Ron Paul /earmarks

[Big Muddy rancher]

Ron Paul's Earmarks
Ricochet ^ | December 13, 2011 | Ben Domenech

Posted on Friday, December 16, 2011 12:41:46 AM by 2ndDivisionVet

One of the odd things I hear about from time to time from many of my libertarian colleagues and friends is their perception that Texas Republican Ron Paul is a rare model of purity in a political pigsty.

I have many issues of agreement with Paul, particularly on health policy, and I've defended him publicly in the past on many of his calls for government reform. But this perception of Paul as a principled crusader who serves only the Constitution is at odds with his wholehearted embrace of typical pork-barrel politics - a difference which is all the more stark in the wake of House Republicans' voluntary ban on earmarks last year. The record on this is available to the public, but it attracts scant attention.

Paul made over $157 million in earmark requests for FY 2011, one of only four House Republicans to request any earmarks. Additionally, he made over $398 million in earmark requests for FY 2010, again one of the leading Republican House members. These earmark requests include:

•$8 million from federal taxpayers for Recreational Fishing Piers.
•$2.5 million from taxpayers for "new benches, trash receptacles, bike racks, decorative street lighting."
•$2.5 million from taxpayers to modify medians and sidewalks for an "Economically Disadvantaged" area.
•$2.5 million from federal taxpayers for a "Revelation Missionary Baptist Community Outreach Center."
•$38 million in multiple requests for literacy programs to "encourage parents to read aloud to their children."
•$18 million from federal taxpayers for a Commuter Rail Preliminary Engineering Phase (light rail).
•$4 million from federal taxpayers for the "Trails and Sidewalks Connectivity Initiative."
•$11 million from federal taxpayers for a "Community-Based Job Training Program."
•$2 million from federal taxpayers for a "Clean Energy" pilot project.
•$5 million from federal taxpayers in order to build a parking garage.
•$1.2 million for a "Low-income working families Day Care Program"
•$4.5 million from federal taxpayers for a new Youth Fair facility.

All of the above earmarks can be found on Paul's own congressional website. While Paul does not digitize the requests prior to FY 2011, they're still available as PDFs. Paul typically will make the earmark request, but then votes against or abstains from voting on final passage, so he can maintain his claim to have "never voted for an earmark", even the earmark requests he himself made. He defends the practice here.

I'm sure many of these earmarks have a logical rationale behind them. And many of these areas have good lobbyists. But we ought to never put a politician on such a pedestal that we fail to recognize their blemishes. It's better to keep your eyes open about it all.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-gop/2821103/posts

 

[hypocritexposer]

Ron Paul is to the left of President Obama on social issues: he wants to legalize marijuana, he wants to support homosexualizing the military and repeal DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, he is all about homosexual marriage. This is a man who claims to be a Republican but he's a RINO, he's a Republican In Name Only, because Ron Paul is openly a libertarian. He's not part of the Republican Party, he's wrong on all the issues that we care about as the church. So, because he's so far left of even President Obama, he's gathering support from Democrats.

In Iowa, the only reason Ron Paul is polling so high is because he's getting crossover votes from the left-wing. And there are people who are trying to sabotage the Republican primary, they want to elect a Democrat, at least in his social conservative policies, Ron Paul is a Democrat, or is a libertarian. He's anti-church, anti-Christian, anti-Israel, pro-homosexual, pro-marijuana, everything that we don't believe in, the Democrats do believe in; everything that Ron Paul believes in, the Democrats do believe in.

I think that's why they're lining up and they're trying to make it appear as if in the Republican caucuses in Iowa and in the different places around the country, that Ron Paul actually has some Republican support. I think he doesn't. Ron Paul does not have any Republican support. Everyone who is a Ron Paul supporter is not a Republican, they are either a Democrat or a libertarian trying to take over the Republican Party.

http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/klingenschmitt-ron-paul-does-not-have-any-republican-support

 

[djinwa]

He's anti-church, anti-Christian, anti-Israel, pro-homosexual, pro-marijuana, everything that we don't believe in, the Democrats do believe in; everything that Ron Paul believes in, the Democrats do believe in.

This is hilarious! Apparently if you are FOR freedom, you are against everything.

Ron Paul is for the Constitution. That is what separates him from Obama and Romney, etc.

According to the above logic, if you cut the department of education, you hate children.
If you cut all foreign aid, you hate Israel.
If you end the federal war on drugs, you want everyone stoned.

