Posted on 09/03/2008 12:22:32 PM PDT by steve-b
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....
This year, Palin, who has been governor for nearly 22 months, defended earmarking as a vital part of the legislative system. "The federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship," she wrote in a newspaper column.
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....
[A]s a candidate for governor in 2006, Palin had backed funding for the bridge [to nowhere]. After her election, she killed the much-ridiculed project when it became clear the state had other priorities. She said she would use the federal funds to fill those needs.
This year she submitted to Congress a list of Alaska projects worth $197.8 million, including $2 million to research crab productivity in the Bering Sea and $7.4 million to improve runway lighting at eight Alaska airports. A spokesman said she cut the original list of 54 projects to 31....
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
It's big enough to pay for its own research, then.
Palin was acting on behalf of her local/state constituents, and McCain was acting on behalf of his federal constituents.
That's the way a federal government works.
No. She didn’t want the earmark for the bridge, but she did spend it on other needs for Alaska.
Maybe they just represented different interests??? This kind of criticism just shows the desperation of the MSM to find an issue with legs...they’re hemmoraging.
Both of them are against abuse of the budget.
What looks like an abuse when you are asking for money, and what looks like abuse when you are doling it out are two slightly different things. But she has proven to be a good steward, and more or less on the same page as McCain.
Good people can disagree on details while agreeing on the principles.
Applied to states now? Each according to their ability and each according to their need?
Cool!
there are very few politicians who are as pure as McCain on spending. That’s why Gov Sanford was always my ‘guy’...but McCain needed something else.
Care to elaborate...or just do you just toss out disinformation?
FWIW, all the paperwork I just looked at came from Ted Stevens’ office. Did Palin request these earmarks through Stevens, or did Stevens generate some/all on his own?
And Biden said Obama isn’t experienced enough. Next
Unfortunately, the way the system works is that the people of the various states pay money (federal taxes) into the Federal Govt, and they either have their reps find ways to bring it back into the state, or they let other states get it. I don’t like the way the system works either, but it’s a little silly to complain. Unless of course you’re just looking for any reason you can find to trash Palin. After viewing your recent posts, I suspect that’s all this is.
susie
Gotta admit that I was wondering about the timing of her opposition. I seem to recall that the Bridge was killed in Washington.
Click here.
When she took over, the previous administration had already put 550 million worth of earmarks in the budget. She’s down to less than 200 million in this year’s budget. I suppose the line of attack is she didn’t go completely Cold Turkey on earmarks all at once?
Such as..
Palin can’t compare. In fact, few can compare to the earmarks the Junior Senator from Chicago got, which includes a request for Michelle Obama’s employer who subsequently gave her huge raise tripling her salary.
The Obambi request was for $1 million in federal funding in 2006 for a new pavilion at the University of Chicago Hospitals, where his wife, Michelle, was a vice president at the time.
Obambi’s earmarks: warning it’s so large it takes time to load.
http://answercenter.barackobama.com/cgi-bin/barackobama.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=172&p_created=1205426026&p_sid=TNlxoC-i&p_accessibility=0&p_redirect=&p_lva=&p_sp=cF9zcm
NoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19j
bnQ9MSwxJnBfcHJvZHM9JnBfY2F0cz
All this from a guy who has been in the Senate working maybe 150 days.
Yup. Graft we can believe in.
Obama earmarks...
As reported in the Seattle Times:
Obama’s 2007 Defense earmarks: $3,300,000
2001-07 Campaign contributions from earmark recipients: $97,250
Obama’s 2007 earmarks were $97.4 MILLION dollars.
Obama’s 2008 earmarks total more than $330 million dollars in taxpayer funds.
