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Thursday, September 4, 2008
The last thing we needed… ‘Uppity’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Just a couple of weeks ago we had the Georgia Bigfoot hunters in the national news. Now we’ve got a Georgia congressman complaining that Barack and Michelle Obama are “uppity.”
Uppity.
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The Palin record on earmarks
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here’s a pretty comprehensive rundown of Palin’s documented record on requesting earmarks. In her second term as Wasilla mayor, she got a total of $27 million in federal earmarks for a town of fewer than 9,000 people.
As governor, she requested $254 million in earmarks last year, and $197 million in earmarks this year. As the Seattle Times story notes, that’s more per capita than requested by any other state in the union:
“Palin’s requests to Congress came at a time of huge federal deficits, while Alaska state revenue was soaring due to rising oil prices and a major tax increase on oil production that Palin signed into law in late 2007.
As a result, Alaska this year was in such a money-flushed condition — with no state income tax or sales tax and total state revenues of $10 billion, double the previous year’s — that Palin gained legislative approval for $1,200 cash payments to every Alaskan.”
This, from the candidate who said Wednesday night that she “championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress.”
My friends, that is not reform we can believe in.
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A great Night 3 for Sarah Palin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Well, she did great, coming through for the GOP under what must have been an awful lot of pressure.
In her speech last night, Sarah Palin came across as both personable and tough. She showed a nice flair for the attack line, and seemed quite comfortable slipping a dagger between the ribs of her opponents. This was her first major hurdle, and she cleared it easily. There will be more to come — debates, press conferences, interviews, etc., — but this one she handled. It was impressive.
In fact, the scene had to be a little frightening for Republicans such as Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, who have ambitions to lead their party someday. They were no doubt watching Palin, and watching the crowd’s reaction, and wondering whether their moment had come and gone, because here was its future. Until last night, the Grand Old Party has looked awful old but not so grand in this convention.
However, go take a look at this Washington Post story. Things are getting pretty sticky for Palin in the Troopergate scandal.
Palin first denied that she, her staff or family had put pressure on anyone to have her ex-brother-in-law fired as a state trooper. Then a tape emerged of a top staff member demanding that the man be fired. Palin quickly altered her story to account for that new evidence, stating just last month that “pressure could have been perceived to exist, although I have only now become aware of it.”
The Post story blows that second claim out of the water. Former Public Safety Commissioner Walter Monegan showed Post reporters two e-mails from Palin, e-mails that can be read only as heavy pressure exerted by the governor personally to have her ex-brother-in-law fired. And of course, when Monegan refused to buckle to that pressure, he himself was fired by Palin without public explanation.
Palin staff members who had promised to testify in an investigation of that case are now refusing. Palin herself had promised full cooperation, but now is refusing to be deposed and claims the investigation is illegal.
So … a great performance. But storm clouds are gathering.
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