Conservative Spotlight on Governor Sarah Palin
Gov. Sarah Palin R-AK The Future of the Republican Party
Sarah Palin is the 11th Governor of the State of Alaska. She assumed office on December 4, 2006. Born February 11, 1964 in SandPoint, ID. Gov. Palin is married to Todd Palin and has five children, Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig. She received her BS. degree in communications from the University of Idaho in 1987.
Prior to taking office as Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin worked as a sports reporter. She was elected twice to the city council of Wasilla, in 1992 and 1995. She then went on to serve two three-year terms(1996–2002) as the mayor of Wasilla. In 1996 she defeated three-term incumbent mayor John Stein.
During her first year in office, Palin kept a jar with the names of Wasilla residents on her desk, and once a week she pulled a name from it and picked up the phone; she would ask: "How's the city doing?" Using income generated by a 2% sales tax that was enacted before she was elected to the city council, Palin cut property taxes by 75% and eliminated personal property and business inventory taxes. Tapping municipal bonds, she made improvements to the roads and sewers, and increased funding to the Police Department. She also oversaw new bike paths and procured funding for storm-water treatment to protect freshwater resources. At the same time, she reduced spending on the town museum and blocked construction of a new library and city hall.
When Palin ran for re-election against Stein in 1999 she won, with an incredible 74% of the vote
In 2006, running on a clean-government platform, Palin defeated incumbent Governor Frank Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary. Despite being outspent by her Democratic opponent, she won the gubernatorial election in November, defeating former governor Tony Knowles by a margin of 48.3% to 40.9%. Palin became Alaska's first female governor, and at the age of 42, the youngest governor in Alaskan history.
Palin promotes oil and natural gas resource development in Alaska, including in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Since taking office, her top priorities have been resource development, education and workforce development, public health and safety, and transportation and infrastructure development.
Under her leadership, Alaska invested $5 billion in state savings, overhauled education funding, and implemented the Senior Benefits Program that provides support for low-income older Alaskans. She created Alaska’s Petroleum Systems Integrity Office to provide oversight and maintenance of oil and gas equipment, facilities and infrastructure, and the Climate Change Subcabinet to prepare a climate change strategy for Alaska.
Here is how Gov. Palin stands on some issues:
She is Pro-life.
She believes in free market capitalism.
She opposes same sex marriages.
She is a lifetime member of the NRA, she favors absolute ownership.
She is against government run health care system.
She favors the Death Penalty.
She is in favor or the voucher system in schools.
Most recently Gov. Sarah Palin was the Vice Presidential running mate for John McCain. She showed herself to be much more on the level of the American people, with her off the cuff comments. She made it easy to relate to her. Through out the campaign, Gov. Palin kept composed and focused even after the viscous attacks on herself and her family. Sarah Palin brought about a fresh face and a breath of fresh air for the McCain campaign.
Governor Sarah Palin, is on our list of up and coming Conservatives who we believe will change the face of the Republican Party and bring back the conservative values and principles that made the Republican Party so great and which will make it great once more! Join us America to protect your rights, your country, and your money. Comment here and email us at Yourvoice@speaknowamerica.org Help us and be part of bringing our Great country back.
Speak Now America! we want to hear from you.
Palin squandered the enormous windfall of oil price hikes in part by sending every resident of the state a check for $1,200, on top of the $2,069 they were already getting, in the run up to the election. At the same time she underfunded various Departments within the state, such as in law enforcement, and failed to make up all but a tiny bit of the shortfalls in funding to state employees and teachers pension funds, as well as to the Constitutional Budget Reserve, Alaska's "rainy day" fund.
She demonstrated in her acceptance speech and subsequently, that she is a prodigious liar. She has managed by far the least transparent government in state history. She has treated the state treasury as her own personal piggy bank, retroactively "amending" travel expense requests to pretend that shipping her family around was a legitimate expense.
Rather than cleaning up Alaska politics, she jumped in bed with the corrupt and the corrupters. Over 10% of her 2002 campaign contributions came from the campaign finance laundry at VECO whose bribes convicted her friend and ally Senator Stevens.
