On ‘The View,’ McCain Falsely Claims Palin Never Requested Earmarks As Governor Of Alaska
On ‘The View,’ McCain Falsely Claims Palin Never Requested Earmarks As Governor Of Alaska
Appearing on “The View” today, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) falsely claimed that Sarah Palin never requested earmarks as the governor of Alaska. “Not as governor she didn’t,” McCain told Barbara Walters after she noted Palin “took some earmarks”:
WALTERS: What is she going to reform specifically, senator?
MCCAIN: Well, first of all, earmark spending, which she vetoed a half a billion dollars worth in the state of Alaska.
WALTERS: She also took some earmarks there.
BEHAR: A lot.
MCCAIN: No, not as governor she didn’t, she vetoed…
WALTERS: As Mayor.
MCCAIN: Well, look, the fact is that she was a reform governor.
Watch it:
McCain’s claim that Palin never accepted earmarks as the governor of Alaska is divorced from reality. In fact, she actively sought them:
– Though Palin did reduce Alaska’s earmark requests, “in her two years in office, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation.”
– In March 2008, Palin wrote an op-ed in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, saying that her “role at the federal level is simply to submit the most well-conceived earmark requests we can” and that her reduction of requests was a response “to the changing circumstances in Congress.”
– In February 2008, Palin’s office sent Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) “a 70-page memo outlining almost $200 million worth of new funding requests for the state.”
– In her most recent earmark requests, “Palin requested millions of federal dollars for everything from improving recreational halibut fishing to studying the mating habits of crabs and the DNA of harbor seals.”
As ThinkProgress has noted, Palin has requested earmarks of the very type that McCain routinely mocks while on the campaign trail. As Walters pointed out, Palin was also a big fan of congressional pork as the Mayor of Wasilla, even hiring a lobbyist to help secure them.
Topic Cloud
ArchivesBlog Roll
How much money would it take to provide earmarks for all Americans at the same rate that Sarah Palin bagged them for Wasila? On an annual basis?
A mere half a trillion dollars.
Exact number $422,302,519,152.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:43 pmWhen will the press take off the kid gloves and start calling “BS” on the Pentacostal Pork-barrel Princess of Wasilla?
If McNumbNuts wants to make a big issue out of earmarks, then he needs to live with the consequences of his stupidity. Failin’ Palin is no “reformer”; she is just a “new, improved” version of the same old corruption and sense of entitlement that has plagued Alaska ever since it achieved statehood.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:51 pmAn ad I’d like to see:
September 12th, 2008 at 12:51 pmSarah Palin in Matthew Lesko’s question-mark suit doing late-night TV ads.
The real question is what will it take for the mainstream media to change its McCain narrative from “straight-talker” to “bald-faced liar.”
September 12th, 2008 at 12:53 pmMcSame - Palin, Lies You Can Believe In.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:54 pmIt really is weird seeing the Senator from the most earmark-averse state of the 50 (and I’ll give McCain credit for that) teamed up with the governor of the state that is the most earmark-friendly. Alaska is #1, Arizona #50.
Weird. Must be confusing for McCain.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:55 pmDrop the reform rhetoric, McStain. Even the press munching on your hot dogs isn’t buying it.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:55 pmThis was a good show. The women lit mcchimpy’s ass on fire. It was great.
They did a great job at showing his lies.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:56 pmLater today, John will be on the Gulf Coast of Texas telling everyone there’s no wind and it’s not raining.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:56 pmShe kept the phu*cking money for the bridge to nowhere!
It’s really as simple as that! Let’s call it what it is: FRAUD!
If I took out a mortgage and said that money would be used to purchase a house, but used the money to buy, well, anything else, I’d be in prison.
As a taxpayer, especially one who doesn’t get annual checks back from my state government, I want my phu*cking money back from Palin’s Alaska!
PEACE
September 12th, 2008 at 12:57 pmRickD Says:
It really is weird seeing the Senator from the most earmark-averse state of the 50 (and I’ll give McCain credit for that) teamed up with the governor of the state that is the most earmark-friendly. Alaska is #1, Arizona #50.
Weird. Must be confusing for McCain.
