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snapcap
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15 May 2012, 7:06 pm

Billybones wrote:
snapcap wrote:
How about limiting the dollar amount you can donate to a campaign? Then you won't have cronies coming in and taking power.


Great idea, but that was blasted out of the water by the Citizens United decision of the U.S. Supreme Court. Besides, isn't it the "libertarian" credo that money equals speech, that any limitation on what a candidate can spend seeking office is an unconstitutional violation of his "free speech" rights?

This points to the ultimate problem with "libertarian" ideology - if carried to its logical conclusion, the end result is plutocracy, & the rule of money. Besides, on subject after subject, when we peel away the rhetoric, we find that most people who call themselves "libertarian" don't have very much regard for individual rights anyway.


That's what I was saying. Why don't we cap off donations?

As I see it, the core of Ron Paul's support demographic are college age people, the same grow of people that are increasingly gathering the most debt for a return, which in this case is jobs. They have the highest rate of unemployment. Now how can your campaign raise an amount of money even close to others that regularly get the cash from billionaires and businesses like Goldman Sachs when there is no cap on donations!

Assuming that our problems aren't going away soon, the demographic of the college student that is fed up with the establishment candidates will be increasingly negligible(and increasing in size, because a lot of them have made up their minds and it will stick with them for life) because their guys won't be factor in helping campaigns along like the Goldman Sachs Democrat and the Goldman Sachs Republican.

Money is leading to tyranny.

No wonder they've enacted things like the Patriot Act, NDAA, and will someday soon enact a ACTA or SOPA. Oh yeah, and those armed drones that will be over the skies of the US, ready to wipe out the competition!


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CSBurks
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16 May 2012, 2:44 am

Billybones wrote:
CSBurks wrote:

It's a private property rights issue. It's my money; ergo, I can spend it how I want.

If you really want to fix the country, abolish the government.


According to this sort of reasoning, property rights are considered absolute & supersede all other rights or imperatives. It's a fallacy, & additionally it's inimical to a functioning democratic state.

The property right must reign supreme - even if it subverts democratic governance, even if it results in economic monopoly, even if it pollutes air & water & ruins the land, even if it results in discrimination. But none of these matter; none are considered to be within the legitimate scope of government to regulate - the free market must always reign supreme. The ideology must be applied always, without regard to the real-world implications.

It's such a callow, sophistic way of thinking. It's really sad that the hard right has managed to hijack the language of liberty & individual rights. Even sadder that so many people have bought into it. Because it's the left, not the right, that has traditionally fought for individual rights & dignity.


What other rights are you referring to?

All rights ultimately originate from property rights, i.e. your person is your property.

Ergo, I must oppugn your argument.



snapcap
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16 May 2012, 11:51 am

ruveyn wrote:

Primary Election outcomes are not determined completely by donations. Ron Paul's program to dissolve government handouts does not go down with many voters. Even Republic voters like there little goodies and handouts from the Government.

ruveyn


Again, what does Ron Paul have to do with cutting government handouts?

California, the ninth largest economy in the world, resorts to austerity

Quote:
Welfare payments, healthcare for the poor, and benefits for elderly and disabled Californians will be immediately slashed by around $8.3bn (£5.2bn), which equates to roughly 17 per cent of Mr Brown's entire discretionary budget. And state offices, which employ roughly 200,000 people, will switch to a four-day, 38-hour work week.


That vile Ron Paul!


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