The Daily Bell

Issue 441 • Thursday, October 15, 2009

Ron Paul takes on Lindsey Graham

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For far too long, the Republican Party has been controlled by the "neoconservatives," those who readily abandon the free market at the drop of a hat if it means expanding government power and who think the United States should be the policeman of the world. They want us to support those who throw substance and principle to the wind in favor of political expediency. Last Monday night, Senator Lindsey Graham reiterated his disdain for Ron Paul (pictured left) and limited government conservatives at a town hall when he said that he was not going to allow the Republican Party to be "hijacked by Ron Paul." Instead, he thinks we should get behind those who he tells us "can win," even if it means abandoning every belief we hold dear in the process. In addition to his afternoon appearance on Judge Napolitano's Freedom Watch, Congressman Paul will be responding to the neoconservatives on The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer tonight at 6 pm eastern and also on MSNBC's The Ed Show at 6:30 pm eastern. CNN has shared with my staff that they want to hear from you on this issue. Contact The Situation Room and let them know you think neoconservatism has had its day and it is time for our elected officials to stick to the Constitution. In our efforts over the past two years, we have made it clear we will no longer be silent while those who claim to believe in limited government and freedom behave exactly the opposite and help run our country into the ground. - yesterday's email from Ron Paul to supporters

Dominant Social Theme: Jeffersonians strike back?

Free-Market Analysis: We ordinarily try to analyze news AFTER it happens, but in this case we can't wait. We think we know the gist of what Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tex) is going to say and it is not all that much different than what we have been offering on these pages. Of course a good deal of our perspective is Paulian anyway. What's that? In simplest terms ... the US is not an empire and the two political choices - Republican and Democrat - have strayed dramatically from what made the US great to begin with.

Limited government at home, a lack of intervention abroad, low taxes and honest money (plus the ability of states to secede) made the United States an industrial power and the breadbasket of the world. The War Between the States provides the dividing line between republic and empire as surely as Julius Caesar provided the same for Rome. Before the war, the United States was a true republic in many senses of the word. After, came the Robber Barons, the Teapot Dome scandal, the emergence of modern Wall Street, endless bank crises and ultimately the Federal Reserve and the graduated income tax.

Dr. Paul would like to roll back the imperial state. His candidacy was scoffed at by other Republican candidates during the past presidential elections as unrealistic. But he garnered as much money or more than any candidate in the race. And his impact was phenomenal. He has a growing following whereas others who ran against him have gone back to TV or sit in silence on the sidelines. And his impact has been political as well. Since his candidacy, almost every Republican of note has sounded like Dr. Paul "lite" - prattling on about free markets, lower taxes, less regulation etc.

The difference between these Johnny-come-latelys and Dr. Paul is that his program is historically accurate and fundamentally financially literate. He understands that a tax cut or less invasive regulation is only a small part of the larger picture. The elements of the imperial state need to be rolled back if the American people are to have much chance at greater freedom and prosperity going forward. The central bank itself, the Pentagon, the entire progressive tax system - these all need to be tamed, downsized or even removed.

The Anglo-American elite is at war with the citizens of its empire. It is always thus. Emperors and their associates can never rest easy so long as they are amassing great wealth and power through means that are questionable if not illegitimate. The Romans had coin shaving and the current elite has its central banking strategy. The central bank is CENTRAL to the entire apparatus of the state machinery. Without it, the endless array of troops, civil police, wars and regulators would wither away. Running an invasive state is expensive. It can only be done with fiat money - unless one wants to descend to rank authoritarianism. And such a state is not healthy for anyone, including those who administer it.

So why the rush to comment on Lindsey Graham in the pages of this modest newspaper? It is because Graham is one of several Republicans who embody almost everything that is wrong with the current political system. Graham seems never to have met a leftist policy he didn't "understand" or even support because of "political realities." He is like several other Republicans, chief among them Olympia Snowe and Arlen Specter, who specialize in Republican rhetoric and leftist votes. (Oh, wait, Specter IS a Democrat now - we can't keep track.) Snowe just voted for some sort of trillion dollar nationalized health care program - because she understands, no doubt, the needs of her Maine constituents for more government involvement in their daily lives. Tell that to the lobster fisherman in the great north and they may not understand.

Now Graham is whining about the predictable sea-change taking place in the Republican party and in the nation as a whole. He has woken up to the reality that his brand of authoritarian fakery is being seen for what it is. Pre-Internet, people like Lindsey Graham were lauded as statesmen. Now he is feeling the heat that he has deservedly generated.

Conclusion: Graham's yelp is music to our ears coming on the heels of the WSJ article yesterday puzzling about the lack of affection in America for either party these days. The establishment is starting to feel the heat and this is just the beginning. The Internet is beginning to bite and the elite will "just have to deal with it" - as ordinary Americans and Europeans deal every day with the incredible state edifices that have been erected on their backs. Times are beginning to change and they will continue to. The modern Gutenberg press is working its magic. Who knows ... will we see a gold and silver market-based standard in the not-too-distant future? Do you suppose Ron Paul's continued call for an audit of the Fed, as we pointed out yesterday, will cause Lindsey Graham and his fellow travelers to whine about that as well?