I have been specific, while you are all over the board.
I see. I suppose the fact that I source my information isn't worth anything?
Where have I been all over the board? How is attacking excessive spending when claiming to be a fiscal conservative worse than trying to equate someone to terrorism over a loose connection?
Factcheck.org
Palin supported it even after McCain denounced it, then blamed "inaccurate portrayals" when she canceled it for lack of money. Obama and Biden voted for the big transportation bill that contained it. McCain's vote was one of four against. Our time line gives full details.
NBC News, Sept. 13: Palin has come under fire in recent days for misleadingly saying she told Congress “thanks but no thanks,” refusing an earmark for a bridge to a sparsely inhabited island in her home state. Independent groups and media fact-checkers have said Palin advocated for the federal earmark before opposing it, only ended after Congress had essentially killed it, and kept the $223 million for the appropriation after the project was killed.
Palin had cut the refrain from her speech during her three-day visit to Alaska. But she came back to it today, citing it as an example of earmark reform she and McCain would push for in the White House.
“I told Congress thanks but no thanks to that Bridge to Nowhere – that if our state wanted to build that bridge, we would build it ourselves," she said.
Basically, yeah, she told Congress she didn't want the money after they gave her the money and then killed the project. Then she kept the money and used it for other projects.
The digested version of the time line:
* Palin expressed support for the bridge while running for office.
* Congress removed earmarks for both bridges long before Palin was elected.
* While campaigning, Palin still made statements supporting the Gravina bridge, which had no earmarks at that time.
* Palin chose not to use the money for the Gravina bridge but kept it for other projects, including the Knik Arm bridge.
* Biden and Obama voted for the authorization bill, which included the earmarks, and the final appropriations bill, which didn't. McCain voted against the authorization but was not present for the vote on the appropriations bill.
* Biden and Obama voted against redirecting the money intended for Alaska to Louisiana. McCain did not vote.
Personally, I think the whole project was stupid. Why build a bridge to an island inhabited by 50 people? But that's not the point. I am not discussing who advocated the bridge. I am talking about someone who basically requested money, got it, and then when the job didn't get done, kept it.
And don't say I can't use factcheck.org just because of the Annenberg foundation. Also, you didn't respond to any of the sources I provided, you just said that I'm "all over the board". You think her billing of Alaskan taxpayers for nights that she stayed at home was fiscally conservative?
Palin relied on earmark system she now opposes
On Friday, when McCain introduced her as his running mate, she said she "championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending," the legislative technique used to slip projects into appropriations bills without rigorous congressional review.
But under her leadership, the state of Alaska has requested 31 earmarks worth $197.8 million in next year's federal budget, according to the website of Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), the former chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Palin has recently been publicly critical of requests made in past years by Stevens and others for $223 million in federal funds for a bridge from Ketchikan, Alaska, to Gravina Island, calling it "the Bridge to Nowhere," a derogatory label critics attached to the project.
As a candidate for governor in 2006, she backed funding for the bridge.
After her election, however, she killed the project, saying she would use the federal funds for other purposes.
I can keep going if you want? I just don't see how anyone can claim that she is more fiscally conservative than anyone else in this election.
[edit on 1-11-2008 by Sublime620]
I tend to go with Res Ipsa on this one. 
