Obama & Biden voted for Bridge to nowhere INSTEAD OF KATRINA RELIEF

[Tuckerman]

Why don't Sen. Biden and Sen. Obama like hurricane victims ?

Sen. Biden and Sen. Obama voted for funding the Bridge, even when given a second chance by Sen. Tom Coburn, who proposed shifting earmark funds to Katrina relief.

[Mathematics]

This bill was voted down 82-15, which shows significant bipartisan support. Also worth pointing out is that neither Obama or Biden has specifically said earkmark's are inherently wrong - its just how the system works. What they've gone after is Palin (you know, the one who brought the Bridge to Nowhere up to begin with in her speech) trying to use the bridge to present herself as a reformer, when she and the state she's represented have been one of the biggest symbols of pork barrel spending in the nation.

Obama DID bring federal funds back to Illinois as a senator. $970 million or something like that since he's been in the senate. But Illinois also has 19x the population of Alaska. Per capita the breakdown of earmark funding looks something like this:

In 2008:
AK #1 555.54/person = 521.77/person ABOVE average
IL #31 25.47/person = 8.30/person BELOW average
In 2006:
AK #1 489.87/person = 459.32/person ABOVE average
IL #31 27.47/person = 3.08/person BELOW average

The math is fairly damning to Palin's claims of being a fiscal conservative or reformer. Especially if you consider how rich Alaska already is from the winfall oil tax.

[The AD]

The fact Coburn's bill was shot down so convincingly leads me to believe there's more to this than meets the eye.

[DharmaBum]

Find the bill # and see what else is included. Part of the problem with the system is that earmarks often get tacked on to another bill. So for example, someone presents a bill allocating 1 million dollars to the development of a small ski-manufacturing business. It looks like it will pass, so a senator from Wyoming adds an earmark to fund the Wyoming Dept of Fish and Game with money to buy mauls for beating deer. Enough senators think the business money is a good idea, they don't read the rest of the bill (or their staff doesn't point out the maul allocation to to them), and the bill passes. Next election, opponents harp on the fact that the incumbent supports beating deer with mauls.

My point: blanket statements like, "Obama-Biden don't support huuricane relief" cannot be assumed to present the full story and are often used by opponents to spin the issue in their own favor.

[David Witherspoon]

Why don't Sen. Biden and Sen. Obama like hurricane victims ?
Why are you an idiot?