Countdown: Sarah Palin is Unfit to be . . . Governor (facts from 2006)

hours and counting . . . . . .





Fact Check for the Debate


Our favorite Alaskan blogger, AKMuckraker, published a fact sheet about Sarah Palin back in 2006 when she was running for governor of Alaska which may be good to have in front of you while you watch the debates tonight. The value of this is that it underscores the anomolies in Palin's story before she got enmeshed in national politics. This, you might say, is the unvarnished truth.

Note particularly the last point in light of the partisan White House-led firings of lawyers. This is one vindictive lady!

FACTS ABOUT SARAH PALIN
(from http://mudflats.wordpress.com in 2006)

Palin Says She’s a Change from The Scandal-Plagued Republicans, But She’s More of

the Same.

Palin built her reputation on criticizing state Republicans for ethics questions, but Palin has
questions of her own, as she used city resources when she campaigned for Lt. Governor; Palin chaired the campaign of another candidate in a race dominated by resource issues when she was on the oil and gas commission and said that she saw no conflict of interest. For years, Palin supported Murkowski, campaigning for him across the state, and he supported her campaigns as well.

Palin Touts Fiscal Conservatism, But She Increased Spending Tremendously and
Supported Tax Increases.

Palin constantly reminds us that she is a fiscal conservative. But during her time as mayor, she increased the city’s budget at a rate far outpacing the city’s growth with spending on large projects. She supported sales tax increases and left the city with thousands in per-capita debt, where none had existed when she came in. Palin brags about eliminating the personal property tax, butcwith the same legislation, the city increased motor vehicle fees that almost matched the lost income of the personal property taxes.

Palin Is Too Socially Conservative for Libertarian Alaska.

Palin is a strong conservative—something she repeated throughout her primary campaign but now seems to try to back off from. She is not only pro-life but is involved with—and even steered tax money toward—organizations that give misleading information on abortion. She called herself a “hard-core fiscal conservative” who wanted government to get to the bare bones. The Anchorage Daily News asked whether her “socially conservative positions square with Alaska's generally libertarian approach to those issues.” Palin also supported a flat tax, an idea even Bob Dole thought was absurd.

Palin’s Management Style is to Bully and Demand Political Loyalty.

Palin’s tenure as mayor of Wasilla was marred by tremendous staff turnover, first when she fired most of the top staff—including the city’s librarian—because she questioned their loyalty, and then later when staff quit because of her micromanaging style. Wasilla even lost the opportunity to hire a police chief because he said the job seemed too political.

Palin’s Not Ready for Primetime.

Palin argues that she was the mayor of the fastest growing city in Alaska. While that may be true, Wasilla’s population is still 1 percent of the rest of the state of Alaska. The last budget Palin approved, $12.5 million, is .2 percent of the $7.3 billion budget Tony Knowles approved.

Palin’s Not Tough Enough to Be A Strong Negotiator for Alaska.

As mayor, Palin fired someone because she said he intimidated her with his size and because he gave her a “stern look.” She asked her department heads to give her only good news and once complained because we are so desperate in Alaska for any semblance of glamour and culture.”