We liberty lovers went into a bit of withdrawal last week when Freedom Watch aired a “best of” show. Yesterday it returned in stellar form with guests Ron Paul, Daniel Hannan, Lew Rockwell, Tom Woods, Peter Schiff, Shelly Roche, and Tom Palmer (CATO) joining Judge Napolitano.
Ron Paul and Daniel Hannan united in a one two punch fighting for liberty. They spoke about nullification, secession, and then compared Europe and America on the road to socialism. Another topic that they and the other guests discussed was protectionism. Peter Schiff seems to believe the U.S. need not worry too much about protectionism. Tom Palmer disagrees. Woods and Rockwell delve into the prospects for liberty in our lifetime.
In an excellent article by David Weigel we get a peek into just how Ron Paul’s efforts to educate his peers in the ways of Austrian economics are going. It appears that Tom Woods great book “Meltdown” is one of the the more useful education tools Paul is using to win friends and influence his lawmaking peers.
No, there is no massive support among his GOP colleagues but he is winning over a few of them and building his own “Old Right” coalition of sorts. Many Paul supporters were critical of McCain’s buddy Lindsay Graham saying that Ron Paul is not a leader of the GOP (see video). However, isn’t it an indication of Paul’s growing support that Graham felt the need to make such a statement in the first place? The old tactic of “ignore Ron Paul and he will go away” is obviously no longer working for the neo-cons. Ron Paul isn’t going anywhere, and it’s about time the GOP recognized their true conservative roots, a time before the neo-conservatives incrementally hijacked the Republican Party.
And then there are the luncheons. The off-the-record talks have brought in speakers such as ex-CIA counterterrorism expert Michael Scheuer, libertarian investigative reporter James Bovard, iconoclastic terrorism scholar Robert Pape, and George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley. Perhaps the most influential guest has been Thomas Woods, a conservative scholar whose previous books include “The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History” and “Who Killed the Constitution?: The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush,” and whose current book “Meltdown” has inspired Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) to question Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner about economic fundamentals.
No, Ron Paul won’t be ignored and he isn’t going away anytime soon. In fact, there is a younger more charismatic version of Ron Paul preparing to make his own mark on the American political landscape. Meet Rand Paul.
Bruce Fein. Well, obviously this is just some wishful thinking on my part. It does rival some other wishful thinking from others that the choice will be Judge Andrew Napolitano. No, none of us liberty lovers will get our choice among the nine. Obama will certainly get his choice, much to our unpleasantness.
After watching Bruce Fein in person deliver a lecture a few weeks ago I walked away with the opinion that every person in America should pay attention and heed his words of warning. Luckily, Fein appeared with Bill Moyers on PBS last week discussing torture, American empire, and executive branch overreach.
Interestingly enough his consistent view regarding prosecuting Bush/Cheney for war crimes is now carrying over to the question about what the Obama administration should do about it. Fein believes in the prosecution, but he also suggests that Obama pardons Bush/Cheney once the prosecution occurs in accordance with the law. Watch a great 30 minute discussion here at PBS and the extra web only 17 minute follow-up discussion.
For foreign policy see Bruce Fein. For free market economics see Robert Higgs. For history and economics see Thomas Woods. To support all of the above see Ron Paul.
Another great “Freedom Watch” show today. Tom Woods, Ron Paul, John Stossel, Gerald Celente, and Peter Schiff joined Judge Napolitano.
Especially interesting was the segment with the exclusive audio of a Campaign For Liberty manager getting detained and harassed at the St. Louis airport seemingly because he had too much cash on him. You can watch that segment isolated here. It seems these guys didn’t get the word that the MIAC document was retracted. Yet more evidence that we live in the land of the unfree.
Ron Paul comes on during the final segment and discussed the G20 meetings and other topics.
The headline is a quote from Grover Norquist delivered during an appearance on Fox Business News discussing the vanishing American Dream.
Norquist appeared with Tom Woods, author of one of the best books I’ve read this year, “Meltdown“, and Ben Ferguson. All three had some harsh words for the Obama administration and support for the free market.
Woods uses his time wisely by attacking the Federal Reserve and plugging Ron Paul’s HR1207 (Fed Transparency Act). I’m curious if someone bet Woods that he couldn’t use the words “boob” and “discombobulated” during this interview. Tom won that bet. Watch the discussion below.
