# Ron Paul's Plan **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 18, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082 "2011-10-18T23:43:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/141 "2011-10-20T03:54:19Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > Well it sounds like it really comes down to a difference of opinion. Who do you trust more with your health: the government or yourself? The government of course. They’re got hundreds of doctors and scientists studying health problems. I’m a college drop-out who was working on a history degree. I’d be an idiot to think I know more about medicine that an entire staff of medical professionals does. ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/142 "2011-10-20T04:41:16Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The government of course. They’re got hundreds of doctors and scientists studying health problems. I’m a college drop-out who was working on a history degree. I’d be an idiot to think I know more about medicine that an entire staff of medical professionals does. Why do you hate freedom? ---
**Author:** ![Da\_Mikster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bb73d2/32.png) [@Da\_Mikster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Da_Mikster)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/143 "2011-10-20T05:02:01Z")
> [@kenetic](#): > > Why do you hate freedom? I’d love a little freedom from ideological nonsense and partisan stupidity… Unfortunately, about the only place you can find that anymore is by hiding under the bed. No wait, I think the dust bunnies just formed a PAC ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/144 "2011-10-20T06:23:04Z")
> [@kenetic](#): > > Why do you hate freedom? I can’t help it. My heart wants to believe in what Ron Paul is saying but then my brain reminds me it was put in charge so I would avoid doing things like that. ---
**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/145 "2011-10-20T08:59:26Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Do you have any idea about how the system works? The people you’re arguing with model the government based on their 3rd-grade experience, when some bully took over and put dead caterpillars in the other kids’ Kool-aid. I find it astounding that an adult like Ron Paul can believe this crap. That he was elected to Congress tells us something profoundly sad about American, or at least Texan, voters. Just now I read that an important advantage of reverting to the gold standard is that it will make it harder to fund foolish wars. :smack: Maybe these posters are laughing at us on another board: “They thought we were serious!! Don’t they know Poe’s Law?” > [@Voyager](#): > > I’ve been on Jeopardy… Yeah, but have you been a guest on the Rush Limbaugh show? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/146 "2011-10-20T10:00:20Z")
> [@Archergal](#): > > Just as an aside: anybody else remember [the thalidomide tragedy?](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,873697-1,00.html) That drug didn’t make it through FDA testing, and the U.S. was mostly spared the effects that folks suffered in Europe. So the Libertarian approach might have a few minor downsides. That’s no reason to throw out the flipper baby with the bathwater. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/147 "2011-10-20T12:52:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’m a college drop-out who was working on a history degree. I’d be an idiot to think I know more about medicine that an entire staff of medical professionals does. Don’t sell yourself short - you’ve got the Internet! Do your own research (don’t listen to the FDA though - as Ron Paul’s supporters know, [they don’t work in the consumer’s interest](http://www.fda.gov/food/dietarysupplements/alerts/ucm096388.htm)). ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/148 "2011-10-20T13:11:22Z")
I want to know what happens when the free market drug rating agency in Libertopia is sued by the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical company for slander. Do you really think that an organization without the threat of law behind it is going to have a chance in hell at protecting the public from harmful but potentially lucrative drugs? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/149 "2011-10-20T14:02:30Z")
I’m not sure they would need to sue. They could just stop doing business with the drug rating agency that said things they didn’t like and go to one of its competitors instead. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/150 "2011-10-20T14:10:55Z")
Drug Ratings R Us – we have a 99% approval rate! No other drug rating company comes close. – free toaster oven for every 10,000 pills approved! – open late on Saturdays. – free lollipops for the kids. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/151 "2011-10-20T14:41:35Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > Drug Ratings R Us > > – we have a 99% approval rate! No other drug rating company comes close. This is basically what happened in the securities rating business. If you want your bonds rated AAA you’ll go to the private company that gives you the best ratings. After all, you might as well get your money’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/152 "2011-10-20T16:43:08Z")
