by Allen Clifton
In
all the hoopla over just how ridiculous Texas Senator Ted Cruz has been
lately, along with his seemingly endless onslaught of asinine
statements these last few months, I had almost forgotten about Kentucky
Senator Rand Paul. For all the attention Ted Cruz has received, we
really shouldn’t forget that Rand Paul was one of his cheerleaders
during the whole shutdown fiasco.
Well,
Paul did an interview with Sean Handjob
where he decided to continue his attack on “Obamacare” (shocking, I
know) and claimed that if “Obamacare” is so good “why do they have to
advertise to get you to do it?”
Funny,
I’ve often asked the question, “If “Obamacare” is so terrible, why do repugicans keep lying about it?”
He also went on to say that, “Liberals have no idea of how capitalism works.”
Actually, here’s his full comment on liberals and capitalism:
“Liberals have no idea of how capitalism works. They
have no idea why, when you go to Wal-Mart, products are cheap, how they
get from one point to the other, and how they’re distributed in such a
cheap fashion.”
I wanted to put his full comment out there, because of the sheer
irony between his statements about the need to advertise “Obamacare” and
knowing how capitalism works.
First, the Affordable Care Act is not socialized medicine, it’s
health insurance reform. Maybe Mr. Paul needs to learn how the law
works before commenting on it? Just a thought.
Second, according to Rand Paul, if something is good—there’s no need
to advertise it? Using that mindset, Apple, Google, Samsung, Honda,
Toyota, Southwestern Airlines — they’re all “bad.” After all, if their
products and services are so good, why do they have to advertise them?
Attention all Business majors: Forget what you know about sales,
marketing and advertising. If any company must advertise their product
or service to get people to use it, it’s a failure. Well, at least
according to Rand Paul.
Now let’s move on to, “liberals have no idea of how capitalism works”—are you serious?
As a liberal, I think I have a damn good grasp of how capitalism
works. I also have a pretty good grasp of how flawed capitalism is.
”Pure” capitalism is every bit the failure as communism or socialism.
Unchecked, and unregulated, capitalism will build a society (as we’ve
seen since “Reaganomics” took the U.S. by storm in the 1980s) where a
small percentage of the population has everything and the vast majority
has next to nothing.
Now, I’m not saying capitalism is all bad, but it has its flaws like
every other economic ideology and needs oversight and regulation for it
to be successful.
Capitalism is also driven by consumer spending, not tax cuts. If
demand for a product is there, jobs will be there. Cutting taxes sounds
good to those who lack the ability to think for themselves, but what
these tax cuts really do is line the pockets of the rich executives
while they cut and slash their workforce to “streamline” the process and
increase their profits.
Another thing capitalism does well is feed greed. The more you give
it, the more it wants. The richer you make the richest among us, the
richer they’re going to want to be. Profits in the millions get
replaced by profits in the tens of millions. Profits in the tens of
millions get replaced by profits in the hundreds of millions. Profits
in the hundreds of millions get replaced by profits in the billions.
It’s perpetual and it’s never ending.
But unfortunately for 98% of us, money is not infinite. There’s only
so much to go around, and the more we allow the top 2% to hoard most of
it, the worse off the rest of us are going to be.
People like Paul often talk about the greatness the United States
once displayed and how we need to get “back to traditional American
values.” Well, during the strongest periods of growth our country has
seen, taxes were much higher (and oddly we had balanced budgets when
they were higher) and unions were much stronger than they are right now.
Why is it, in the 1950s, we could grow as a nation with
much higher
taxes and stronger unions, but now both of those are tantamount to
“crazed socialism run amok” according to wingnuts?
Rand Paul’s “Ayn Rand” Libertarian tribal beliefs are an absolute
failure in practice. ”Survival of the fittest” and “every man for
himself” is not a feasible philosophy with which to build a successful
nation. That’s why in all of human history we’ve never seen a
successful society built on Libertarian principles, and the closest
examples we have are nations like Somalia (small government, little or
no taxes, no regulation) which are absolute disasters.
Liberals are also well aware of how it’s possible to produce cheap
products. And yes, unfortunately it’s necessary to outsource some jobs
to keep costs lower for American consumers and keep our economy going.
That’s not always the “PC” thing to say, but it’s the unfortunate
truth.
However, for Paul to act as if greed has nothing to do with the
issues that are going on in this nation is absolutely absurd. He blames
hardworking people, sometimes working 50 or 60 hours a week to survive,
for being drains on our economy because they need some government help.
All the while, he fiercely defends the companies that these
individuals work for which pay such a lousy wage that, even when working
full-time, they’re still unable to survive without help.
All while the executives at most of these companies are being paid absurd salaries.
Depending on which study you look at, the CEO to average worker pay ratio currently sits anywhere between 185: 1 to 325:1.
Yup, that’s capitalism alright. And that’s
with regulations.
Imagine how much worse that ratio would be if there were no
regulations on capitalism? You really think the median household income
in the United States would rise if there were no minimum wage? If you
believe that, you’re insane.
But that’s exactly what individuals like Rand Paul believe.
So, while he might sit there and say liberals don’t understand
capitalism, I think it’s pretty clear judging by the policies Senator
Paul supports—he doesn’t understand much of anything.
Two
single-engine planes collided at an altitude of 12,000 feet above
Superior, Wisconsin, Saturday. One plane crashed into the ground, while
the other went into a dive. The pilot managed to regain control and make
an emergency landing. The nine passengers of the two planes were all
skydivers, and parachuted to the ground. Mike Robinson was one of the
skydivers aboard the crashed plane.
More
and more schools are going the extra mile to make sure every student
has an iPad or other electronic device to use in school. Whether the
school district gets a grant, allocates part of the budget, or works to
raise extra funds, the innovation is inevitably announced in the local
newspaper. What could possibly go wrong?