With the wave of sinister change befalling America I find myself caught between hope and a hard place. That hard place is a survivalist bunker with despair in the air. And that air is strangled with Barack Obama’s socio-fascist flatulence. If it weren’t for the wise old golden boy Ron Paul and my fellow free market odor-eaters I’d be the sound of one hand clapping.
Unfortunately during this, Obama’s honeymoon, we have to endure being accosted by his true believing underlings while we try not to make a mess in our under-things in disgust. The Democratic Party has “organized” to seek pledges in support of the almighty one’s liberty-intolerant agenda. I’m not sure why I endeavor to read the article and the comments. Perhaps I’m a glutton for eye rolls.
No country in the history of the world has ever spent their way out of a depression. To anyone supporting the spend and spend more policies of Barack Obama please answer one question. What makes America different from the other countries that have failed?
Could it be that the other countries didn’t spend enough? There is no better analogy for our situation than the average American family owning upside down homes and thousands in credit card debt. When the government wasn’t pushing subprime loans it was seeking subprime loans of its own. The pseudo-evil lenders were just following the government’s own “encouragement”. The average family followed the government into this predicament. As it unwinds the government will follow the average family on its own path to oblivion.
Family members are losing jobs and being forced out of homes. What happens when the U.S. government is forced out of its home? We already know from experience the laws are different for those that are fortunate enough to make them. Everyone blames Bernie Madoff for his pyramid scheme yet no one cries over the government sponsored pyramid scheme known as fractional reserve lending. Well, not many anyway. Those of us who claim Peter Schiff, Ron Paul, Tom Woods and a few others as our modern day economics professors recognize the hypocrisy immediately.
So what happens when our government’s “do as I say, not as I do” financial pyramid scheme falls apart? I sincerely hope we never have to find out.
I considered calling “Meltdown: A Free-Market Look at Why the Stock Market Collapsed, the Economy Tanked, and Government Bailouts Will Make Things Worse” by Tom Woods, your bible for the economic meltdown, but the Bible, although a very interesting read, is littered with ambiguity. There is zero ambiguity in this book. The book is more like a timely and perfect travel guide, full of facts and well-argued opinions covering all of the economy’s hot spots. What Ron Paul’s “The Revolution: A Manifesto” accomplished for political ideas in the wake of his Presidential campaign, this book accomplishes for economic thought in a time of financial turmoil
I would venture to say that the book is the modern day equivalent of “Economics in One Lesson” by Henry Hazlit. While some of “Meltdown” is devoted to our current situation it is also filled with lessons in Austrian economic theory. But it is not written for economists, it is written for you and me.
To understand why the bailouts and stimulus packages will not work, read it. To understand the real reason the Great Depression ended, read it. To understand economics without being an economist, read it.
This wasn’t intended to be a book review of Woods’ latest book. Look for that soon. Until then watch Tom Woods deliver another excellent speech at the Liberty Forum during CPAC 2009 below. It is in two parts. Yes, the lighting is horrid, but it is the words that count.
They discuss how America really recovered following the Great Depression, among other topics. I’m surprised he didn’t mention Ron Paul when asked about others who share his opinion about the free market. He did mention Peter Schiff and Mark Thornton though.
I’m in the middle of reading Woods’ new book and I can’t recommend it enough. If only the economic meddlers in the Obama administration would take a break from their meddling and read the book, maybe we’d see ourselves in a better place a year from now.
Listen to the interview here:
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The way Ron Paul tells it, his more than 30 years of speaking and writing about money, inflation, and the Federal Reserve System attracted only limited interest outside libertarian and constitutionalist circles. The subject, and Paul as its spokesman, were scarcely to be found in the media, even—or perhaps especially—on the business networks.
But Paul’s 2008 presidential bid changed that. Suddenly the Fed was on the table for discussion for the first time since Congress established it in 1913. With Paul making the evils of central banking and fiat money a theme of his campaign, the issue took on a vigor that few expected. Even calling for the Fed’s outright abolition was longer unheard of on the television news networks. [Continue article]
Liberty Maven
” is one of the the more useful education tools Paul is using to win friends and influence his lawmaking peers.
” accomplished for political ideas in the wake of his Presidential campaign, this book accomplishes for economic thought in a time of financial turmoil
” by Henry Hazlit. While some of “Meltdown” is devoted to our current situation it is also filled with lessons in Austrian economic theory. But it is not written for economists, it is written for you and me.
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