Obama's Earmark Total Nears $1 Billion

One of Sen. Barack Obama's campaign talking points against Sarah Palin is that she is not a instrument of change because she fought for $27 million in earmarks as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. But what hasn't been reported lately is that Obama's earmark total for the four years he has been in the Senate has totaled almost $1 billion, according to a report from CNN.

In the heat of his primary battle with Sen. Hillary Clinton, Obama released list of his earmarks. Christopher Drew and Jo Becker of The New York Times reported on March 14 that the senator included a request for $1 million for the hospital that Michelle Obama works. The senator and hospital officials said Michelle Obama had nothing to do with the request.

In other cases, Mr. Obama’s requests benefited political supporters.

His campaign’s list said the senator had secured $1.3 million of an $8 million request in 2006 for a high-explosive technology program for the Army’s Bradley Fighting Vehicle. The list said the program was overseen by General Dynamics.

One of Mr. Obama’s top supporters, James S. Crown, serves on the board of General Dynamics, a military contractor. Mr. Crown is a member of Mr. Obama’s national finance committee.

Mr. Obama also secured $750,000 of a $3 million request for renovation of a space center named for Mr. Crown’s grandfather, Henry Crown, at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

In addition to the University of Illinois, Mr. Obama secured several million dollars for a project at Chicago State University. Emil Jones Jr., the president of the Illinois State Senate and an early and powerful political benefactor of Mr. Obama’s, has been a dogged champion of Chicago State, and one of Senator Obama’s closest friends. A Chicago businessman, James Reynolds, sits on its board.

CNN reports that state records and the organization Taxpayers for Common Sense show that Palin has asked for about $450 million in federal money since she became governor. But she also gets some credit. "As governor, she has, by all records, started to reduce the number of earmark requests ... so it's a downward trajectory by our analysis but still significant earmark requests," Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense said.