Palin's Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds with "Earmarks"

First of all let me say that it is the job of ANY elected official to vigorously represent his/her constituents. Thus securing funds for those Gov. Palin represents is in fact her job.

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 1 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog group.

There was $500,000 for a youth shelter, $1.9 million for a transportation hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs, and $15 million for a rail project -- all intended to benefit Palin's town, Wasilla, located about 45 miles north of Anchorage.

However, we have been bombarded by the McCain/Palin campaign about how Gov. Palin is a "maverick" such as himself, fighting for the small guy against special interests.

McCain's crusade against earmarks -- federal spending sought by members of Congress to benefit specific projects -- has been a hallmark of his campaign. He has said earmarks are wasteful and are often inserted into bills with little oversight, sometimes by a single powerful lawmaker.

Palin has also railed against earmarks, touting her opposition to a $223 million bridge in the state as a prime credential for the vice presidential nomination. "As governor, I've stood up to the old politics-as-usual, to the special interests, to the lobbyists, the big oil companies, and the good-ol'-boy network," she said Friday.

Washington Post

It seems that Gov. Palin has in fact no qualms about "earmarks".

Like I said above, if a politician is honest about it, I personally tend to not care about "earmarks". In many ways it is naive to believe that the world would work any different way.

To me this issue is yet another example of the GOP doing an atrocious job vetting Gov Palin. Everyday now it's another piece of information that the GOP has to spin/work around. It really is hard to believe that there was not ONE other qualified person to nominate as VP who would have appeased their extreme right constituents without having to cope with daily controversy.

Edit to add: I know some want to talk "accents" and "grandkids" but can we please try to stay on topic of an ACTUAL issue.


[edit on 9/2/2008 by schrodingers dog]

Dean Baker at TPM dusts off the calculator to put Gov. Palin's earmarks into perspective.

John McCain's Earmark Queen

By Dean Baker - September 2, 2008, 8:11AM

John McCain has made stamping out earmarks one of his main issues as a politician. Remember all the mileage he got out of opposing the $1 million earmark for a Woodstock museum?

Given his strong and longstanding opposition to earmarks it is especially impressive that he would be willing to pick someone like Sarah Palin for vice-president. As the Washington Post reports this morning, Governor Pallin managed to secure $27 million (as in 27 Woodstock museums) in earmarks for her little town of 6,700 back when she was mayor. That comes to more than $4000 per person.

While I have often mocked the anti-earmark crusaders as wasting our time with trivia (the cost of the Woodstock Museum was 0.00003 percent of federal spending), Governor Palin's take for her little town would amount to real money. If every mayor was as successful at taking in federal largess as Governor Palin was for her little town, the tab would be $1.2 trillion, well over one-third of the federal budget. That is serious cash. (in fairness, Governor Palin collected her haul over several years, so the comparison to single year's budget is not entirely appropriate)

So Senator McCain must be applauded for his pick, making his ticket a stunning portrait in contrasts: age-youth, experience-inexperience, man-woman, earmark fighter - earmark queen.
TPM

And this just came out from the seattlepi

Palin's pork requests confound reformer image

By ANDREW TAYLOR
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- John McCain touts Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as a force in the his battle against earmarks and entrenched power brokers, but under her leadership the state this year asked for almost $300 per person in requests for pet projects from one of McCain's top adversaries: indicted Sen. Ted Stevens.

That's more than any other state received, per person, from Congress for the current budget year, and runs counter to the reformer image that Palin and the McCain campaign are pushing. Other states got just $34 worth of local projects per person this year, on average, according to Citizens Against Government Waste, a Washington-based watchdog group.

thanks for keeping the real issues out front.

reminds me of the old saying "don't piss on my back and tell me it's raining"

it all comes back to McCain's judgement in vetting her.

Now what's wrong with accents and grandkids? Apparently you seem to think they are a punishment!

And how many millions do you think Obama has earmarked for his native muslim Kenya?


No seriously this Palin thing is a riot! & it's getting more interesting by the hour.
I wonder how much Mccain actually had to do with her getting nominated.
I thought he looked pretty awkward during her announcement speech, as though he was thinking to himself "Who is this Lady?", "Where the hell is Joe Lieberman?" & "MAAAATLOOOOOCK!"
Ok maybe not the last one but you get the picture.
The thought of those two in the White House almost makes me wish they were elected. Sure we'd all die in a nuclear war with Russia/Iran/China/Finland or whoever, but it would be quite a show until then.

reply to post by schrodingers dog


She was doing her job as Mayor. So what? What laws did she break?

Now she is being punished for being successful.:shk: Is there no bottom to the level that people will sink to?

Democrats are getting increasingly desperate, first attacking a 17 year old girl for getting pregnant, now attacking a public official for being competent.

I remember reading that Obama used his position as state senator to obtain funds to study the race of people stopped for traffic violations. Perhaps I should start a thread on that "issue".

Originally posted by jsobecky
reply to post by schrodingers dog

 

She was doing her job as Mayor. So what? What laws did she break?

I know, I said so in the OP, you should have read it.
No laws were broken, at least not this time, we'll see with the other thing.

But so much for her being a "maverick" (whatever that means) like McCain.

McCain's crusade against earmarks -- federal spending sought by members of Congress to benefit specific projects -- has been a hallmark of his campaign. He has said earmarks are wasteful and are often inserted into bills with little oversight, sometimes by a single powerful lawmaker.
Washington Post

They work well together.

This lady is like the gift that keeps on giving. I can't wait to wake up evert morning to see what new with her.

Great information, schrodinger's.

This is just the latest in a seeming birage of judgemental errors on McCain's part in his pick of VP. Her speech, for instance, was the most atrocious thing I've ever seen in a campaign speech.

Not to mention the fact that McCain himself has sought earmarks and endorsed them himself. I am sick of the lies!

Here is a recent LA Times article which points out how Sarah Palin made John McCains ongoing list of objectionable pork spending 3 times while Mayor of Wasila!!

Here is the link.

WASILLA, ALASKA -- For much of his long career in Washington, John McCain has been throwing darts at the special spending system known as earmarking, through which powerful members of Congress can deliver federal cash for pet projects back home with little or no public scrutiny. He's even gone so far as to publish "pork lists" detailing these financial favors.

Three times in recent years, McCain's catalogs of "objectionable" spending have included earmarks for this small Alaska town, requested by its mayor at the time -- Sarah Palin.

John McCain must not read his own newsletters! Talk about vetting a nominee!

[edit on 6-9-2008 by Leo Strauss]

The proof is in the pudding........Sarah Pallin is a liar. Why don't you say it in just plain straight talk??????