Palin’s record as a reformer is starting to crumble as the media begins to seriously examine the realities of ‘the Barracuda’s’ political career. From Think Progress…
“In 2000, Sarah Palin, as mayor of the Alaskan town of Wasilla, hired a Washington lobbyist to secure federal earmarks for her community.
This is not totally atypical in her state. Alaska’s government receives more money per capita in federal earmark money than any other state, despite being the only state in the union with no income tax and no sales tax. They fund their government primarily with petroleum money, and recently distributed oil profits to its citizens in the form of rebate checks.
But even in her heavily earmarked state, Sarah Palin was the earmark queen.
From 2000 to 2003, she secured over $27 million in earmarks, averaging $6.7 million in federal money every year for her town of about 6,700 people.
An analysis of the databases of Taxpayers for Common Sense by Center for American Progress Action Fund Senior Fellow Scott Lilly puts these numbers in perspective…
–$50: The amount the average state received in earmarked funds, per capita in 2008
–$506: The amount received by Alaska’s citizen per capita in 2008, represented by the Senate’s earmarker in chief, Ted Stevens, ten times the national average
–Over $1000: The annual amount received per capita in Wasilla between 2000 and 2003, twice the 2008 Alaska state average
Some of these earmarks drew the scorn of Senator John McCain. The LA Time reports that, “three times in recent years, McCain’s catalogs of ‘objectionable’ spending have included earmarks for this small Alaska town, requested by its mayor at the time — Sarah Palin.”
Lastly, speaking of ‘Barracuda’, when Heart found out that the Republicans had used their song at the RNC without asking permission, well…
“Ann and Nancy Wilson are pissed at the Republican Party and have fired off a cease and desist letter to the McCain/Palin campaign.
Specifically, the Heart women are upset that the GOP has used their classic “Barracuda” as a theme song for Sarah Palin. TMZ obtained a statement from Heart’s rep, who says “The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission.”
The statement goes on: “We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored.”
We’re told Ann was watching TV today and heard the song at the convention when Palin was touted.
UPDATE: Twenty minutes after we posted this story, the GOP ended the evening after McCain’s speech with the song, “Barracuda.”
It’s not the first time that it’s happened either.