If Palin and her faux-populism are the future of the Republican party, it faces a grim future indeed.
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Frank, maybe you can give some credible sources for your claims? Then you might get a reply.
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$1,200 check + $2,069 PFD: http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/487182.html
Policy failures, Gravina Island Bridge lies, etc.: Alaska Legislative Digest 9/5/08 - #17/08
Borrowing to cut pension deficit after 3/4th of a billion giveaway: http://www.efinancialnews.com/homepage/content/2452142814/restricted
Used state funds to transport children, then changed expense reports: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/384366_palin22.html
Lack of transparency: http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/10/10122_palins_email_cover-up_open_records_act.html
VECO contributions: http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2008/sep/03/buzz-around-palin-in-full-roar/
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Thanks for the sources Frank, as I surmised a few were trashy liberal blogs but I will answer to a few.
In regards to the $1,200 check + $2,069 PFD:
The Alaska Legislature passed this almost unanimously 35-3, did you expect the Governor of any state to veto such a thing? It isobvious that even the Democratic members felt it worthy. Why you think it is Gov. Palin's fault leads me to question your mentality a bit.
Moving on to the pension deficit, again your source was questionable but here is the New York Times article about it, which we know is liberal and no friend to Gov. Palin.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/business/21pension.html?pagewanted=print
The actuarial firm that crunched the numbers for the plan, Mercer, made the assumption that health care inflation would fall to 4.5 percent by 2009. Instead, health care costs have gone up. The difference looks small in percentage terms, but multiplied over many years, and 80,000 workers and retirees, it is enormous. Alaska has sued Mercer for $1.8 billion, arguing that it “failed to take into account real-world data,” and, therefore, allowed the state to make unreasonably low contributions.
Mercer has said that it did nothing wrong, and that Alaska is trying to blame it for investment losses and other factors beyond its control. This firm is also being sued by Milwaukee.
In regards to VECO contributions, I will quote your own source :
"The contributions, made during Palin's failed 2002 bid to become Alaska's lieutenant governor, were not illegal for her to accept."
and to that I will add this:
When they decide to scrutinize the $639 million dollars that Obama took in for this past election let's talk again so we can see how he stacks up to Palin when it comes to contributions, deal?
Look Frank, your savior won, it is yet to be seen if he does anything he promised . His Democrat friends are already looking for a way to bail out the Big 3 even when they know people are 100% against it, lets see how Obama handles that one, after all I would venture to say he owes more than a few favors to the UAW won't it be interesting to see if he pays them back to the tune of $25 Billion of our money? You can bet that will make some headlines, when it does I will give you a chance to defend your socialist President Elect.
Finally regarding the silly thing about Palin billing for travelling expenses for her children she has done nothing wrong, no official charges have been brought about as a result. We have far more important things to worry about than things like this however, it is obvious that she is still a viable threat to many and therefore still open to attacks. Which is ok, she can take it. After all that pink lipstick and all......
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Moving on to the pension deficit, again your source was questionable but here is the New York Times article about it, which we know is liberal and no friend to Gov. Palin.
They're so "liberal" that they allowed Judith Miller to spend months assisting Bush in his phony run-up to the Iraq war with bogus stories. They're so "liberal" that they replaced Bill Buckley's corpse with William Kristol and have David Brooks on staff.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/21/business/21pension.html?pagewanted=print
The actuarial firm that crunched the numbers for the plan, Mercer, made the assumption that health care inflation would fall to 4.5 percent by 2009. Instead, health care costs have gone up. The difference looks small in percentage terms, but multiplied over many years, and 80,000 workers and retirees, it is enormous. Alaska has sued Mercer for $1.8 billion, arguing that it “failed to take into account real-world data,” and, therefore, allowed the state to make unreasonably low contributions.
Mercer has said that it did nothing wrong, and that Alaska is trying to blame it for investment losses and other factors beyond its control. This firm is also being sued by Milwaukee.
The actuarial calculations have nothing to do with my contention, as you must know as you appear to be able to read, though you apparently can't think. What I'd written is that with the money available, she'd neglected to make up a larger part of the deficit in both the CBR and the PERS/TERS funds and instead spent $750,000,000 on a vote-buying spree.