> [@L. G. Butts](#): > > I want to know what happens when the free market drug rating agency in Libertopia is sued by the multi-billion dollar pharmaceutical company for slander. Do you really think that an organization without the threat of law behind it is going to have a chance in hell at protecting the public from harmful but potentially lucrative drugs? > [@Marley23](#): > > I’m not sure they would need to sue. They could just stop doing business with the drug rating agency that said things they didn’t like and go to one of its competitors instead. You guys don’t think like businessmen. You don’t take this stuff personally. You look at the situation and make the rational decision that is most profitable. So if you’re a pharmaceutical corporation looking to sell your product, you don’t sue the most reputable drug rating agency or stop doing business with it. You quietly buy the most reputable drug rating company and then rate your products safe and your competitors’ products questionable. (You can always rig up some scientific test that will give you enough data to justify these ratings.) People trust your product because they’re rated so well by this reputable company and your sales increase. It’ll take a while for you to ruin the drug rating company’s reputation but when that happens just buy a new one. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/153 "2011-10-20T17:00:10Z")
> [@septimus](#): > > Yeah, but have you been a guest on the Rush Limbaugh show? :dubious: No, which supports my point. I’m also not Rush, which supports it even more. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/154 "2011-10-20T17:04:06Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > This is basically what happened in the securities rating business. If you want your bonds rated AAA you’ll go to the private company that gives you the best ratings. After all, you might as well get your money’s worth. Best of all you don’t have to pay anyone off or do anything illegal. The rating agencies are smart enough to know that big customers who they give bad ratings to are not coming back. They even published their rules, in the interest of transparency, of course, which let the banks structure products to get the AAA ratings. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/155 "2011-10-20T17:09:46Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Best of all you don’t have to pay anyone off or do anything illegal. The rating agencies are smart enough to know that big customers who they give bad ratings to are not coming back. They even published their rules, in the interest of transparency, of course, which let the banks structure products to get the AAA ratings. Right. This is also cheaper than buying a ratings agency. They tell you what they want to hear, and they have a financial incentive to give you favorable ratings. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/156 "2011-10-20T18:16:03Z")
> [@The\_wind\_of\_my\_soul](#): > > Yes, being paid by drug companies would create problems with corruption. Is this a problem we’ve seen with other ratings companies? Well, obviously, yes. Do you not recall the fiscal crisis of 2008, when the rating companies being paid by the investment banks were giving the investment bank’s subprime loan assets AAA ratings right up until they fell off a cliff? I mean, this isn’t a theoretical argument. We have a live, real case of private ratings companies making a huge contribution to a financial disaster **just three years ago.** In historical terms it just happened. You can’t possibly have forgotten it, and there is simply no room for debate; S&P and Moody’s gave AAA ratings to subprime CDOs based not on any sort of objective evidence, but on what can only be described as an unspoken agreement to avoid saying anything bad about their customers. I’m actually a free market advocate but there’s being all for open markets and then they’re being wilfully obtuse, and the 2008 disaster revealed S&P and Moody’s to be either corrupt, inept, or both. Subject drugs to a similar process and I see absolutely no reason you would not get similar results. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/157 "2011-10-20T18:52:16Z")
It’s also the model for J.D. Powers and Associates. You’ll see businesses advertising that they won some award from J.D. Powers and the implication is that this is a prestigious and meaningful honor. What most people don’t realize is J.D. Powers basically exists to give awards. They’re paid by the companies who are receiving the award. There’s no outright fraud but the understanding is that the criteria for the award will be set up so that the outcome is certain. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/158 "2011-10-20T22:20:09Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I’m actually a free market advocate but there’s being all for open markets and then they’re being wilfully obtuse, and the 2008 disaster revealed S&P and Moody’s to be either corrupt, inept, or both. Subject drugs to a similar process and I see absolutely no reason you would not get similar results. Corrupt? Inept? Only if the business goal of these agencies was to give accurate ratings. If the business goal was to maximize value for their shareholders, they operated very effectively in doing so, at least in the short term. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/159 "2011-10-20T22:21:36Z")
**WillFarnaby** has gotten kind of quiet on this topic. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082/160 "2011-10-20T23:57:42Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > **WillFarnaby** has gotten kind of quiet on this topic. I might be wrong. I mean both sides of the argument are pure speculation. It’s possible that a privatized FDA would emerge. It’s possible people would be exploited in the interim process before a reputable company emerged. All I know is that in the absence of the FDA a societal need for safe drugs would be created. This is where the marketplace could fill in. The plan calls for cuts of the FDA, not it’s abolition. Just out of curiosity, where would you guys start cutting? I mean you already made your point about the FDA. What’s wrong with abolishing the department of energy for example? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ron-pauls-plan/600082.md?page=9)