Obama has requested $1-million in pork barrel spending for every working day he has been in the Sena
Obama has requested $1-million in pork barrel spending for every
working day he has been in the Senate
McCain's got Obama over a pork barrel
John McCain has tried to bolster his reformist credentials
throughout the campaign by reminding voters that he has long been a
crusader against pork barrel spending - federal money for parochial
projects in particular states. At the same time, he's derided
Democratic nominee Barack Obama for taking no similar stand.
McCain contends that pork spending, which is typically
earmarked quietly into massive federal spending bills, forces costs
onto every taxpayer that should be borne only by the people who
benefit from the projects.
The latest broadside by McCain against Obama came in a speech
at a rally in Tampa, Fla., on Sept. 16, 2008.
"I have never asked for a single earmark, pork barrel project
for my state of Arizona. Sen. Obama has asked for $932-million
dollars in earmarks, literally $1-million for every day that he's
been in Congress."
We've examined the first part of that sentence, about
McCain's own record on pork requests, here. In this item, we'll
focus on what he says about Obama, which is nearly identical to
what McCain said in a mailer to Florida voters that has been
circulating for more than a week.
The mailer says, "Obama has requested $1-million in pork
barrel spending for every working day he has been in the Senate."
Obama, on his Web site, has listed every earmark he's
requested - but not necessarily received - during that time. It
totals $931.3-million, even though the Illinois senator earlier
this year said he would eschew any pork for fiscal 2009. The key
phrase in McCain's mailer, "for every working day" is missing from
the remarks McCain made in his Tampa speech. Obama was elected in
2004 and took office January 3, 2005. Since then, there have been
about 930 working days, as they are defined by most people, Monday
through Friday, excluding holidays, which would mean McCain is on
solid ground in the mailer.
Technically, Obama's been "in Congress" for more than 1,350
days, if you count weekends. So how many points do you take off for
McCain not saying "every working day"? Not many. We say this claim
is True.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/
In response to assignment:
Campaign 2008