Accountability
Record Refutes Palin's Sudan Claim
By JUSTIN ROOD
October 3, 2008
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fought to protest atrocities in Sudan by dropping assets tied to the country's brutal regime from the state's multi-billion-dollar investment fund, she claimed during Thursday's vice presidential debate.
Governor Sarah Palin at VP debate
Republican vice presidential candidate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks duringa vice presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008.
Not quite, according to a review of the public record - and according to the recollections of a legislator and others who pushed a measure to divest Alaskan holdings in Sudan-linked investments.
"The [Palin] administration killed our bill," said Alaska state representative Les Gara, D-Anchorage. Gara and state Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, co-sponsored a resolution early this year to force the Alaska Permanent Fund - a $40 billion investment fund, a portion of whose dividends are distributed annually to state residents - to divest millions of dollars in holdings tied to the Sudanese government.
Whatever your political beliefs or affiliation, we must hold those who seek office accountable for their actions--or inaction--regarding the horrors of genocide and human rights violations at home and abroad. When they make claims, they must be verified, and if they are proven false, we must upbraid them for it. This is inexcusable. It is beyond reprehensible to fight against an important anti-genocide action and then to claim it in your legacy.
By JUSTIN ROOD
October 3, 2008
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin fought to protest atrocities in Sudan by dropping assets tied to the country's brutal regime from the state's multi-billion-dollar investment fund, she claimed during Thursday's vice presidential debate.
Governor Sarah Palin at VP debate
Republican vice presidential candidate Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin speaks duringa vice presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo., Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008.
Not quite, according to a review of the public record - and according to the recollections of a legislator and others who pushed a measure to divest Alaskan holdings in Sudan-linked investments.
"The [Palin] administration killed our bill," said Alaska state representative Les Gara, D-Anchorage. Gara and state Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, co-sponsored a resolution early this year to force the Alaska Permanent Fund - a $40 billion investment fund, a portion of whose dividends are distributed annually to state residents - to divest millions of dollars in holdings tied to the Sudanese government.
Whatever your political beliefs or affiliation, we must hold those who seek office accountable for their actions--or inaction--regarding the horrors of genocide and human rights violations at home and abroad. When they make claims, they must be verified, and if they are proven false, we must upbraid them for it. This is inexcusable. It is beyond reprehensible to fight against an important anti-genocide action and then to claim it in your legacy.