Palin lied about her record

Fact check: Palin was FOR the pork barrel "Bridge to Nowhere" before she was against it, and she lied about it in her convention speech.

Palin indicated during her 2006 campaign for governor that she supported the bridge. It was only after the project had become an embarrassment to the state, after federal dollars for the project were pulled back and diverted to other uses in Alaska, that she said that it would be fruitless to try to persuade Congress to come up with the money. Congress decided to pull funding for the bridge TWO YEARS before Palin's decision.

"It's clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island," Palin said then.

But before, Palin support forthe bridge was clear:

Palin responded to a written questionnaire from the Anchorage Daily News. One question: "Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?"

Palin: "Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now -- while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist."

The LIARS LIE

This lie is now a selling point for the McCain campaign! The latest McCain ad says point blank "She stopped the bridge to nowhere"

McCain and Palin together have told a broader story about the bridge that is a lie. She is portrayed as a crusader for the thrifty use of tax dollars who turned down an offer from Washington to build an expensive bridge of little value to the state.

"I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere," she said in her convention speech last week.

Her self-description as a leader who "championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress" is harder to square with the facts.

In her two years in office, Alaska has requested nearly $750 million in special federal spending, by far the largest per-capita request in the nation. And as mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support earmarks for the town totaling $27 million. McCain criticized Palin's earmarks. THREE TIMES!

[Yahoo news]

Rueters: Palin "bridge to nowhere" line angers many Alaskans

"...political leaders of both parties said the claim was false and a betrayal of their community, because she had supported the bridge and the earmark for it secured by Alaska's Congressional delegation during her run for governor."