Looks like McCain Secured himself a pretty big Spender for VP.

She Ear Marked 27 Million Dollars for a town of 6,700 people. Nice... More of the SAME


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26504638/

ST. PAUL, Minn. - 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.

 

Do you Obama/Biden supporters really want to go down this path? Dems criticizing Republicans on earmarks... that is the pot calling the kettle black.

Looks like infrastructure to help the area (except for the youth center). And the rail project ($15 million of the $18.3 million you itemize) probably helps more than one little town.

At least she did not secure $1 million in federal funds for her church like Obama did.

ETA: So I read the rest of the article. As mayor, Palin hires a lobby firm that gets $26.9 million over 4 years spent in her district. It appears that corrupt US Senator Ted Stevens has a home in the area.... But I guess it is the small town mayor Palin that is responsible for the spending. Riiiight.

Palin sees the light in 2003 and comes to oppose earmarks, incluidng for her entire time served as Gov.

Obama does not oppose earmarks until 2007. Four years after Palin. Biden CO-SPONSORS over $85 million in earmarks for his state so far in 2008. How much did he get during Palin's term as mayor? How many earmarks for Delaware during Biden's 36 years in the Senate? in Guess he still favors earmarks. If he had opposed earmarks since 2003 like Palin, how much money would he have saved?

Also, the article compares the 2008 earmarks for Boise to the 2002 earmarks for Palin's town. Why not compare Boise's 2002 earmarks instead of 2008's? Any chance Boise got way more earmarks in 2002, before earmarks were on the public's radar? Judging by the biased tone of the article, I'm guessing yes.

 

Nice try BHibbs.

 

It wasn't even a good try. When you are dealing with Alaska, 6700 people is like San Diego is to California. How Alaskans spend thier money will appear very different from other states. What I have noticed is that it seems Alaskans are quite satisfied with the way she has conducted their government.

 

It's money well spent on infrastructure. It's not like it went to the spouse's employer or a military contractor that has a board member that's a big contributor to the campaign.

 

And we can expect more of the same from the Dems. Digging up trivial details on Palin/McCain, distorting the facts just enough so that most of the country will think horrible thoughts about McCain/Palin, without the truth being known.

Fellow conservatives, it is our duty to get the word out (much like in this thread) when facts are twisted to skew them one way or another.

 

I'll try to get the word out, but MSNBC, CNN, CBS, ABC and NBC have a bigger audience than I do.

Well, maybe not MSNBC...

Granted, Alaska is usually at the top of the $ per capita in earmarks. But Senator Stevens (now disgraced, and a target of Palin's anti-corruption efforts) was a senior member of the Senate appropriation's committee.

Maybe BHibbs can compare Delaware's earmarks per square mile to Alaskas? I'll bet Delaware got at least 10 times the $ per square mile as Alaska did!!! And they were actually authorized by Biden, too.

 

I just mean, those around us. It amazes me at how many people I know take the media's word for what they say. Sheep, all of them. That scares me, and that's why I just politely point them in the direction of true facts instead of the media machine's blurbs.

On another note, while home this weekend at the in-laws, I was shocked at how many conservative women were up-in-arms that McCain picked a woman. They can't believe that she would take the job with her being a mom, especially with a Down's syndrome baby. I politely answered back, "didn't you have to work while your kids were (are) growing up?"

 

Wow, You guys have been HEAVY into the Kool Aid. When did you stop caring??

All I hear is how "Ear Marks" are the cause of ALLL our financial issues, yet you can glaze over 30 million going to a town of 6,000 (that Happens to be the town of several guys In jail right now .... Guys Palin Hired!)

All told, Wasilla benefited from $26.9 million in earmarks in Palin's final four years in office.

"She certainly wasn't shy about putting the old-boy network to use to bring home millions of dollars," said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. "She's a little more savvy to the ways of Washington than she's let on."



Same Old Politics.....

 

BHibbs, read this post again:

Yes, it was a lot of money. But with Alaska being such a large state where it is, things cost tons more.

We're still waiting for your "analysis" of how much Biden has earmarked for his state/district through the years. I bet it's into the upper hundreds of millions of dollars.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Obama, with no experience, is having to surround himself with career politicians who see this as their time to "cash in". We won't be electing these career politicians he chooses as advisers, but they'll be making the decisions that affect us. I much prefer a seasoned vet in McCain at the top. He has the Washington experience to know how things should be done, so his advisers can be people that are true experts in their fields. And I like Palin as the VP. She's a "wild card," someone not of the normal Washington sort. As McCain says, she'll be someone that will bring fresh ideas to the table. I like that.

 

Pretty Weak Big T... Pretty weak.... I guess she should have Earmarked MORE..

Seriously, how much does a Wigwam cost?

Until you prove otherwise, I'll assume Biden earmarked Zero Dollars for Delaware. I've got to do the Research for Both sides of the debate now?? Come on, do some work here....

 

Let's look at what Gov Palin has done while in elected office.

As Mayor of Wasilla Alaska she reduced her own salary, reduced property taxes by 60%, was elected president of Alaska's Conference of Mayors, and she doubled Wasilla's operating budget . Wasilla Alaska at one time was one of the fastest growing cities in the country with a 300% + growth over a 4 year period.

As Governor she overhauled Alaska's budget putting over 5 Billion dollars in state savings, overhauled education funding, and implemented the Senior Benefits Program that provides support for low-income older Alaskans, she gave each resident $1200 dollars to help pay for gas on top of their dividend fund checks, she declined the earmarks to pay for the bridge to nowhere, and she sold the previous governor's private jet on ebay!! She decreased Alaska's road and construction budget by over 237 million dollars.

So far there are no Tony Rezkos, Jeremiah Wrights, or William Ayers in her closet... Keep the attacks coming because they are only helping the Republicans get back in office!

 

Once again, libs pulling out half truths, and having no idea what they're talking about. Again with the wigwam crap, Hibbs, I say again... F off.

You guys seem to think that all of Alaska is filled with a bunch of backwards half-breeds with a few villages sprinkled among vast ice fields and tundra. While Wasilla proper may have less than 10,000 people, the "metro" area is over 80,000 people. It's at the confluence of 3 major highways, and the railroad. To say that $27 mil going to a podunk town of 6700 is a statement typical of your ignorance. Alaska is a young state, in the process of doing the exact same expansion that the rest of the lower 48 did 100-200 years ago. Just remember, that EVERY single bridge built across the Mississippi River 130 years ago was a "bridge to nowhere." While I don't condone earmarks, it's pretty much BS for you to sit there on your high horse when you've had the benefit of 230 years of them to advance your state which offers what to the US?

 

Here's a good one:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/...n4388540.shtml

Joe Biden's son is a lobbyist. Not that big of a deal overall except the fact that Sen. Barack Obama sought more than $3.4 million in congressional earmarks for clients of the lobbyist son of his Democratic running mate, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, records show. Obama succeeded in getting $192,000 for one of the clients, St. Xavier University in suburban Chicago.

OK, back to Biden's Earmarks!!! This was one of the first things that popped up... surely it gets better.

 

oh look out here comes the dem's slamming anything they can... they are already trying to make her look bad cuz her daughter is just like any americans daughter. i think it puts her into the real world.