I was wondering. Correct where my following assumptions are wrong, and then what would he not do that I’m assuming he would do? Also, wouldn’t he have to make these policies through a new Amendment, under the Constitutional Republic?
he would either bring back the gold standard or quit printing money and letting it circulate. [The problem I see with restoring the gold standard, is that you’d have to pay people to mine it wouldn’t you? Whereas if you just quit printing money, through a Constitutional Amendment, then that would cap inflation and there would then be enough money to circulate, as long as the federal income tax was abolished.
Abolish the federal income tax.
Not allow the federal govt to invest in the private sector, and would cut all federal welfare; would close all military bases not on u.s. soil.
Allow free trade.
Now, my questions:
How would he deal with debt? I’m not sure if he would repudiate it (couldn’t that cause China to come after us, if they told the U.S. to “pay up or else?”, or if he would pay it off somehow. If he would pay it off, how would he?
How would Congress salaries, running the White House, and all the other things the Constitution says are necessary get paid for? Or would the Constitution allow them to not get paid? I don’t think they should get paid, because they could always work in the private sector, but doesn’t the Constitution say that they have to get paid?
I’m sure he won’t run again, but I’m hoping someone with his principles that will stand by them will defeat obama and the neo-cons in 2012. Surely, people are going to be sick of all of this by the time 2012 rolls around.
If Dr. Lawson takes the seat in 2010, then he could have a good chance of getting the Republican nom. in 2012, then becoming a 2 term president.
Gold would be mined just as it is today, by companies who are able to sell if for a profit on the market. Plus, the economy does not require a constant flow of money into circulation (which can actually be quite harmful, but I digress) so this problem is not a problem at all.
I must admit that I don’t know exactly what you’re asking here. Are you suggesting keeping a pure fiat money, yet just not printing any more notes? If that is what you are asking, then such a system would fall apart once another faction comes into power, and simply restarts the printing presses.
One thing to understand here is that China, by funding the American debt and the inflation of the dollar, is able to inflate their own currency, and avoid the problem of the value of the Yuan relative to the dollar. So the Chinese might not be worrying primarily about getting their money back, but about their ability to inflate the Yuan. Nevertheless, this will pose a serious problem in the future.
Politicians in Washington will always have a salary, otherwise it will become a genuine plutocracy where the only individuals who can afford to get elected are the rich, who can then steer national policy towards their own interests.
Okay, thanks=] I now see how the gold standard works=] Thanks for explaining it, I was a little slow to understand how it worked exactly. I’m sorry about that.
Just one more question for now: How would Dr. Paul set up pay for the members of congress?
Also, could you direct me to a description of how the point system works? Am I a good member? I just wanted you to know that I’m not trolling or anything; this is the first place I haven’t been accused of that right off the bat, as well as the first place I haven’t been called a retard=]
Dr. Paul maintains that closing down all of the overseas U.S. military installations would save enough money to pay off the debt and to fund social security and medicare. He favors allowing younger people to opt out of the social security system.
Regarding paying members of congress and other government expenses that he would continue, he says “Right now the federal government is funded by excise taxes, corporate income taxes, payroll taxes, the individual income tax, and miscellaneous other sources. Abolishing the income tax on individuals would cut government revenue by about 40%.” (The Revolution, A Manifesto by Ron Paul, page 79). This seems to indicate that he would continue excise taxes, corporate income taxes, payroll taxes, and miscellaneous other sources of revenue, at least for the time being.
If members of congress actually read the bills themselves, instead of relying on large staffs to read them (or not, as has been the case with recent bills) the costs would be relatively modest. To fund each of 100 senators and roughly 500 representatives with $100,000 each per year would cost only $60 million, or twenty cents per year for each person in the U.S. If we were each willing to give up one cup of coffee each year, at $1.50 per cup, we could fund congress with $200,000 for each member each year, pay each member of the supreme court $200,000 each year, and still have $210 million to pay the president, fund his security, pay for his airplanes and helicopters, and pay expenses for the white house, the capitol building, and the supreme court building.