Ron Paul and our Federal Reserve

How do you monkeys feel about Ron Paul and auditing our Federal Reserve Bank? Paul got some cred on Bloomberg's debate considering he seems the most knowledgeable on the topic and how the system works as a whole. I'm glad they are finally shedding some light in this area. It's almost like the Fed is the elephant in the room which no one wants to address.

How about completely ending our Federal Reserve and getting back on a gold standard? Get it backed by SOMETHING besides big Ben's word.

 
whatwhatwhat:
ivoteforthatguy:
we don't need gold, because our dollar is backed by the military. ron paul understands this point as clearly as anyone.
the idealist in me is like all for ron paul's policies but the realist in me fully acknowledges the above which is why we will never see military spending go down significantly

This is the second time I've heard someone say that. Could you please elaborate.

 

I really don't see a huge need to defense spending to decrease. 25% of the total defense budget is soldiers pay and benefits. Another 25% is operational costs (ie. war, training, etc). The rest is R&D, procurement, admin, etc.

DoD is also only 20% of the overall federal budget and ~5% of GDP. It is also one of the actual jobs of the Federal government.

 
ANT:
I really don't see a huge need to defense spending to decrease. 25% of the total defense budget is soldiers pay and benefits. Another 25% is operational costs (ie. war, training, etc). The rest is R&D, procurement, admin, etc.

DoD is also only 20% of the overall federal budget and ~5% of GDP. It is also one of the actual jobs of the Federal government.

Do we really need military bases in multiple European countries? No. Scale that back and bring the troops back form the ME.That alone would save us probably almost $1T.

"Give me a fucking beer", Anonymous Genius
 

here's what i don't get. a few years back you had all these Fed apologists coming out, defending our inflationary monetary policy by saying that we are essentially extracting seignorage income from countries that run current account surpluses against us. fine. we have the world's biggest guns and we aren't afraid to use them to make sure every oil bourse accepts on USD, which ensures that we can run external deficits forever without tears.

but then: WHY do we have to pay taxes as american citizens? after rome went full empire, italians lived solely off the taxes from the provincials. why don't we just print more benny bux and stick it to opec, latam and asia. give us your oil, your commodities and your labor, and we give you USD.

so fuck the 999 plan, vote for my "000 plan."

 
Best Response
ivoteforthatguy:
here's what i don't get. a few years back you had all these Fed apologists coming out, defending our inflationary monetary policy by saying that we are essentially extracting seignorage income from countries that run current account surpluses against us. fine. we have the world's biggest guns and we aren't afraid to use them to make sure every oil bourse accepts on USD, which ensures that we can run external deficits forever without tears.

but then: WHY do we have to pay taxes as american citizens? after rome went full empire, italians lived solely off the taxes from the provincials. why don't we just print more benny bux and stick it to opec, latam and asia. give us your oil, your commodities and your labor, and we give you USD.

so fuck the 999 plan, vote for my "000 plan."

ANT is right. 50% don't pay taxes.

Of course, the super wealthy might pay a lot in taxes, but in reality, they make that much money because of goverment policy. A Federal Reserve which openly admits it is aiming to increase equity prices is basically stating "we need that 20% of the population which owns 90% of the financial assets in this country to stay wealthy". So maybe we are at Empire status already, we just have concealed it in such a way that no one openly admits it.

looking for that pick-me-up to power through an all-nighter?
 
<span class=keyword_link><a href=//www.wallstreetoasis.com/finance-dictionary/what-is-london-interbank-offer-rate-libor>LIBOR</a></span>:
So maybe we are at Empire status already, we just have concealed it in such a way that no one openly admits it.
For several generations now. The minute you have garrisons enforcing your will upon other nations, you are by definition an empire. We're a pretty benevolent one for the most part, but we ARE an empire.

Google a map of the area we control vs the area the British Empire controlled at its apex. We have a staggering lead. Cool part is that we really DO generally improve an area under our influence, even if we do bash a few skulls or get our hand caught in the cookie jar from time to time. Most prior empires merely exploited the hell out of anyone they could and because they were so miserable, people rebelled and the empire didn't last long. Military might is part of the equation, as is economics, but our REAL advantage is cultural.

Get busy living
 

I don't know, aren't we following that plan? I mean an ever increasing number of citizens aren't paying taxes.

Now I usually use this as fodder for my rants, but a very large section doesn't contribute to the fed budget. This is increasing and I can understand why. No one wants to pay taxes and if you can get away with letting people off the hook you basically guarantee a voting block.

I think you need people paying into the system. I am so pissed and rage so much because I DO pay into the system. If I didn't I wouldn't give two shits. A whole nation of people not caring is a bad idea.

 

Blame the dual mandate LIBOR. The Fed's main task should be to control interest rates, not full employment.

Also, not every rich person has a Scrooge McDuck portfolio. Most own small businesses which are being hurt by the Fed's actions.

 

Yes, we do need these bases. It is called a staging area. You can't just fly missions from the USA. You need places to strike from.

Leaving the ME would be a disaster. This is the global flash point. Oil, like it or not, runs the world. We need it. China is snapping up reserves in Africa. Russia has its own. We need to control the ME. Plus, this ensures that oil will be priced in dollars, which benefits the US.

If we go bankrupt, it will not be because of military spending.

 

Can't find the full-clip. Friedman has been clear on his preference for abolishing the Federal Reserve. He also personally endorsed Ron Paul.

"I strongly support Ron Paul. We very badly need to have more representatives in the House who understand in a principled way the importance of property rights and religious freedom." - Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize Economist

Milton Friedman's protege and respected economist in his own right, Thomas Sowell, went as far to call the Fed a cancer and also supports abolishing it.

http://www.youtube.com/embed/tp3HEBNvZjk

 

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