McCain Was Against Palin Before He Was For Her

One of John McCain's main selling points as a government reformer is that the Arizona Senator sure hates him some earmarks. He hates them so much that he's been willing to call them out by name. As a Senator, McCain's published "pork lists" full up with government spending he's deemed wasteful. On the stump he has promised much more of the same, vowing to make Congress' major pork players "famous."

That brings us, again, to Alaska governor Sarah Palin. Long before McCain focused the national spotlight on Palin as his Veep pick, he was making her famous as a dedicated feeder at the pork barrel trough. As the Chicago Tribune details:

In 2001, McCain's list of spending that had been approved without the normal budget scrutiny included a $500,000 earmark for a public transportation project in Wasilla. The Arizona senator targeted $1 million in a 2002 spending bill for an emergency communications center in town -- one that local law enforcement has said is redundant and creates confusion.

McCain also criticized $450,000 set aside for an agricultural processing facility in Wasilla that was requested during Palin's tenure as mayor and cleared Congress soon after she left office in 2002. The funding was provided to help direct locally grown produce to schools, prisons and other government institutions, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group.

McCain's surrogates contend that Palin had no other choice but to seek funding through Federal earmarks. McCain spokesman Taylor Griffin told the Trib that Palin said she was "disgusted" at the fact that "small towns like hers were dependent on earmarks." But the records actually show that "Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor."

Comments

[TheLastPenguin]

Hello fellow posters!

[GolfingDevil05]

I want my country back. No truer words were ever spoken than FDR's "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." A fearful public is a docile public, eagerly following orders for the sake of their own safety. I am tired of being told to be afraid. I am tired of being told that terrorists want to kill me. I am tired of being told that change is a risky move, especially when we have nowhere to go but up. I am tired of working three jobs when I had been told that a graduate degree would pay as much as three jobs combined. Is this working for any of you? No wonder the Republicans aren't mentioning the economy. They have no idea how to fix it.

Instead, they want to bolster their national security credentials, which if you ask me, are illusory. It wasn't the Democrats who failed to heed the 52 intelligence warnings that President Bush had about Osama bin Laden prior to 9/11. He had nine months from the time he took office until the attack, and nearly eight years to capture or kill him. Why should I trust John McCain to be any different?

[riat]

Van Gogh first invented ear marks and it propelled his artistic marketability.The same may happen for Sarah!
Did you know the biggest majority of non voters are unmarried women. 36% of the voterate are unmarried and 44% of the workforce are unmarried.
Have you ever heard a politician mention a "single' person.
See www.singlefilm.com to find out more about this huge 100 million demographic.

[Vendeen]

So she's "disgusted" that small towns HAVE to rely on earmarks. So, that means her new position of being against earmarks says to the small towns, "Sorry, you're on your own!"??? Her compassion is touching.

[ibsteve2u]

Good reading: http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/09/anti-jewish-ter.html

Apparently Palin sat in church on August 17th and listened to her preacher tell the congregation that terrorists murdering Jews was [quote] God's "judgment of unbelief" of Jews who haven't embraced Christiani­ty.[unquot­e]

[dbm1966]

At least this shows that McCain knew of Sarah Palin before picking her for his running mate.

Not quite sure I understand the double talk from the McCain camp defending Palin's actions, especially after McCain publicly criticized her. Palin claims to be disgusted that she had to ask for the earmarks. Was someone holding a gun to her head, demanding that she request the earmarks? I don't get it.

Perhaps she could come up with a semi-believable reason for stepping down before tonight's speech. Even as a Democrat, I want McCain to have a qualified running mate because if McCain does win, I don't want her a heartbeat away from the presidency.

[Smirk]

"Even as a Democrat, I want McCain to have a qualified running mate because if McCain does win, I don't want her a heartbeat away from the presidency."

Me, too.

[rabprevent]

The claim that she is ready to lead is absurd, she had to hire a city manager to help her run her office when the other elected officials did it themselves. I guess when it comes to McCain, readyness is what you make it.

VOTE NO TO MCCAIN AND ALL HIS CRONIES, THE REPUBLICAN PARTY!!!!!

[Bitsko]

For a wonderful and somewhat scary metaphor for the Alaskan political mindset, rent or buy John Sayles' recent film "Limbo." It's a brilliant movie. Sorry for sounding like an ad.

