Earmarks
I know earmarks are a US political term and a somewhat obscure subject for an Australian blog but some of you might find this interesting. Earmarks are generally regarded as a dirty part of US federal politics. It is generally looked at as a process where congressman try and allocate government spending to suit local political interests instead of the greater good. Despite this bad reputation Ron Paul manages to make a good case for a significant increase in earmarks.
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Interesting argument, but the term earmarking he is using in this context is significantly different to the corrupt earmarking that he has railed against in the past. In this one he is essentially arguing for all expenditure to be earmarked whereas the term is in reality a lurk whereby Congressmen and Senators can extract funding for pet projects in exchange for supporting bills. This is often done in exchange for generous campaign donations from the recipients.
Several Reps are currently under investigation for corruption in relation to this including John Murtha who is chairman of the Defense Appropriations Committee.
Ron is obviously talking of a different system of appropriations and it sounds quite reasonable to me.
I suppose it is the difference between the principle of earmarking versus the current practice.
Yep Terje; the guys on the right track, and as you know I am not a great fan of Ron but credit where credit is due.
@Jim Fryar – “I am not a great fan of Ron”
Are you a neocon or just mentally ill?
Ron Paul does a better job at promoting libertarianism in Australia than the decrepit LDP, ALS and YOU combined.
The guy has never been to Australia, probably knows very little about Australia and yet he does more than you and all the “libertarian” organisations in Australia combined.
All the neocon war-monger libertarians need to go back to the Coalition where they belong. Let’s start with you Fryar.
What do you have against the ALS and the LDP? I agree that Ron Paul has a large following amoungst some young Australians (plus me) however why denigrate the ALS, LDP and Jim in the process of supporting Ron Paul. And whilst I’m not a fan of neoconservatism or war mongering I don’t see any point in telling libertarians to join the coalition instead of the LDP. My advice is to lose the agro.
Thanks for the defense Terje while I was out of circulation. One of the things that really pisses me off is the way that some of those who are fans of Ron start spewing venom at comments like, “I am not a great fan of Ron.”
You should meet that chick Annony Mouse, she really gets uptight.
Err, how many votes did Ron Paul get himself or for the LDP in the 2007 Australian Federal Election?