posted September 09, 2008 12:25 PM            

The latest smear of Sarah Palin coming off this dud campaign is that Palin was a supporter of the "Bridge to Nowhere". Must have been a state secret though because it was Palin who blew the whistle on the senior Senator, Ted Stevens whose earmark that bridge was.

So, this hypocrite duo are attempting to smear Palin with a bridge they both voted to fund...twice. To make matters worse..for them, they voted against taking that money allocated for the "Bridge to Nowhere" and funding the rebuilding of an essential bridge down in New Orleans which was damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

Now, these two are said to be super bright. Just ask O'Biden and he'll tell you he's the smartest guy in the room..any room. O'Bomber is said to be so bright that he glows with incandescent brilliance. And yet, here they are bringing up an issue which cuts them both off at the ankles and puts their supreme hypocrisy on display for all to see.

Obama and Biden Voted Against Funding for Rebuilding After Katrina, But Supported Bridge to Nowhere Funding

Obama and Biden Voted Against Funding for Rebuilding After Katrina, But Supported Bridge to Nowhere Funding
So, I found something interesting today. Back in 2005, Congress voted on and passed H.R. 3058 [109th Congress]: “Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia,…”. This purpose of this bill was for “Making appropriations for the Departments of Transportation, Treasury, and Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, District of Columbia, and independent agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006, and for other purposes.”

Now, here’s where it gets interesting. Before being passed by the Senate it underwent 181 amendment proposals (49 by the House, 132 by the Senate). One of the Senate amendments, proposed by Tom Coburn (R-OK), S.Amdt. 2165, “To make a perfecting amendment,” was proposed on October 20, 2005. The original full text of the amendment can be found here, but the amendment basically took money that was, in the original bill, allocated to 2 “Bridge to Nowhere” projects in Alaska, the Knik Arm Bridge, and the Gravina Island Bridge, and would put this money toward rebuilding the Twin Spans Bridge which was bridge connecting New Orleans to Slidell, LA, that was destroyed in Hurricane Katrina.

So, who voted against this amendment? The same people who have been lying about Sarah Palin, saying that she supported the Bridge to Nowhere projects. That’s right. Barack Obama and Joe Biden voted to keep this money going toward the Bridge to Nowhere instead of spending it to rebuild after Katrina. Unfortunately, we don’t have a vote for Senator McCain who was not in the Senate that day.

Later, that same day, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) (yes, the terrible Republican who got so much pork barrel spending for his state) proposed S.Amdt. 2181: To ensure reconstruction of the Twin Spans Bridge. He probably felt bad about the money going to his bridges instead of the New Orleans bridge. Who voted against this amendment? That’s right, Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Again, we don’t have a vote from McCain, since he wasn’t there that day.

posted September 09, 2008 02:00 PM            

She vowed to defend Southeast Alaska "when proposals are on the table like the bridge and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that's so negative" _ something that McCain was busy doing at the time, as a fierce critic of the bridge.

Even so, she called the bridge design "grandiose" during her campaign and said something more modest might be appropriate.

What is true is that Palin supported A BRIDGE to the island....not necessarily THE 400 MILLION DOLLAR BRIDGE which she called grandiose.

And...and..the dud hypocrite duo of O'Bomber/O'Biden not only voted for the 400 million dollar bridge to nowhere but rejected an amendment which would have redirected the money to rebuilding a bridge in New Orleans destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

posted September 09, 2008 02:17 PM            

Palin has also asked for $750 million in earmarks since becoming Governor (according to the WSJ), far exceeding (more than double) the amount Obama has asked for.

Palin "bridge to nowhere" line angers many Alaskans
Mon Sep 1, 2008 10:44am EDT
By Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - It garnered big applause in her first speech as Republican John McCain's vice presidential pick, but Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's assertion that she rejected Congressional funds for the so-called "bridge to nowhere" has upset many Alaskans.

During her first speech after being named as McCain's surprise pick as a running mate, Palin said she had told Congress "'thanks but no thanks' on that bridge to nowhere."

In the city Ketchikan, the planned site of the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere," political leaders of both parties said the claim was false and a betrayal of their community, because she had supported the bridge and the earmark for it secured by Alaska's Congressional delegation during her run for governor.

The bridge, a span from the city to Gravina Island, home to only a few dozen people, secured a $223 million earmark in 2005. The pricey designation raised a furor and critics, including McCain, used the bridge as an example of wasteful federal spending on politicians' pet projects.

When she was running for governor in 2006, Palin said she was insulted by the term "bridge to nowhere," according to Ketchikan Mayor Bob Weinstein, a Democrat, and Mike Elerding, a Republican who was Palin's campaign coordinator in the southeast Alaska city.

