Ron Paul, The Earmark Kid!

Ron Paul says a bunch of stuff that sort sounds good, but then he goes off the deep end. Government does have legitimate functions, one of which is to protect us from each other. He seems to think we are all decent and honest and will treat each other fairly, even when there are no federal laws to prevent fraud and deception. He has tried to justify his eager solicitation of federal money for his folks at home by claiming that if he did not grab it, some other rep would and it would just go to another state. Yeah, right.

I'm not crazy about his earmark addiction, but I get his explanation. His taxpaying constituents are contributing, so if a bill he's voting against passes, they still deserve a piece of the pie. I agree that he'd have more credibility if he was like McCain, and opposed earmarks in their entirety.

This is quite simple. Whether he takes them or not, earmarks are there and very prevalent. Earmarks are paid for by all of America. If the money is given to people in California, people from Texas are footing the bill as well. Dr. Paul is a representative from Texas, he wouldn't really be "representin" if he let his constituents money go to other states and not bring any home. I say, call his bluff. Stop all earmarks!

I guess it just goes to show Ron Paul is a typical politician and his most die-hard supporters are just typical of die-hard supporters of any politician. He's like the ones who voted and/or spoke out vehemently against the stimulus bill but clamored to get their state or district's slice of the pie with some of them even appearing in photo-ops handing out the giant checks. I don't think Paul is one bit more "principled" than Mitt Romney! Annie

Simple - it's what he always does. Then he continues to vote no on the spending bill. This has been going on since...well, since he got into congress, I think. Ear marks themselves aren't bad things. They exist to direct funds from an already authorized sum of money. That they are used is not worrisome; how they are used and who they are used for are.