We knew all along that voting in Republicans who claim they will cut the deficit was rather like going out for a Big Mac, fries, and a shake when you want to lose weight. Republicans are all talk who inevitably do the opposite once in office. Rand Paul didn’t even wait until he was in office, falling in love with earmarks like his pseudo-libertarian father, Ron Paul. This was revealed in an op-ed on Paul in The Wall Street Journal:
Father and son, age 47, have different styles. Asked what he wanted to do in Washington in a Wednesday morning television interview, the senator-elect said that his kids were hoping to meet the Obama girls. He has made other concessions to the mainstream. He now avoids his dad’s talk of shuttering the Federal Reserve and abolishing the income tax. In a bigger shift from his campaign pledge to end earmarks, he tells me that they are a bad “symbol” of easy spending but that he will fight for Kentucky’s share of earmarks and federal pork, as long as it’s doled out transparently at the committee level and not parachuted in in the dead of night. “I will advocate for Kentucky’s interests,” he says.
So you’re not a crazy libertarian? “Not that crazy,” he cracks.
This has attracted the attention of conservatives, who really shouldn’t be surprised. The National Review accuses Paul of selling out and points out his no-pork pledge:
More importantly, it seems like a very big shift from this February 2010 post (“Rand’s no-pork pledge“) from his campaign website:
Rand Paul appreciates Republican Senator Jim DeMint introducing today a one-year ban on earmark spending and a balanced-budget amendment. Rand strongly supports both initiatives and has made them centerpieces of his campaign for limited government, including his signing of the Citizens Against Government Waste “No pork pledge.”
“The Tea Party movement is an effort to get government under control,” Rand said. “I’m running to represent Kentuckians and to dismantle the culture of professional politicians in Washington. Leadership isn’t photo-ops with oversized fake cardboard checks. That kind of thinking is bankrupting our nation. Senator DeMint understands that and has taken action to stop it.”
It doesn’t take long for the real agenda to expose itself. Being a Senator is all about personal greed first and ensuring one’s reelection next. It will be interesting to see if any of the Tea Party folks keep their campaign pledges.