McCain, Palin, earmarks, and the DNA of bears

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

In presidential debate, McCain used what might now be the second most famous congressional earmark (behind Alaska’s “Bridge to Nowhere” — the $3 million study of grizzly bear DNA in Montana — as an example of wasteful overspending by Congress. In the debate, McCain actually referred to it as “criminal.” Such bashing of the bear study has been part of his standard stump speech for a long time. I’ve heard it several times before the first great debate of 2008. Click here to see a McCain ad calling the bear study earmark “unbelievable.”

Here’s what McCain didn’t say, and what Palin won’t say.

When the grizzly bear DNA earmark came up for a vote in the U.S. Senate, McCain not only did nothing to try to remove it from the spending bill, but he actually voted for it. I guess he forgot to mention that little detail.

And his running mate, the governor of Alaska being billed as a reformer who fights against earmarks, officially requested a very similar earmark, $3.2 million to study “the genetics of harbor seals.” This was part of a long list of requested earmarks, totaling nearly $200 million.

http://crosscut.com/2008-election/18295/McCain%2C+Palin%2C+earmarks%2C+and+the+DNA+of+bears/