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The real trouble with Sarah Palin is the $27 million in Federal earmarked funds she secured for her hometown, Wasilla, in the most recent Federal budget (source: story in Houston Chronicle, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/5978373.html, "Palin secured $27 million in town earmarks", September 1, 2008). A story in the Houston Chronicle states that "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."
There are a couple of difficulties here:
1. John McCain is supposed to be *against* earmarks. In the same story referred to above, McCain is quoted as saying that "earmarks are wasteful and are often inserted into bills with little oversight, sometimes by a single powerful member of Congress."
2. The town of Wasilla has 6,700 residents, according to the news story referenced above. Small towns are notoriously chummy, and usually all of the major players (and the minor players, too) know each other and have done so for a long time. I haven't seen any analysis of possible conflicts of interest (or perhaps worse) that might arise with the way the money was parceled out. I'll bet that that analysis is getting done right about now, and will come out about the time that the pregnant daughter becomes old news.
At first I thought this was a brilliant choice, but with the revelations of the past four days, and just the last four days, I think this is going to turn into a disaster. The lack of vetting shows a singular lack of judgment. At this point, I can't support a McCain candidacy.
