Republicans are always for objective standards - as long as there are two of each.
On Tue, Sep 2, 2008 at 10:14 AM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> [from The Note]
>
> "For every piece of the portrait of Palin that the McCain campaign sketches,
> a far more complicated picture of the Alaska governor is drawn," Peter
> Wallsten writes in the Los Angeles Times. "The woman introduced to America
> as a reform-minded Washington outsider who opposed the infamous 'bridge to
> nowhere' -- the symbol of McCain's hatred of wasteful spending -- originally
> supported its construction. The governor who in her introductory speech
> decried the practice of budgetary 'earmarks' sought, as the state's chief
> executive and as mayor of Wasilla, hundreds of millions of dollars in such
> federal funding for local projects." Speaking of -- it's not just a bridge:
> "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," The Washington Post's Paul Kane reports. "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 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," Kane adds. "All told, Wasilla benefited from $26.9 million
> in earmarks in Palin's final four years in office. . . . In February,
> Palin's [governor's] office sent Sen. Stevens a 70-page memo outlining
> almost $200 million worth of new funding requests for Alaska."
>
> Plus: "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin began building clout in her state's political
> circles in part by serving as a director of an independent political group
> organized by the now embattled Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens," Matthew Mosk
> reports in The Washington Post. "Palin's name is listed on 2003
> incorporation papers of the 'Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service,
> Inc.,' a 527 group that could raise unlimited funds from corporate donors."
>
> This would make it harder to get earmarks: "Officials of the Alaskan
> Independence Party say that Palin was once so independent, she was once a
> member of their party, which, since the 1970s, has been pushing for a legal
> vote for Alaskans to decide whether or not residents of the 49th state can
> secede from the United States," ABC's Jake Tapper reports. "And while
> McCain's motto -- as seen in a new TV ad -- is 'Country First,' the AIP's
> motto is the exact opposite -- 'Alaska First -- Alaska Always.' "
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