No, RickD, it just shows how far down the sewer Johnny Boy has sold his soul to be POTUS. And it will be written up in future history books about his sell-out, too. What a sad legacy to leave behind, maybe even worse than Dubya’s.
September 12th, 2008 at 12:58 pm.
WOW…
Palin is a reformer because she reformed Alaska and will reform D.C.
Whoda-thunk it!
.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:00 pmHurry, that man needs a prescription of Aricept, quick.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:00 pmSo did Barbara or one of the other panelists point out that Palin had IN FACT requested earmarks including studying the DNA of seals? If not shame on them for not doing the research necessary to refute McCain’s lies(or ignorance.) As long as the MSM is lazy the McCain policy of fibbing will succeed.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:02 pmGotta keep a careful eye on those criminalistic, whambamthankymaam harbor seals…
September 12th, 2008 at 1:02 pmEvery time McCain and Palin lie - and it’s very often-the media and the democrats need to immediately call them on it and debunk the lies with the truth. They can’t let one lie escape to the ears of the American people.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:04 pmI wish one of the interviewers would ask him. Will VP Palin be pushing for a wind fall profits tax from Oil companies just as she did while Gov of Alaska? Gawd knows we all could use the money. Each Alaskan received $1,200.
http://hotair.com/ archives/ 2008/ 08/ 11/ palin-backed-alaskan-windfall-profits-tax/
But, is not the money, the same money we then spend at the pump to get back next year in a win fall profit tax? Why can we not just have lower pump prices?
September 12th, 2008 at 1:06 pmHonestly, this is The View. I’m not going to get crazy if they’re not asking every last hard question. I’m not sure why that should be their responsibility when there are shows completely focused on news that have done far less.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:07 pmMcCain is aware that there are things called historical records that contradict his statements, right?
Oh well, just another example of his version of straight talk. Normal people call them lies.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:07 pmmargerine Says:
Honestly, this is The View. I’m not going to get crazy if they’re not asking every last hard question. I’m not sure why that should be their responsibility when there are shows completely focused on news that have done far less.
Remember,
September 12th, 2008 at 1:08 pmIt is the Daily Show and the Enquirer that are now the true reporters. So, the View….?
Can someone please tell me: where are biden and obama?
Intrade is now showing a republican win, 53% to 46% likelihood repub over dems.
They need to step up their level of forcefulness, or they are going to get completely run over by the lying republicans, who will simply go for every opportunity to get in front of a camera and microphone to lie about their records, lie about what they’ll do to “reform” washington, and trash democrats every chance they get.
Obama and Biden need to get moving; their convention is over, they need to get people’s attention.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:08 pmHe was a POW,ya know…….he was under enhanced interrogation for 5 years.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:08 pmThe ’straight-talk’ express my ass!
September 12th, 2008 at 1:10 pmIt should be renamed the ‘lie-like-a-rug’ show.
It might have been better if she had paid more attention to the mating habits of teenagers, rather than crabs.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:10 pmMcCain’s biggest threat doesn’t come from Al-Qaeda or Islamic Terrorists…
it’s fact-checkers…
September 12th, 2008 at 1:12 pmHow is she going to be an agent for change?
Here’s an article on today’s First Read at MSNBC
MORE PALIN STORIES
RAPE KITS: “When Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, the city billed sexual-assault victims and their insurance companies for the cost of rape kits and forensic examinations,” AP writes. “Palin had been in office for four years when the practice got the attention of state lawmakers in 2000, who passed a bill to stop it. Former Democratic Rep. Eric Croft, who sponsored that bill, said he was disappointed that asking the Wasilla Police Department to stop charging didn’t work. Maria Comella, a McCain-Palin campaign spokeswoman, said Palin ‘does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test.’ … Alaska routinely has the nation’s highest rate of sexual assault.”
My emphasis above.
So, even though her town’s police did this for four years, and it was only when the state legislature had to pass a bill to stop Wasilla from doing it,
Palin ‘does not believe, nor has she ever believed, that rape victims should have to pay for an evidence-gathering test.’
