WP: Palin's Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds($27 million for town of 6,700)

[RedEarth]

Source: WP

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 2, 2008; Page A01

ST. PAUL, Minn., Sept. 1 -- 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.

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.

In introducing Palin as his running mate on Friday, Sen. John McCain cast her as a compatriot in his battle against wasteful federal spending. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, hailed Palin as a politician "with an outstanding reputation for standing up to special interests and entrenched bureaucracies -- someone who has fought against corruption and the failed policies of the past, someone who's stopped government from wasting taxpayers' money."

McCain's crusade against earmarks -- federal spending sought by members of Congress to benefit specific projects -- has been a hallmark of his campaign. He has said earmarks are wasteful and are often inserted into bills with little oversight, sometimes by a single powerful member of Congress.



Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/01/AR2008090103148.html?hpid=topnews

[stray cat]

1. Now this is a real story!

[MO_Dem]

12. Time to stock up on popcorn!

Or as little duh?bya might say, "bring it on"!

:nopity:

[populistdriven]

26. munch munch munch

[DaLittle Kitty]

53. K&R A Thoughtful and Wise Decision... Great Post! America Will Thank You!

:) Palin Must not last a week!MSM Get on it!

[L. Coyote]

28. Wait until you hear which Corrupt Bastards do her earmarking!

Then you really will have legs on this one.
Every earmark has a secret or not so secret sponser.

[lurky]

37. Ted Stevens?

That would make her part of the pork machine, wouldn't it?

[Heather MC]

32. IMO this should be the final nail in her Coffin

[Divine Discontent]

40. my goodness... this has to be the tipping point - it should make people like Scarborough's head blow

talk about a PORK PIE we're about to eat! This lady has more issues than Playboy!

MORE AT www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable

[ogneopasno]

2. Jayzus H!

I'd like to see that town's balance sheet...

[valerief]

3. Iraq is the biggest pork and he wants to keep that baby going. nt

[proud2BlibKansan]

4. But that makes her a good leader!

:sarcasm:

[truthisfreedom]

5. Oh, how could this day keep giving? It's like the press actually got up off their collective asses

and did some investigative research!

[customerserviceguy]

54. They must have come back from weekend break

and finally read all the emails that were piling up over the last three days...

[C_U_L8R]

6. Yet still she left the town with over $20mm debt

Where the heck did all that money go?
She spends like a goddamn power-drunk Republican.

[stray cat]

14. How much has she pocketed?

[Waiting For Everyman]

31. Exactly! Inquiring minds want to know!

Sounds like Gramm economics to me.

But... but... but... I just heard on Friday how skilled she was at managing her Alaskan budgets!

Maybe the press is feeling a little "conned" by the cover story McC fed them about her? Hope so.

[SarahPalinTooRisky]

7. Wasilla Town Hall

Check out this picture of the Wasilla City Hall:

?v=0

[C_U_L8R]

17. Well they didn't spend much money on THAT

It looks like it used to be a drive-thru Dunkin Donuts.

So what did she spend all that money on? eBay?

[hedgehog]

8. Well that answers on equestion and raises another: last night I couldn't

figure out how Wasilla could support so much commerce (multiple strip malls0 plus 50 government employees; now we know.


The new question? Why in hell would any Alaskan want to secede from the union when the Federal government is such a cash cow? I think the oil company payment is about $2000 a year while I think the Feds fork over $12,000 per capita!

[thereismore]

9. No way! I can't believe it. Pork up the wazoo! What a reformer! She goes down! nt

[Sabriel]

10. A solid-gold chicken in every pot

If you do the math, it comes to over four thou a person. Now THAT'S a rebate!

[Bonobo]

11. Why/How could McCain have thought this would go unnoticed!? nt

[stray cat]

13. $4,000 in pork per person - there is more of a story there....

[L. Coyote]

30. “Do you know how many sties you own?”

Election 2008 'Toon In

And the winner is:

“Do you know how many sties you own?”

Runner-ups are good too!

"We porkers have to think about our barrel first."
"Yeah, if the trough remains full, I don't care who slings what."

"If you think it's bad here wait till you see Fox News."

See? I told you so! We've got exactly the right stuff to succeed in politics!

They say the only way this mudslinging will stop is when we fly!

http://www.pbs.org/now/php/cartoons.php

[thereismore]

15. The rail was to Stevens' house in Girdwood. nt

[ksimons]

16. K&R Great Right-In-Your-Face Facts... She says Alaska is the richest state (I'll upload later) nt

[PA Democrat]

18. WOW! It just keeps getting better, doesn't it?

The image McCain & Palin have painted of her if an obscene lie. This is outrageous.

[UpInArms]

19. from your link:

She also has reversed course on at least one major earmark: After initially supporting the $223 million bridge, which was to connect the town of Ketchikan with a remote island, Palin reversed course last year and canceled the project because of cost overruns. Critics have dubbed the project the "Bridge to Nowhere."

