Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
    • Reason TV
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • Just Asking Questions
    • Free Media
    • The Reason Interview
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Print Subscription
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Politics

Doctor Paul Gets a Second Opinion

David Weigel | 10.29.2007 2:42 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

The Club for Growth's series of white papers critiquing the GOP candidates continues with Rep. Ron Paul. It's possibly the first treatment of Paul's ideas and record that puts him on the same platform as Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. When they praise him, they praise him: Paul's tax and spending vote record is basically buffed and glowing. When they knock him, they do so just as energetically. The takeaway: Paul exemplifies "the perfect as the enemy of the good." On earmarks:

In defense of his support for earmarks, Rep. Paul took the if you can't beat 'em, join 'em position, arguing that "I don't think they should take our money in the first place. But if they take it, I think we should ask for it back." This is a contradiction of Paul's self-proclaimed "opposition to appropriations not authorized within the enumerated powers of the Constitution."

I think the Club is calling Paul out for playing an election-winning game. He knows the argument against earmarks cold, and thinks (like Ramesh Ponnuru) that they're a minor problem compared to the creaking welfare state and the money supply. Alas, he wants to be returned to office by voters, so he does constituent services, he helps people get their Social Security checks, he puts earmarks in and then votes them down.

On trade:

Unlike protectionists who deny the economic benefits of free-trade policies, Ron Paul embraces the importance of free trade, but lives in a dream world if he thinks free trade will be realized absent agreements like NAFTA and CAFTA. Paul himself argues that "tariffs are simply taxes on consumers," but by opposing these trade agreements, he is actively opposing a decrease in those taxes. While Paul's rhetoric is soundly pro-free trade, his voting record mirrors those of Congress's worst protectionists.

I praised the club back in 2006.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Reason Writers Around Town

David Weigel is a contributing editor at Reason.

PoliticsRon PaulMitt Romney
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Show Comments (86)

Latest

The Constitution Does Not Allow the President To Unilaterally Blow Suspected Drug Smugglers to Smithereens

Rand Paul | 10.8.2025 5:54 PM

States Are Banning Retail Sales of Dogs and Cats. It's Doing More Harm Than Good.

John Stossel | 10.8.2025 2:50 PM

Supreme Court Declines To Address Section 230 in Two Cases for This Term

Joe Lancaster | 10.8.2025 2:30 PM

Trump Calls for Arrest of Chicago Mayor and Illinois Gov. Pritzker

C.J. Ciaramella | 10.8.2025 1:15 PM

Trump's Labor Department Admits That Trump's Immigration Crackdown Is Causing a Shortage of Farm Workers

Eric Boehm | 10.8.2025 1:00 PM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS

© 2025 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300
Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300
Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300