Ron Paul: Here Comes the BIG ONE

by John Rubino

Recently by Ron Paul: Bombs and Bribes

Ron Paul has a bestseller. That sounds so nice I’ll say it twice. Ron Paul has a bestseller. His new book, End the Fed, is number 30 on Amazon as this is written – with 167 mostly glowing reviews – and his reception last week on Jon Stewart’s Daily Show was hugely positive. Stewart, more-or-less a left/libertarian, clearly sees Paul as one of the good guys, and his audience seems to agree.

With all these doors suddenly slamming open, it’s easy to forget that just a couple of years ago Ron Paul was an obscure, eccentric Texas congressman whose presidential run was met with a yawn in the mainstream media. But when he stood up in the debates and made the case for limited government, sound money, and adherence to the Constitution, he struck a chord. It was clear (to libertarians at least) that he was telling the truth and that the political hacks who were treating him like a deranged uncle were the ones with the vision/character problem.

Paul didn’t win many votes (though out here in Idaho he did get 24% in the Republican primary) but he made an impression. And when pretty much everything he warned us about came true – while virtually everything the hacks of both parties said turned out to be disastrously wrong – he even gained a bit of mainstream cred. So when he introduced HR 1207 to audit the Fed, the response was at first respectful, and then enthusiastic. Instead of instantly dismissing him, people began asking their representatives why the Fed isn’t already audited. This law might just pass, with unpredictable but almost certainly amusing results.

But of course auditing the Fed is just the beginning. Paul’s ultimate goal is to eliminate the whole institution, along with other golems like fiat currency and fractional reserve banking, and to reinstitute sound, honest money and limited government.

For those new to this subject, End the Fed is a clearly written primer on how unsound money and expanding government have gradually become the unquestioned conventional wisdom rather than the dangerous delusions that they are. For more seasoned gold bugs the book provides some interesting history, along with plenty of useful debate ammunition.

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See the Ron Paul File

October 8, 2009

The Best of Ron Paul