Texas Republicans Love Earmarks As Much As Liberals Like Myself Love Big Government—The Yang Of Truth And The Yin Of Hypocrisy

Despite all the talk we hear about Texans not wanting the federal government in their lives, Texas gets a great deal of money in federal earmarks. Many of these earmarks are sought by Republicans.

From the Houston Chronicle—

“Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s status as a Washington insider proved politically toxic in her bid for governor — but those same skills reaped more than a billion dollars this year for Texas cities, universities, medical centers and military installations. Hutchison’s prolific use of earmarks placed her third among the Senate’s 100 members, behind only California Democrats Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. ..A 17-year Senate veteran who serves on the powerful Senate Committee on Appropriations, Hutchison continues to capitalize on her capital connections by inserting 166 special spending requests worth more than $1.2 billion into the federal government’s 2010 budget, which runs through Sept. 30, according to data collected by the nonpartisan watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense.. Overall, Texas raked in $1.6 billion for projects sought by its members of Congress. That total swells to $1.8 billion when earmarks requested solely by the White House, mostly for military projects, are added. Houston-area lawmakers are among the most prolific fans of the earmark in the Texas delegation, totaling about $322 million in this year’s budget. They sponsored or co-sponsored 85 of the 573 Texas earmarks. Five of the top seven Texas earmarkers come from Houston, led by Democratic Rep. Gene Green and Republican Rep. John Culberson.”

This is all good to hear. As a liberal, I support the use of government funds to benefit the lives of our people. It is reassuring to know that this common sense position is one held by office holders and citizens across the political spectrum.

As has been reported before, so-called libertarian Congressman Ron Paul of Texas loves earmarks. Mr. Paul goes on about not wanting federal dollars, but he goes after the money just like a liberal.

Congressperson John Culberson, who I’m sorry to report is my own Representative, once said the stimulus package was meant to turn America into France.

Yet based on the article above, Mr Culberson, just like Mr. Paul, loves to bring federal dollars to Texas.

What is behind this apparent duality?

Below are examples of dualities.

I think that for Senator Hutchinson, Rep. Paul and Rep. Culberson, the chart should be updated to show the Yang of a truthful person and Yin of a hypocrite.

The same can be said of all Republicans in Texas who take the money from Washington.

These Republicans may win elections in Texas for the time-being, but it is big government liberals like myself who enjoy the ongoing role of the federal government in the lives of Texans and in the lives of people all across our great federal union.