Posted on 11/30/2011 8:52:31 PM PST by PhilipFreneau
Glenn Beck Smears Ron Paul With Half-Truths About Paul's Earmarks.
Today on his radio show Glenn Beck and his staff declared that Ron Paul is the "earmark king", and labeled Paul a hypocrit. Beck correctly stated that Paul adds many earmarks to spending bills, and then votes against the spending bills. What Beck left out (either by deceit or by ignorance) is that earmarks do not increase the size of a budget. The money allocated for a budget is set by the Appropriations Committee prior to any allocation or earmark. All money not allocated or earmarked is not deleted from the budget, but rather is turned over the the executive branch to spend as it sees fit.
According to Wikipedia [re. Earmark], "Scott Frisch and Sean Kelly point out that directing money to particular purposes is a core constitutional function of Congress. If Congress does not make a specific allocation, the task falls to the executive branch; there is no guarantee that the allocation made by executive agencies will be superior to Congress's. Presidents and executive officials can use the allocation of spending to reward friends and punish enemies." They also warned the "Tea Party's Anti-Earmark Crusade Gives More Power to President Obama".
Those are important points. Unallocated money has no transparency, and therefore can be used by the President to reward friends and punish enemies, without public scrutiny. Therefore, by earmarking as much as he can, Ron Paul is increasing the transparency of government spending. Until the Congress passes a law that requires all unallocated money to be deleted from the budget and returned to the Treasury, Congressman Paul is doing all he can do to increase the transparency of federal expenditures.
Glenn Beck is constantly preaching to us about the importance of (honorable) character. Maybe Beck should practice what he preaches.
>>>I’ve seen a dozen FReeper trolls from 1998 disappear in the last three months.<<<
So, Ron Paul supporters are Trolls? You are nuts.
Paul is not a conservative he is a libertarian.
>>>Far above Paultards, you Jew-hating bastard.<<<
I am Jewish, you moron.
>>>Paul is not a conservative he is a libertarian.<<<
I’ll bite. What is the difference, in you own words?
IMHO, yes. Its up to Jim to decide otherwise.
I'm from Papua New Guinea.
>>>So what? That’s like a thief saying “If I didn’t steal from the unguarded store, someone else would have”. A corrupt practice is a corrupt practice, and it should not be rationalized away.<<<
Yea, right. Turn the money over to Obama and his thugs. Brilliant!
Reach Out and Read authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
National Labor-HHS-Education $6,000,000 N/A N/A $0
Bear Metallurgical Corp
Vanadium Safety Readiness
MD; OH; PA Defense $3,360,000 $0 $0 $0
US Dept of Defense
Vanadium Safety Readiness
MD; OH; PA Defense $3,360,000 $0 $0 $0
Metallurg Vanadium
Vanadium Safety Readiness
MD; OH; PA Defense $3,360,000 $0 $0 $0
Galveston-Houston Commuter Rail, TX
TX Transportation-Housing and Urban Development $2,000,000 N/A N/A $0
Clear Creek, TX
TX Energy and Water $1,211,000 N/A N/A $0
Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership
Bay Area Houston Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP)
Houston, TX Commerce-Justice-Science $1,000,000 $0 $0 $30,000
League City Park and Ride Facilities, TX
TX Transportation-Housing and Urban Development $750,000 N/A N/A $0
City of Baytown, TX
The City of Baytown for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements
Baytown, TX Interior $500,000 $0 $0 $40,000
Galveston transit vehicle replacement, TX
TX Transportation-Housing and Urban Development $500,000 N/A N/A $0
Flyover Connecting Highway 146 and Spur 330, TX
TX Transportation-Housing and Urban Development $400,000 N/A N/A $0
Brazosport College, Lake Jackson, TX for curriculum development
Lake Jackson, TX Labor-HHS-Education $380,000 N/A N/A $0
Port of Galveston Solar Energy Project
Galveston, TX Energy and Water $250,000 N/A N/A $0
Houston-Galveston Navigation Channels, TX
TX Energy and Water $242,000 N/A N/A $0
Wharton County Jr. College, Wharton, TX for curriculum development to train students for work in the nuclear power industry
Wharton, TX Labor-HHS-Education $220,000 N/A N/A $0
Brazosport College, Galveston, TX for purchase of equipment to be used in the petrochemical and nuclear technician training programs
Galveston, TX Labor-HHS-Education $200,000 N/A N/A $0
Emergency Operations Center, Brazoria County Emergency Management, TX
Brazoria County, TX Homeland Security $100,000 N/A N/A
You've got a point there. I've got a lot more confidence in Paul's judgment that I do in Obama's. In fact, I agree with almost all of Paul's domestic platform. He is one of the few folks in DC that really understands the Constitution.
But when it comes to earmarks, you are either part of the problem or part of the solution.
