Is Ron Paul a Porker?
There’s a bit of a dustup going around today about the recently signed Omnibus Appropriations Bill and the earmarks that Ron Paul’s name is attached to. Some $73 million of the $410 billion is earmarked to go to Paul’s district. Also of note, Paul voted no on the bill. Why would he vote no if there was money that he earmarked for his district? Possibly because he knew that it would pass regardless, so why not have the best of both worlds and keep the limited government, conservative voting record he’s built up while still scoring the lion share of the earmarks for his district. Possible. And in 4 years, if he’s running for President again, will anyone remember that he had more earmarks than any other representative? Maybe, but you know he’ll be pushing that he voted against it.
I have to admit that I’m on the fence here. I want to believe Paul when he claims that all government spending should be earmarked. It does make some sense. But, he’s human and a politician, which automatically discounts anything he says were his intentions. Paul also claims that the earmark process is a function of transperancy. True? Perhaps. If each and every penny is earmarked, we have a very defined set of purposes for each penny. We would no longer have a gross amount allocated to a department or entity to spend as they will. But it’s not realistic. Who want’s to go about earmarking $410 billion worth of spending? Of course, the arguement there is that Paul got his way and limited government, the budget would be a fraction of that amount and would be more than manageable as earmarks. But, back to reality. Limited government is a ideallist dream. It’s my ideallist dream as well. But, we’re a long way from attaining that dream.
Let’s look at some numbers now. The bill was $410 billion. The total amount of earmarks is somewhere around $5.4 billion dollars of that. That’s equal to 1.32% of the total bill. Of that $5.4 billion in earmarks, $73 million of that belongs to Paul’s district. One billion is equal to $1000 million. Which makes Paul’s earmarks equal to 1.36% of the earmarks. Oh, and in the bigger picture? Paul’s earmarks are about 0.18% of the bill. Shame on you Ron Paul. 
Perhaps, instead of creating a ruckus about less than 1.5% of the total bill, we should deal with the other 98.5% of the $410 billion. Even if we eliminate all earmarks, we only eliminate 1.32% of the budget. Perhaps earmarks should be eliminated. But, they also are being used as smoke and mirrors. A clever distraction from the real problem. A problem of overspending and cronyism that extends through both parties of our government. “Look at how wonderful this bailout bill is! It has no earmarks!” Nevermind the reckless overspending it includes. Nevermind that it is little more than a thinly veiled “earmark” itself. And don’t get me started on our President who has claimed to want to reform earmarking. I’ve got a request, Mr. President. Reform the other $403.85 billion, then worry about the earmarking.