Rocket Log

Ron Paul’s America

What’s wrong with this? It doesn’t take much work to paint a dystopian picture. Let’s begin with a simple example. Without an Interior Department, there would be no agency to oversee national parks, federal lands and offshore drilling. Land would have to be auctioned off to the highest bidders, most likely oil-and-gas, coal and timber companies. The states would inherit Teddy Roosevelt’s national parks, but imagine how Yosemite would fare if it suddenly became the ward of strapped California.

Or let’s imagine another scene from Mr. Paul’s America. Each state would have to become the regulator of its financial, manufacturing and health-care industries. A patchwork of rules would result. States might soon engage in a dangerous game of regulatory competition: Some would ease rules to attract businesses, forcing those seeking to protect the health and pocketbooks of residents to lower their standards — or lose jobs. Illinois might choose, say, to let manufacturers dump waste in the Mississippi River. What recourse would downstream Missouri, Tennessee or Louisiana have if their drinking water became polluted?

Bloomberg Editors, The Hidden Utility of Ron Paul’s Balanced Budget Plan

One thing Ron Paul’s fans take for granted is that the lack of media attention he garners also means a lack of high-profile criticism of his ideas. As Bloomberg’s editorial board shows here, it’s not hard to use a few vivid examples to reveal the political train wreck underlying many of Paul’s cozy minimal-government proposals.