After reporters started asking questions, the Congressman disclosed his requests this year for about $400 million worth of federal funding for no fewer than 65 earmarks. They include such urgent national wartime priorities as an $8 million request for the marketing of wild American shrimp and $2.3 million to fund shrimp-fishing research.

When we called Mr. Paul's office for an explanation, his spokesperson offered up something worthy of pork legends Tom DeLay or Senator Robert C. Byrd: "Reducing earmarks does not reduce government spending, and it does not prohibit spending upon those things that are earmarked," the spokesman said. "What people who push earmark reform are doing is they are particularly misleading the public -- and I have to presume it's not by accident."

On the other hand, good libertarians should want to start cutting somewhere. The problem with earmarking is that each year the habit grows by leaps and bounds so that it now represents real money. It is also a gateway to political corruption -- a la Duke Cunningham, and other Congressmen currently under investigation for trading favors for earmarks.

Mr. Paul is one of Congress's better fiscal conservatives. So the fact that even he feels obliged to grab multiple earmarks is all the more reason to keep fighting for transparency in the earmark process, as well as for the line-item veto, which would give Presidents a chance to impose some spending discipline from outside Congress.]

Ron Paul: Principle.

Looked at around 1,000 Myspace pages browsing for “Wisconsin 420″, Wisconsin ganja”, etc, in the course of promoting our hempfest in Madison. Saw more PAUL icons than all other Prez candidates put together. GRAVEL 2nd.

I want a citizen who will uphold the constitution in the white house plain and simple.

The left right paradigm is just that, the same corporate money is behind both parties.

As far as I know Ron Paul is the only candidate for president that does not accept donations from corporations.

He’s also one of the only (the only?) congressman who actually wants a chance to read the bills he votes for in Congress and he has introduced legislation to that effect to prevent multi-trillion dollar (6.3 trillion?) budgets from being introduced at midnight and voted on at 4 in the morning (no person who voted on that bill read it, to do so would be simply impossible the bill was almost certainly well over 1000 pages with hundreds if not thousands of references to other thousand page bills).

Anyway enough ranting.

Rest assured the support for Ron Paul is real despite the results of certain polls (which I heard do not even mention his name when they poll people).

I heard something about the internet support for Ron Paul being faked. I doubt this as I know how I feel and I know millions of others are fed up like I am and are voicing their discontent through the last vestige of free speech left in this country.

Republicans should be PROUD that they have a candidate so good that people are willing to switch parties to vote for him.

Whats the difference between someone that joins the party because they like Fred Thompson? Would you discrimate against that person or welcome them?

People joining the party is a good thing. Face it, you just don’t like Ron Paul.

I believe the false left/right paradigm is becoming obvious to many.

Many are tired of the fake “war on terror” and are concerned that our constitutional rights are disappearing.

Ron Paul is talking about these and other politicians would like to ignore them.