"We Did Well!"
The Washington Independent combs through public records in Wasilla, Alaska and finds a news clipping reporting how various Alaska towns fared in the annual funding sweepstakes. There, in Sarah Palin's own handwriting, is a big circle around the graph noting that Wasilla's $2.5 million take led the region.
"We did well!!!" Palin boasts with triple exclamation marks, adding that the article didn't include an additional $1 million in federal money to pave the Wasilla airport.
That's $3.5 million in federal earmarks for water treatment, airport paving, and "pedestrian walkways" in a town of 9,000.
Meticulously vetted! Has bravely risked her political career fighting earmarks and government waste!
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
The liberals are running scared, I tells ya!
You sound partisan Radley
What is the date on the bottom of the clipping 10 years ago? I'd say it was damaging if it was from 6 months ago.
Ten years ago, she was doing the sports cast, I think.
...and not running as a "reformer."
What a joke.
9iu1ian1 looks like hes speaking from a sewer or waste treatment plant or something.
Did they learn nothing from the puke green background debacle?
"You sound partisan Radley"
Coming from SIV you should take that as a compliment of your objectivity Radley.
BDB
That background is sick. Is Michael Brown running that screen?
A politician's integrity and stances are only assets during the campaign season. Once they are in office, all that matters is political manipulation skills. I don't know how good Palin is at siphoning off federal funds relative to other pols, but from McCain's perspective her ability to do so is a feature, not a bug. So I wouldn't say that she is a bad pick just because of stuff like this.
Am I the only one that thinks about Ron Paul when they hear this? I forget, do we still hate him for doing the same exact thing?
The Ghoul has some nice rhetoric about putting your country and your children in McCain's hands... A Father for our Great Country!
/godwin
Rudy "Mr. 9/11" Gulianni just said.... "as a trial lawyer, I learned, if you don't have the facts, you have to change them." So i wonder if he ever changed fact get people put in prison?
Damn, he looks mad that the Dems forgot to mention 9/11 a whole bunch at their convention!
"Democratic Party". Wow, twice now.
Damn, I thought Rudy "Mr. 9/11" Gulianni, was actually going to get through his speech without invoking 9/11.
The NYC skyline in the background (With Rudy in the Hudson) is worth at least two shots.
There are some haggard looking bitches there, damn.
No, Rudy, I'm not a Georgian, I'm an American.
But you ARE a massive interventionist tool.
Un-divided Jerusalem?
Some place called Georgia that I don't already live in?
I'm no isolationist but this isn't relevant to my interests.
Cosmopolitan!
Drink?
I already donated to Obama today, but every other sentence makes me want to do it again. These neanderthals are going to bleed me dry aren't they?
"Drink?"
Already there. God, I really hate Giuliani. So much.
Of course that $3.5 million would have gone unspent, if not for earmarks! The executive branch would not have spent it elsewhere!
Is there moral equivalence between the local earmark seeker and the D.C. earmark procurer? I agree that neither should put their greasy mittens on my hard-earned ingots, but am hard pressed to assign equal blame to the state and local officials.
Reminds me of high school when we would applaud for 20 mins so we didn't have to go back to class. Jesus fucking christ people.
STOP APPLAUDING
Wow... Trig is either dead or drugged.
Or, you know, a baby with Down Syndrome.
Sorry, I'll make a comment on her policy issues, as soon as she mentions one.
Policy issues? Conventions are glorified pep rallies, so don't hold your breath. Then again, you're already a step above Andrew Sullivan on the evolutionary ladder. He's probably packed up his beagles for the long car ride to Alasksa in order to pull a little Mission Impossible stunt in that hospital.
Who gives a crap about earmarks? I swear that's the biggest pandering waste of hot air... why don't we just take a razor to the top of the "defense" budget and fund things that don't involve bombing brown people for a while?