This Blog Entry Was Written by The Truth* Correspondent Jason Blair

Sarah Palin likes to tell voters around the country about how she “put the government checkbook online” in Alaska. On Thursday, Palin suggested she would take that same proposal to Washington.

“We’re going to do a few new things also,” she said at a rally in Cedar Rapids. “For instance, as Alaska’s governor, I put the government’s checkbook online so that people can see where their money’s going. We’ll bring that kind of transparency, that responsibility, and accountability back. We’re going to bring that back to D.C.”

There’s just one problem with proposing to put the federal checkbook online—somebody’s already done it. His name is Barack Obama.

In 2006 and 2007, Obama teamed up with Republican Sen. Tom Coburn to pass the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act, also known as “Google for Government.” The act created a free, searchable web site—USASpending.gov—that discloses to the public all federal grants, contracts, loans and insurance payments.

In June of this year, Obama and Coburn introduced new Senate legislation to expand the information available online to include details on earmarks, competitive bidding, criminal activities, audit disputes and other government information.

Palin might also have noted that her running mate, John McCain, was an original co-sponsor of the 2006 transparency bill that became law.

When pressed on this point, Palin responded, “Well, that can't be true. I mean, if Obama had passed a transparency-in-government act already, one that my running mate had co-sponsored, wouldn't you think I'd know about it? Don't you think Uncle Festering, here, would have told me about something that central to my speech before I got up here and made an ass of myself? Well, don't you?”

UPDATE: A campaign spokesperson insisted that Palin was referring not to that specific proposal, but rather to “that kind of transparency in general.”

When asked if that meant Gov. Palin would be testifying before the Alaskan Senate committee investigating the firing the public safety commissioner, the spokesperson relayed the inquiry to the governor and returned with a response filled with the down-home bon homie and frontier spirit the governor is noted for:

Are you sure you want to pull at that thread, newsboy? I wish you would, because I would have no compunction about coming out there, ripping off your head, dropping an Alaska-size deuce down your neck, and using your gushing carotid artery as a bidet. Think I wouldn't? Try me.

UPDATE: A campaign spokesperson insisted that Palin has not nor would she ever use a bidet.