Is Ron Paul Dr. No or Dr. Maybe?

The Houston Chronicle reports on Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) and earmarks in last week's omnibus spending bill:

Rep. Ron Paul vehemently denounced the $410 billion catch-all spending bill approved last week by the House of Representatives.

But although the libertarian-leaning Republican from Lake Jackson cast a vote against the massive spending measure, his fingerprints were on some of the earmarks that helped inflate its cost.

Paul played a role in obtaining 22 earmarks worth $96.1 million, which led the Houston congressional delegation, according to a Houston Chronicle analysis of more than 8,500 congressionally mandated projects inserted into the bill. His earmarks included repair projects to the Galveston Seawall damaged by Hurricane Ike and the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway.

More here. More on Paul and earmarks here. And how Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) cuts a different path.

Reason.com's Ron Paul coverage here.

Reason.tv took a look at earmarks and talked to the Senate's Dr. No, Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who called earmarks the gateway drug to big government: