Ron Paul and what your congressman should know

Firstly, a welcome and shout-out to the Protagonist, who is now posting at Reasonable Nuts. Having been a fan of his former blog, I can aver that you'll need your thinking cap firmly ensconced to consider his propositions - and that you'll need a shovel to dig through his copious research.

Now onto other things.

Congressman Ron Paul, a medical doctor and onetime presidential candidate for the Libertarian Party, has a weekly column he posts to his congressional website. He's known somewhat amusingly as "Dr. No" - a moniker given to him by his associates in congress for the fact he typically votes "No" on legislation he interprets as falling outside the boundaries of authority delineated by the Constitution. In this respect, he is a lone voice in den of spendthrifts.

How many congressmen do you think understand the mechanisms behind this statement recently gleaned from Paul's site?

The fundamental question is whether a central bank can manage the supply of money and credit better than the free market otherwise would. We shouldn't kid ourselves about the true nature of the Fed, which is inherently incompatible with real free market capitalism. Centralized planning of the money supply is a form of economic control that significantly affects prices, wages, and production levels. Remember how market economists once criticized central planning of prices, wages, and production levels in the former Soviet Union?

You should consider asking your congressman meaty questions on subjects he or she should understand. Not what *you* should understand (e.g. how to raise your child), but what *he or she* should understand. This is such a subject.

I suggest voting out of office any representative who cannot quickly answer your questions satisfactorily. Certainly, his or her assistants will do most of the answering - so consider this but a first line of questioning. If you can ask in such a way as he or she must respond "live", such as at a press conference, please do so.