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In regards to VECO contributions, I will quote your own source :
"The contributions, made during Palin's failed 2002 bid to become Alaska's lieutenant governor, were not illegal for her to accept."
The problem is that they were admittedly laundered in testimony in federal trials. McGavick gave his dough back the day the VECO offices were raided. The rest of the money dribbled back 1-2 years later as candidates such as Jon Porter, John Sununu and Norm Coleman got into close races. They felt a need to claim innocence. The only "D" who got dough was Inoyue. Don Young is waiting for the VECO ax to fall on his neck.
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I really hope Palin is the next step for the Republican party. If she is, it will ensure Democratic victories for many more election cycles. Come on Palin! We need you to help us Dems secure all branches of government for the next 16 years!
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Personally Adam I am looking forward to see how the new administration does with the economic crisis, I bet the very first thing they seal the ink on is the bail out for GM what do you think? You may be changing your tune when the handouts he promised don't come through, for me I am lucky I am not dependent on them.
Don't get so far ahead of yourself, 2010 will be a decisive year, IMHO
Deena
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Thanks for the sources Frank, as I surmised a few were trashy liberal blogs but I will answer to a few.
In regards to the $1,200 check + $2,069 PFD:
The Alaska Legislature passed this almost unanimously 35-3, did you expect the Governor of any state to veto such a thing? It isobvious that even the Democratic members felt it worthy. Why you think it is Gov. Palin's fault leads me to question your mentality a bit.
Sorry, it's your mentality that's the problem. Had you looked a bit further you would have found that the $1,200 was SARAH's proposal, and in an election year, she won a game of legislative chicken. Kind of like when Bush ran the "You're with us or you're with the terrists," right before the '02 election. Only one "D" Senator up for relection had the guts to vote against it, and only one "R" voted against it in the Senate. The candidate I supported, Ron Paul, voted against it in the House.
I suspect that you characterize any news source other than Faux, NewsMax and World Net Daily as "trashy liberal blogs."
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DS rattled on: "Finally regarding the silly thing about Palin billing for travelling expenses for her children she has done nothing wrong, no official charges have been brought about as a result. We have far more important things to worry about than things like this however, it is obvious that she is still a viable threat to many and therefore still open to attacks. Which is ok, she can take it. After all that pink lipstick and all......"
You're wrong again, DS. An ethics complaint has been filed and she's stonewalling again, just as she did in Troopergate.
Hitch your wagon to that horse and you won't go anywhere.
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She is stonewalling what Frank? The latest ethics complaint is another ludicrous one, like there are not more important things happening that her doing an interview in her office. The funny thing is Frank, if Sarah Palin was not a viable threat because she is a future force to reckon with, you and others would not feel compelled to continue to attack her. There would be no sense in it.
I will stick by my original thought that Sarah Palin is an up and coming candidate for the Republican.
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oh give me a break Ron Paul?? DS dont waste more time on this one ...he is even worse than an obamabot
Yea Ron Paul the guy who thinks lets not have a military, lets get out of the UN, lets not have any Allies, lets just sit back and wait to be attacked cuz we are oblivious and ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh by the way no need to file those taxes come April 15th the government will just run itself no worries
Oh yea he is much better then Palin give me a %$*& break....
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Wow! She's running 6% in front of Ron Paul!
None of the Above/Someone Else 20.3%
Undecided/Not Sure 19.7%
Mitt Romney 13.7%
Sarah Palin 13.4%
Bobby Jindal 12.5%
Mike Huckabee 8.0%
Ron Paul 7.4%
Rudy Giuliani 5.0%
Survey Methodology [Zogby Interactive] 11/7/08 thru 11/18/08.
Zogby International conducted an online survey of [24964 voters].
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Is the polling question a secret? No matter what it is she is running way far ahead of Ron Paul. He seems pretty low on the pole there bud....probably has something to do with his kooky ideas
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Check with Zogby to see if he has the question, if you feel you need it.
Sarah's for all the puffery, is polling between Romney and Jindahl (who has a negligible national profile) and they're all in the toilet compared to "None of the Above."
