Sarah Palin - Earmark Queen

I really, really appreciate all of the work done by Think Progress.

As all of the information about Sarah Palin's background has come out since she was named as John McCain's running mate, I've been a bit outraged and surprised at her lack of experience in matters of national importance. Part of the reason for the surprise and shock is that she appeared on the scene so quickly.

Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and all of the others who ran for President this year had their baggage. But, we all had two-years, give or take a few months, to sort out their issues and their positions. We had a chance to see them, listen to them, check out their back-stories and decide what was important - and what was not - as they geared up for the race. That's why we finished with Obama and McCain - the voters had their choice. Even Biden, who finished very low in the race for the nomination, was vetted by the populace. We know who he is.

But this whole Sarah Palin thing is disquieting. I know - we're not really voting for her - the race is about John McCain, but still - she'll be a significant part of the administration if John wins, and she'll be President of the U.S. Senate ex officio and that puts her in charge of one of the most powerful legislative bodies in the world, alongside the U.S. House of Representatives.

Now on to the issue this is all about. John McCain says he hates lobbyists and the influence peddlers in Washington. He says that he'll put a stop to their influence - that he'll veto any pork-barrel legislation that crosses his desk when he's President. He also proclaimed that he selected Sarah Palin to run with him because she was strongly opposed to earmarks (aka pork-barrel projects). Like so many of his tales, this turns out to be a lie.

I was especially surprised to learn that Alaska has no income or sales taxes. See below.

The following is from The Wonk Room over at Think Progress (remember? I mentioned them at the beginning of this post?). Read more by clicking on the link.

Sarah Palin: Earmark Queen Of The Earmark State»

In 2000, Sarah Palin, as mayor of the Alaskan town of Wasilla, hired a Washington lobbyist to secure federal earmarks for her community.

This is not totally atypical in her state. Alaska’s government receives more money per capita in federal earmark money than any other state, despite being the only state in the union with no income tax and no sales tax. They fund their government primarily with petroleum money, and recently distributed oil profits to its citizens in the form of rebate checks.

But even in her heavily earmarked state, Sarah Palin was the earmark queen.

From 2000 to 2003, she secured over $27 million in earmarks, averaging $6.7 million in federal money every year for her town of about 6,700 people.