BULLSHIT.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:13 pmAnd now Track is ONLY in the Army because he was arrested for vandalizing school buses, and actually had to spend his last year in HS out of state in Michigan, and the only way NOT to spend jail time was for him to sign up. So, he is not the “Gung ho” patriot as she makes him out to be. He was forced into it.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:15 pmhttp://www.the-peoples-forum.com/ cgi-bin/ readart.cgi?ArtNum=4216
Truly disgusting parent. I can only wonder what Willow will end up doing. Probably killing Trig while mommy is away galavanting around playing Margaret Thatcher. Another fascist broad.
Cindy McCain was horrific. First, she sneered and said the number of house they have are not a part of the campaign, that she was lucky enough that her parents did well by her…
Than she said the Russians are the bad guys and that they killed hundreds of women and children.
OMG. LIE LIE LIE. That doesn’t even make sense as the South Ossetians want to be Russians. We are being lied to about the Georgian conflict and Cindy just threw out terrible propaganda to make the american women hate Russia for something they didn’t do. It was Georgia (and let’s not forget who McCain’s advisor is, a lobbyost for the Republic of Georgia).
Of course, Elisabeth (a.k.a. “Nazi girl”) was almost sucking on McCain’s weiner for the show.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:17 pmJohnnie doesn’t use the internets so he doesn’t know how fast his lies can be refuted.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:19 pmOf course, Elisabeth (a.k.a. “Nazi girl”) was almost sucking on McCain’s weiner for the show.
Yeah, I think we need to pull a Neo-con on the View and have a write in campaign to get rid of NaziBarbie.
Is there a website that tracks TV show advertisers?
Or we can just voice our disgust here:
September 12th, 2008 at 1:22 pmhttp://abc.go.com/site/contactus.html
.
Looks like Palin Reformed her family pretty well, too:
Track… Reformed vandal…
Bristol… Reformed virgin…
.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:23 pmI know its only the view but if you have serious guests and ask them serious question and they lie then you MUST call them on the lie
September 12th, 2008 at 1:25 pmThe ladies of the View did a much better job of holding McCain’s can to the fire than any of the MSM. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
September 12th, 2008 at 1:27 pmWhen asked about the tone of his campaign last night, McCain said it didn’t have to be this way. It was all Obama’s fault for not agreeing to town meetings.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:29 pmWhen will someone smack him down.
What bullshit. I felt my head starting to spin.
Family Values, lies and GOD what more could you ask for the REICH?
September 12th, 2008 at 1:33 pmSpoxLogic, Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert do a better job reporting facts than any other “news” show, network or cable.
And they’re not even journalists!
Catch on, MSM, if you want to retain some shred of credibility!
PEACE
September 12th, 2008 at 1:35 pmRickD, Alaska is not “earmark-friendly.”
It is earmark-AGGRESSIVE, as in working very hard with lobbyists to secure earmarks.
Which IS one thing we elect politicians to do, but since McCain declared this one area to reform, then it doesn’t give him the right to lie about it.
The real problem is the diversion of research funding from peer-reviewed process to earmarks, i.e. from scientific merit to political patronage system. It went HAYWIRE HUGE in the current administration of Mayberry Machiavellis.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:35 pmCal Malenky Says:
Johnnie doesn’t use the internets so he doesn’t know how fast his lies can be refuted.
__________
Heh… good one… and you might actually be right about that.
Perhaps John’s first move as POTUS, should the GOOP steal this one too, will be to outlaw “facts”. After all, they just get in the way of a good narrative.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:38 pmSend this to the “View” and see if they’re willing to correct the record! Oh, wait, MSM!
September 12th, 2008 at 1:39 pmI need clarification here, because I want to make sure I have my facts straight. There seems to be a conflating of “requesting” and “accepting” earmarks. The article says:
McCain’s claim that Palin never accepted earmarks as the governor of Alaska is divorced from reality. In fact, she actively sought them:
“Accepted” and “sought” are NOT the same thing. I realize this is a semantic distinction. She isn’t against them if she *sought* them. But if she *sought* them but didn’t *accept* them as governor, then what McCain says is technically true, if fundamentally dishonest.
Here’s what I want to know before I call the McCain campaign liars: What earmarks did Palin *accept* as governor?
(Note: I posted the same comment over at the Washington Monthly.)
