... because he's not taking his work seriously. This joker gets a column in Newsweek to praise Rep. Ron Paul as the savior of the GOP. Now, look, Paul has a lot going for him -- he's obviously got some principles, and he's shown a willingness to work with Democrats when his principles align with theirs, which is more than most GOPers can say. But Paul's ideas about the economy are dangerous. An independent central bank is a good idea, and Paul's apocalyptic vision of a gold-standard world is a terrible one. Whatever you think of auditing the Fed -- and it's an idea that has merits -- Paul isn't doing it for transparency's sake. He's supporting it because he wants to destroy the Fed and the economy as we know it. Of course, Fineman doesn't endorse these views. Oh, no! He just endorses the "spirit" of these views, so that Republicans can field candidates that speak "to the guy who thought he was being screwed by big business, by big government, by the big media," in the words of one of Fineman's sources. Yes, what Republicans need is a more paranoid message, one that creates a greater sense of being surrounded by enemies on all sides. Surely that will result in a better politics for us all. Maybe Fineman means that more conservatives should stick to their principles in general. In that case, maybe it's worth evaluating whether those principles are any good?
-- Tim Fernholz
