Daily Archives: March 20, 2014

Ron Paul: Half of US economy is socialized

The economy on the surface looks good but there are still a lot of problems out there, says former Congressman Ron Paul, discussing the ability of the Federal Reserve system to fix economic problems.

The Federal Reserve is expected to announce on Wednesday further tapering while holding its benchmark interest rate near zero, but the central bank is wrong to manipulate interest rates at all, former Republican congressman and presidential candidate Ron Paul told CNBC.

(Read more: Wall St eyes Yellen for possible job target shift)

"It's an illusion. I don't think any one individual knows how to plan the economy by manipulating interest rates. Interest rates are so important that if you give this power to one small group or one individual, there will be distortion," Paul said Wednesday on "Squawk on the Street."

"So sometimes you have housing bubbles and sometimes you have housing busts, then you have housing bubbles and bond bubbles that's all [the] result of the manipulation of interest rates, which is my real objection to it."

Paul, a staunch critic of the Fed, doesn't hold much hope for Chair Janet Yellen either. Thirty minutes after the release of the central bank's policy decision Yellen will hold her first press conference as head of the Fed.

But Paul contended the ability to influence interest rates is too powerful of a tool for any one person to hold, be it Yellen or otherwise.

(Read more: Yellen's media debut: Plenty at stake politically)

"I think it's the invisible hand that we lack, not the wisdom of a few people. Few people can't be wise enough to dictate the market. That's why socialism always fails. So one half of our economy is socialized, because it's the control of the money supply, the control of the interest rates," Paul said.

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Fed wrong to change rates: Ron Paul

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Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is greeted by a crowd of about 4,400 people before speaking at Lynah Rink on the Cornell University campus in 2012. Paul is scheduled to speak Wednesday at Syracuse University. (Mike Greenlar / The Post-Standard)

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Ron Paul has agreed to answer a few questions submitted by Syracuse.com readers before his visit to Syracuse next week.

Please leave your questions in the comments below and I will choose a few to ask during a telephone interview Friday afternoon.

Paul is the former Texas congressman who twice sought the Republican Party nomination for president.

He is scheduled to speak at Syracuse University Wednesday March 26. Paul is a guest of the College Republicans. The event starts at 7:30 p.m. in Hendricks Chapel. Tickets costs $5 for the public. It is free for students. Call the Schine Box Office at 443-4517.

Paul's Libertarian Party message is popular among students. He calls for limiting the size of government, strengthening civil liberties and shrinking America's involvement in foreign wars. He wants to repeal the Patriot Act and eliminate drug laws.

A visit to Cornell University during the 2012 presidential race drew more than 4,000 people.

Contact Michelle Breidenbach at (315) 470-3186, mbreidenbach@syracuse.com or follow on Twitter @mbreidenbach.

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What would you ask Ron Paul? Submit your questions for our interview

"If we look only at the stock market, then we're in denial," warns Ron Paul in this brief 'uncomfortable-for-the-anchor' CNBC interview, adding that "it's an illusion." While the stock market has performed well, Paul explains that the economy-at-large continues to struggle noting that it's due to the Fed: "I don't think any one individual knows how to plan the economy by manipulating interest rates' [they] are so important that if you give this power to one small group - there will be distortion." That's why socialism fails, slams the Fed critic, "it's the invisible hand that we lack, not the wisdom of a few people. Few people can't be wise enough to dictate the market," and the Fed's history shows their track "record is pretty bad."

"So sometimes you have housing bubbles and sometimes you have housing busts, then you have housing bubbles and bond bubbles that's all [the] result of the manipulation of interest rates, which is my real objection to it."

"So one half of our economy is socialized, because it's the control of the money supply, the control of the interest rates,"

"We don't believe they're capable of doing it and I think history shows that the record is pretty bad."

"The economy on the surface looks good, but if you look at hardcore unemployment and standard of living of the middle class, there's still a lot of problems out there... So if we look only at the stock market, then we're in denial."

Furthermore, Ron Paul went to note that "low interest rates are not a panacea - though they won't admit this," adding that the reason for a lack of recovery and hiring is all aboyt "confidence" and that can't be manufactured by stock markets... "we are bankrupt and have been encouraged to take on more debt" - simply put, he adds "the financial system is deeply flawed"...

