The mods are the only ones ripping him down over there in comments.

Poster: "well, you know...he's pretty good..."

MOD: "Yeah, but don't forget he's racist and hates civil rights."

[FSP-Rebel]

The mods are the only ones ripping him down over there in comments.

Poster: "well, you know...he's pretty good..."

MOD: "Yeah, but don't forget he's racist and hates civil rights."
Maybe someone should remind the mod that it was the dems that filibustered the CRA and obstructed little black kids from going to white schools. Sen Byrd, the guy that formerly led the KKK, would never been elected had he been a republican.

[KramerDSP]

Huffpo commentators are now filibustering the thread below Ron's front page story and pimping Sanders' filibustering happening right now.

[Fredom101]

It's funny, on the Facebook wikileaks page they also put this video up and some of the comments are just silly! People are saying things like "Wow that's great, I can't believe this guy is a Republican and I actually like him!"

As if the democrats are any better! People somehow STILL think that the democrats are the party of the people, and the Repubs are "for the rich". I guess this will somewhat help them see the light that Obama and the Dems are just as bad as Bush & the Repubs.

[puppetmaster]

It's funny, on the Facebook wikileaks page they also put this video up and some of the comments are just silly! People are saying things like "Wow that's great, I can't believe this guy is a Republican and I actually like him!"

As if the democrats are any better! People somehow STILL think that the democrats are the party of the people, and the Repubs are "for the rich". I guess this will somewhat help them see the light that Obama and the Dems are just as bad as Bush & the Repubs.

this is a very eye opening experience for all people......they are abandoning their parties on both sides!

[Vessol]

Please..reading the comments..I need a reason not to slit my wrists..

[Wren]

Gotta love Joe Rogan, he just tweeted a link to RP's speech http://twitter.com/joerogan


Ron Paul cutting through all the bullshit about wikileaks http://youtu.be/nxPB9yy7IJ4

[FunkBuddha]

this is a very eye opening experience for all people......they are abandoning their parties on both sides!

I'll believe it when I see it. In 2012 they'll be saying "Oh Noes! We can't let the Rebugnican'ts get in power! This election is too important! We can't vote 3rd party." And vice-versa on the other side.

And then if Ron Paul or someone like him wins the election they'll say that he or Gary Johnson or whomever hates the children or old people or poor people, black people, blah blah blah. Rinse and repeat.

Maybe I shouldn't be so negative. RP 2012!

[hazek]

Please..reading the comments..I need a reason not to slit my wrists..

Well it takes time to wake up a whole nation. It started in 07 and it's slowly building the snowball into an avalanche. Maybe, just maybe enough of these "hey I can't believe this guy makes sense to me"s will do some extra digging and vote for him in 2012.

[tremendoustie]

Well it takes time to wake up a whole nation. It started in 07 and it's slowly building the snowball into an avalanche. Maybe, just maybe enough of these "hey I can't believe this guy makes sense to me"s will do some extra digging and vote for him in 2012.

Yep.

We've been awake for awhile -- for some people, seeing someone of the opposite party make sense is the starting point.

I know we want to win tomorrow -- but as you say, you don't wake up 300 million people overnight.

Many average people, perhaps most average people, in both major parties are agreeing that politicians on both sides suck. That's a huge step forward.

[puppetmaster]

Yep.

We've been awake for awhile -- for some people, seeing someone of the opposite party make sense is the starting point.

I know we want to win tomorrow -- but as you say, you don't wake up 300 million people overnight.

Many average people, perhaps most average people, in both major parties are agreeing that politicians on both sides suck. That's a huge step forward.

:)

[TheTyke]

I think the people would easily elect Ron Paul in a general election. He has a lot of appeal with Independents and Democrats. But none of these folks on HuffPo can even vote for him if he doesn't win the nomination.

We need to be thinking of ways to win over the Tea Party and Republicans first. This should our highest priority. I'm glad Ron is speaking the truth, but strategically we should be emphasizing that which bolsters Republican support.

Of course, my focus is on elections. An overwhelming 80% of Americans want the Fed audited, but education itself doesn't change policy as we clearly saw last year... neither did it stop the overspending and loss of freedoms. Only winning elections will do that.

[lester1/2jr]

the comments about ron paul at these liberal message boards are so unbelievably convoluted. They are terrified someone is going to think they aren't a leftist, which is stupid because 1. who cares and 2. they all are.

You can't just be like "awesome" you have to have ALL these qualifiers.

[cswake]

Justifiably so, they've banned people who get too far out of line. (txaslftist, for instance)

[NYgs23]

He looks badass in that picture.

[sailingaway]

The mods are the only ones ripping him down over there in comments.

Poster: "well, you know...he's pretty good..."

MOD: "Yeah, but don't forget he's racist and hates civil rights."

During Rand's campaign, when it became clear he was irredeemably ahead, Jake at PageOne (a liberal blog in KY) said something about how Rand's opponent had underestimated the 'libertarian allure' to progressives. I have seen cadres of progressives beating others over the head with Ron's supposed racism and untrue statements about his social security position, etc. and I think they are afraid of the fact that our guys are much more principled on civil liberties than politicians that cater to progressives (with Fiengold the closest, and he's gone.) They don't want progressives to be 'seduced' by championship of civil liberties, but to be the worker bees for their own redistributive projects. However, the politicians seem much more into redistribution (via corporate interests) and don't get out there on liberties.... or we wouldn't have the Patriot Act, FISA, etc.

People like the 'mods' over there are much more concerned with redistribution, clearly, and are only giving lip service to civil liberties.

[ravedown]

its a RP love fest in the comments over there now...hmmm, wonder what they'll say later when he mentions abolishing the i.r.s., dept. of education...etc.