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...Banning earmarks will not shrink the size of the federal budget. It will just mean that a bigger portion of the budget goes to Obama and his czars, while a smaller portion of the budget goes toward projects that constituents can at least get some use out of...

Texas Congressman Ron Paul is a fiscal watchdog, but he placed more earmarks in the recently passed $410 billion spending bill than any other Republican, inserting $73 million into the measure — which he then voted against. Paul, who sought the Republican presidential nomination last year, acknowledged in an interview with Fox News that the $73 million “might be” going to his Gulf Coast district in Texas for things like the Intracoastal Waterway and the Texas City channel. “The principle of the earmark is our responsibility,” he said. “It’s like a tax credit. And I vote for all tax credits,...

Earmarks seem to be the hot topic this week, and as a fiscal conservative I am dismayed so many people deliberately distort the earmarking process and grandstand to make political points. It is an easy thing to do with earmarks. It takes a little more time and patience to grasp the reality of what earmarks really are. To be sure, if earmarks were the driving force behind explosive government spending as some have been led to believe, that would be a good reason for all the fuss. The misconception seems to be that members of Congress put together a bunch...

What? Ron Paul not making any sense? Now I have heard everything. The video is from a recent appearance on Neil Cavuto’s show. The main argument of the segment was earmarks. Earmarks are indeed a problem with Members of Congress; they can’t help themselves with their pet projects.

Ron Paul, the Texas congressman who is the darling of the Libertarian Right, has more earmarks in the pork-laden $410-billion spending bill than any other Republican. That's not according to the MSM, or the liberal blogosphere. That's what Fox News is reporting. In an interview Tuesday night with Fox News' Neil Cavuto, Paul not only defended his own earmarks, he argued that every penny in the federal budget should be earmarked, to improve transparency. Paul, a fiscal watchdog who said he voted against the bill because he believes federal spending is out of control, acknowledged that $73 million in the...

I watched Ron Paul on Glenn Beck today and as usual I was amazed that he is just about the only politician in Washington talking about the real issues. Neither McCain nor Obama will talk about monetary policy. They are scared to, because they know the system we have is unconstitutional and that the only way to fix things is to go back to constitutional money. But that would hurt, so it wouldn't be prudent to bring it up...

Ron Paul is frequently described as a strict constitutionalist who won't vote for anything not authorized in the Constitution. Some call him Dr. No. Some call him "The Taxpayer's Best Friend." It's a reputation that doesn't appear to square with the fact. Try to find the constitutional authority for the earmarks he submitted for the upcoming FY 2009 budget. Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science: • $250,000 for Galveston Economic Development Partnership, for Galveston Center for Business and Technology Development to help spin off private investment at National Lab of the University of Texas Medical Branch • $500,000 for City...

ANNAPOLIS— After eleven days of presidential straw poll ballots cast at the Maryland Republican Party’s State Fair booth, Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) was announced last night as the winner. The Maryland Republican Party’s first-ever presidential straw poll at the State Fair resulted in nearly 1,000 Marylanders casting a vote for their favorite Republican candidate for president.

Monday, August 27, 2007Candidates Hailed For Open Government PledgeCongressman Ron Paul Three presidential candidates (Illinois Senator Barack Obama, Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul) are being hailed by the Reason Foundation for putting their signatures on a pledge declaring that, should they win the presidency in 2008, they will issue an executive order during their first month in office instructing the entire executive branch to put into practice the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006.The act would create a Google-like search tool that will allow average Americans to see just how their tax dollars are...

Many of you know that I help organize the Duncan Hunter "meetup" group(s). I decided to peek in at the "competition" and found it very interesting that Ron Paul supporters are being urged to attend the MoveOn.org rally.... http://ronpaul.meetup.com/1/boards/view/viewthread?thread=3421862 I post this because I know there are a lot of folks on FR that support Ron Paul.. I just wonder if you are participating in this effort.. or what you think about this whole business of catering to MoveOn.org .... quote from an active Ron Paul supporter Somebody posted a thread concerning moveon, and letting their members know about Ron...

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. On the other hand, it does not show much honesty, integrity, or conviction. The latest test of this principle is to watch “1st tier” presidential candidate Mitt Romney start to emulate the political philosophy of “2nd tier” candidate Ron Paul. Ron Paul has been in favor of small government since he became a Congressman. He has been in Congress for ten terms or twenty years. (Ron Paul is currently listed with 8 to 1 odds of becoming the next US President) Throughout that time he has consistently advocated that we strictly...

