The latest charge against Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin is that she is a fan of congressional earmarks. Governor Palin stated in her introduction speech that, " And I've championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress."
Today Governor Palin is being challenged on that claim by people who are saying that she is a great supporter of congressional earmarks and the wasteful spending they represent. Maybe that's true. Maybe Sarah Palin really loves earmarks like everyone says she does. A March 2008 story in the Juneau Empire seems to indicate otherwise.
Stevens Says Earmark Attitude Is Harmful
The first line of the story says it all, "Sen. Ted Stevens says Gov. Sarah Palin is making it harder for him to get earmarks for Alaska."With respect to the Ketchikan-Gravina Island Bridge (aka the bridge to nowwhere) the story says, "Palin said the Alaska delegation, along with President Bush and the front-runners in the presidential election, have made clear earmark reform is coming. She said Stevens is "absolutely misinterpreting" her administration's position on earmarks. "You can either be proactive and be a part of the positive changes that are coming, or you can try to fight this new system that's coming in," Palin said."
Finally the story says, "Palin declared last year that her administration was going to cut back its own earmark requests submitted to the delegation. The state requested earmarks for 31 projects worth just under $200 million this year, down from last year's request of 54 projects for around $550 million."
So the fact of the matter is that under the Palin administration, earmark requests have reduced by $350 million. So it's obvious that Governor Palin understands the importance of reducing the overall burden of her state on the federal government. Gov. Palin never claimed that her state received zero earmarks from Congress under her adminstration. She did say that she has "championed reform" which the Juneau Empire story has confirmed as absolute truth.
Update: There's a similar story in the Anchorage Daily News that has a very good quote from Gov. Palin at the end of the story.
"Alaska has got to be more self-sufficient. We've got to be given the opportunity to start producing more and contributing more, providing jobs for Alaskans," she said.
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