Ron Paul: Eliminate the Dept. of Energy

Ron Paul advocates dismantling the Dept. of Engery whose mission includes:

•Insuring the integrity and safety of the country's nuclear weapons
•Promoting international nuclear safety
•Advancing nuclear non-proliferation
•Continuing to provide safe, efficient and effective nuclear power plants for the United States Navy.

Just how does Paul plan on carrying out what was the DoE's mission?

 

1) Can be done at the state level
2) The UN and NPT already do that
3) The UN and NPT already do that
4) DoD can do that

 

Nuclear Energy is dangerous. Look at Fukishima...

 

I'm sorry, but anyone who actually believes that has no idea what they're talking about. It's clear that, absent DOE, nuclear stewardship would fall to DOD. if noting else, the state lack the experience with classified information. Nuclear weapons research and knowledge is an example of legitimate state secrecy, not just someone trying to hide misconduct.

As the county with the most nuclear experience, it sort of falls on us to participate in such efforts. It's kind of crazy to expect npt enforcement without us technical assistance.

DOE was established mainly because dod is not very good at managing civilian scientists. The nation has a demand for nuclear weapon research and material stewardship, which means civilian nuclear scientists and engineers.

 

I don't think that Ron Paul really understands what DOE does, otherwise he might change his attitude.

 

Ron Paul talks energy policy in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vHQ733Ey0Q"]Ron Paul talks energy policy in Portsmouth, New Hampshire - YouTube[/ame]

 

In other words, he has no clue how he would do it. "Some functions would be transferred" is not a clear proposal or plan. What functions? To whom? Why dismantle the department, if you don't question the department's primary purpose?

 

I really wish some Ron Paul supporter could dig up an actual systematic plan that the candidate is proposing, because there's no way this South Carolina voter could justify voting for him with such an issue remaining unresolved. Do you think that he can just leave this sort of matter unresolved in such a nuclear-heavy state? A crucial early primary state at that?

 

Paul: You don't eliminate every single function of the DOE, because there would be some with nuclear materials, and that would be transferred....

Working with Congress as well in making sure that some of these functions that need to be taken care of are transferred.

The market should decide who gets subsidies.

Because it's in the executive branch the President does have the authority to shrink this thing.

...(later in video) if it has to do with nuclear waste or material you could have the DOD take care of it.

 

Why doesn't Paul just end the Federal Gas tax ?

Then explain why roads dont get fixed.

Start small ..see if that works.

 

Yeah, that's what I kind of assumed would be his response (though I did miss that last part in the video), and that's basically a disaster. The culture of DOE and DOE contractors would not work at all with DOD. DOE has built up a lot of hard-earned institutional experience managing the nation's nuclear materials--that would be entirely lost if it got transferred over to DOD for some unfathomable reason. It probably wouldn't even save any money. DOD is way worse about budget and cost overruns than DOE is (when is the last time you've ever heard of Congress rushing through emergency funding bills for DOE?).

Ron Paul is basically expressing the childish attitude that "DOE makes some proposals and reports that I don't like, so I'm going to go punch them in the face!" It's crazy. You say he needs to work with congress to transfer these functions... but it was Congress that originally established the Department of Energy. They did so because they felt it important to have civilian management of the nation's nuclear material programs. Why? Because they correctly felt that a civilian agency would be able to manage the mostly civilian nuclear workforce better.

 

We don't need the DOE. It's that simple. What it does can easily be done by fewer for less.

 

DOE is already massively underfunded for its task. The notion that it can get cut further demonstrates an extreme ignorance of the agency. Merging DOE into DOD will just increase costs, substantially, and make our nation's nuclear materials less secure. Really, you're holding the Department of Defense up as some great bastion of spending control?

If DOE missions and assets got transferred to DOD, you would immediately see the funding for former-DOE facilities go up, and they would go on a massive hiring spree. DOD would make sure that Congress funded the programs at much higher levels. There's no way that DOD would put up with programs under their control continuing to plod along with DOE levels of funding.

Remember, the Pentagon is pretty much the home of government largess in the United States. The idea that transferring DOE missions to DOD would save money is ludicrous.

I get that you conservatives hate the Department of Energy because it has revealed the importance of having an energy policy. I understand that you think DOE is the source of all things green in the US, and therefore is on-par with the devil, but you can't seriously think it would save money to put DOE missions and assets under the control of DOD. There is literally no evidence to suggest that this would be the case. More people would work on former-DOE projects than do now, and more money would be spent on each employee. That's how the DOD works. They get much better funding than any other department.

 

Paul is the nightmarish type of "Libertarian/Republican". He doesn't need to be our next President.

 

Where does the constitution authorize any of that?

 

To the OP:

Why do you care anyway? Ron Paul will not be the Republican nominee.
This country is NOT ready to accept a strict Constitutionalist.

 

Paul has some simplesite ideas for complex problems.

If he would eliminate the public education system I would vote for him.

Regardless of who the talking head. the Electoral college will decide, not the people.

 

Oh no! Without the Department of Energy, there'd be no energy!

Without the Department of Education, there'd be no education!

Without the Department of Agriculture, there'd be no agriculture!

Without the Department of Clothes, there'd be no clothes!

Without the Department of Lawnmowers, there'd be no lawnmowers!

Without the Department of Paintball, there'd be no paintball!

 

I am NOT a Paul fan, but EVERYTHING the DoE does was handled by other agencies before the DoE was created.

The DoE was created under Carter with a SINGLE MISSION. Reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Failing colossally at that mission, they should have been disbanded. Instead they were given other missions to turn into shambles.
Now they have become the World's largest source of venture capital. Are they a banking and investment company? No they are not. They could be closed, and their "duties" reassigned to the agencies that originally had the responsibility and still perform DUPLICATE functions.

 

And what happens when TMI melts down again and the fallout ends up in New Jersey? War between the states?

Btw, I'd hate to put ANY of the people running my state's agencies in charge of anything that can hurt someone.

 

Nice joke, AbsoluteVoluntarist. The Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior, Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Health and Human Services could all be defunded, their powers transferred back to the states, or privatized. The Environmental Protection Agency could be defunded and transferred as well.

There are very few agencies that should be on a federal level. The Department of Commerce is one of them. The federal government is obligated to regulate interstate commerce, intrastate commerce, and international trade. The Department of Justice should certainly be a federal agency. The Department of Defense, the Department of Homeladn Security, and the Department of Veterans Affairs should all be federal agencies. Lastly, the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Labor should be federal agencies.

 

Elimination of counterproductive agencies is sound policy.

 

Driving is more dangerous.

 

Nuclear safety will be (in Paul's words) carried out by the Pentagon, and the DOD will take care of the Navy plants (submarines, etc.).

Paul will most likely rely on the Secretary of State and our diplomats for non-proliferation, and international nuclear safety is already a function of the UN if I am not mistaken.

 

Exactly. This isn't Russia, where old nukes lie unguarded, and forgotten. America is pretty good at nuclear safety.