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View Full Version : HuffPo freaks: "Seriously, Canadian Conservatives? RON PAUL?"




sailingaway
03-08-2013, 06:46 PM
As Canada's right wing gathers this weekend in Ottawa, the conservative movement finds itself looking in a strange -- and somewhat dangerous -- place for inspiration.

Conservatives attending the 2013 Manning Centre networking conference will hear from the usual roster of cheerleaders, political practitioners and ideological elders. But this year's keynote is something different. A surprising guest whose ideas can only be described as completely outside the Canadian mainstream: former U.S. Congressman Ron Paul.

Mr. Paul is well known in the United States for his radical notions. Often described as the "intellectual godfather of the Tea Party," Mr. Paul takes libertarian philosophy to new heights. His positions and policies are offside most U.S. Republicans, let alone Canada's more temperate Red Tory traditions.

One need not dig too deeply to figure out why.

In a 2007 CNBC interview, Mr. Paul suggested that the US Federal Reserve should be abolished in favour of a system of competing currencies: "We can't get rid of the 'Fed' in a day or a week but we could legalize competing currencies...if people don't like competing currencies... they can opt-out and start dealing in gold and silver."

In his 2011 book, Liberty Defined, he opined that, "We need to give up our dependence on the state... it is far better to live in an imperfect world than it is to live in a despotic world ruled by people who lord it over us through force and intimidation." I am left scratching my head at this bizarre statement: which despotic agents of the state, exactly, is Mr. Paul referring to? Doctors? Nurses? Social workers? All of the above?

Mr. Paul has been particularly outspoken on a number of other important issues. As a self-described "unshakeable foe of abortion," he has gone so far as to introduce legislation "which would negate the effect of Roe v. Wade." Mr. Paul opposes gun control because he believes it "clears a path for violence and makes aggression more likely." Go figure. Mr. Paul even wants to abolish the minimum wage: during a 2011 Republican primary debate, he argued that "minimum wage is a mandate. We're against mandates so why should we have it?"


hyperventilation and swooning continues here: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/rick-j-smith/ron-paul-canada_b_2839933.html

sailingaway
03-08-2013, 06:49 PM
I notice that at the bottom of the article is a place where you can vote for 'things Ron Paul got right' where his picture with the arrows is.

The 'poll' is actually better than the article.

green73
03-08-2013, 06:51 PM
where's my hat tip?

dannno
03-08-2013, 07:07 PM
The 'poll' is actually better than the article.

Especially #6

dannno
03-08-2013, 07:10 PM
Has anybody else tried to post a comment? Mine is still under moderation I guess.

sailingaway
03-08-2013, 07:21 PM
where's my hat tip?

hat tip? Did you post this somewhere? I got this off twitter -was that you? If so thank you!

sailingaway
03-08-2013, 07:21 PM
Has anybody else tried to post a comment? Mine is still under moderation I guess.


LOL!

green73
03-08-2013, 07:23 PM
hat tip? Did you post this somewhere? I got this off twitter -was that you? If so thank you!

No, I posted it in the Guardian thread in response to one of your comments.

sailingaway
03-08-2013, 07:26 PM
No, I posted it in the Guardian thread in response to one of your comments.

oh, sorry, I didn't see that yet. Thank you, then!

Cdn_for_liberty
03-08-2013, 07:34 PM
all these lefty haters sound the same and that is conservative movement = bad, establishment moderate/progressive conservative/RINO = good.

Mini-Me
03-08-2013, 08:27 PM
all these lefty haters sound the same and that is conservative movement = bad, establishment moderate/progressive conservative/RINO = good.

Pretty much. One reason for this is that economic issues are pretty much the ONLY thing that almost all liberals and progressives have in common. Almost all of them without exception are in favor of higher taxes, an ever-growing welfare state, and endless regulations. (This is also an eternal viewpoint: The farther left we go, the farther they think we need to go, and the more they think that the political "center" is biased to the right.) Most liberals care about liberal positions on social issues, but not all. Some liberals care about being anti-war, but it's not a priority for the vast majority. Some liberals care about civil liberties and rule of law, but they're not a priority for the vast majority, and probably many more openly disdain them. Their true alliance is all about taxes, regulations, and the welfare state.

Meanwhile, the neoconservative Republicans have always been eager to sacrifice fiscal conservatism in the name of endless war, a police state, and social conservative authoritarianism...after all, they prefer fascism to the free market anyway. (Conservatives in Canada might be a bit different, but I imagine fiscal conservatism and strictly limited government are their lowest priorities too.) While Republicans and Democrats have always hated each other, it wasn't so bad for liberals when the Republicans were willing to expand the government in feel-good areas (just slower than Democrats wanted) in return for moar war.

All of a sudden, we came along...and it totally infuriates the Democrats and their allies that we actually mean to seriously downsize and impose genuine limits on government. They had never seen true fiscal conservatives before, or anyone who took the Constitution seriously (or limited government in general, in a Canadian context), or anyone who genuinely means to eliminate standing government programs and regulations. They're used to complaining about "reckless deregulation" when Republicans remove a small handful of regulations in the same year thousands of new ones are added. They're used to complaining about "reckless spending cuts" when Republicans reduce enormous baseline spending increases. They're used to complaining about "reckless tax cuts" when Republicans cut the highest tax bracket by a few percent. Compared to that, we're enough to make their heads explode. I mean, Ron Paul talks about slashing military spending, eliminating departments, phasing out Social Security and Medicare over time, and moving toward a 0% tax rate over time. ;) Extremely large government has become so normal all over the world that people can't comprehend life without it, and they think we're absolutely nuts for wanting to return to Constitutional limits. (Meanwhile, we think they're absolutely nuts for thinking their idea of government is sustainable, or even economically acceptable in the meantime.)