Palin's Small Alaska Town Secured Big Federal Funds

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, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog group.

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 ... Full Story »

Posted by Fabrice Florin

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Tom Maertens
4.0
by Tom Maertens - Oct. 1, 2008

The Washington Post and other mainstream journals continue to dig into Palin's past, and it turns out, things are not necessarily as the McCain campaign has represented them. One telling quote from this piece is that Palin has been "working in the best interests of Alaska, working within the confines of the current system." This is an argument that any politician who brings home the pork can make and hardly justifies the assertion that Palin is a reformer who will change the earmark system and do away with the old boy network. If McCain thought that Palin's designation was a game-changer, he may yet be proven right: she may change the dynamics irreversibly in favor of Obama.

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