[lvdragonlady]

"Wasilla that was requested during Palin's tenure as mayor and cleared Congress soon after she left office in 2002" ???
Did I miss something on Palin's resume? Here it states that she left the office of mayor in 2002 and if she was elected governor in 2006, what was she doing for 4 years? In another article she was elected while she was still mayor....

I need to spend more time off the web I guess.....­........lo­l

[ZIONDREADS]

Me too, so many conflicting stories. Maybe CNN, MSNBC, FOX think about doing their jobs because I am tired of looking for all the DAMN info myself. I just might cut my cable

[Akira5284]

After 2002 she was not eligible to run for mayor again due to term limits. I think between 2003-2005 she was on the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission. Then in 2006 made a bid for governor.

[hbw3]

She was appointed by then Gov. Murk.owski to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2002-2004, and from 2003 to June 2005 was one of three directors for Ted Steve.ns' 527 group.

[figa30]

Actually it's not misleading. Palin was for earmarks just like she was for the bridge to nowhere. Maybe you need to do a little more research on your candidate.

[KiwisCanFly]

Palin's assault on the federal treasury, her home town of Wasilla (with about 6,000 inhabitants in 2002 when she was mayor) received $6.1 million, or $1,000 per resident in earmarks, almost as much as Boise, Idaho, got this year with a population that is 30 times larger.


Please read Robert Scheer’s article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-scheer/palins-alaska-reaps-the-w_b_123430.html#postComment

[shuuuuz]

OOPS! Looks like McCain forgot to vet himself.

[YouDisgustMe]

evidently

[zendem1]

Grampa thinks an earmark is something the dermatologist removes.

[jpcline004]

lol

[lvogt]

Alaska First, Alaska Always, Right Sarah?

She was governor and supporting a separatist party.
She spoke to and encouraged them this March. Just 6 months ago.
She wanted to be President of Alaska. Now were risking her being VP of the USA?
Hell no!

[bobste]

I gotta wonder if, during all this time and all these earmarks, she took any of this $$ or used it for something personal, hubby racing, something, etc. Especially while Mayor. It's not uncommon, especially in rich Alaska.

[KiwisCanFly]

People's Republic of Alaska where every resident this year will get a $3,200 payout, thanks in no small measure to the efforts of Sarah Palin, the state's Republican governor.
That's $22,400 for a family of seven, like Palin's.
The oil companies pay more taxes to the state of Alaska, they get to write that off against their federal tax obligation, leaving the rest of us to make up the shortfall.

Of course we can remedy that by having a federal windfall profits tax of the sort that Barack Obama dared propose.

BUT

McCain derided Obama's call for the windfall profits tax, saying it would "increase our dependence on foreign oil and hinder exactly the same kind of domestic exploration and production we need."

Please read Robert Scheer’s article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-scheer/palins-alaska-reaps-the-w_b_123430.html#postComment

[musicka]

Yet another example of the Palin narrative not matching the truth. I am sure this BS will be repeated at the convention tonight.

[BrighterStar]

This article is extremely misleading. It makes it sound like Palin was somehow responsible for the earmarks in question but does not state what if anything Palin had to do with the earmarks. Being that she was not in Congress her association with the earmarks would be limited at best. Sounds like the author of the post is trying to spin noting into something.

[johnu1974]

she was the mayor of wasilla while this was going on. do some research, and you'll see.

[BrighterStar]

So you blaim the mayor of Wasilla for an act of congress you don't like?

[ShadowfaxinUT]

Not so very. This is what they do; take what they can get and try to set themselves up after the fact, as fiscally resposnible. McCain had an ad out ridiculing some specific earmarks that he actually had voted for. Palin was interviewed on the bridge to nowhere and said that Alaska needed to take advantage of the fact that its congressional delegation had some clout at the time.

[Hardtostop]

BrighterStar
She hired lawyers to lobby in Washington for those earmarks. Do some research on this lady and you will find she is no lady at all

[JCreasy]

Maybe this article will clarify it for you

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-earmarks3-2008sep03,0,6145252.story

"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."

"Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor. She actively sought federal funds -- a campaign that began to pay off only after she hired a lobbyist with close ties to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who long controlled federal spending as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He made funneling money to Alaska his hallmark."

So yeah, she requested the earmarks in question . . .

[hbw3]

Please don't let the Repubs mislead you.

She oversaw the hiring of a lobbyist, who was Sen. Stev.ens' old chief of staff, precisely to get earmarks:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/02/palin-lobbyist-worked-for_n_123255.html

She was responsible for these earmarks.