Fox News is a bit coy about it:

The top Republican is former presidential contender and self-proclaimed fiscal conservative Ron Paul, (R-Texas), who could stand to get $73.7 million in earmarks.

And you know the ironic part? The guy is probably more or less correct. What’s better – knowing what the money is being wasted on (earmarked), or having all the spending lumped together into a big nondescript blob where we have no idea where it is going?

Of course the other question/issue is: what is the Congressperson’s responsibility for getting federal money for their constituents? There’s a fine line between pork barrel tactics and getting funds for legitimate projects in their districts. The “Bridge to Nowhere” has completely polluted the funding picture.

You gotta admit that Paul had to have some guts to get up there and say it. Or maybe it was just very poor judgment.