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, TX
TX Energy & Water $29,586,000 N/A N/A $0
Houston Ship Channel, TX
Houston, TX Energy & Water $13,788,000 N/A N/A $0
Freeport Harbor, TX
TX Energy & Water $6,516,000 N/A N/A $0
Matagorda Ship Channel, TX
TX Energy & Water $5,730,000 N/A N/A $0
Galveston Harbor Channel, TX
TX Energy & Water $5,590,000 N/A N/A $0
Gaiveston Causeway Bridge, Gaiveston, TX
Galveston, TX Homeland Security $4,000,000 N/A N/A $0
GIWW, Chocolate Bayou, TX
TX Energy & Water $2,716,000 N/A N/A $0
GIWW, Channel to Victoria, TX
TX Energy & Water $2,512,000 N/A N/A $0
Texas City Channel, TX
TX Energy & Water $1,914,000 N/A N/A $0
Walusville Lake, TX
TX Energy & Water $1,622,000 N/A N/A $0
Vanadium Safety Readiness
Danbury; Fort Detrick; Cambridge; Butler, CT; MD; OH; PA Defense $1,600,000 N/A N/A $0
Texas City Ship Channel, TX
TX Energy & Water $1,376,000 N/A N/A $0
Lower Colorado River Basin, Wharton/Onion , TX
TX Energy & Water $1,264,000 N/A N/A $0
City of Bay City
City of Bay City NuBlac Rehab Center
Bay City, TX Commerce, Justice & Science $500,000 $0 $0 $0
Clear Creek, TX
TX Energy & Water $478,000 N/A N/A $0
Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay, TX
TX Energy & Water $382,000 N/A N/A $0
Channel to Port Bouvar, TX
TX Energy & Water $323,000 N/A N/A $0
Golden Crescent Bus Replacement in and around Victoria, TX
Victoria, TX Transportation and Housing & Urban Development $237,500 N/A N/A $0
Transit Maintenance Facility Renovations, Galveston, TX
Galveston, TX Transportation and Housing & Urban Development $237,500 N/A N/A $0
Memorial Hermann Healthcare System Life Flight Operations Center, Houston, TX for facilities and equipment
Houston, TX Labor-HHS-Education $190,000 N/A N/A $0
Galveston Seawall, TX
Galveston, TX Transportation and Housing & Urban Development $95,000 N/A N/A $0
Victoria Chamber of Commerce, Victoria, TX for the Sure BET program to reduce drop-out rates
Victoria, TX Labor-HHS-Education $95,000 N/A N/A $0
Housing and Community Services, New Braunfels, TX for equipment for Fox Run in Victoria
New Braunfels, TX Transportation and Housing & Urban Development $23,750 N/A
>>>Yes, however that is not the issue at hand. Beck made an observation, I agreed and then you said it was a lie.
Which part of what Beck said and I agreed with is a lie.
Paul IS the earmark king of congress, it is a fact, it is a given.<<<
There was no context. Beck is constantly harping about the MSM taking things out of context. He shouldn’t be such a hypocrite.
The people who call Ron Paul a nut don’t understand the evils of the Fedreal Reserve and how this banking cartel encourages war for their own profit and the demise of our military. The three wars we have fought have been fought for nothing. Only to turn these countries back to the Taliban.
Unfortunately Ron Paul in a threat to the establishment so they ignore him. If he runs as an independent I will still vote for him. I have stopped my donations to the GOP.
Glenn Beck is a big cry baby. Beck and Boehner should have a good cry together. Real men need to run this country.
Ron Paul was my representative when I lived in Texas. He would get his share of earmarks, but loaded them onto bills that were sure to pass, and then voted against them.
His campaign literature was full of how his record was to never vote for an earmark for his district.
Of course he cut deals to vote for others’ earmarks, so they would vote for his. That is how he got the ‘crazy uncle’ reputation. He had to support Democratic positions to get Democrats to vote for his earmarks.
Houston Ship Channel
TX Energy & Water $17,221,000 N/A N/A $0
Galveston Causeway Bridge
Galveston, TX Homeland Security $3,750,000 N/A N/A $0
Bear Metallurgical
Vanadium Safely Readiness
Danbury; Ft. Detrick; Cambridge; Butler, CT; MD; OH; PA Defense $3,000,000 $0 $0 $0
Metallurg Vanadium
Vanadium Safely Readiness
Danbury; Ft. Detrick; Cambridge; Butler, CT; MD; OH; PA Defense $3,000,000 $0 $0 $0
Strategic Minerals Corp
Vanadium Safely Readiness
Danbury; Ft. Detrick; Cambridge; Butler, CT; MD; OH; PA Defense $3,000,000 $0 $0 $0
Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Res
Vanadium Safely Readiness
Danbury; Ft. Detrick; Cambridge; Butler, CT; MD; OH; PA Defense $3,000,000 $0 $0 $0
Texas City Channel
TX Energy & Water $2,460,000 N/A N/A $0
Victoria Bus Replacement
TX Transportation and Housing & Urban Development $294,000 N/A N/A $0
University of Texas
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX for nursing programs
Galveston, TX Labor-HHS-Education $146,000 $8,551 $0 $0
Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay
TX Energy & Water $98,000 N/A N/A $0
University of Texas
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, TX for the Centralized Clinical Placement system, including purchase of equipment
Galveston, TX Labor-HHS-Education $97,000 $8,551
>>Far above Paultards, you Jew-hating bastard.
Will you please consider stopping with the name-calling and crude language? It makes FR look bad, like DU. It would be much more interesting to read the back and forth discussion as ideas are debated, etc. When people resort to name-calling and bad language, it signals to the reader that they have no real argument.
Thanks.
there is no shortage of people who understand the constitution in Washington. Rather, the shortage is of people who will let it guide their voting.
No, they are not stupid in DC. They are evil.
>>>But when it comes to earmarks, you are either part of the problem or part of the solution.<<<
I believe you do not understand earmarks. Once budgeted, the money is going to be spent, one way or another. Why not spend it transparently.
The real problem is not earmarks, but the budgeting process.
Agreed. I stand corrected!
Ron Paul sponsored or co-sponsored 23 earmarks totalling $80,775,750 in fiscal year 2009 ranking 33rd out of 435 representatives.
http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/earmarks.php?fy=FY09&cid=n00005906&cycle=2010
>>>. . . Victoria, TX Labor-HHS-Education $95,000 N/A N/A $0
Housing and Community Services, New Braunfels, TX for equipment for Fox Run in Victoria
New Braunfels, TX Transportation and Housing & Urban Development $23,750<<<
That’s what I like to see: transparency in government. Just think how much damage Obama could do with that much money (in secrecy, to boot)?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.