"GOVERNOR'S CAN'T EARMARK": THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS SCOOPS HOT AIR BY A WEEK!

HOT AIR TODAY:

The level of federal spending requests have dropped under Palin’s administration both years, but quite obviously she still puts in requests for Congressional cash. The question that the WSJ never really answers is how those requests come to Congress. If they come in earmark form, then the McCain campaign has some explaining to do about its rhetoric the past three weeks. If not, then this is a non-story, and in fact shows Palin weaning Alaska off of Washington’s largesse.

Earmarks are not equivalent to all federal spending, as McCain himself notes. If these requests did not come in earmark form, then Congress has the opportunity to vote directly on spending the money in Alaska based on the legitimacy of the projects. Earmarks, on the other hand, get slipped into bills without such Congressional scrutiny and are almost impossible to remove regardless of the uselessness of the project.

Also, it’s pretty easy to miss the fact that Governors can’t earmark, because they aren’t members of Congress.

Palin would have to rely on Ted Stevens, Lisa Murkowski, and Don Young to propose legislation for her funding requests, and none of these three have any hesitation to use earmarks rather than legislation. Palin technically could legitimately say that she didn’t apply for earmarks on projects even if the Alaskan contingent used that process for their state’s requests, although it would be somewhat deceptive to try that as an argument.

THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS LAST WEEK: 9/9/08:

ALL OF A SUDDEN - BECAUSE IT'S SO CONVENIENT TO THE LEFT'S NEW ARGUMENT - PALIN IS NO LONGER A RUBE MAYOR, BUT "THE LEADER OF ALASKA" [...]

ONLY CONGRESSMEN CAN INTRODUCE AN EARMARK. GOVERNORS CANNOT. THIS IS A BALDFACED ATTEMPT TO SMEAR PALIN BY MAKING HER INTO TED STEVENS' BOSS.

BOTTOM-LINE: OBAMA AND BIDEN VOTED FOR THE BRIDGE TO NOWHERE.

PALIN CANCELED IT.

AND BEFORE THAT HERE ON 9/8/08:

EITHER OBAMA IS A DELUDED IDIOT OR A BALD-FACED LIAR.

UPDATE:

* AND OBAMA AND THE MSM ARE DELIBERATELY CONFLATING ALASKA'S REQUESTS FOR FEDERAL PROGRAMS AND TED STEVENS'S EARMARKS WITH PALIN - JUST TO SMEAR HER.
* DON'T FALL FOR THIS PLOY. ONLY SENATORS AND CONGRESSMEN CAN PUT IN EARMARKS; GOVERNORS CANNOT.

REMEMBER: BIDEN AND OBAMA VOTED FOR THE BRIDGE TO NOWHERE.

• HOT AIR IS WITH OUT A DOUBT ONE OF THE BEST BLOGS OUT THERE, AND WE'RE LUCKY TO GET A LINK NOW AND THEN FROM THEM - ALONG WITH A FEW OF THE OTHER GREATS, LIKE GATEWAY, AND ACE.

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AND MOST IMPORTANTLY: USE THE HOT AIR LINK ABOVE AND SCROLL DOWN TO UPDATE II - PROOF THAT PALIN WAS ANTI-EARMARK!