"Thanks, but no thanks" now, Sarah? Give Alaska's NEW earmarks back!

The omnibus spending bill includes no earmarks for the major presidential candidates, Senators John McCain, Republican of Arizona, and Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois.

Mr. McCain has denounced earmarks for years, saying they distort and corrupt the legislative process. Mr. Obama has obtained earmarks in the past, but in March he endorsed a one-year moratorium so Congress could re-examine the way they are awarded.

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 state, however, never gave back any of the money that was originally earmarked for the Gravina Island bridge, said [Ketchikan Democratic Mayor Bob] Weinstein and [Palin's Ketchikan campaign coordinator Republican Mike] 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.

Senator Ted Stevens, the Alaska Republican who is on trial just a few blocks from the Capitol, appears to have gotten more earmarks than anyone else: 39 items totaling $238.5 million, according to the organization’s tally.

This year she submitted to Congress a list of Alaska projects worth $197.8 million, including $2 million to research crab productivity in the Bering Sea and $7.4 million to improve runway lighting at eight Alaska airports. A spokesman said she cut the original list of 54 projects to 31.

"So while Sen. McCain was going after cutting earmarks in Washington," said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, "Gov. Palin was going after getting earmarks."

My Turn: Palin not abandoning earmarks altogether
By John Katz | Juneau Empire

With the coming of spring in the nation's capital, Congress has begun its annual ritual of producing a federal budget.

While Congressional earmarks represent less than 1 percent of the federal budget, a much higher percentage of the appropriations debate focuses on this topic.

One reason for this is several controversial earmarks and election-year politics. Another is that earmarks have become a metaphor for the federal budget generally. It's a lot easier to talk about earmarks than to address difficult budget issues, such as burgeoning domestic entitlement programs and defense spending.