Palin A Piker Compared To Obama and Biden Earmark Records

Obama Earmarked $300,000,000 in first 200 days; Biden bagged nearly $100,000,000 in one year.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and McCain VP pick 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 including: $500,000 for a youth shelter, $1.9 million for a transportation hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs, and the biggest chunk of $15 million for a rail project. intended  to connect Wasilla with the town of Girdwood, where now disgraced Senator Ted Stevens has a house. Although neither the watchdog group nor the Washington Post it is unclear whether Palin had anything to do with that project.

Palin did oversee hiring 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.

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 rejecting the $223 million so-called bridge to nowhere 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.

(Palin) certainly wasn’t shy about putting the old-boy network to use to bring home millions of dollars,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “She’s a little more  savvy to the ways of Washington than she’s let on.” In her final four years as Mayor she raked in $1,000 per resident - nearly $7 million - before getting elected Governor.

Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, secured $300 million in earmarks, in less than 200-days in the US Senate including 7-figures for the “non-profit” hospital where his wife was employed that raised her salary to over $300,000 a year. He requested over 100 more for 2008 adding another $100 million or so. Then he announced that he would no longer seek earmarks for any entity. Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), Obama’s VP running mate, co-sponsored $85.6 million in earmarks for 2008, according to one study.

John mCCain refused to earmarks anything, and always has done so.