i will give $1,000 to the youth sports teams in a hometown that meets these criteria:
1 - population of 6,300 or less
2 - spent nearly $200,000 on a lobbyist
3 - the lobbyist secured earmarks from your own Senators
Is Wailla (not eligible) under Mayor Palin the only town to fit this description? has no other small town in America invested so heavily in the lobbyist/earmark system?
more after fold
i grew up in a small town of about 9,000. if my small town spent even one dime of taxpayer money on a lobbyist the meetings would have been full of incredulous and demanding citizens. the idea of a small town spending nearly $200,000 on a lobbyist befuddles me.
my dad was on the town council for some years. he was paid $7 per meeting for gas money. once or twice a year the congressman's office (rick boucher - really solid guy) and the senator's offices would place a call to the town mayor to just check in and see if there was anything needing to be discussed. it wasn't much of a call, except to keep the lines of communication open.
so why is a lobbyist needed to contact stevens about earmarks? a mayor can't call him directly with some needs? i mean, palin was on some group with stevens. she couldn't press some flesh then? why does it take $200,000 and a lobbyist to get your own Senator to consider your needs and wants? i'm also befuddled by this part of the story.
so, i'm trying to find out if my little town is unusual in not playing the lobbyist for earmarks game, or if Wasilla's decisions under Mayor Palin is unusual. i venture to guess that no other small town in America would spend local money on a lobbyist or be required by a state's senator to pay a lobbyist before getting what they want. this hometown competition is simply to learn if Wasilla's use of the lobbyists for earmarks system is unparalled in America.
So, i will personally give to one small town's youth sports programs non-profits $1,000 if they are of a like size to Wasilla and spent nearly $200,000 on a lobbyist to get earmarks from the US Senators from your own state. i'm betting there was only one - Wasilla.
for the purposes of this competition, towns in Alaska are excluded becuase Stevens is a crook.