Though you wish you could wish it away, Troopergate isn't going away that easily. http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/ap_alaska/story/600612.html
Sarah's popularity has dropped a third since her pre-nomination approval ratings, from 89% to 62%. Do you think Alaskans know something you don't?
Oops. Forgot. You know EVERYTHING!
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Here is what I know about the silly Troopergate you have such a hard on over
"Troopergate is over," McAllister said. "It is our understanding from many legislators in both houses of the Legislature that they are not interested in prolonging this."
"We are not hearing from them they intend to take any of these steps recommended by this far left wing group."
Sarahs popularity has dropped? That only depends on what blog you read, here is one that says your full of it.
http://hotair.com/archives/2008/11/28/zogby-on-2012-palin-leads-among-republicans-romney-leads-among-all-voters/
Naw I don't know everything Frank but I do know THIS:
I know that YOU know she is a threat that is why you are sooooooooo crazy to try to trash her, if I could speak for Sarah ....she would be flattered. Good job pumping her up Frank we appreciate it.
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Dear Tami,
Bill McAllister is Sarah's PR guy. What would anyone expect him to say? He's an ex-TV "reporter."
The Palin approval ratings have been done regularly by Alaska pollsters,
"D"s "R"s and independents. Some of these are pretty good. Steven's pollster, Dittman, conclusively called the Senate seat for Begich just after the election and two weeks before the last third of the ballots were counted, with Stevens still in the lead by thousands of votes. For Sarah's approval ratings over an extended period of time, the go to guy is pollster Ivan Moore.
Blogs, especially Michelle Malkin's, are often unlikely to not tell you anything useful since you can't depend on them, as appears to be in your postings, to be truthful or rational.
I do agree with you that Sarah could have been a threat. Can you just imagine that undereducated nitwit with her finger on the button? Can you imagine that she would appoint old high school buddies who aren't even possessed of her third-rate education to the highest cabinet posts in her administration. Can you imagine that a person who probably has trouble counting past 1,000 and actually understanding what the number means, in charge of the national budget?
Sarah is finished. She has created an Alaskan impending fiscal crisis of monumental proportions by giving away $750,000,000 to residents and $500,000,000 to a Canadian firm that never has to deliver anything.
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Frank,
I have to say that I am pretty shocked that you think a PAC trying to get TrooperGate opened up again important. Is it more important that checking to make sure all those millions of campaign contributions are legit? Do you think from an importance aspect they are even?
Like it or not Sarah Palin has been recognized and she is going to continue to be in the forefront. She is not going to go away as much as I am sure many would like.
Maybe you should focus on what your guy is going to do when he is in office soon, make a list of promises and see if you can't get one or two of them checked off.
Deena
PS. Please point out specifics things you found to be not truthful in our posts.
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Frank,
As Conservatives look for candidates that will be effective running against the loony leftists, one of the quickest ways to identify the good ones is to mention their names and see who attacks. Thanks for validating our interest in Palin.
You sound like you have just recently gradated from ACORN training. Did you get good grades on Rules for Radicals 101? The next time you visit ACORN University, say hello to your pal Bill Ayers.
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Dear No Knows,
You say hello to your and John McCain's friend, the convicted criminal, friend of and contributor ($5,000) to McCain's campaign, the guy who advocates shooting FBI & ATF agents "in the head," and on whose show McCain appears.
If you're trying to get rid of the voices in your head, maybe you could confer with Rev. Thomas Muthee, who drove the "witches" and demons from Sarah. (Though some would say he didn't do much of a job.)
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Alinsky has a rule for every tactic you are using. You must have gotten a high grade in Rules for Radicals 101.
RULE 3: "Whenever possible, go outside the expertise of the enemy." Look for ways to increase insecurity, anxiety and uncertainty.
You bring up all of these babbling, nonsense allegations (am I using words that are to big for you?). You know that I can't know what you are talking about, but, being a serious person, I will feel the need to answer your allegations. This is supposed to add to my frustration and second-guessing, until I withdraw in confusion.
Nice try, but no prize. I know exactly what you are.
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