"People are learning that she pandered to us by saying, I'm for this' ... and then when she found it was politically advantageous for her nationally, abruptly she starts using the very term that she said was insulting," Weinstein said.

Palin's spokeswoman in Alaska was not immediately available to comment.

National fury over the bridge caused Congress to remove the earmark designation, but Alaska was still granted an equivalent amount of transportation money to be used at its own discretion.

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."

posted September 09, 2008 03:01 PM            

And obvious lie acoustic...since Governors don't serve in the Congress of the United States where earmarks are marked up.

Nice try, keep digging, there may actually be something there.

Of course, you also avoid the obvious. O'Bomber is a mere Senator and Palin is the Governor of a state. A Governor with all the kinds of executive experience O'Bomber and O'Biden totally lack. Palin has more executive experience than O'Bomber and O'Biden combined because between them, they have absolutely none whatsoever.

It's also nice the press has been able to find one of those who comprise only 15% or less of Alaskan citizens who don't give Palin high job approval ratings. I'm sure the press will trot all those democrats out one at a time to say what a terrible Governor, mother, wife, business owner and woman she really is.

***edit

posted September 09, 2008 03:04 PM            

quote:

---

At a rally today, Sen. McCain again asserted that Sen. Obama has requested nearly a billion in earmarks. In fact, the Illinois senator requested $311 million last year, according to the Associated Press, and none this year. In comparison, Gov. Palin has requested $750 million in her two years as governor -- which the AP says is the largest per-capita request in the nation.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122090791901411709.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

---

posted September 09, 2008 03:07 PM            

Now, if you, yourself could just manage to speak directly on point to the main theme of threads, we might actually get somewhere.

Here, let me refresh your memory as to what the main theme of this thread actually is.

posted September 09, 2008 03:13 PM            

Say, wasn't O'Bomber elected in 2004. Now, I just wonder why no mention was made of O'Bomber's earmark requests for the years 2005, and 2006. Hmmm, sounds verrrry fishy to me...unless one is attempting to tell lies to the American people about O'Bombers low earmark dollars.

posted September 09, 2008 05:10 PM            

ANCHORAGE — Gov. Sarah Palin's administration plans to ask Alaska's congressional delegation for far fewer earmarks in the coming year.

Officials cited a need to improve the state's credibility.

"We really want to skinny it down," said Karen Rehfeld, Palin's budget chief.

Rehfeld recently wrote a memo to state commissioners telling them that to "enhance the state's credibility," federal earmark requests for funding should be only for the most compelling needs.

The state must be sensitive to a national perception that Alaska has a lot of money and shouldn't always be asking for so much from the federal treasury, Rehfeld said.

Members of Congress place earmarks in national spending bills to direct money to specific programs and projects. U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, has used the process to direct billions of dollars to Alaska.

Earmarks are increasingly criticized, and there are demands in Congress to cut back on them. Alaska — with the highest per-capita federal spending in the nation — has sometimes been singled out.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004064752_alaskaearmarks11m.html

posted September 09, 2008 06:31 PM            

Did any of you guys vote in Bush last election, if so why?

posted September 09, 2008 06:43 PM            

Attempting to suggest that Alaska Representatives and Senators are only inserting earmarks into bills before the Congress of the United States AT THE REQUEST OF THE GOVERNOR, PALIN is simple, pure, unadulterated bullshiit.

O'Bomber and O'Biden both voted for the Bridge to Nowhere and voted against removing those funds and allocating them instead to rebuilding the bridge in New Orleans destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

posted September 09, 2008 07:30 PM            

quote:

---

First, we should point out that the ad is misleading because it appears to justify the claim with a newspaper article on the screen. "PALIN FLIES HIGH AS A REFORMER," says the headline from the Anchorage Daily News that scrolls onto the screen as the announcer says "she stopped the Bridge to Nowhere."

We think many viewers will get the impression that the Anchorage Daily News article backs up the claim. But alas, it is TV ad sleight-of-hand. The article merely says she "ordered her administration to seek fewer congressional earmarks" after the bridge became a symbol of pork-barrel spending. There are no other details about the project or her role in ending it. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/sep/08/bridge-barrage/

---

quote:

---

The project also raised bitter debate in Congress, and several attempts were made to yank funding for the project. In the fall of 2005, Congress removed the language specifically directing money to the bridge, [* MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR BIDEN OR OBAMA TO HAVE VOTED FOR IT SPECIFICALLY] but it kept the funding in place and left it up to Alaska to decide which transportation projects the state would like to spend it on. (Alaskans could have built the Bridge to Nowhere, but they no longer were required to, as had previously been the case.)

