Yesterday, Sarah Palin launched her missive criticizing Barack Obama's earmark requests, claiming at one point that he had requested close to one million dollars per day in office and failing to acknowledge her own massive earmark habit during her tenure as Governor of Alaska.
Needless to say, the media didn't exactly rush to do their homework on the matter, feeling it necessary only to briefly mention that she was for the Bridge to Nowhere before she was against it. They did not address her claims about Obama's earmark requests at all.
Let's do a little basic math...
Barack Obama has requested a total of $740 million in earmarks since taking office as a US Senator. As of today, he has been in office for a total of 1206 days. The population of Illinois is 12.9 million. Which works out to 4.7 CENTS per Illinois resident per day for earmark requests.
Sarah Palin has requested a total of $451 million in earmarks since taking office as Governor of Alaska (this is the reported total for requests coming directly from her office). As of today, she has been in office for 506 days. The population of Alaska is 671,000. Which works out to $1.33 per Alaska resident per day for earmark requests.
This does not take into account her Wasilla earmarks as mayor.
And one final note regarding Governor Palin's claim that Senator Obama has requested "almost $1 million per day in office":
$613,598 ($740 million total earmark requests divided by 1206 days in office as a US senator) is not exactly 'almost one million dollars.'
Or as Sarah Palin might put it, $613,598 is SORTA like $1 million, except for the fact that it's 39% less.