[Vision2020] Federal Funds Flowed to Town While Palin was Mayor

[Tom Hansen]

>From today's (September 2, 2008) Spokesman Review -

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Federal funds flowed to town while Palin mayor 
Paul Kane 
Washington Post
September 2, 2008

ST. PAUL, Minn. – 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 was $500,000 for a youth shelter, another $1.9 million for a 
transportation hub, $900,000 for sewer repairs, and $15 million for a rail 
project – all intended to benefit Palin's town, Wasilla, about 45 miles 
north of Anchorage.

In introducing Palin as his running mate on Friday, Sen. John McCain cast 
her as a compatriot in his battle against wasteful federal spending. 
McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, hailed Palin as a 
politician "with an outstanding reputation for standing up to special 
interests and entrenched bureaucracies – someone who has fought against 
corruption and the failed policies of the past, someone who's stopped 
government from wasting taxpayers' money."
 
McCain's crusade against earmarks – federal spending sought by members of 
Congress to benefit specific projects – has been a hallmark of his 
campaign. He has said earmarks are wasteful and are often inserted into 
bills with little oversight, sometimes by a single powerful member of 
Congress.

Palin has also railed against earmarks, touting her opposition to a $223 
million bridge in a remote corner of the state as a prime credential for 
the vice presidential nomination. 

In her years as mayor of Wasilla, however, Palin oversaw the hiring of 
Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, an Anchorage-based law firm with close ties 
to Alaska's most senior Republicans: Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens. 
The Wasilla account was handled by the former chief of staff to Stevens, 
Steven Silver, who is a partner in the firm.

Palin was elected mayor of Wasilla in 1996 on a campaign theme of "A time 
for change." According to a review of congressional spending by Taxpayers 
for Common Sense, a nonpartisan watchdog group in Washington, Wasilla did 
not get any federal earmarks in the first few years of Palin's tenure.

U.S. Senate records show Silver's firm began working for Palin in early 
2000. Federal funds began flowing shortly thereafter.

In fiscal year 2000, Wasilla received a $1 million earmark, tucked into a 
transportation appropriations bill, for a rail-and-bus project in the 
town. And in the winter of 2000, Palin traveled to Capitol Hill to appear 
before the House and Senate appropriations committees to seek earmarks, 
according to a report in the Anchorage Daily News.

Palin and the Wasilla City Council increased Silver's fee from $24,000 to 
$36,000 a year by 2001, according to Senate records.

Soon after, the city benefited from additional earmarks: $500,000 for a 
mental health center, $500,000 for the purchase of federal lands and 
$450,000 to rehabilitate an agricultural processing facility. Then there 
was the $15 million rail project, intended to connect Wasilla with town of 
Girdwood, where Stevens has a home.

The Washington trip is now an annual affair for Wasilla officials.

In fiscal year 2002, Wasilla took in $6.1 million in earmarks – about 
$1,000 in federal funds for every resident. By contrast, Boise – which has 
more than 190,000 residents – received $6.9 million in earmarks in fiscal 
year 2008.

All told, Wasilla benefited from $26.9 million in earmarks in Palin's 
final four years in office.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college 
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)


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