Reply #9: The first two of those are quite defensible

[notesdev]

The Dept. of Education - tell me, how has educational performance progressed since its institution? It is an excellent example of all that is wrong with federalizing local issues. It's very questionable whether the federal government even has lawful authority on the matter of education at all.

The gold standard - just look at what getting off the gold standard has done for us. Maybe gold is not the correct/only solution, but pure fiat money is the perfect tool for the financial manipulations that led to our current economic crisis. Thanks to the lack of backing to our money, the Fed prints recklessly and the value of your savings and income is constantly eroded by a deliberate policy of inflation. The people who are actually helped by this are those at the very very top, who have first access to new money. Unbacked currency is in effect a HUGE tax on the poorest citizens of the country.