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6/17/2011 @ 11:46AM
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<h1><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:34px">Ron Paul Should Be The Next President Of The United States</span></h1>
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<div class="ecxwp-caption ecxalignleft" style="width:310px"><a href="http://commons.wikipedia.org/wiki/File%3aRon_Paul%2c_official_Congressional_photo_portrait%2c_2007.jpg" target="_blank"><img class="ecxzemanta-img-inserted" src="http://blogs-images.forbes.com/benzingainsights/files/2011/12/300px-Ron_Paul%2c_official_Congressional_photo_portrait%2c_2007.jpg" alt="Ron Paul, member of the United States House of..." height="377" width="300"></a><p class="ecxwp-caption-text">Image via Wikipedia</p></div>
</div><em>The opinions expressed here are those of the author and are not necessarily shared by Forbes.</em><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">The United States of America may potentially be on the precipice of a
Greek-style debt crisis within a few years, and our economy is
increasingly looking like it may be at risk of entering another
recession – and the <a href="http://www.benzinga.com/general/politics/11/06/1150948/no-bottom-in-site-for-stocks-financial-crisis-2-0" target="_blank">Financial Crisis 2.0</a>
could make the Great Recession look tame. Simply put, the Fed and
Treasury have bloated their balance sheets to such grotesque levels to
fight the deflationary forces sparked in the economy as a result of the
housing collapse that there will be no more temporary
“smoke-and-mirrors” fiscal and monetary options to circumvent another
downturn.</span><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">Certainly, the Fed will likely give QE3…QE4…QE5, a shot if the
economy becomes completely unglued, but similar to what has occurred in
Japan for the last 20 years, it will not work. We have already seen what
Mr. Bernanke’s money printing in the form of QE2 has wrought – it has
robbed the middle class blind, while benefitting the entrenched
corporate, banking, and political elite, along with wealthy Americans.
The vast majority of Americans do not have sufficient financial assets
such as bond, stock, commodity and hedge fund portfolios to offset the
rise in food and energy prices that Bernanke has unleashed on the
country due to his policy of Dollar devaluation through money printing.</span><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">The entire burden of a falling Dollar as a result of QE2 and the
United States’ exploding debt has been placed on the middle and working
classes, while the elite have benefitted from rising prices for
financial assets. It is a scam. Furthermore, it hasn’t provided one iota
of benefit for the vast majority of American citizens. The unemployment
rate continues to hover at 9.1% and very likely could hit double digits
by next year.</span><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">Furthermore, home prices hit <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/05/case-shiller-index-shows-home-prices-slide-into-double-dip.html" target="_blank">a new low in May</a>.
This is the one asset that matters most to the majority of Americans,
and things are getting worse. The creator of the Case-Shiller Home Price
Index, Robert Shiller, recently said that he was <a href="http://wallstreetpit.com/76795-robert-shiller-i-am-optimistic-that-home-prices-could-fall-for-20-years" target="_blank">optimistic that home prices could fall for the next 20 years</a>.
In all likelihood, there will be no economic recovery whatsoever when
the dust settles. The bailouts, federal deficit spending, and
quantitative easing programs that were enacted to attempt to reflate
asset prices and spark the job market will be viewed by historians as
failures. The entire Keynesian orgy’s real result is likely to be an
even more devastating financial collapse.</span><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">The toxic debt that was held by the private sector before the crisis
has now been transferred to sovereign balance sheets as well as those of
global central banks. Furthermore, many private corporations have taken
advantage of the Fed’s historically low interest rate policy to
lever-up their balance sheets once again. These facts when combined with
the moral hazard that we have introduced into our economic system as a
result of the bailouts (corporate socialism), similar problems in most
of the developed world, and an unprecedentedly interconnected global
economy have set the stage for a potential systemic meltdown.</span><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">All of this could have been averted if we had taken heed of Dr. Ron
Paul’s warnings years ago. This man has been fighting with absolute
integrity and honesty for the values that this country was founded on
for the last 30 years – sound money, balanced budgets, free markets,
non-interventionist foreign policy and civil liberties. Most every other
GOP Presidential candidate is an Establishment panderer who is beholden
to entrenched special interests. Why should we trust another
Establishment politician after being subjected to the lies of George W.