Ron Paul has indeed been responsible for several legislative earmarks intended to fund government activity inconsistent with his libertarian philosophy. At face value, his actions seem hypocritical; however, there is an important mitigating factor which your editorial ("Ron Paul's Earmarks," Aug. 6) failed to mention: Mr. Paul proceeds to vote against the passage of the earmarked bills. In other words, Mr. Paul opposes the type of legislation that allows for the inclusion of these earmarks, yet acknowledges that in the face of a federal government sadly keen on spending, his district deserves the same treatment as others. Considering that extra...

High Risk Spending August 13, 2007 Last week this column addressed the train wreck that federal spending has become. To score political points politicians will make loud noise about fairly small matters such as earmarks, even while refusing to address the real problem. Namely, that our federal government is too big and does too much. Politicians prefer to pass a bill or create a program every time somebody points to a new social problem, this way they can tell their constituents how much they are doing to help. Instead of rationally explaining the proper role of government, politicians have attempted...

I have been watching with interest the candidacy of Libertarian Ron Paul. Like many, I've been wondering what the heck he is doing in this race in the first place. Let's face it, even in the GOP field of candidates he doesn't fit in well. Naturally, he is a whipping boy for the GOP establishment... well, maybe just a laughing stock, would be more accurate. But, there is real substance to Mr. Paul, a substance that is all too easy to gloss over by focusing on his quirks. And he does serve a very important purpose; he helps bring the...

Texas congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul — who is campaigning as a critic of congressional overspending — has revealed that he is requesting $400 million worth of earmarks this year. The Wall Street Journal reports Paul's office says those requests include $8 million for the marketing of wild American shrimp and $2.3 million to pay for research into shrimp fishing. A spokesman says, "Reducing earmarks does not reduce government spending, and it does not prohibit spending upon those things that are earmarked. What people who push earmark reform are doing is they are particularly misleading the public —...

Rep. Ron Paul Isn’t Going Away * When he deigned last month to include Ron Paul in his Sunday morning show, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos told the Republican presidential candidate that he’d bet every last cent that Dr. Paul won’t end up in the White House. He’s right, of course. But that doesn’t mean that the 71-year-old congressman from Texas isn’t a surprising force in the 2008 race. He commands far more attention—from the media and from his opponents—than his low standing in the polls seems to warrant, has amassed an ideology-defying army of true believers through the Internet, and actually...

These last few weeks the House has been in a rush to pass spending bills before August recess. In fact, visitors walking the hallways of Congress become immediately struck by the apparent spending battle between the “conservative Democrats” of the so-called “Blue Dog Coalition,” and the Republican Study Committee, or RSC, generally representing the more conservative bloc of Republican House members. Members of each of these groups place large posters on easels outside their offices. The purpose behind this seems clear, to point the finger at the opposite party for the current budget mess that continues to threaten America’s future....

Wild shrimp! I am your pork pimp! I'll make federal funds ... easy! Wild shrimp! Wild shrimp, I want to pimp you But I gotta know for sure. Will eight mil be enough? You need it... Wild shrimp! My values go limp! I'm just an earmark pimp For my wild shrimp!

It's in a subscribers only link at the Wall Street Journal. The Congressman wants $8,000,000.00 to pay for marketing of wild American shrimp and $2.3 million to fund research into shrimp-fishing. These are but two of the Congressman's 65 earmarks sought thus far this year to the tune of $400,000,000.00. HIs chief spokesman pulled a Tom DeLay and said "Reducing earmarks does not reduce government spending, and it does not prohibit spending upon those things that are earmarked," the spokesman said. "What people who push earmark reform are doing is they are particularly misleading the public -- and I have...

Paul preaches nonintervention, less government By Bret Hayworth Journal staff writer Leave a comment. | Share delicious digg newsvine | Small | Large LAWTON, Iowa -- Pledging a return to constitutional principles, Republican Party presidential Ron Paul contended Tuesday it is time misguided economic, foreign-policy and education moves are turned around. So many policies or programs the federal government has enacted in recent decades don't have an origin in the Constitution, so they should be stopped, said Paul, a congressman from Texas. He cited the Federal Reserve System, federal funding for public education, federal income tax and entitlement programs such...