But her administration remains eager for many other earmarks.

In February, Palin's office sent Sen. Stevens a 70-page memo outlining almost $200 million worth of new funding requests for the state of Alaska.

[Pavlovs DiOgie]

20. What in the world was their vettig process

"Hello, Mrs. Palin. This is the McCain campaign. Would you be interested in being the Vice President? You would? Awesome! We'll see you soon. Why don't you bring the husband and kids down so the American people can meet them at the same time Mr. McCain does. He'll be the one wearing the red rose on his lapel."

[madrchsod]

21. her perceived good looks and her ass

that`s all that john seems to care about

[Dr.Phool]

25. Awww, that's just ridiculous.

It was her breasteses.

[melody]

23. The morons probably prayed about it n/t

[superconnected]

52. I'm pretty sure they only wanted to know that she had a vagina.

They knew hillary was the only thing that polarized people against obama up to that point and without her, mccain was dead, so they brought in a woman to try to polarize american women to mccain. It flopped.

[melody]

22. Oh, this is just so much fun

And that's the Washington Post to boot.

[LynnTheDem]

24. But Palin just said she never ever never ever had fed funds!

Oops, another republican ``misspoke``.

[NBachers]

27. It's a "disagreement with the current observation"

not a lie.

[Waiting For Everyman]

29. Yowser! Now the D.C. dogs are on the job...

she's about to find out what it takes to play in the big leagues.

[Waiting For Everyman]

33. Oh, and here's what she refused to fund...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x6859545#6873369

It's just more Palin economic genius. :sarcasm:

Come on she'd be a GREAT leader - all the Repubs keep telling us so!

[madmax]

34. Reformer My Ass! n/t

[Waiting For Everyman]

35. Obama just referred to this on CNN - called the town "WaSILLY"!

I'm sure he didn't mean to, and he was so serious in saying it, but still...

No kiddin'. It was so great! :rofl:

[redqueen]

50. Hahahahahahaha

That's a cute little flub right there. :)

[gatorboy]

36. If she acquired so much funding, how the hell did she still leave the town with $20 million in debt?

Good Lord, these Repubs love to spend, don't they?

[endthewar]

38. Great point!

Gotta love how they try to call themselves fiscal conservatives. :rofl:

[Douglas Carpenter]

39. RECOMMEND!! RECOMMEND!!! RECOMMEND!!! NOW THIS IS A STORY TO PUSH TO THE TOP NOW!!!!

[Douglas Carpenter]

41. HERE is the picture of the Wasilla City Hall

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/week_2008_08_31.php

"
Aside from her 18 months as governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin's highest office was part-time mayor of the little town of Wasilla, 30 miles north of Anchorage. Mayoral performance. Palin, who portrays herself as a fiscal conservative, racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla — that amounts to $3,000 per resident. She argues that the debt was needed to fund improvements. "

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12987.html

------------

[BumRushDaShow]

42. Carville showed that picture last night on Larry King. All the world knows now.

Said it looked like a bait (or bake) shop in New Orleans. :rofl:

[Douglas Carpenter]

43. another kick --- PLEASE RECOMMEND, RECOMMEND, RECOMMEND!!!

[Vinca]

44. Not a scandal people, not a scandal.

They are only earmarks when Democrats get them. When Republicans get large amounts of cash for their districts it's "strengthening the community."

[Faux pas]

45. oo oo oo Good Find! Thanks, will be spreading this like raspberry

jam on sourdough toast! LOL I think I'm hungry.

[Yavin4]

46. That's $27 million for 6,700 People

Or, $4,029 in pork for each resident of that town, or $4,500 per capita. That may be the highest ratio of pork spending per capita in America.

[yardwork]

47. k&r

[GoddessOfGuinness]

48. Just think how much they'll get when she succeeds to the Residency...

I guess we should start getting used to the way "The United States of Wasilla" sounds.

And McMoose.

[redqueen]

49. Well yeah... that's what she hired that lobbyist for!

So they could get more federal $$$!

[Ron Paul- voting BO]

51. Need to focus

This is where the Democrats need to focus. When she gives her speech they need to have all this information to all surrogate's. When she says she was against the bridge to no where have talking points where she was for it. When she says she commended the National Guard ask for one decision or commend that she gave. Hit now because everyone is watching. Stick to issues like this.. No more left on the baby issue the enquirer is on the job and will find out all we need to know.

[workinclasszero]

55. I love it when Rethugs are proven to be LIARS!

Then they wrap themselves in the flag and use the Bible as a shield and claim to be doing God's will! The same Bible that condemns all liars!

The massive lies and hypocrisy of the republican party are a sight to behold!

[hunter]

56. My small city could use half a billion dollars.

A little less per capita than her town got. Where do we stand in line for that?