Rand Paul

Why would anyone vote for Rand Paul? The bozo can't even get the first three words in the Constitution, "We the people." He wants a nation dominated by business interests. The common good doesn't exist. Watch the video.



Paul is scary because he sounds so rational. But, of course, he is not. He is even more of a magical realist than Gabriel García Márquez. Rand Paul believes it OK for a mining company to slice the top off a mountain that it owns as long as it doesn't pollute neighboring property. The neighbors are safe because if pollution does cross the property line, then the local judge will get the mining company to stop. This is where pro-business folks from tea baggers up to Chicago school economists always get it wrong. Let's play it out. Assume some state law or local ordinance applies to property contamination by mine tailings. The mine's neighbor goes to a judge asking for help. The judge may tell the mining company to stop operations, clean up the contamination, or give the neighbor money. So, far, we are following Dr. Rand's prescription. Now, though, the train jumps the tracks. What happens if the mining company ignores the judge or, worse, does a half-assed job of cleaning up? Or, what happens if the mining company appeals the judge's decision?

It's easy to imagine the next part of the story because it has happened before. The mining company has enough money to manipulate the justice system. The lone neighbor does not. I'm not talking about bribery. Nothing that blatant. Reality is more perverse, more frustrating, and more unfair. The company stalls and stalls and stalls. There are appeals and delays. The mining company sues the neighbor for defamation or demands repayment for money lost while the mountain removal was halted. Miners are fired because, the company claims, the nasty mean-spirited, selfish bastard of a neighbor forced the sweet, benevolent, innocent mining company to stop work. The mine is likely in a small rural community. Neighbor turns against neighbor.

Pro-business, Kool-Aid drinkers insist that marketplace magic will punish companies that behave badly. Rand Paul says so in the video. The mining company, he claims, wouldn't want to pollute its neighbor. How many examples of bad -- even deadly -- behavior will it take before these fools accept reality? There was Beech-Nut selling fake apple juice for kids and babies. A Federal lab analyzed suspicious samples. The Federal government prosecuted the bad guys. Enron manipulated electric prices in California. Utility bills skyrocketed. The Enron guys were recorded laughing about grabbing money from "Aunt Millie."

Then there's Wall Street's biggest floating crap game in the world. If Rand Paul was in charge, the beautifully self-correcting financial markets would boom and bust, and to hell with everyone. We would now be in Great Depression II while Paul cheerfully channeled Herbert Hoover's ghost.

Rand Paul, teabaggers, and libertarians can't imagine government in the public interest. The biggest issue of our time -- global warming -- lies entirely outside their realm. Paul proves that free markets can't solve the problem. Coal will be mined and burned as long as it is cheap. It's true cost is hidden. We need serious government policy. Hey, Kentucky. Keep your blithering idiots at home.


P.S. Rand Paul complains about money flowing from Kentucky to Washington. Ain't true. The spigot runs in the other direction. Kentucky receives about $1.50 for every dollar paid in Federal taxes. Poor states in general benefit more than do the wealthier states. Truth is ironic. States that have voted Republican do much better than the east and west coast states that elect Democrats. Time for the teabaggers to shut up and go home.