HERE IS A LIST OF OBAMA’S 2008 EARMARKS:
Adler Planetarium, to support replacement of its projector and related equipment, $3,000,000
AIDSCARE, Inc., for general operating support, $750,000
AIDSCARE, Inc., for completion of the North Lawndale Campus, $2,000,000
Aledo, IL, to support its replacement of two aging water towers, $750,000
American Red Cross of Illinois, for emergency preparedness, $5,000,000
American Theater Company, for the construction of a new facility in Logan Square, $200,000
Army Corps of Engineers in the Chicago District of Illinois, to support permanent construction of the Asian Carp Barrier, $7,500,000
Army Corps of Engineers in the Chicago District of Illinois, to support Operations and Maintenance of the permanent Asian Carp Barrier, $1,000,000
Army Corps of Engineers in the City of Rock Island, to support construction of Sunset Marina Harbor Entrance Improvements, $500,000
Army Corps of Engineers in Illinois, to support project UMR-IWW System Navigation Study, IL, IA, MN, MO, & WI, $24,000,000
Aurora University, to the Center for Latino Leadership and Education, $400,000
Benedictine University in Lisle, for the First Responder Program – An Education Initiative for Public Safety Officers and Iraqi and Afghanistan Veterans, $1,750,000
Carpentersville, IL, for the Carpentersville Community Response Team, $500,000
Carthage, IL, to develop the Illinois 336 Corridor Carthage Exchange, $1,350,000
Center for Advanced Design, Research, and Exploration (CADRE) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, for development of rapid wound healing therapies, $4,800,000
Center for Advanced Design, Research, and Exploration (CADRE) at the University of Illinois at Chicago, to develop a hand-held device used in combat, $2,000,000
Channahon, IL, for road upgrades, $12,000,000
Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center, for Facility Improvements, Renovations, and Expansion of the Chicago Children’s Advocacy Center for child abuse support services, $500,000
Chicago Children’s Museum, for the construction of a new Chicago Children’s Museum facility, $1,000,000
Chicago Children’s Museum, for its Community Health and Wellness Initiatives, $300,000
Chicago Park District, for the development of DuSable Park, $3,000,000
Chicago Public Schools, for their Chicago Reading Initiative: Supported Literacy Programs, $4,000,000
Chicago State University, to develop a sustainable and portable power system for military operation, $5,000,000
Chicago State University, to the HIV/ AIDS Policy and Research Institute, $1,000,000
Children’s Memorial Hospital, for the construction of Children’s Memorial Hospital Intensive Care Unit Facilities, $3,000,000
Columbia College Department of Dance/Movement Therapy and Counseling in Chicago, for its A.I.M. Program $3,000,000
Easter Seals Metropolitan Chicago (ESMC), for its therapeutic School and Center for Autism Research, $1,500,000
Federation of Independent Illinois Colleges and Universities in Springfield, for its Training Health Professionals program, $500,000
Field Museum, for roof repair and rainwater diversion, $4,900,000
Field Museum, to support the expansion of the Halls of the Americas, $1,000,000
Galesburg, IL, to support construction of a new water treatment facility at the Oquawka, Illinois facility along the Mississippi River, $1,500,000
Governors State University, for the Center of Excellence in Health Professions Education, $1,000,000
Illinois Central College, for its Central Illinois Collaborative Advanced Manufacturing Workforce Initiative, $3,000,000
Illinois Institute of Technology, for research into impact-resistant materials, $1,500,000
Illinois Institute of Technology, to support its Integrated Advance Energy Systems Research Initiative, $750,000
Illinois Primary Health Care Association (IPHCA), for the Electronic Health Record Project IPHCA, $2,000,000
Illinois State University, for the Chicago Teacher Education Pipeline Programs and Partnerships, $300,000
Illinois State University, for the Great Lakes Teacher and Preparation Leadership Preparation Consortium, $500,000
Illinois State University, to improve manufacturing competitiveness with further development of the Integrated Manufacturing Laboratory (IML), $500,000
Johnsburg, IL, to support construction of additional sewer lines, $2,000,000
Lake County, for its Integrated Criminal Justice Information System, $1,000,000
Lee County Highway Department in Amboy, Illinois, for road upgrades, $300,000
Lewis and Clark Community College, for its mobile health clinic to provide healthcare services to rural areas, $350,000
Lewis University Airport in Romeoville, for the extension of its primary runway, $3,420,000
Long Creek, IL, to support construction of new water towers to increase its water capacity, $660,000
Loretto Hospital, for the Launa Thompson Women’s Health Pavilion, $550,000
Loyola University Chicago, to the Center for School District Leadership for distance learning, $1,000,000
Manteno, IL, to connect existing and proposed parks in Kankakee County as part of the Manteno Greenways Trail System, $860,475
Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center in Rock Island, for the renovation and expansion of the Center, $1,000,0000
McHenry County, for its Sheriff’s Office law enforcement communication system, $1,000,000
McHenry County, to widen Miller Road, $500,000
McHenry County, for Flexible and Sustainable Training Solutions Initiative, $600,000
Memorial Hospital, for necessary equipment upgrades for vascular disease diagnostics and screenings, $1,800,000
Memorial Medical Center, for Advanced Flatplate Cardiac Catherization/Electrophysiology Laboratory, $1,000,000
Metra, to expand and improve service, $65,000,000
MetroLiNK Transit in Rock Island, to build a new state-of-the-art MetroLiNK Maintenance Facility, $5,000,000
Millikin University School of Nursing, for the expansion and upgrade of their nursing program, $500,000
Mobile C.A.R.E. Foundation in Chicago, for the acquisition and operation of Asthma Vans, $300,000
Moline, IL, for the design and construction of River Tech Boulevard Road, $1,595,000
Moline, IL, to address congestion in the I-74 Corridor, $8,000,000
