Do you get the impression that someone in Victoria just doesn’t like Ron Paul? Not that there’s anything wrong with that, mind you.
During the past six years, Paul sponsored 223 measures, according to the Library of Congress’ THOMAS online service for tracking legislation.
The vast majority of Paul’s proposals were referred to committee or subcommittee, never to be heard of again. A handful actually got to the floor of the House in the form of amendments to other legislation. Of those, the House passed only three.
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Another measure of Paul’s ineffectiveness is how little success he typically had over the past six years in recruiting co-sponsors for measures he carried.
Very rarely was he able to persuade even 20 of his more than 200 fellow Republicans in the House to sign on to back his proposals. In most cases, he secured only handfuls of co-sponsors. And in more than a few, he could not get even one colleague to support his legislation.
Most members of the House of both parties, including his own, recognize that supporting Paul’s proposals is toxic to their effectiveness.
Yet another measure of Paul’s ineffectiveness on Capitol Hill is that the only leadership position his colleagues entrust to him is the vice chairmanship of an obscure subcommittee that has little to do with the many needs of the 14th District – the Oversight and Investigations Committee of the House Committee on Financial Services.
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Ron Paul has a long record of being all but useless in meeting the legislative needs of the district he seeks to continue representing. The 14th Congressional District of Texas can do better.
UPDATE: Via Dennis in the comments, I see that the Galveston Daily News has endorsed Sklar.
In the race for U.S. House of Representatives District 14, we recommend Shane Sklar, a Democrat. He’s running against Republican Dr. Ron Paul, one of the most principled political figures in Washington.
There is much to admire about Paul. Whether you agree with him or not, it took enormous courage to oppose the war in Iraq.
His voting is scrupulously in line with smaller government, reflecting the views of a man who was once the Libertarian Party’s presidential candidate.
He votes consistently against expenditures of federal money, whether that be for funding to NASA or for aid to hurricane victims.
He’s argued forcefully that money now being spent on bridges in Baghdad should be funding public works in Texas.
While admiring his idealism, we believe that Paul’s district gets punished, even with a GOP majority, when federal dollars are divided.
Paul disputes that and points to federal grants for the Galveston airport, for the University of Texas Medical Branch and for port security as examples.
But we just don’t believe that the constant no votes are the most effective way to secure the funding that the district obviously needs.
When congressional district boundaries were redrawn, Galveston County became part of Paul’s district.
Now the district needs federal money for dredging projects in Texas City. It will need money for the Galveston National Laboratory on the campus of the University of Texas Medical Branch.
Sklar’s campaign has been about putting ideology aside and focusing on the financial needs of the district.
He points out that Galveston County has a tradition of representation by strong congressmen, such as Jack Brooks and Tom DeLay, who disagreed wildly on political philosophy but who were aggressive in pursuing federal dollars for the district.
This is a choice in approaches to government.
Our view is that Galveston County’s interest would be best served by Sklar.
I’m not sure how much of their praise of Ron Paul is based on reality – what “public works projects in Texas” has Paul “argued forcefully” for? And how does that jibe with his “voting consistently against expenditures of federal money”? – but the point here is that you can admire Ron Paul, you can like Ron Paul, but if you want someone to actually represent your district instead of his own ideology, you need Shane Sklar. On that, we agree completely.
They also endorsed Nick Lampson:
[Lampson is] familiar with the area and its needs. He was also far more interested in serving his constituents than in political ideology.
Longtime readers will recall that we sometimes disagreed with Lampson. But we do not see a serious challenger on the ballot.
On the ballot or not on the ballot, as the case may be.
I noticed that the Galveston Daily News, published by a conservative Republican, Dolph Tillotson, today endorsed Shane Sklar for 14th District congressman. Basically, the paper said that simply voting “no”, even based on principle, wasn’t the best way to represent the interests of the district.
If we had more people like Paul in congress, people of principle, we would not be discussing many of the problems we face today. All this talk of serving district 14 is ludicrous. We have troops in iraq, we are seriously considering military force in Iran (we already have troops on the ground), we must serve the interests of the country! If that means sacrifice, if that means not being able to gain the support of the weak willed representatives serving higher powers to procure favors for their district, so be it. This is why Dr. Paul will not be unseated. His actions speak louder than his words. He has not bowed to the pressure of a president of the same party who seeks massive amounts of power from a people who obviously do not support him. He has not bowed to pressure from within his own district to conform to some watered-down notion of nationalism just to placate voters and contributors. He seeks the good, he wants us to know the truth, and he is the only man in congress saying the things he is saying! A principled man should be cherished in this congress, not thrown aside as some sort of out-of-touch loner who nobody likes. I like this man. I like what he does. I like what he stands for. He makes me excited to vote.