The Club For Fascism releases its white paper on Ron Paul

The Club For Growth — a ravenous band of Fed-loving, big-government centralists — clearly does not know a truly pro-growth / pro-capitalist candidate when it sees one. Their white paper on Dr. Paul proves once and for all that supply-side GOP hacks like Stephen Moore and Larry Kudlow are nothing but industrial socialists posing as free marketeers.

CFG on Ron Paul on trade:

Unlike protectionists who deny the economic benefits of free-trade policies, Ron Paul embraces the importance of free trade, but lives in a dream world if he thinks free trade will be realized absent agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA. Paul himself argues that “tariffs are simply taxes on consumers,” but by opposing these trade agreements, he is actively opposing a decrease in those taxes. While Paul’s rhetoric is soundly pro-free trade, his voting record mirrors those of Congress’s worst protectionists.

CFG on Ron Paul on entitlements:

But the recurring theme of Paul’s career is his frequent willingness to let unattainable ideals obstruct attainable progress towards those ideals. Just as in trade, this tendency leaves Paul opposing pro-growth reforms of Social Security. He opposes allowing workers to divert some Social Security payroll taxes into private retirement accounts, arguing instead for cutting payroll taxes and leaving it up to workers to do what they will with the savings. While the ideal is admirable, it is not a sufficient reason to oppose the pro-growth, expansion of freedom that personally-owned retirement accounts represent.

CFG on Ron Paul on “school choice”:

Ron Paul’s opposition to school choice (as if!) stems from his opposition to the government’s role in education, arguing that federal voucher programs are “little more than another tax-funded welfare program establishing an entitlement to a private school education.” He consistently voted against voucher programs, including a 1998 school voucher program for D.C. public school students, and a 2003 bill for a DC voucher program.

CFG on Ron Paul on tort reform:

Instead of traditional federal tort reform, he proposes “private contractual agreements between physicians and patients” that “enables patients to protect themselves with ‘negative outcomes’ insurance purchased before medical treatment.” In theory, Paul’s solution may help alleviate the situation, but it is politically untenable. While Paul’s idealism is laudable, he has not offered a viable alternative for dealing with a problem that is hurting American consumers and businesses, while diminishing our international competitiveness.

In summation, the Club For Growth wants its members to oppose Ron Paul because:

1. He believes in unilateral free trade, instead of unconstitutional and sovereignty-reducing faux-trade agreements that grant thousands of special privileges and introduce thousands of barriers to free trade. . . The CFG knows that these “free trade” agreements must be good because idiotic protectionist Democrats oppose them. Logical!
2. He thinks payroll taxes should be cut to allow individuals to invest their money as they see fit, rather than forcing people, at gunpoint, to invest in “privatized” funds that are administered by politically connected corporations who would make billions in non-market-based account fees.
3. He recognizes the fact that the federal government is not authorized to meddle in the educational affairs of its citizens, and would, instead, allow individual states to determine how to administer and fund their public schools — or privatize them altogether! The CFG members send their kids to private schools, and they want their share of welfare. Hey, central planning never hurt anyone, did it?
4. He admits that, under the Constitution, the federal government has no place dictating to “tort reform” to the states, and that individual states should be free to establish their own tort-based justice systems. Just imagine if the CFG really did their homework and found out that Ron Paul wants to deregulate everything and have more tort-based justice! That’s really “anti-growth” because the CFG members would no longer be able to bribe Congress for legal permission to violate the property rights of regular Americans.

The Club For Growth and others of their ilk give capitalism a bad name. Or perhaps the “growth” the Club is after is merely growth of government?