Bush and <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/barack-obama/" target="_blank">Barack Obama</a>, not to mention nearly every other politician in <a href="http://www.forbes.com/places/dc/washington/" target="_blank">Washington</a> D.C.?</span><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">Obama’s lies have been egregious and on par with those of President
Bush. He lied about closing Guantanamo Bay. He lied about bringing the
troops home. He resigned the Patriot Act after saying that he would
would not. Furthermore, Obama <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/04/07/assassinations" target="_blank">is targeting American citizens for assassination</a>
without due process. This is in addition to the socialist, big
government, programs he has passed such as ObamaCare, which was opposed
by the majority of the American populace. Domestically, our spending has
gotten completely out of control. President Bush got the ball rolling,
and President Obama has sped up the process of destroying the country
through debt.</span><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">According to a <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-us-debt-to-exceed-size-of-economy-this-year-20110608%2c0%2c1361927.story" target="_blank">a recent Treasury report</a>,
the national debt will exceed the size of the economy this year. Just
one year ago, the Treasury had said that the debt to GDP ratio would not
break 100% until 2014. Can we really afford to elect Obama for 4 more
years given that our debt/GDP level is estimated to hit 102% in 2012?
Can you imagine what a U.S. default would look like? How about civil
unrest, a collapsing Dollar, and unemployment rivaling the Great
Depression.</span><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">Make no mistake, this country is on the precipice of crisis and we
need to make radical changes. The 2012 Presidential elections may
present one of the last opportunities for the American people to rise up
against the oligarchy that has run this country into the ground for
their own personal benefit at the expense of the majority of the
citizens of this deteriorating Republic.</span><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">Amid the terrible domestic economy where another recession
(depression?) seems likely, our politicians are still overseeing a
disastrous foreign policy that is bankrupting us. We have been lied to
repeatedly. We have been propagandized mercilessly by the mainstream
media. We have been made to live in fear under the “War on Terror,” yet
we have not been given a clear message about how this war can be won.
How do you win the “War on Terror” by invading and occupying a sovereign
country that had nothing to do with Al-Qaeda, and killing hundreds of
thousands of innocent civilians?</span><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">We are engaged in wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, and
we are bombing Yemen and Pakistan all the while threatening Iran. How
is this going to stop terrorism? Please tell me! We are creating more
terrorists, while at the same time giving the extremists opportunities
to kill Americans day in and day out. Why? If anything, we are
galvanizing their cause in the eyes of other Muslims. Furthermore, we
simply cannot afford more war mongering and militarism. Period.</span><br><div><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">Into this void has stepped a man whose reputation for integrity,
honesty, and principles is unimpeachable. He has ideas which address
nearly every single problem that this country faces. He wants to follow
the Constitution, restore civil liberties, end the foreign occupations,
downsize government, restore sound money and reform the Entitlement
State. If we elected Dr. Ron Paul would all of these things happen
overnight? Of course not. Many of his solutions would take years to
successfully implement, but the ideas are powerful and very important.
Ron Paul represents the idea of a radical reformation of our country –
based on the principles enunciated by the founding fathers.</span><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px">These ideas were profoundly powerful when they were written down in
the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. If Ron Paul can
sufficiently stir the American populace, his ideas will take root even
if he does not subsequently win the GOP nomination. If this happens,
U.S. policy and the entire course of our country could shift much faster
than most people realize. Nothing is more powerful than an idea, and
few ideas are as powerful as the concept of liberty. It is time that we
finally tried something different. Ron Paul represents real change.<br></span><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px"><br></span><br><span class="ecxApple-style-span" style="font-size:16px"><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/benzingainsights/2011/06/17/ron-paul-should-be-the-next-president-of-the-united-states/" target="_blank">http://www.forbes.com/sites/benzingainsights/2011/06/17/ron-paul-should-be-the-next-president-of-the-united-states/</a></span><br></div></div></div></div></section></div><div></div></div> </div></div> </div></body>
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