Bridge to nowhere

[Kreskin]

Sarah Palin continues to use the same language she used at the convention about her cancellation of that project. She makes it sound like she was against the project and used her fiscal responsibility to halt big spending congress from funding the project. Her account of this issue appears to be incorrect.

According to wikipedia (if someone has better information please bring it forward) It states:

On October 21, 2006 Alaska gubernatorialcandidate Sarah Palin was quoted saying she would continue state funding for the bridge. "The window is now, while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist," she said.

At a Chamber of Commerce meeting in Wasilla on October 27, 2006, Knowles criticized Palin for supporting the Knik Arm Bridge, Ketchikan's Gravina Island Bridge and the road north out of Juneau instead of rebuilding the Parks Highway. Then when Knowles got to Juneau he promised to build the Juneau road, plus a second bridge to Douglas Island. Only Palin is consistent in support all of the projects...​

In August 2007, Alaska's Department of Transportation stated that it was "leaning" toward alternative ferry options, citing bridge costs, despite having already received the funds from the federal government.
The project was canceled in 2007 by bridge supporter Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, who changed her view after national public opinion turned against the bridge for being wasteful spending[:

“Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer. Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and it’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. Much of the public’s attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects here. But we need to focus on what we can do, rather than fight over what has happened.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravina_Island_Bridge

What I don't get is she continues daily to run on this. She's playing with a credibility minefield. Am I missing something?

 

[missile]

I was wondering about that,too..given her recent speech on stopping all the pork barrel politics. McCain didn't vet her enough[or at all!]

 

[Kreskin]

Sooner or later she will be held to account for her recollection of this. She can't stay away from the press forever.

 

[missile]

I don't get the McCain War hero bit at all. Crashing 5 expensive war planes and getting captured by the Cong just make him rather imcompetent to me.

 

[quandary121]

Palin called the invasion of Iraq God's plan, do I need to say more?
Sarah Palin a right-wing religious conservative w/no foreign policy experience, ex mayor of a town of 9,000
Alaska's governor for a year and a half.
She was mayor of Wasilla, outside Anchorage.
She is anti-choice, no abortion even in the case of rape or incest.
Believe that creationism should be taught in public schools & She's doesn't think humans are the cause of climate change
She sued the Bush admin. for listing polar bears as threatened to protect alaskan oil drillig$SS. you are Warned!!

 

[Tonington]

McCain has some porky spending in his recent past too. It will take a couple minutes for me to track it down.

 

[#juan]

I don't get the McCain War hero bit at all. Crashing 5 expensive war planes and getting captured by the Cong just make him rather imcompetent to me.

On one of the topics today it was explained that all those crashes were not craches. On one he had a flame out and ejected. On another he was hit by an inadvertent rocket while on the ground. The explanations seemed reasonable.

 

[quandary121]

McCain VP nominee Sarah Palin confesses she has no clue what a VP does!
Sarah Palin: "What does a VP do?"

 

[quandary121]

She should be put in jail. Palin has lied to all America and stolen 223 million of gov money for the bridge to nowhere. She is nothing more than a pit-bull with lipstick who will bite you in the ass if you are fooled by her outward appearance. Palin wants to drill in alaska's wildlife refuges even though it will take 10 years to see a drop at the pump.She is only a trying to pick up Hillary supporters.What a sellout. Please don't be fooled

 

[TenPenny]

Palin called the invasion of Iraq God's plan, do I need to say more?

Okay, let's take that at face value. She's saying that God wants to kill quite a few American soldiers.

Maybe it's true? Nothing says God wants the Americans to win. Saying that it's 'God's plan' simply means you don't have to be responsible for it.

 

[quandary121]

Palin’s aggressive stance in getting federal money is the same thing that every governor does (although as a Californian, who pay more taxes than we get back, the per capita federal funding makes me a little ill–think of how much better our infrastructure would be here in Cali, if we didn’t have states like Alaska sucking us dry). I don’t think that there should be that much focus on it other than to point out that Palin herself was named THREE TIMES by none other than McCain as a Pork Barrel Princess.
So doesn’t this go more towards the poor and reckless judgment of McCain, who picked someone as a running mate that he personally has castigated in the past for her fiscal irresponsibility?
So are they trying to tell us that this kind of hypocrisy is acceptable?
Sarah Palin the ‘Earmark Queen’ of AK Left Wasilla $20 Million in Debt
By: Bill W. @ 6:00 PM - PDT

After finishing as a runner up for Miss Alaska 1984, Sarah Palin went on to be crowned the state’s Queen of Earmarks and its Empress of Fiscal Irresponsibility.
Wonk Room: Sarah Palin: Earmark Queen Of The Earmark State

In 2000, Sarah Palin, as mayor of the Alaskan town of Wasilla, hired a Washington lobbyist to secure federal earmarks for her community.
This is not totally atypical in her state. Alaska’s government receives more money per capita in federal earmark money than any other state, despite being the only state in the union with no income tax and no sales tax. They fund their government primarily with petroleum money, and recently distributed oil profits to its citizens in the form of rebate checks.
But even in her heavily earmarked state, Sarah Palin was the earmark queen.
From 2000 to 2003, she secured over $27 million in earmarks, averaging $6.7 million in federal money every year for her town of about 6,700 people. …(read on)
​

As mayor, Sarah Palin managed to secure a thousand dollars a year per person in her city in earmarks, yet…

When Palin left office in 2002, Wasilla had “racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt,” or roughly $3,000 of debt per resident. …(more)
​

Asked in 1996, her first year in office, about her ability to “effectively run” the city, Palin claimed:

“It’s not rocket science,” Palin said, “It’s $6 million and 53 employees.”
​

Only “$6 million and 53 employees” and yet she managed to bury it $20 mil. in the red in just two-terms. How very Bush-like. And she wants us to trust her to be a heartbeat away from the national budget?

http://www.crooksandliars.com/tag/sarah-palin/

 

[Tonington]

So, here it is, as promised. He even talks about the bridge to nowhere!

