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More Neocon "Fiscal Conservatism"

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Anonymous

Guest
Thomas Eagleton lasted 18 days. Will Sarah Palin break this record?
:???:

Palin's small town secured big federal funds
As mayor, VP pick obtained millions in funds, a tactic McCain has criticized


By Paul Kane

updated 5:42 a.m. MT, Tues., Sept. 2, 2008
ST. PAUL, Minn. - 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 group.

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 Republican presidential candidate, 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 lawmaker.

Palin has also railed against earmarks, touting her opposition to a $223 million bridge in the state as a prime credential for the vice presidential nomination. "As governor, I've stood up to the old politics-as-usual, to the special interests, to the lobbyists, the big oil companies, and the good-ol'-boy network," she said Friday.

As mayor of Wasilla, however, Palin oversaw the hiring of Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, an Anchorage-based law firm with close ties to Alaska's most senior Republicans: Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens, who was indicted in July on charges of accepting illegal gifts. The Wasilla account was handled by the former chief of staff to Stevens, Steven W. Silver, who is a partner in the firm.

Palin was elected mayor of Wasilla in 1996 on a campaign theme of "a time for change." According to a review of congressional spending by Taxpayers for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group in Washington, Wasilla did not receive any federal earmarks in the first few years of Palin's tenure.

Senate records show that Silver's firm began working for Palin in early 2000, just as federal money began flowing.

In fiscal 2000, Wasilla received a $1 million earmark, tucked into a transportation appropriations bill, for a rail and bus project in the town. And in the winter of 2000, Palin appeared before congressional appropriations committees to seek earmarks, according to a report in the Anchorage Daily News.

Palin and the Wasilla City Council increased Silver's fee from $24,000 to $36,000 a year by 2001, Senate records show.

Soon after, the city benefited from additional earmarks: $500,000 for a mental health center, $500,000 for the purchase of federal land and $450,000 to rehabilitate an agricultural processing facility. Then there was the $15 million rail project, intended to connect Wasilla with the town of Girdwood, where Stevens has a house.

The Washington trip is now an annual event for Wasilla officials.

In fiscal year 2002, Wasilla took in $6.1 million in earmarks -- about $1,000 in federal money for every resident. By contrast, Boise, Idaho -- which has more than 190,000 residents -- received $6.9 million in earmarks in fiscal 2008.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26504638
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
As mayor, it's her obligation to get funding for projects for the community. This is just an example that shows she gets off her can and gets things done. It's called "accomplishments" - something the llama has none of.
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
Sandhusker said:
As mayor, it's her obligation to get funding for projects for the community. This is just an example that shows she gets off her can and gets things done. It's called "accomplishments" - something the llama has none of.

What a spin BS-- that kind of backslapping of the good old boys system is the reason this country is $10 Trillion in debt- and our kids and grandkids will be paying for this type of "fiscal conservatism" mismanagement for the rest of their lives :( :mad:
 

aplusmnt

Well-known member
McCain is against wasteful spending, like the bridge to nowhere. I believe she was against it?

What was wasteful in the money that she secured for her City while she was mayor?

Everyone loves a woman that can make a budget and trim the fat while keeping the important things for their families!
 

Sandhusker

Well-known member
Oldtimer said:
Sandhusker said:
As mayor, it's her obligation to get funding for projects for the community. This is just an example that shows she gets off her can and gets things done. It's called "accomplishments" - something the llama has none of.

What a spin BS-- that kind of backslapping of the good old boys system is the reason this country is $10 Trillion in debt- and our kids and grandkids will be paying for this type of "fiscal conservatism" mismanagement for the rest of their lives :( :mad:

I've done the exact same things that Palin is getting lampooned for. The way that the system works is that the Federal and State governments turn loose X amount of dollars for public works programs, infrastructure, etc... The local governments then apply for those funds and a board decides who gets funded and who doesn't. There's a lot of competition for those dollars and most people get left out. When that fails, sometimes you go higher and see what happens when you shake the tree.

As Mayor, it's her fudiciary responsibility to get what she can for her community. She did exactly as she was elected to do. What would be said about her if her community needed those sewer improvements and she didn't go after funding and instead said, "I don't want to contribute to the deficit"?
 

fff

Well-known member
Oh, man, this is too funny. :lol: :lol: Sandhusker: earmarks are ok for Sara Palin's city. Everybody does it. But Democrats are corrupt they ask for them.

A+: She was against the bridge to nowhere

Ah, no she wasn't.

Larrry: stop attacking me with facts.

:lol: :lol:
 
A

Anonymous

Guest
aplusmnt said:
McCain is against wasteful spending, like the bridge to nowhere. I believe she was against it?


WRONG!!!!!!


Sounds like old McSame and Mz. Palin have something else in common-- they like to flipflop, pander, and downright lie- depending on which way the winds blowing at the minute... :( :(

Palin "bridge to nowhere" line angers many Alaskans
Mon Sep 1, 2008 10:44am EDT
By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - It garnered big applause in her first speech as Republican John McCain's vice presidential pick, but Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's assertion that she rejected Congressional funds for the so-called "bridge to nowhere" has upset many Alaskans.

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.

When she was running for governor in 2006, Palin said she was insulted by the term "bridge to nowhere," according to Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein, a Democrat, and Mike Elerding, a Republican who was Palin's campaign coordinator in the southeast Alaska city.

"People are learning that she pandered to us by saying, I'm for this' ... and then when she found it was politically advantageous for her nationally, abruptly she starts using the very term that she said was insulting," Weinstein said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed7/idUSN3125537020080901
 
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