Ron Paul Slams Cavuto on Earmarks - Fox News - 3-10-2009

Great way to lose friends and alienate people.

Cavuto one of the few people that listens to Ron Paul and backs him nine times out of ten on the economy.

*OR* We can email Judge Napolitano and chew him out while we are at it.

First off, Ron Paul didn't "slam" Neil Cavuto. They just had a discussion and Neil did his best trying to ask the right questions to tease out a coherent answer from Ron. Neil is and always has been an ally of Ron who is gracious enough to have him on his show.

I remember the late Tim Russert asking the same question on Meet the Press and Ron gave a similar, difficult to understand reply. And here today, Neil had a hard time understanding the explanation, Russert had a hard time understanding it, I had a hard time and I'm sure as hell certain that a lot of people at home had a hard time with it too.

I understand what Ron is saying about transparency. Earmarks are more transparent than handing a blank check to the President. I think he's also saying that it is better to have the local people deciding where to spend this money than having the Federal Government deciding it, although I'm not sure I heard him clearly express that.

He should just try to talk slower and really find a good way to explain this. He might try saying, "I don't like this system as it stands, but because I can't change the system overnight, I'd rather have earmarks that are spent locally rather than having the Federal government squander it. But if I had my way we wouldn't be doing any of this spending through the government." That I can understand. That seems to be consistent with his principles.

But lets be realistic here and not just be blind cheerleaders about everything we hear Ron say. We're not a cult, dammit, we're a libertarian movement. The moment we stop being realistic about things is the moment we stop improving.

that phony hurt look right off Cavuto's face. Take a look at Cavuto's page at the FOX website. They show a picture of Ron with the heading - Biggest Porker.
http://www.foxnews.com/yourworld/ scroll down to, Its Your World

"It's just one big club... and WE ain't in it!"

Dr. Paul doesn't understand that the people don't understand that earmarks come out of funds already appropriated in the bills. He has to drive that point home, repeatedly. Whenever he talks about earmarks, he makes the mistake of answering questions literally. When Cavuto asks, "How do the earmarks for the bridges get in the bill?" Paul says, "I have no idea." When really, the question begs an underlying explanation of the earmark process, how bills are introduced, and how earmarks are added.

The media is completely subject to the will of the executive in this country. They kowtow to the President. That's why we're in such a mess right now.

Ron Paul explained earmarks perfectly on this interview and on the house floor. Cavuto would've done his viewers a service by playing Paul's remarks on the house floor, but instead he chose to pursue the "EARMARK BAD! ARR!!" caveman line of thought.

I'm still pretty mad about this interview, so this morning I got Cavuto's email address and sent him a piece of my mind. If you want to do the same, here's the address:

cavuto@foxnews.com

Have fun!

Experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms of government those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted it into tyranny.
Thomas Jefferson

Yeah, I know that Cavuto has given Dr. Paul a lot of air time over the last year, but I also think that Cavuto's motive for having Ron Paul on his program was NEVER to further the good doctor's presidential aspirations, but simply to have someone interesting to interview.

Did you notice that every time Dr. Paul brought up the TARP funds, Cavuto would get visibly agitated and start talking so you couldn't hear Dr.Paul's explanation.

Cavuto knows that Ron Paul is not a "porker." Anyone with half a brain should know that if McCain is against earmarks, they must be a good thing.

It is like this...that bridge in Dr Paul's district? Let's say it was $100 milion and there was a $100 billion appropriations bill. That doesn't make the bill $100 bilionl PLUS $100 million. It is $100 mil that comes OUT OF the $100 billion. It is actually a way to get back some of the money the federal govt STOLE for one's district. BUT it in no way ADDS to the amount of money spent because it comes out of the money that will be spent anyway.