Speaking last night at the RNC in St. Paul, vice-presidential pick Gov. Sarah Palin stretched the truth when it came to Barrack Obama and her support of earmarks.
(Donna Svennevik/ABC )
FACT: That infrastructure project has not yet been approved by federal regulators. The proposed pipeline would ship natural gas from the Alaska's North Slope to homes and businesses across the United States. In June, the Alaskan legislature, with Palin's prodding, agreed to pay Canadian energy company TransCanada $500 million as an incentive to build the pipeline.
•PALIN: "And I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending: nearly half a billion dollars in vetoes. I suspended the state fuel tax and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks, but no thanks,' for that Bridge to Nowhere."
FACT: While serving as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, Palin hired Steven Silver, a former chief of staff for Sen. Ted Stevens, to lobby Congress for earmarks. Wasilla received around $27 million in federal money, about as much as Boise, Idaho. Boise has a population of 200,000 people, compared with Wasilla's 10,000. Earmarked funds went to sewage improvements and improving roads connecting the town to a local ski resort.
As for the Bridge to Nowhere, Palin initially supported using federal funds to build a $398 million bridge from Ketchikan to Gravina Island, which has 50 residents and a small airport. It was not until the plan was ridiculed that she withdrew her support. Critics contend she still supports using federal money to build a 3.4 mile Road to Nowhere on the island for $26 million -- from the funds for the bridge.
•PALIN: While I was at it, I got rid of a few things in the governor's office that I didn't believe our citizens should have to pay for. That luxury jet was over the top. I put it on eBay. I also drive myself to work.
FACT: Soon after entering office, Palin put the state-owned Westwind II jet that her predecessor Frank Murkowski purchased amid much criticism. When the deal fell through with the sole eBay bidder, the plane was sold offline.
Alaskan businessman Larry Reynolds paid $2.1 million for the jet after learning about it from Republican John L. Harris, speaker of the Alaskan House of Representatives.
Palin, as she said, drives herself to work. In July, her Chevy Suburban was rear-ended while driving from Wasilla to her office in downtown Anchorage.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.
