Page One Kentucky posted this video of Rand Paul's interview on CNN where he made headlines by saying that extending unemployment was basically borrowing from China to pay people not to work.
Many players in the GOP are quick to defend the wealthy in this country. They do so while stump speaking, while making speeches at fundraisers and even worse, while writing legislation and casting votes in Congress. Even the politicians who speak a good game when it comes to representing the "little guy", often turn their backs when their constituents' interests conflict with the interests of those that finance their campaigns.
The obscene amount of money in politics already gives the have's a big advantage over the have-not's. Throw in lobbyists and the revolving door of corporate executives in powerful federal offices, and it's hard to drum up a lot of sympathy in your heart for the burden the 1% are "carrying" for the rest of us. Most of us realize that politicians are speaking out of both sides of their mouths and we have to come to expect that once they get in office, their populist rhetoric will be replaced by measured diplomacy and betrayals of promises. Our politicians have been bought and we often speak of them as having sold us out for a bigger payday down the line.
However, this is not the case with the Paul's. I'm not saying that they are above being bought or that they are somehow incorruptible. I'm simply saying that they don't need to be whined and dined by a lobbyist to take the side of the richest Americans. It's already built-in to their philosophy. The Ayn Rand/pseudo-libertarian ideology is fundamentally for the people who have amassed millions in their lifetimes. Getting money out of politics would have no effect on politicians like Rand Paul.
They come by it naturally. The Paul's haven't lost their way, this is their way. This makes them considerably more dangerous to the political system, and the country as a whole, when they take a moral stand on behalf of the rich at the expense of the poor.
While many people that lean left can identify with the social and personal freedoms advocated by Ron or Rand Paul, it's the money side of the conversation that leaves us turned off. They talk a lot about liberty but refuse to acknowledge the injustices of our current economic systems. 'Regulations are harmful and tax cuts always boost the economy.' Even if it were true, you can only cut taxes so many times before there's nothing left to cut. Then what? You're left with a country filled with severe income inequality, dilapidated roads and public services turned over to the inherently profit-seeking private sector. So, yeah, in Paul's world we're all getting high and not paying taxes, but we're fucked, being perpetually at the mercy of the powerful corporate tyrannies and powers that be. No fun, sir, no fun at all.
This is why it's a good thing when the media jump all over a story like this to demonstrate an often overlooked portion of Paul's message. While prefaced by cries of give me liberty or give me death, the truth is that the economic system they favor is Wall Street on steroids. But they don't think they are in the wrong. They really believe that wealth trickles down and that he who succeeds is inherently superior to he who succeeds to a lesser degree. They say Liberty, and it's not that they don't believe it, it's just that it's in the context of a hollow and detached theory of social Darwinism.
When Ben Chandler or Mitch McConnell screw you over by voting against your interest in favor of a powerful entity, you think to yourself, They know better, but they're corrupt. When Rand Paul screws you over, you should know that it's because he really means it.
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