Only a true Beltway insider -- and a cynical one at that -- can claim to be a "fiscal conservative" while loading up his district with pure pork.
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...
Among Paul's earmarks are boondoggles like $38 million to "encourage parents to read aloud to their children", $18 million for a light rail study, $4 million for a "Trails and Sidewalks Connectivity Initiative", $11 million for an ACORN-like "Community-Based Job Training Program", $2 million for a "clean energy" pilot project, and many, many more.
See original work for more on this and other stories.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Spamming will be removed.
Due to spamming. Comments need to be moderated. Your post will appear after moderated regardless of your views as long as they are not abusive in nature. Consistent abusive posters will not be viewed but deleted.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.