September 12th, 2008 at 1:42 pmShe ACCEPTED the $27 Million that was EARMARKED for the bridge to nowhere. She decided NOT to build said bridge to nowhere, and she KEPT the money, and spent it on other road constuction projects.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:46 pmhttp://www.reuters.com/ article/ vcCandidateFeed7/ idUSN3125537020080901?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=10272
“Last year, Palin announced she was stopping state work on the controversial project, earning her admirers from earmark critics and budget hawks from around the nation. The move also thrust her into the spotlight as a reform-minded newcomer.
The state, however, never gave back any of the money that was originally earmarked for the Gravina Island bridge, said Weinstein and Elerding.
In fact, the Palin administration has spent “tens of millions of dollars” in federal funds to start building a road on Gravina Island that is supposed to link up to the yet-to-be-built bridge, Weinstein said.
“She said ‘thanks but no thanks,’ but they kept the money,” said Elerding about her applause line.
Former state House Speaker Gail Phillips, a Republican who represented the Kenai Peninsula city of Homer, is also critical about Palin’s reversal on the bridge issue.
“You don’t tell a group of Alaskans you support something and then go to someplace else and say you oppose it,” said Phillips, who supported Palin’s opponent, Democrat Tony Knowles, in the 2006 gubernatorial race.
A press release issued by the governor on September 21, 2007 said she decided to cancel state work on the project because of rising cost estimates.
“It’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island,” Palin said in the news release. “Much of the public’s attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects here.”
September 12th, 2008 at 1:48 pmAlecto Says:
She ACCEPTED the $27 Million that was EARMARKED for the bridge to nowhere. She decided NOT to build said bridge to nowhere, and she KEPT the money, and spent it on other road constuction projects.
It was $233 million, not $27, but yes, she did keep it for her own pet projects.
PEACE
September 12th, 2008 at 1:52 pm.
DNA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2N5Oq3lGXJQ
.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:54 pmDoes gramps even know he is spreading LIES…There doesn’t appear to be anyone home in that pea brain of his.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:56 pmRU@26
This is old news, but nevertheless relevant.
Think about the breach of confidentiality in billing the victim and insurance.
what a cocky hockey lipstick pig.
September 12th, 2008 at 1:57 pmLying fu(king piece of $hit.
September 12th, 2008 at 2:00 pmIn a later statement from Palin: “Oh THOSE earmarks? I’m sorry…I thought earmarks were the things they put on moose to track them….my bad…”
September 12th, 2008 at 2:16 pmIs McCain lying about this or is he just completely out of touch with reality?
Either way, his horrible judgment had rendered him unfit to serve.
September 12th, 2008 at 2:23 pmHe was completely lying when he said she isn’t for earmarks. Her requests for earmarks for Alaska for 2009 are right on her OWN GOVERNOR WEB PAGE! Seal DNA research request included (remember how McCain has been mocking an earmark for Bear DNA research?):
http://www.gov.state.ak.us/ omb/ 09_omb/ budget/ FFY09%20Summary%20of%20Fed%20Request.pdf
September 12th, 2008 at 2:29 pm@Alecto, @spencers mom
September 12th, 2008 at 2:37 pmThanks - I appreciate it. Did she actually get any of those other earmarks she asked for?
The mainstream media, who is always accused of being libera, should tell the truth. JOHN MCSAME IS A G*D D^MNED LIAR.
September 12th, 2008 at 3:03 pmAnd she didn’t fire that chef either. Another lie.
September 12th, 2008 at 3:07 pmA new film starring the Republican ticket is titled “Clueless and Cluelesser.”
September 12th, 2008 at 3:09 pmSome Democrats will love that Palin took earmarks, just like the King of Earmarks, Joe Biden.
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
politics is religion
feeling is most important
thinking is not required
.
absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
claim to care for people
call yourself progressive
September 14th, 2008 at 4:20 ambad policies hurt poor folk
.
USpace Says:
You are an idiot and a liar. Your stream of conciousness inanity is noted but please try to maintain some level of coherence when posting. We already get you are intellectually challenged so forget about trying to be profound. Higher BRAIN function is obviously beyond you just shoot for making sense. Making stupid baseless assertions like you did about progressive policies hurting the poor only outs you as a hivemind moron who knows you are too stupid to think for yourself so parrots the Rush Limbaugh show. Grow up or go away and let the adults talk
September 14th, 2008 at 4:38 pm