As you may recall, Monday afternoon on Bloomberg TV’s Street Smart, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman got into a heated debate with Congressman Ron Paul. This morning, after he presumably received a great deal of criticism from Paul fans and/or read the general web buzz that declared Paul the victor, Krugman took to his blog to insult the congressman and his fans:RELATED: Ron Paul Battles Paul Krugman On Bloomberg TV
…[P]eople react based on their prejudices. If Ron Paul got on TV and said “Gah gah goo goo debasement! theft!” — which is a rough summary of what he actually did say — his supporters would say that he won the debate hands down; I don’t think my supporters are quite the same, but opinons may differ.What pomposity. Mr. Krugman’s fans couldn’t possibly be as voracious as Paul’s because Krugman’s are high-minded New York Times subscribers.
Of course opinions will differ. Krugman’s followers can often be just as sycophantic. You have to be sorely out-of-touch to assume that your followers could never be fanatical like some of Ron Paul’s admirers.
But what’s even more unnerving about Krugman’s post is the way he describes Paul’s rhetoric as “Gah gah goo goo debasement! theft!” This is how I imagine Nobel laureate Krugman hears all of his opponents. Dr. Paul, willing to engage a well-known popular economist, brings up serious points about monetary policy (points that have long been made by Nobel laureates like F.A. Hayek and Milton Friedman), and Krugman behaves like the child with his fingers in his ears: “Nah, nah, nah, I can’t hear you!”
Krugman, nose firmly pointing upward, describes his debate with Paul as “the perfect illustration of a point I’ve thought about a lot, the uselessness of face-to-face debates.” But contrary to what Krugman may think, the general consensus about the “Paul vs Paul” segment was that it was a truly thoughtful discussion, a refreshing break from the usual talking-heads banter.
He continues on:
Think about it: you approach what is, in the end, a somewhat technical subject in a format in which no data can be presented, in which there’s no opportunity to check facts (everything Paul said about growth after World War II was wrong, but who will ever call him on it?).No one will call Dr. Paul on it, because he was right about spending cuts after World War II. From 1944 through 1948, the federal government cut spending by roughly 75%. I don’t know how that could be at all ambiguous to Mr. Krugman.
But it seems as though Mr. Krugman feels he is above the shallow art of talking-head debates, and we should all be thankful he came down to our level for roughly 13 minutes of what us little people considered “thoughtful television.”
So if he has such disdain for the process, why did he bother participating?
So why did I do it? Because I’m trying to publicize my book, which does have lots of data and facts…There we go.
President Obama’s consistent lead over most Republican contenders has taken some on the right by surprise, given his low approval ratings and the bad economy the administration can’t seem to shake. To Charles Krauthammer, none of the credit should go to President Obama, however, but to the “embarrassing” Republican candidates and the “ridiculous” behavior of the Congressional Republican leadership.RELATED: CNN Iowa poll: Romney 25, Paul 22, Santorum 16, Gingrich 14
Krauthammer explained during Special Report today that President Obama has mostly been a “passive observer” to a landscape that has been remarkably favorable to him and his administration despite the bad times domestically. Krauthammer attributed the “ridiculous way the Republicans have conducted themselves in Congress” for “making Obama look like at least a grown-up,” while Republicans have had “an almost year-long exposure to a weak Republican field.” “The fact that Santorum is the last standing alternative,” he explained, “think of how this is going: Trump, Bachmann, Perry, then Cain, then Newt– who’s really in decline now– Ron Paul, who is on the ascent but not electable, then Santorum.”
Concluding that “Every alternative is going to get a try,” Krauthammer highlighted how the weak field made a difference by arguing, “imagine a race with a Mitch Daniels, Paul Ryan, Christie, Thune… it would’ve had a completely different complexion” instead of having “embarrassing candidates like Cain and others.”
Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas Republican known for his staunch libertarian views, announced today he's forming a presidential exploratory committee.
This marks Paul's third bid for the presidency. He first ran in 1988 and again in 2008, winning a small but enthusiastic group of supporters among the GOP electorate.
Part of Paul's fervent support in 2008 was grounded in college-aged voters, a constituency that also largely favored Barack Obama. In this campaign, the 75-year-old Paul said today, Mr. Obama won't be able to hang on to the youth vote.
"I think that Obama will not be able to hang on to that enthusiasm of the young people because of what's happened in the last couple years," Paul said in Des Moines, Iowa, after his exploratory committee was announced.
The financial crisis, the bloated deficit and the ongoing wars make the libertarian views Paul is known for -- such as his anti-interventionist foreign policy and his antipathy toward the Federal Reserve -- even more relevant than in 2008, Paul suggested.
"I believe there are literally millions of more people now concerned about the very things I talked about four years ago," he said, such as "the excessive spending, the entitlement system, the foreign policy, as well as the monetary system."
"If you want to curtail spending... you can't do it without addressing the inflationary system," continued Paul, who chairs a House subcommittee on domestic monetary policy. "Congress does not have to act responsibly... they've resorted to printing out money."
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Texas Rep. Ron Paul announced Thursday he is suspending his bid for the Republican presidential nomination to focus his time on building an organization to help recruit and elect “limited government Republicans.”This can't be good news to some of those on the far-Left who were hoping that Paul would stay in the race till November and take away votes from John McCain (ala Ralph Nader in '00 when he played a bit factor in Bush vs. Gore). And while Paul's grassroots following is pretty loyal, but my gut feeling is that since most of them share Paul's pro-life views, they'll eventually get over their overseer's resignation and hop on board the Straight-Talk Express.“We want to elect constitutionalists, limited government Republicans across the country at the state and federal level,” said Paul spokesman Jesse Benton.
The congressman will speak about his political plans at the Texas Republican State Convention being held in Houston. Late Thursday afternoon, Paul launched a Web site for his new organization where he explained the decision to suspend his presidential campaign and form “Ron Paul Campaign for Liberty.”
“With the primary season now over, the presidential campaign is at an end,” Paul said in the letter. “But the larger campaign for freedom is just getting started.”
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