Posted on 10/19/2011 11:00:20 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Last night’s CNN Republican presidential debate generated some new heat, but very little light on the issues conservatives and Tea Partiers really care about – the one exception being, and perhaps the most interesting exchange of the evening, was the discussion of the Occupy Wall Street protests between Congressman Ron Paul and businessman and former Federal Reserve Board Member Herman Cain.
CNN’s liberal commentator Anderson Cooper posed to Herman Cain a question he received from Twitter, "How do you explain the Occupy Wall Street movement happening across the country? And how does it relate with your message?"
Cain reiterated a previous comment in opposition to the Occupy Wall Street protests; "Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks. If you don't have a job, and you're not rich, blame yourself."
Congressman Ron Paul, on the other hand, seemed willing to grant the Occupy Wall Street protesters the special status coveted by every liberal entitlement-seeker -- that of being a “victim” of some oppressor, when he said, “Well, I think Mr. Cain has blamed the victims. There's a lot of people that are victims of this business cycle. We can't blame the victims.”
Ron Paul then went on to give a spirited indictment of the TARP Wall Street bailout, which Herman Cain supported, and to observe that, “But who got stuck? The middle class got stuck. They got stuck. They lost their jobs, and they lost their houses. If you had to give money out, you should have given it to people who were losing their mortgages, not to the banks.”
Ron Paul made a legitimate point, but here’s the problem with his position – the middle class isn’t at the Occupy Wall Street protests, it is at the Tea Party meetings and rallies.
We often agree with Ron Paul, but in this case he showed the limits of his vision by accepting the notion that anyone who opposes the Washington/Wall Street Axis must be a friend. Anyone who digs just a little into what the Occupy Wall Street protesters want will quickly realize that their demands are anything but conservative, calling for nothing less than the overthrow of the Constitution and a radical redistribution of wealth.
We believe that as the campaign progresses, conservatives and Tea Partiers should take a tougher look at Cain’s support of TARP, the national sales tax in his 9-9-9 plan, and his lack of foreign policy experience. But that one brief exchange did do a lot to explain the rise of the Cain phenomenon -- his Reagan-like embrace of individualism and America as the land of opportunity was no staff-written one-liner. It came from the heart and his personal experience -- and whether or not Herman Cain becomes the Republican nominee for President, last night he showed once again that he is the real deal.
The individual signs for a loan on a home they can’t afford.
The individual runs up credit cards with 18% interest.
The individual goes to an overpriced college to earn a degree in a field that cannot justify such an expense.
The individual needs to make their own future.
Ron Paul was way off base in that exchange.
We should not of given out the TARP money (which it is noted was repaid to the Government by the banks) but having made that error, we should not compound it by handing out even more borrowed money in the name of "Fairness to the middle class"
Anarchists for bigger government all support Dr Ron Paul.
Has Paul ever cut any program?
Nope.
Ughhh, that’s an aweful visual.
The banks and Wall Street may do things I don’t like, especially the Federal Reserve, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but in the end those critters in Congress and in the White House are the ones who victimize me. Cain is right. It isn’t up to the banks or Wall Street to make anyone rich, and it isn’t up to the federal government. Stop robbing me to do what can’t be done for others.
Cain’s response “I was for it but not in the way it was implemented and now very much against that” was honest even if it seemed indecisive. It was decisive in it’s honesty.
Paul is just a loon when he starts talking Fed and foreign topics.
When it comes to bailing out the bankers, of course, Cain’s throws his “individualism” out the window.
Nope.
Among a government's first duties should be fairness.
When a government becomes unfair, it loses respect and encourages anarchy and disobedience to the law.
If Rong Paul is not a conservative, then there's something wrong with being a conservative.
Occupy is push back against a fear of government being reduced in size.
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