September 10th, 2008 McCain criticized Wasilla earmarks in 2001 Posted: 09:49 PM ET ANCHORAGE, Alaska (CNN) â Republican presidential candidate John McCain criticized two his future running mateâs hometown projects in broadsides in 2001 against congressional âpork-barrelâ spending, records from the Arizona senatorâs office show. McCain and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have put attacks on what they call excessive spending at the heart of this yearâs Republican presidential campaign. But when Palin served as mayor of her hometown of Wasilla, outside Anchorage, she obtained about $27 million in federal âearmarksâ during her last four years in office, according to the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense. And McCain, who has made pork-busting a centerpiece of his maverick pitch for years, singled out for criticism about $3 million worth of those projects in a 2001 statement opposing a transportation spending bill. McCainâs list of âobjectionableâ spending included a $2.5 million road project for the town that then had a population of 5,500, as well as a $450,000 appropriation for an agricultural processing plant there. McCainâs campaign responded Wednesday by saying the record on pork-barrel spending âis one we are eager to discuss.â