VIDEO: Ron Paul blames voters for ’emotional’ congressional reaction to AIG

Congress was too “emotional” in reacting to the AIG bonus scandal, Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) declared Friday, blaming voters in part for egging on lawmakers.

“In Congress, they panic. They react minute to minute, whether it’s passing the Patriot Act, or doing all of these things,” Paul said during an appearance Friday on CNN. “They react in emotional ways.”

Paul, a former 2008 Republican presidential candidate who voted Thursday against the 90 percent tax on AIG executives’ bonuses, said voters share some of the blame for allowing lawmakers’ behavior.

“There’s a lot of blame to go around; even the American people have some blame for allowing their members of Congress to do what they do,” the Texas congressman explained.

“Ultimately, Congress should assume responsibility,” he said. “If Congress would wake up, we could reign in a lot of this. So to me, it was very annoying to concentrate on doing what we were doing on Thursday, and pretend we’re going to improve things.”

Watch a video of the interview: