As you may know, John McCain has made opposition to earmarks one of the hallmarks of his career in the Senate. It's a good cause -- I also believe that earmarks are very wasteful. It's hard to square his opposition with this:
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin employed a lobbying firm to secure almost $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of 6,700 residents while she was its mayor, according to an analysis by an independent government watchdog.
[....]
In her years as mayor of Wasilla, however, Palin oversaw the hiring of Robertson, Monagle & Eastaugh, an Anchorage-based law firm with close ties to Alaska’s most senior Republicans: Rep. Don Young and Sen. Ted Stevens, who was indicted in July for allegedly accepting illegal gifts. The Wasilla account was handled by the former chief of staff to Stevens, Steven W. Silver, who is a partner in the firm.
Twenty-seven million divided by four (they were spread out over four years) is about seven million a year. That's for a town of about seven thousand at the time. By contrast, Monroe County with over hundred times the population got about 38 million in earmarks, according to the D&C.
In other words, Wasilla got about 16 times as much money in earmarks per capita as Monroe County.
That's a lot.
And all procured by indicted Senator Ted Stevens' buddies.
(crossposted from RochesterTurning)