Bill Londrigan | Rand Paul: a man of the (very rich) people

[Joanne98]

On the campaign trail, Rand Paul portrays himself as a man of the people. But when you look past his rhetoric, it's clear that he only means the very rich people. Paul's ideal world is the same as George W. Bush's, one where unbridled corporate power drives the economy and working families are treated as mere chattel for the big machine of capitalism.

We all know where this philosophy gets us: incredible wealth and power concentrated among the richest 1 percent, total economic collapse, unrelenting unemployment, millions of home foreclosures and even more good-paying jobs shipped overseas. One thing is certain: American working families have taken it on the chin in this economy while the wealthy and their political enablers continue to profit off their toil.

For over a century, organized labor has fought to protect working families from these forces. The labor movement has elevated all workers, and without unions the great American middle class would never been created. The American labor movement has championed labor and civil rights in the quest for fairness and progress for those who labor for a living. But in Paul's world, there's no place for a movement whose very existence calls into question his fundamental belief in the priority of capital over labor.

Just recently, Paul called for the deunionization of the automobile industry by claiming that the only way American car manufacturers could make a profit would be if they were non-union. In an Oct. 5 interview, Paul said: “I think GM and most of the automakers in Detroit will never make money as long as they are unionized. If they went to a nonunion model, they would have a chance of making money. I think their labor costs are twice what Toyota's are.”

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20101019/OPINION04/310190016/Bill+Londrigan+%7C+Rand+Paul++a+man+of+the+(very+rich)+people