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By JENNIFER LOVEN
FAIRFAX, Va.
Republican presidential nominee John McCain and his running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, equated lawmakers' requests for funding for special projects with corruption on Wednesday even though Palin herself has requested nearly $200 million in so-called "earmarks" this year.
Campaigning in Virginia, McCain blamed earmarks for high food and gasoline prices and the trouble that many homeowners face in making mortgage payments. He vowed again to veto any bill that contains such funding.
"I got an old ink pen, my friends, and the first pork barrel-laden earmark, big-spending bill that comes across my desk, I will veto it. You will know their names. I will make them famous and we'll stop this corruption," McCain said during a rally at a park in suburban Washington, D.C.
Palin has sought $197 million worth of earmarks for 2009, down about 25 percent from the $256 million she sought in the 2008 budget year. As mayor of tiny Wasilla, Alaska, she hired a lobbyist to seek federal money for special projects. Wasilla obtained 14 earmarks, totaling $27 million, between 2000-2003, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama hasn't asked for any earmarks this year. The Illinois senator sought $311 million in such funding last year. McCain, an Arizona senator, doesn't seek earmarks for his state.
Undaunted by his running mate's ties to earmarks, McCain said: "I've fought corruption, and it didn't matter if it was Democrats or Republican, and so has Sarah Palin."
Palin said she has "championed earmark reform" as governor and "reformed the abuses of earmarks in our state." Now, she said, she is ready to join McCain in Washington "so we can end the corrupt practice of abusive earmarks after all."
The practice of earmarking — lawmakers inserting special requests for money for home-state projects in spending bills — is a longtime anti-Washington bugaboo for politicians running for office. Many find that, once in office, requests from constituents for help on a particular project is too tough to resist and support bringing that kind of money home to their states and districts.
"John McCain's idea of changing Washington is a vice-presidential candidate who, as governor, requested more pork per person than any other state in the country," said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor.
McCain and Palin's attack on earmarks in the face of those she has requested joins other statements by the vice presidential nominee that have been widely debunked:
—Palin routinely claims to have put an end to Alaska's infamous "bridge to nowhere," even though she supported the project during her gubernatorial campaign and turned against it only when it became a national embarrassment and Congress threatened to cut its funding.
—Palin has claimed that she put the governor's jet on the Internet auction site eBay, and McCain has said it was sold at a profit. However, the jet was never sold via eBay.
—Palin says she eliminated the governor's chef from the state budget, yet she gave the person another job in state government.
McCain aides said Thursday's event attracted the biggest non-convention crowd of his campaign, with local officials reporting an estimated 23,000 at the event. People filled the grass and hillsides to make a sea of red, as the state GOP exhorted everyone coming to wear the hue in a sign of support for the party, and they often drowned out the candidates' words with chanting.
Judging by shouts from the crowd, the enthusiasm seemed driven primarily by the presence of Palin. She has electrified both McCain's campaign and the party since he announced her as his running mate almost two weeks ago.
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On the Net:
McCain campaign: http://www.johnmccain.com/
Obama campaign: http://www.barackobama.com/index.php
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Jennifer Lovan AP writer
I'm not going to pay attention to anything Jennifer Lovan AP Reporter writes when in comes to McCain and Palin. She has a well documented history of being a pro Democrat and anti Republicans. Last election she campaigned for Kerry and constantly wrote anti Bush articles. So much for unbiased reporting.
Pork barrel spending
McCain says he will veto every pork barrel spending. He will have to veto every bill that come up in congress. They will be overridden every time. Think about it. He will never get anything done. But you can fool some people all the time.
Earmarks, another non-event.
Palin pushed for earmarks. So did every other politician under the sun. But Palin doesn't really deserve all the credit the Dems are pounding on. For instance 15 million of the 27 million she supposedly got was actually awarded by the Federal Transit Authority to the Alaska Rail Road for commuter rail. Problem is, there is no commuter rail in Wassila. The railroad company used the money to double track a section and to smooth out curves, in anticipation of a commuter rail plan. Other money was allocated by various agencies for sewer and other infrastructure, much like any city in Hampton Roads would get. In fact, such earmarks are discretionary authorizations by agencies for projects that are needed, but don't meet funding requirements under state and local budgets. This year Norfolk got 23 million dollars from Sens. Warner and Webb under a real political earmark. What was the money for? The Light Rail Project.