Oversimplification & misleading information is rampant on both sides. As we all know this is typical during elections.
Sarah Palin has been taken to task for flip-flopping and taking the money anyway and using it for undisclosed other things. The implications suggest corruption and her being part of the problem. Saying she eventually nixed the project only after Congress removed the earmark paints a picture that it Palin's burning desire to see this bridge completed at all costs and only gave in due to beltway pressure.
The facts concerning the bridge to nowhere: Alaska's government officials for over 10 years had been telling their constituents that the bridge was neccessary. Due to the propaganda push, the majority of the people of Alaska, not just Palin, trusted that their representatives were correct. With so much pressure, as a govenitorial candidate, running against it would have been political suicide. In 2003, the price tag for the two bridges was $130 million. By early 2005 it had jumped to $230 million. By November 2005 Stevens was estimating $350 Million. One of the first things Palin did when she took office in 2006 was to set a commission to review the 2 bridges. Before the end of the same month, the commission reported back that to finish the projects would require well over $400 million. Meanwhile, with DOT resources being diverted towards this boondoggle, the rest of Alaska's road infrastructure was in sorry state. It was December 2006, during her first month of office, not 2007 that she notified Congress, "Thanks, but no thanks." and worked out a compromise where the funds would be used towards alternate solutions and towards fixing Alaskas roads. Investigations also uncovered illegal activity with the road project that resulted in indictments against several individuals. The earmark's strongest proponent Senator Stevens who was asked to resign for corruption. Even then, the bridge project and all investments to date are not being thrown away as a dead issue, Sarah merely informed Congress that enough was enough, Those bridges would no longer be considered for earmarks in her administration and if Alaska want's those two bridges built, Alaska will pay to build them.
By the way, "Helping to push through a bill" is NOT synonimous to actually doing the 'grunt work' and research needed to successfully "Author a bill." The point I take away is there is a difference between "establishing policy", something a president needs to know something about to run an effective administration, and "jumping onto a political bandwagon". Which any hack politician can do.
GOP Convention Spin, Part II
Palin trips up on her facts, and Giuliani and Huckabee have their own stumbles on Night 3 of the Republican confab.
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Summary
Sarah Palin's much-awaited speech at the Republican National Convention on Wednesday night may have shown she could play the role of attack dog, but it also showed her to be short on facts when it came to touting her own record and going after Obama's.
We found Rudy Giuliani, who introduced her, to be as factually challenged as he sometimes was back when he was in the race. But Mike Huckabee may have laid the biggest egg of all.
Palin may have said "Thanks, but no thanks" on the Bridge to Nowhere, though not until Congress had pretty much killed it already. But that was a sharp turnaround from the position she took during her gubernatorial campaign, and the town where she was mayor received lots of earmarks during her tenure.
Palin's accusation that Obama hasn't authored "a single major law or even a reform" in the U.S. Senate or the Illinois Senate is simply not a fair assessment. Obama has helped push through major ethics reforms in both bodies, for example.
The Alaska governor avoided some of McCain's false claims about Obama's tax program—but her attacks still failed to give the whole story.
Giuliani distorted the time line and substance of Obama's statements about the conflict between Russia and Georgia. In fact, there was much less difference between his statements and those of McCain than Giuliani would have had us believe.
Giuliani also said McCain had been a fighter pilot. Actually, McCain's plane was the A-4 Skyhawk, a small bomber. It was the only plane he trained in or flew in combat, according to McCain's own memoir.
Finally, Huckabee told conventioneers and TV viewers that Palin got more votes when she ran for mayor of Wasilla than Biden did running for president. Not even close. The tally: Biden, 79,754, despite withdrawing from the race after the Iowa caucuses. Palin, 909 in her 1999 race, 651 in 1996.
Analysis
Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was a hit with the party faithful at the GOP convention, but some of her claims were amiss. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee also delivered a few faulty remarks.
A Bridge Too Far
Palin claimed to have stood up to Congress on the subject of the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere," the Gravina Island bridge in Ketchikan, Alaska, about which we wrote last November.
Palin: I told the Congress, "Thanks, but no thanks," on that bridge to nowhere.
This is not the first time Palin has cited her choice to kill the bridge in 2007 as an example of her anti-waste stance. It's true that she did eventually nix the project. But the bridge was nearly dead already—Congress had removed the earmark, giving the requested money to the state but not marking it for any specific use. Palin unplugged its life support, declaring in 2007 that the funds would not be used for the Gravina bridge.
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