Morrison, IL, for construction of a railroad overpass, $3,812,000
Mount Carroll, IL, to support reconstruction of its water distribution system, $2,000,000
Mujeres Latinas en Accion, for the Parent Support Program and Women in Transition Program, $295,000
National Center for Family Literacy, for its Family Literacy for All Expansion, $250,000
National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for its cybersecurity initiative, $7,500,000
National Center for Supercomputing Applications at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for its Technology Research, Education and Commercialization Center (TRECC), $5,000,000
National Myoclonus Center, for the expansion of the National Myoclonus Center, $400,000
Normal, IL, for the construction of a multimodal transportation center, $10,000,000
Northeastern Illinois Sewer Consortium, for sanitary and storm sewer system upgrades, $500,000
Oakwood, IL, to replace its water distribution system, $836,000
Ogle County Highway Department, for the Southwest Rochelle Truck Loop, $150,000
Olympia Fields, IL, to make safety upgrades and improvements of the 203rd Street and Crawford Avenue, $1,000,000
Oregon, IL, for Route 251 & Steward Road Intersection Improvements, $125,000
Orland Park, IL, to expand U.S. 45, $450,000
PACE Suburban Bus, to replace the radio system in all of its 672 fixed route buses, $2,500,000
Patterson, IL, to support replacement of its “Drake Road” water main, $138,000
Peoria, IL, to support its construction of its combined sewer overflow replacement, $500,000
Poder Learning Center, for workforce training program, $200,000
Regional Climate Center, for the Midwestern Regional Climate Center (MRCC)/Illinois State Water Survey, $6,000,000
Riverside Healthcare, for a Computerized Physician Order Entry system for Kankakee, IL, $2,000,000
Rochelle, IL, for phase two of the Jack Dame Road/Union Pacific Railroad Overpass, $1,000,000
Rock Island Arsenal, to repair the roof on Building 299 for additional manufacturing space, $6,200,000
Rock Island Arsenal, to support a more robust capability to rapidly produce up-armor vehicle kits, $10,500,000
Rock Island Arsenal, to renovate and expand Rock Island Arsenal’s combined Fire and Police Station facility, $3,500,000
Rock Island Arsenal, to support the development and enhancement of flexible lightweight metal technology, $1,350,000
Rockford College, to enhance classrooms, $490,000
Saint Xavier University, for nursing skills lab equipment, $500,000
Saint Xavier University, for the expansion of an early childhood professional development center, $900,000
Shawneetown, IL, to support updates and replacement of its water distribution system, $550,000
Shedd Aquarium, for its At-Risk Youth Mentoring Initiative, $600,000
Spark College, for real-time writers and captioning training project, $750,000
Southern Illinois University, for the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center, $2,000,000
Southern Illinois University, for the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, $1,025,000
Southern Illinois University, for the School of Medicine Simmons Cooper Cancer Institute, $2,200,000
Southern Illinois University, Purdue University, and University of Kentucky, for coal research, $5,000,000
Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF), for the National Education, Science, and Critical Skills Capacity Building Initiative for minorities, $2,000,000
University of Illinois, College of Agriculture Consumer and Environmental Sciences, for the Center for Advanced Bioenergy Research, $1,000,000
University of Illinois, College of Agriculture Consumer and Environmental Sciences, for the Illinois-Missouri Biotechnology Alliance, $3,000,000
University of Illinois, College of Agriculture Consumer and Environmental Sciences, for the Illinois Program for Integrated Sustainable Agriculture, $2,500,000
University of Illinois, College of Agriculture Consumer and Environmental Sciences, for the Soybean Disease Biotechnology Center , $2,000,000
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Engineering, for Nanomedical Technologies, $3,000,000
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, to encourage further education in technical domains that can be cleared by the Defense Security Service, $2,000,000
University of Illinois, for the Urban Teaching and Leadership Center, $1,000,000
West Frankfort, IL, to support replacement of its Big Ditch Pumping Station, $550,000
Wetlands Initiative of Illinois, to support its Illinois River Nutrient Farm Pilot Project, $11,810,000
Women’s Sports Foundation, for its GoGirlGo! Chicago Initiative, $1,000,000
Center for Civic Education, for its National Council for Economic Education, $33,000,000
National Writing Project, $30,000,000
Reach Out and Read, Inc, $10,000,000
YMCA of the USA, for pioneering for healthy communities, $5,000,000
Campaign contributions from earmark recipients:
American Superconductor Corp. $2,000
Boeing Co. (HQ) $5,300
Cleveland Clinic $250
Concurrent Technologies Corp. (HQ) $300
Corning Inc. $4,300
EPIR Technologies Inc. $750
Gas Technology Institute $500
General Dynamics Corp. (HQ) $51,750
General Electric Co. (HQ) $3,500
General Motors Corp. (HQ) $1,750
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute $4,000
Hess Corp. (HQ) $14,000
Johnson & Johnson (HQ) $2,500
L-3 Communications Holdings Inc. (HQ) $2,000
Lockheed Martin Corp. (HQ) $1,750
Navistar International Corp. (HQ) $250
Northrop Grumman Corp. (HQ) $250
RTI International Metals Inc. (HQ) $500
Science Applications International Corp. (HQ) $500
Sun Microsystems Inc. (HQ) $1,100
I live in Indiana, in 2004 we eleected Mitch Daniels. I am not happy with all that he has done, but he has spent his time acting in the best interests of Indiana and Indiana citizens. He has reduced property taxes, brought the state out of the dead zone, revamped our license bureau.
Governors and Mayors are there to work for their constituents.
We could say that this is what she was doing. How much financial personal gain did she receive? That would be my question.
Yeah, I see that.
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