Obama won 'a million' a day on pet projects: McCain

OXFORD-MISSISSIPPI: Republican White House hopeful John McCain Friday accused his Democratic rival Barack Obama of stuffing US legislation with a million dollars a day for pet projects.

"He asked for 932 million dollars of earmark pork barrel spending," McCain said as he came out swinging at the start of the first presidential debate in the 2008 White House race.

McCain, 72, who has earned a reputation for fighting cronyism and corruption during his more than two decades in the US Senate, alleged that was "nearly a million dollars a day" for each day Obama has served in the Senate.

"I've got a pen and I'm going to veto every single spending bill that comes across my desk," McCain vowed.

Obama, 47, who represents Illinois in Congress, hit back, saying: "Senator McCain is absolutely right that the earmarks' process is abused which is why I suspended any requests for my home state."

Earmark spending is often used by US lawmakers as a way to fund special projects in their state by adding them onto the funding laid out in legislation. It can be a way of repaying constituents and campaign donors for their support.

Particularly controversial bills are sometimes only passed when lawmakers have added their projects onto them, heavily inflating the initial cost.