The Daily Background
| [Video] Ron Paul struggles to defend his earmarks
by Arlen Parsa
I think this video from Meet The Press today pretty much speaks for itself. It’s largely representative of Paul’s appearance on MTP, for most of which he sounded like a babbling old libertarian who had trouble defending his positions, past actions, and past statements (more than once when a less than flattering newspaper account was recited to him, he accused reporters of making up quotes that he didn’t really say, or otherwise being misleading).
I do want to highlight one claim he makes, about midway through the clip though.
PAUL: It’s like taking a tax credit. If you have a tax credit, I’m against the taxes but I take all my tax credits. I want to get…
RUSSERT: But if you were true…
PAUL: …the money back for the people.
RUSSERT: If you were true to your philosophy, you would say no pork spending in my district.
PAUL: No, no, that’s not it. They steal our money, that’s like saying that people shouldn’t take Social Security money.
RUSSERT: For…
PAUL: I don’t advocate that.
In this exchange, Paul claims that he only puts earmarks in bills because the system allows him to, even though he is against it in principle. He says that as long as the system is corrupt (at least, corrupt in his eyes), people should milk it for all it’s worth. Being principled (in his eyes) and not putting earmarks in bills would be like “saying that people shouldn’t take Social Security money” he suggests.
The problem? Although Paul says in this exchange that he is for milking the government for all its worth so long as the system is corrupt (in his eyes), he has bragged about abstaining from milking the system and using programs like Medicare and Medicaid in the past:
Paul extended his small-government ideals to his personal life. As a doctor, he refused to accept government insurance such as Medicaid because, he said, “I thought that was one stop too far.” If a patient couldn’t afford treatment, “I just took care of them.” As a lawmaker, he’s chosen not to participate in the congressional pension program.
Nice try Russert, but Paul is too honest and principled
for Russert’s ‘got you attempt’.
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight with you, then you win.
Ron Paul will survive these attacks because people are alot smarter than the neo cons realize.
Earmarks that he votes no for anyway? Is that all they can come up with?
Ron Paul has not a smudge of corruption on him.
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The point is, whether he earmarked federal funds for his district or not the money would be spent anyway.. so instead of it being used wastefully in other ways, at least some of the money his constituents PAID to the federal govt would be returned back to their area.. I see nothing wrong with that at all — not a shred of corruption whatsoever.. And on top of it he still voted against the bill. This is a straw man attack plain and simple.
If you’re supporting a candidate in this election that isn’t Ron Paul, than you are supporting a foreign policy resembling that of the Soviet Union and economic facsism at home.
This is a fact…you can dance around it, but the fact remains.
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Ron Paul is fraud.