...

Lois Epstein, director of the Alaska Transportation Priorities Project, which opposed funding for the Gravina bridge, said while it’s true that Palin formally put an end to the project, “It wasn’t really a bold move when she did it.”

...

Keith Ashdown, a spokesman for Taxpayers for Common Sense, believes Palin has “hyperinflated her role” in killing the project.

“She put the final stake in the project,” Ashdown said. “But there was already tremendous momentum for the project to be scrapped. She gets credit for saying that they were not to go forward with the bridge, but it was at death’s door.”

So, no, Palin wasn't the only one who stopped the bridge. The project was facing nationwide opposition and the state, which could have built the bridge anyway, had already spent much of the money on higher priorities. Palin didn't kill it, she just performed the last rites. And the ad is misleading because it cites a newspaper article that doesn't provide any evidence that the boast is accurate. So we rate the claim in the ad to be Barely True. http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/article/2008/sep/08/bridge-barrage/

---

posted September 09, 2008 07:34 PM            

Yes, I vote. This year, Florida has gone back to a paper ballot, not ballots with punch holes but ballots where the candidates have an oval next to their names. You are supposed to use the pen provided and fill in the oval next to the person you're voting for. I like that better. It's not electronic and there is always that paper ballot.

Most voter fraud doesn't involve voting machines; it involves leftist groups registering illegal aliens, multiple registrations for the same person, submitting registrations for dead people and a whole host of other fraudulent means whereby the election laws are violated.

posted September 09, 2008 07:42 PM            

Palin submitted no earmarks and cannot submit earmarks. Palin can suggest the federal representatives of the state...House and Senate members throttle back on requests BUT...AND GET THIS STRAIGHT ACOUSTIC...HOUSE AND SENATE MEMBERS FROM ALASKA DO NOT WORK FOR PALIN.

O'Bomber and O'Biden both voted for the Bridge to Nowhere and voted against taking those allocated funds and rebuilding the bridge in New Orleans destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

posted September 09, 2008 08:41 PM            

We have a new candidate, name of Sarah Palin who will one day be President unless I'm mistaken. We have another candidate in the same mold who was recently elected Governor of Louisiana. They are both fresh, young, talented, energetic, articulate and conservative, which is what I told the RNC they should be looking for and supporting, a few years ago. That isn't going to be enough in itself and they should be looking for those kinds of people to fill political positions across the broad spectrum of the political world.

posted September 10, 2008 07:37 AM            

Palin said at the time she was wishy-washy about the project. Not because a bridge to the island wasn't needed but rather because of the cost and the grandiose design.

Now acoustic, that's what Palin is quoted as saying and that sure as hell doesn't sound like Palin was promoting the 400 million dollar bridge to nowhere.

Additionally, Palin wanted the "process" kept open...not the bridge to nowhere but the process whereby A bridge could be built.

This is just another ploy that blew up in O'Bomber and O'Biden's faces.

O'Bomber and O'Biden both voted for the Bridge to Nowhere and against using the money to rebuild the bridge in New Orleans destroyed by Hurricane Katrina...and now they're yipping and yapping about Sarah Palin.

What hypocritical morons.

posted September 10, 2008 10:42 AM            

I'm not going to do your homework for you nor am I going to accept your excuse that "the dog ate your homework". If you want the bill posted here, then you go look it up...I already did.

posted September 10, 2008 02:05 PM            

Votes on the Bill

10/20/05 Senate Passed Session 1, roll call 264: On Passage of the Bill
H.R. 3058, as amended; Transportation, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, the Judiciary, the District of Columbia, and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act, 2006

Senator votes by State
........Yes No Not Voting
Illinois 2..0..0
Delaware 2..0..0

Senators from Illinois
Dick Durbin, Barack Obama

Senators from Delaware
Joseph Biden, Thomas Carper

Amendment to shift money from "Bridge to Nowhere" to Twin Spans Bridge in New Orleans.

10/20/05 Senate Rejected Session 1, roll call 263: On the Amendment
Stevens Amdt. No. 2181; To ensure reconstruction of the Twin Spans Bridge.

Senator votes by State on Amendment
........Yes No Not Voting
Illinois 0..2..0
Delaware 0..2..0

Coburn Amendment to shift money from "Bridge to Nowhere" to Twin Spans Bridge in New Orleans.

10/20/05 Senate Rejected Session 1, roll call 262: On the Amendment
Coburn Amdt. No. 2165, As Modified; To make a perfecting amendment.

Senator votes by State on Amendment
........Yes No Not Voting
Illinois 0..2..0
Delaware 0..2..0