Earmarks
John McCain has made earmarks a central theme of his campaign this election but it is just more of the same empty rhetoric.
Nevermind that he can't name any specific earmarks he would nix, and even admitted he wouldn't cut off aid to Israel, which is done through earmarks.
So when the McCain campaign introduced Sarah Palin to the ticket, it was no surprise that she attempted to portray herself as an ardent foe of earmarks. She continued to push the false claim last night, but too bad for her and the campaign that her record simply doesn't match the rhetoric.
Seattle Times: "Palin's earmark requests: more per person than any other state."
Just this year, she sent to Sen. Ted. Stevens, R-Alaska, a proposal for 31 earmarks totaling $197 million — more, per person, than any other state.
In fact, Palin supported the "Bridge to Nowhere" during her campaign for governor.
During her first speech after being named as McCain's surprise pick as a running mate, Palin said she had told Congress "'thanks but no thanks' on that bridge to nowhere."
In the city Ketchikan, the planned site of the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere," political leaders of both parties said the claim was false and a betrayal of their community, because she had supported the bridge and the earmark for it secured by Alaska's Congressional delegation during her run for governor.
The bridge, a span from the city to Gravina Island, home to only a few dozen people, secured a $223 million earmark in 2005. The pricey designation raised a furor and critics, including McCain, used the bridge as an example of wasteful federal spending on politicians' pet projects. [emphasis added]
Update: More pork! Palin also supported the "Road to Nowhere."
The "Road To Nowhere" is a $375 million "mega-project" designed to connect Juneau to the towns of Haines and Skagway via 50 miles of new road along the steep slopes of an avalanche-battered canal, ending at a ferry terminal at the Haines river.
As of 2005, Haines had a population of 2,400, while Skagway had 870 residents.
DNC Launches New Web Ad: ''90 Percent Bush''
"In a year when Americans want change, McCain is offering more of the same," said the DNC's Brad Woodhouse. "John McCain has voted with President Bush 90 percent of the time, and Americans can't afford more of the same failed Bush policies for another four years."
