Whoa Little Feller

Senator Rand Paul's childhood must have been torturous. Imagine the little tyke gleefully running through the hallways of his elementary school when he is stopped by the principal, Mrs. Collier.

    

"Hey, little fellow, slow down there. You know you can't run in the hallway."

Of course, this doesn't play well with Rand's philosophy and he stops running and confronts Mrs. Collier.

"That's ridiculous, Mrs. Collier. You know full well I'm a Libertarian and regulations are strangling this school. I'm a rugged individualist and this document..." (Rand reaches into his shirt pocket and pulls out a well-worn copy of the U.S. Constitution), "protects my right as an American citizen to run in this hallway if I want to do so. What are you, a socialist or something?"

Of course, it never dawns on Rand that regulations are in place most of the time for very good reason and that actions have consequences. We don't let children run in school hallways because there are other children in those hallways.

This is the same reason we have speed limits on our highways and it is the exact same reason the Environmental Protection Agency has regulations in place to protect the environment of Kentucky from the actions of the coal barons who have but one goal ... to make money.

In 1999, during the Clinton administration, Congress removed a banking regulation know as Glass/Steagall. This Depression Era piece of legislation had, for very good reason, separated commercial banking from investment banking. 

The Act ensured a complete separation between commercial banks, which accept deposits, and investment banks which invest and take risks. The year before the repeal sub prime loans were only 5% of all mortgage lending but by the time the credit crunch hit they were approaching 30%.

Phil Gramm led the effort for years to deregulate the banks and cried constantly that European banks were going to have a great advantage in the market place because they were not smothered by regulations like Glass/Stegall . With Bill Clinton's help, Gramm got it done and the economic result was catastrophic.

In a color-me-naive moment, Alan Greenspan, Chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1987/2006, said the actions of Wall Street left him, "in a state of shocked disbelief."

Greenspan’s fealty to his free market beliefs blinded him and, like Little Randy, he forgot something. There are always those who will run in the hallways and to hell with any consequences.

In op/ed piece after op/ed piece, conservatives trot out the same tired free market talking points and, unbelievably, hold Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul up as men who are championing the cause against the evils of Barack Obama and his socialist hordes.

McConnell, who has been our Senator for over 30 years, continually puts all of his energy into making sure his wealthy friends remain wealthy. His deep concern for the people of Kentucky was summed up in this revealing moment from awhile ago.

“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”

The quality of life for everyday Kentuckians has not improved during McConnell's tenure. Now, we must also deal with the nation's goofiest senator, Rand Paul.

Paul, if you will remember, said no coal miner would work in an unsafe mine and that safety regulations were unnecessary because workers would simply withhold their labor and thus force the coal operator to assure a safe working environment.

As the descendant of coal miners, (many of whom were child laborers) I can assure you that doesn't happen and it will never happen.

In 2010, Paul campaigned on a market driven jobs platform. Thus far he has offered only more of the discredited supply side drivel that has damn near destroyed America's middle class. He bends over backward to protect the interests of corporations and routinely does everything within his power to stymie Obama's efforts to put people back to work.

Anyone with a brain has long ago seen through Rand Paul and his childish ways. Just sayin...

No, Principal Collier, I will not put on my big boy pants and you can't make me...