come up with the money. “It’s clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island,” Palin said then.
For his part, Democratic candidate Barack Obama isn’t going to let the BTN issue die. During an appearance in Flint, Mich., Monday the Illinois senator attacked Palin’s flip flop over the “Bridge to Nowhere.” He accused her of mendacity for her not being upfront about her initial lobbying for the bridge and then jumping ship when the issue was ridiculed on the national stage.
“You can’t just make stuff up. You can’t just recreate yourself. The American people aren’t that stupid,” he said.
The McCain campaign has refused to address the issue of the bridge, calling the criticism, “hysterical,” the Journal writes. “The only people ‘lying’ about spending are the Obama campaign. The only explanation for their hysterical attacks is that they’re afraid that when John McCain and Sarah Palin are in the White House, Barack Obama’s nearly $1 billion in earmark spending will stop dead in its tracks,” said spokesman Brian Rogers.
Obama hasn’t asked for any earmarks this year, the AP writes. Last year, he asked for $311 million worth, about $25 for every Illinois resident. Alaska asked this year for earmarks totaling $198 million, about $295 for every Alaska citizen.
To her credit, Palin has cut back on pork-barrel requests, but in her two years as governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation, according to the Associated Press.
Readers: What do you think about Palin’s flip-flop on the bridge issue?
Deborah Creighton Skinner is the editorial director for BlackEnterprise.com.