Ron Paul debates Obama... impersonator

[Bad^Hat]

I um... hmm.

http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/201104280046

Did someone say strawman argument?

 

[Mr Stabby]

I like Ron Paul, but he does say some ridiculous things.

The computer, the internet and the jet engine are the products of billion dollar defence research programs, no company could afford to plough the research money into these projects required to turn them into the profitable versions they are today.

 

[ríomhaire]

I like Ron Paul, but he does say some ridiculous things.

The computer, the internet and the jet engine are the products of billion dollar defence research programs, no company could afford to plough the research money into these projects required to turn them into the profitable versions they are today.

What if the government took the billions of dollars out of the defence research programmes and put them into companies to work on scientific endeavour instead of the scientific endeavour as a by-product of attempting to kill people more efficiently.

 

[The Monkey]

Ron Paul is a proper asshole. He treats the US constitution as if it's the word of God, and calls policy unconstitutional, as though that was an argument in itself. So what if the ****ing "Founding Fathers" didn't intend for the federal government to deal with health care matters, why should that matter today?

 

[Mr Stabby]

The constitution is still the law of the land. Government should follow the law. The mandatory purchase of healthcare from an insurance company, is a horrible policy and if it's prevented due to the constitution then that's a good thing. I'm in favour of universal health insurance, but Obamacare is a terrible system, its more of a corporate welfare package than a heathcare plan.

 

[The Monkey]

But a constitution should function to protect the rights and freedoms of the people against impulsive and short-term decisions by the government, not to hinder long-term reforms for the greater good. If the constitution starts functioning as an obstacle to political process it needs to be changed. Plus the fact that laws such as the Patriot Act made it through shows that the US constitution is not doing its role properly. That being said, you might very well be right in your critique of "Obamacare", I'm just sick of the constitution worship that's going on.

But I'm not having a go just at the US, in Sweden certain laws have been passed that shouldn't have been if our constitution was doing its job. (e.g. this)

 

[Maestro]

The best part of the constitution is bullshit laws that don't follow it, if the proper conditions arise, can get totally exploded by the Supreme Court. Miranda v. Arizona comes to mind, where a man was not informed of his rights as a suspect and therefore the trial was invalidated. A strong constitution really is necessary for a federal system to even function, otherwise the individual states will try to trample over peoples' rights or the federal government will try to trample on the states'/peoples' rights. There are a lot of court cases surrounding this sort of thing, but I really don't want to expend the effort to list them or explain how incorporation works.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

I used to like Paul, but I support Obama over him any day.

 

[No Limit]

Ron Paul is a proper asshole. He treats the US constitution as if it's the word of God, and calls policy unconstitutional, as though that was an argument in itself. So what if the ****ing "Founding Fathers" didn't intend for the federal government to deal with health care matters, why should that matter today?

The constitution says the government has a right to look out for the general welfare of the population, so nothing about government providing healthcare is unconstitutional.

Government providing universal healthcare should not be confused with government forcing it's citizens to buy healthcare from a private insurance company, I agree with mr stabby and think should be unconstitutional.