Sep 2, 2008 11:10 pm US/Central
Reality Check: Gov. Palin's Earmarks
ST. PAUL (WCCO) ―
John McCain chose Gov. Sarah Palin in part because of her maverick status in Alaska, including her willingness to oppose earmarks, but Palin worked the system as well as anyone when she was a mayor AND a governor.
"I didn't get into government to do the safe and easy things," Palin said.
It's TRUE. Palin requested
$198 million in earmarks for Alaska in next year's federal budget, which includes $25 million for Coastal Salmon Recovery and $3.2 million for sea lion biological research.
As a mayor, Palin also struck Yukon gold in Washington.
IN FACT, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense, Palin hired a Washington lobbyist to secure earmarks for tiny Wasilla, Alaska when she was mayor.
The town of 6,715 received nearly $27 million in federal dollars from 2000 to 2003. That includes $1.9 million for public transit and $15 million for a rail line connecting Wasilla to the hometown of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens.
And there's MORE. Palin gained fame, and notoriety, for taking on the Republican establishment, opposing in Alaska the infamous
bridge to nowhere -- a symbol of wasteful Washington spending.
But when she was running for governor in 2006,
she supported it. That's NOT THE WHOLE STORY. By earmark standards, Palin is on par with other politicians, including her Democratic counterpart. Vice Presidential candidate and Delaware Senator Joe Biden
this year sought $85.5 million.
That's Reality Check.
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