Think alittle deeper!

Apparently, we all need the federal government taking care of us, and telling us what to do. We are helpless!

And let me remind everyone, that we are bankrupt. The only way we pay for all this crap is by printing money, because we don't want to pay directly.

Ron Paul is to the left of Obama, because Obama likes unconstitutional, undeclared war. He likes nation-building just like others on the right. And he likes the war on drugs. He likes drone strikes. He likes spying on U.S. citizens. Seems the right-wingers ought to just vote for him. Please tell me how the other Republican candidates will cut government. What is the difference? Ron Paul will cut 1 trillion dollars the first year and he's a left-winger? Left-wingers want to eliminate the dept of education and HUD as he does???? Unbelievable!

As for earmarks. I just heard Ron Paul explain that it is the duty of congress to specify how the money is spent. If they do not specify (earmarks) then the president will decide who gets the money.

If you research Ron Paul's voting record, you will note that he actually votes against the bills he put earmarks on. But since he knows that the other 400+ congressmen will ignore their oath to uphold the Constitution, and vote for the spending, he has to do earmarks so his constituents get back some of the money that was stolen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8UOSck8tP0&feature=youtu.be

 

[djinwa]

One more thought.

Why is it the one guy voting against the spending receives more criticism than the ones voting for it?

He even voted against aid to Haiti after their earthquake on the grounds it was unconstitutional. He was the ONLY one voting against.

How did he or his district benefit from that? Obviously he got hammered for that vote, yet many want to make him out to lack principle.

 

[hypocritexposer]

There are degrees......where one thinks the government should do everything for them, without paying the taxdollars to support those services, there are others that think that government should pay for nothing, while paying for those services......

OT is a Libertarian, while thinking that it is okay for the government to tax, to a degree that "big government" forgets about the "less fortunate"

The "radical right" that he worries about, are those he's about to vote for, when voting for Ron Paul.

there's a difference between voting for someone that wants everybody to pay for themselves and someone that wants someone to pay for everybody else.......

 

[Tam]

He's anti-church, anti-Christian, anti-Israel, pro-homosexual, pro-marijuana, everything that we don't believe in, the Democrats do believe in; everything that Ron Paul believes in, the Democrats do believe in.

This is hilarious! Apparently if you are FOR freedom, you are against everything.

Ron Paul is for the Constitution. That is what separates him from Obama and Romney, etc.

According to the above logic, if you cut the department of education, you hate children.
If you cut all foreign aid, you hate Israel.
If you end the federal war on drugs, you want everyone stoned.

Think alittle deeper!

Apparently, we all need the federal government taking care of us, and telling us what to do. We are helpless!

And let me remind everyone, that we are bankrupt. The only way we pay for all this crap is by printing money, because we don't want to pay directly.

Ron Paul is to the left of Obama, because Obama likes unconstitutional, undeclared war. He likes nation-building just like others on the right. And he likes the war on drugs. He likes drone strikes. He likes spying on U.S. citizens. Seems the right-wingers ought to just vote for him. Please tell me how the other Republican candidates will cut government. What is the difference? Ron Paul will cut 1 trillion dollars the first year and he's a left-winger? Left-wingers want to eliminate the dept of education and HUD as he does???? Unbelievable!

As for earmarks. I just heard Ron Paul explain that it is the duty of congress to specify how the money is spent. If they do not specify (earmarks) then the president will decide who gets the money.

If you research Ron Paul's voting record, you will note that he actually votes against the bills he put earmarks on. But since he knows that the other 400+ congressmen will ignore their oath to uphold the Constitution, and vote for the spending, he has to do earmarks so his constituents get back some of the money that was stolen.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8UOSck8tP0&feature=youtu.be

So he wants the money, knows he will get it but he just doesn't want the record of voting for the earmarks :roll: That is not the actions of a principled man that is the actions of a HYPOCRITE.

If he thinks the government should cut spending STOP PUTTING EARMARKS IN BILLS THAT THE REST OF THE CONGRESS IS GOING TO BE TAKING THE BLAME FOR HANDING THEM OVER TO HIM. :roll:

BTW if he is not a Republican but is a claimed LIBERTARIAN then why doesn't he drop out of the REPUBLICAN race and run for his own party's nomination? Wouldn't that be the right thing to do if he is so principled?