Sarah Palin continues lies about earmarks

Mark Twain once said, "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damn lies and statistics." In the case of Sarah Palin, any way you look at it, she's lying. This evening in a campaign stop in Albuquerque, Sarah Palin continued her lying about earmarks.

Palin claimed she "championed reform of earmark spending by Congress, and I told the Congress thanks but no thanks on that 'Bridge to Nowhere,'" she said, ommiting mention that she'd campaigned for governor supporting the bridge. "If our state wanted a bridge, we’d build it ourselves."

Palin can say what she likes about earmarks, but her record and the facts show otherwise. For Governor Palin to suggest otherwise is disingenuous and an outright lie. Sarah Palin loved earmarks when it was politically expedient for her.

But records show that Palin -- first as mayor of Wasilla and recently as governor of Alaska -- was far from shy about pursuing tens of millions in earmarks for her town, her region and her state.

This year, Palin, who has been governor for nearly 22 months, defended earmarking as a vital part of the legislative system. "The federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship," she wrote in a newspaper column.

[...]

Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor. She actively sought federal funds -- a campaign that began to pay off only after she hired a lobbyist with close ties to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who long controlled federal spending as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He made funneling money to Alaska his hallmark.

So not only did Sarah Palin pursue earmarks, she hired a lobbyist with ties to a Senator who is currently under indictment for corruption.

Unfortunately, since the traditional media is still jonesing over Palin's penchant for moose burgers, and she's not taking any questions from the media, you won't find this information anywhere but in the progressive blogosphere, for now.