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Ron Paul On The "Illusion" Economy And "Why Socialism Always Fails"

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky. right, sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, March 12, 2014. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

BERKELEY -- Nobody should be surprised that Rand Paul got so warm a welcome Wednesday, even in a city whose name is often preceded in conversation by "The People's Republic of..."

After all, the junior U.S. Senator from Kentucky and likely contender for 2016's Republican presidential nomination is following in his father's footsteps by drawing crowds of enthusiastic young followers, particularly on college campuses, wherever he goes.

And his policies -- particularly criticizing government surveillance programs, avoiding military actions that aren't vital to national security, and rethinking the war on drugs -- draw voters from across the spectrum, including some of Berkeley's famed lefties.

"He's a serious contender," said Bruce Cain, a political expert who directs Stanford University's Bill Lane Center for the American West. "He can come to the Bay Area and plausibly look for money, which is not the case with Sarah Palin or some of the other people on the right."

The younger Paul has found that money at a series of local fundraisers Tuesday and Wednesday, and tapped his young activist base with a speech Wednesday afternoon at UC-Berkeley's International House.

In a speech peppered with references to Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," Paul told a crowd of about 400 that he will call for creation of a bipartisan committee to probe and reform the intelligence community. Much like the post-Watergate Church Committee of the 1970s, "It should watch the watchers."

"Your rights, especially your right to privacy, are under assault," he said, noting the National Security Agency has said its surveillance programs treat lawmakers like any other Americans.

"Digest exactly what that means. If Congress is spied upon without their permission, who exactly is in charge of the government?"

Just as Edward Snowden broke the law by leaking information about these programs, so too did Director of National Intelligence James Clapper break the law by lying to Congress, Paul said. The nation is under watch by "an intelligence community that's drunk with power, unrepentant and unwilling to relinquish power," he said. "The sheer arrogance of this: They're only sorry that they got caught. Without the Snowden leaks, these spies would still be doing whatever they please."

Excerpt from:
Rand Paul, Republican presidential hopeful, finds support in Berkeley, of all places

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., right, sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Wednesday, March 12, 2014. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

BERKELEY -- Nobody should be surprised that Rand Paul got so warm a welcome Wednesday, even in a city whose name is often preceded in conversation by "The People's Republic of..."

After all, the junior U.S. Senator from Kentucky and likely contender for 2016's Republican presidential nomination is following in his father's footsteps by drawing crowds of enthusiastic young followers, particularly on college campuses, wherever he goes.

And his policies -- particularly criticizing government surveillance programs, avoiding military actions that aren't vital to national security, and rethinking the war on drugs -- draw voters from across the spectrum, including some of Berkeley's famed lefties.

"He's a serious contender," said Bruce Cain, a political expert who directs Stanford University's Bill Lane Center for the American West. "He can come to the Bay Area and plausibly look for money, which is not the case with Sarah Palin or some of the other people on the right."

The younger Paul has found that money at a series of local fundraisers Tuesday and Wednesday, and tapped his young activist base with a speech Wednesday afternoon at UC-Berkeley's International House.

In a speech peppered with references to Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," Paul told a crowd of about 400 that he will call for creation of a bipartisan committee to probe and reform the intelligence community. Much like the post-Watergate Church Committee of the 1970s, "It should watch the watchers."

"Your rights, especially your right to privacy, are under assault," he said, noting the National Security Agency has said its surveillance programs treat lawmakers like any other Americans.

"Digest exactly what that means. If Congress is spied upon without their permission, who exactly is in charge of the government?"

Just as Edward Snowden broke the law by leaking information about these programs, so too did Director of National Intelligence James Clapper break the law by lying to Congress, Paul said. The nation is under watch by "an intelligence community that's drunk with power, unrepentant and unwilling to relinquish power," he said. "The sheer arrogance of this: They're only sorry that they got caught. Without the Snowden leaks, these spies would still be doing whatever they please."

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Rand Paul finds support in Berkeley, of all places