Wall Street Journal

I read the Wall Street Journal and usually enjoy it until I get to the Editorial page, at which point I start asking myself why I subscribe. So I was surprised to come across an article today that pointed out that, although McCain said Sarah Palin hadn’t sought any earmarks as governor, the Alaska state records show Gov. Palin has actually asked U.S. taxpayers to fund $453 million in specific Alaska projects over the past two years. It was probably more of a mistake than a lie on McCain’s part, so I doubt he’ll say that again. Palin is a different story. Trying to attack Obama on earmarks, she says over and over that he has requested about a million dollars for every working day he's been in office. Not untrue, except she neglects to point out that her record is worse. The same article in the Wall Street Journal points out that, using her same methodology, i.e., the total amount of earmarked dollars divided by the number of working days while each held office (assuming a five-day workweek, every week, for both), Gov. Palin sought $980,000 per workday, compared with roughly $893,000 for Sen. Obama.