 

[quandary121]

Delusional John McCain peddles “Alaska is close to Russia” nonsense
By: SilentPatriot @ 10:30 AM - PDT

Has it really come to this? A presidential nominee citing the geographic proximity of Alaska in relation to Russia in order to defend his VP choice and argue that she has relevant foreign policy experience? John and Cindy must be drinking the same kool-aid.

Download | Play

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GIBSON: Can you honestly say you feel confident having someone who hasn’t traveled outside the United States until last year, dealing with an insurgent Russia, with an Iran with nuclear ambitions, with an unstable Pakistan, not to mention the war on terror?
MCCAIN: Sure. And one of the key elements of America’s national security requirements are energy. She understands the energy issues better than anybody I know in Washington, D.C., and she understands. Alaska is right next to Russia. She understands that.
​

As it that weren’t enough, John McCain offers one of the most deceptive lines of his entire campaign, stressing four times that Alaska is America’s “largest state.” Geographically speaking, yes, McCain is right. But in real terms — such as population (683,478) and nominal GDP ($44 million) — Alaska ranks near the very bottom, at 47th and 45th, respectively. These semantic games are laughable. I wonder if the campaign realizes how foolish he sounds.
Another amazing quote:

“So she is experienced. She’s talented. She knows how to lead and she has been vetted by the people of the state of Alaska. But most importantly, people in America want change. They don’t want somebody from inside the beltway.”
​

If the American people want change — which is the one thing in the entire interview John McCain actually gets right — why the hell would they elect someone who has been part of the Washington establishment for 25 years?!?!!!? Does he even hear the words that are coming out of his mouth?
But wait, we’re not done. Check out this one:

GIBSON: But you criticized, for a long time, Sen. Obama based on his lack of experience. […] Jan. 6, I’m quoting you, “Sen. Obama does not have the national security experience and background to be president.”
MCCAIN: I said he didn’t have the judgment.
GIBSON: Sarah Palin does?
MCCAIN: I said that he didn’t have the judgment. He doesn’t have the judgment. He didn’t have the judgment on Iraq. He still refuses to acknowledge that the surge has succeeded. Gov. Palin knows the surge has succeeded. She’s the commander of the Alaskan National Guard. He said that Iran was a tiny problem. He’s never visited south of our border. He has no experience on these issues.
​

Leave aside for the moment the fact that John McCain is just spitting out nonsensical one-line lies, and focus on the two bits I highlighted. John McCain seems to believe that the history of our involvement in Iraq begins in January 2007, when the surge began. Because if we go back to the real start of the war in 2002, he would look like a fool saying Obama doesn’t have the judgment on Iraq considering he predicted exactly what the consequences of an invasion would entail. Secondly, and this is a talking point that needs to be forcefully blown out the water, Sarah Palin has NOTHING/ZERO/ZILCH/NADA to do with “commanding the Alaskan National Guard.” It’s a nice-sounding talking point, but it is a bald-faced LIE.
Either John McCain is dumb, or he thinks we are. Either way, he and Sarah Palin are unfit to serve.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/tag/sarah-palin/

 

[quandary121]

Palin was for 'Bridge to Nowhere'
http://therealnews.com/c.ph...
McCain's VP did not reject Congressional funds for infrastructure projects in Alaska

 

[quandary121]

TRANSCRIPT:
SARAH PALIN: [...] A man with such strength of heart understands people, and the problems that we're all facing these days. He understands what to do about job losses and high energy prices and mortgage failures, the problems faced by hard-working, middle-class Americans--all of us! And that's why John McCain has been calling for years to reform things and cut bureaucracy, even at the lending agencies that our government supports. The fact is that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--they've gotten too big and too expensive to the taxpayers. (cheers) The McCain-Palin administration will make them smaller and smarter and more effective for homeowners who need help.

LABEL: JM SP CO 09-06 (LR#1) USGK - ClipB - LS

Sarah Palin: Rally 09/06/08
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=eO4k1fIjivg

Economists and analysts pounced on the misstatement, which came before the government had spent funds baling the two entities out, saying it demonstrated a lack of understanding about one of the key economic issues likely to face the next administration.

"You would like to think that someone who is going to be vice president and conceivable president would know what Fannie and Freddie do," said Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research. "These are huge institutions and they are absolutely central to our country's mortgage debt. To not have a clue what they do doesn't speak well for her, I'd say."

Added Andrew Jakabovics, an economic analysts for the progressive think tank, Center for American Progress: "It is somewhat nonsensical because up until yesterday there was sort of no public funding there. Even today they haven't drawn down any of the credit line they have given to Treasury. 'Gotten too big and too expensive' are two separate things. The too big has been a conservative mantra for a while and there is something to be said of that in that they hold about half of the mortgage guarantees that are out there. And in the last year they have been responsible for roughly 80 percent out there. The 'too expensive to tax payers,' I don't know where that comes from."

Even conservative analysts acknowledged that the statement simply did not hold true.
SRC: www.huffingtonpost.com...