More earmark audacity from Obama? Update: Wife didn't ask for hospital money and that massive raise was for???

Obama ignores repeated request for information on earmarks

Sen. Barack Obama is open about the pet projects he's tucked into federal legislation, but it's a different story when it comes to the extra spending he added to state budgets while serving in the Illinois Legislature.

Public records reveal some of the projects he sponsored as a state senator, from literacy programs and park improvements to drill team uniforms and jazz-appreciation events. They add up to more than $6 million.

But that covers just two of Obama's nearly eight years in the Illinois Senate. State records don't detail his projects from other years, and his presidential campaign has not responded to repeated requests from The Associated Press for information.

It's interesting to note that he HAS released some earmark info and look what can be found here:

an $8 million request for the "High Explosive Air Burst Technology Program." Ultimately, $1.3 million in funding was awarded for the program.

About the "High Explosive Air Burst Technology Program"

the defense project was overseen by General Dynamics, one of the nation's largest military contractors. Obama's Illinois finance chairman, James S. Crown, serves on the company's board of directors and his family holds a sizable stake in the company.

Crown and his wife, Paula Crown, are members of Obama's National Finance Committee and have raised more than $200,000 for the Obama campaign, according to a list of fundraisers posted on Obama's campaign website.

Yesterday, we posted on the Obama earmark that funneled big bucks to the Little Missus's hospital. Today, Hot Air has the hospital's explanation...

Kelly M. Sullivan, the medical center’s vice president for communications and marketing, noted that Mr. Obama had also requested money for a number of other hospitals in Illinois, and she said any lobbying for the money had been handled by the hospital’s government-affairs officials.

“I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that Michelle Obama was not part of our lobbying over the request, not in any way,” Ms. Sullivan said. She said the hospital’s lobbyists often seek help on their own from both of the state’s senators.

Well, thanks Kelly M. Sullivan. That sure clears that up!

(As Hot Air points out - can you imagine what would happen if John McCain had done something like this?)

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