Ron Paul Quotes
It is a fallacy to think that politicians and bureaucrats are smart enough to manage the economy.
Ronald E. Paul, U.S. Congressman (Republican, TX), Libertarian Nominee for President, Republican Presidential Nomination Campaign Debate, Saint Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire, June 13, 2011
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
There have always been economic and political ideologues. However in the George W. Bush administration ideological purity was a key criterion for appointment, and many appointments were made of ideologues who had no experience and had accomplished little previously. This quotation was a criticism of the unfettered free market ideology of so many of the Bush appointees. Critics like Bernstein saw this ideological focus as opposed to pragmatism, as responsible for the poor economic record of the Bush administration. Apologists for Bush and conservative economic ideology attribute the economic problems to cycles over which the administration and government had little control.
Ronald Ernest Paul is an American author, physician, and retired politician who served as the U.S. Representative for Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1979 to 1985, and for Texas's 14th congressional district from 1997 to 2013. On three occasions, he sought the presidency of the United States: as the Libertarian Party nominee in 1988 and as a candidate for the Republican Party in 2008 and 2012. A self-described constitutionalist, Paul is a critic of the federal government's fiscal policies, especially the existence of the Federal Reserve and the tax policy, as well as the military–industrial complex, the war on drugs, and the war on terror. He has also been a vocal critic of mass surveillance policies such as the USA PATRIOT Act and the NSA surveillance programs. He was the first chairman of the conservative PAC Citizens for a Sound Economy, a free-market group focused on limited government, and has been characterized as the "intellectual godfather" of the Tea Party movement, a fiscally conservative political movement that is largely against most matters of interventionism.
