Ron Paul supporters get a lot of flak from traditional Republicans because of Paul’s foreign policy. In truth, it’s not the foreign policy I would choose if I were president, so I’m not going to give it a defense here. Instead, I want to lay out the argument why, even though I’ll disagree with his foreign policy, I still want to vote for him.

I am voting for Ron Paul because he is the only candidate who is serious about tackling our country’s massive fiscal problems. See below for proof.

The CATO Institute put together a fantastic summary of the Republican candidates likely spending positions for each department of the federal government. Ron Paul is the only one serious enough about shrinking the federal government to have produced his own federal budget. As you can see, he has laid out specific cuts to departments and programs. No other candidate is remotely close.

Is this level of seriousness worth letting Iran have a nuclear weapon? Is it worth letting China have free reign in the South China Sea? Is it worth leaving South Korea to its own defenses? I think so. The overseas changes that will occur will not threaten the survival of the United States. Maybe Israel and South Korea will get nuked. There will certainly be more wars and instability. Yet, I am willing to let the world burn to save America. Our debt can destroy this country. It’s the price I am willing to pay, to drastically cut the federal budget.

I don’t want to give Iowa’s caucus undue attention. After all, there never was a President Huckabee or Dole. Still though, those results splashed some cold water on my face. I detest the idea of Romney winning, but the very idea of Santorum as a front runner is madness. So who is the last ‘Not-Romney’ in the race?

Now I’m compelled to take a serious look at Jon Huntsman. I cannot believe I am though. At the start of the race, I swore I wouldn’t. How could I vote for someone who worked in the Obama administration?

To start with, there is this meme running around conservative blogs where people repeatedly change Huntsman’s first name. I’m guessing it’s a knock against his null name recognition, but I wish I could find confirmation on that somewhere. Whatever. It still tickles me.

So what has Cadwallader Huntsman done with himself? I’ll turn to Wikipedia for a life summary.

• Dropped out of high school to play keyboard in a band
• Got GED, went to the University of Utah
• Paused his college education to go on a Mormon mission in Taiwan
• Transferred to U. Penn and earned a bachelor’s in International Politics
• Staff assistant in the Reagan White House
• Deputy Assistant Commerce Secretary for trade development & commerce in East Asia under Bush I
• Ambassador to Singapore under Bush I
• Served as an executive in the family corporation
• Deputy Trade Representative under Bush II
• Elected as Utah Governor, twice
• Ambassador to China under Obama

All this is very impressive in bullet form. Yet, if you think about it, what does it really show? I worry this is a guy who didn’t have to work all that hard. Dropping out of high school to play in a band can be spun as a romantic, adventurous endeavor, but is it really all that risky for a billionaire’s son to do? Then once he graduates from college, his very first job is in the White House? There’s no way he got that on his own merits. Then once the Republicans are out of power, Eustace Huntsman goes to work for the family mega-corp. That’s hardly the hallmark of a self-made man. He certainly had a lot of help from his father. It makes me suspect he is lazy and uncreative. I can’t say for sure though. He did get these helpful career boosts but perhaps he went on to shine in these roles.

I think it’s best to judge him by his actions as governor. Even if the Huntsman name won the election for him, he still had to act on his own while in office. So what did he do there?

• BLS Current Population Survey rated Utah #1 in job growth during Huntsman’s governorship
• BLS Current Employment Statistics Survey rated Utah #4 in job creation during Huntsman’s governorship
• 37% increase in Utah state budget over Huntsman’s tenure
• Moved Utah to a flat 5% income tax system
• Cut sales tax rate by 0.1%
• Cut sales tax on prepared food from 4.7% to 1.75%
• Proposed eliminating Corporate Tax on businesses making under $5 million
• Raised DMV fees
• Proposed 400% increase in cigarette taxes
• Utah joined the Western Climate Initiative, a cap-and-trade greenhouse gas scheme
• Supported a minimum wage increase
• Supported school vouchers

This does not enthuse me. This feels like the behavior of a inoffensive, go-along-get-along Republican. These are the people putting us on the slow boat to socialism. It’s marvelous Calixtus Huntsman cut taxes, but he didn’t cut any spending along with it. Worse, he raised the state’s budget! This type of governance is ruining the United States of America. The federal government needs radical, frontier surgery. The budget needs someone who will take an axe and a bonesaw to it, not a dainty scalpel.

I don’t think I even need to consider Huntsman’s service under Obama. Looking at his tenure as Utah governor is enough to turn me off. He’s not going to be any different than Romney. Why bother to push for him? Has he said anything more drastic on the campaign trail?

One happy fact of life is that if you wait long enough, someone else will do your work for you. Some industrious people at CATO actually went through each of the candidates websites and compiled their likely spending position for each federal government department. Make sure you check it out. Frankly it’s worthy of a post all to itself. Regarding Reinhard Huntsman, he seems to have the most question marks on his positions. This does not enthuse me.

Huntsman isn’t worth bothering with.