One more about Sarah Palin
Debunking her achievements, one by one. From my last e-mail, a summary of the achievements claimed in her speech:
- Ethics reform
- Got rid of governor's jet and chef
- Budget surplus with veto of half a billion dollars in wasteful spending
- Suspended fuel tax
- Championed earmark reform
- Opposed bridge to nowhere
- Oil and gas revenue rebate
- "Broke oil lobby monopoly" (whatever that means)
- $40 billion natural gas pipeline
CLAIM: Ethics reform
REALITY: Sarah Palin is currently the subject of a state ethics investigation.
CLAIM: Got rid of governor's jet and chef
REALITY: The $2.7 million jet was put up for sale on Ebay at $2.45 million but never sold. It was eventually sold by an aircraft broker for $2.1 million at a $600,000 loss for the state.
CLAIM: Budget surplus with veto of half a billion dollars in wasteful spending
REALITY: Alaska's 2009 budget surplus is $1.1 billion, less than half of the $2.5 billion federal subsidy to the state and more than twice the supposed savings of the vetos.
CLAIM: Suspended fuel tax
REALITY: $40 million in state gas taxes were suspended by the legislature, and signed by the governor as a short-term measure. This is essentially the "gas tax holiday" idea that McCain has floated in the past.
CLAIM: Championed earmark reform
REALITY: Alaska still gets more earmarks than almost every state, and Palin herself has accepted and kept earmark money, most notably from the "Bridge to Nowhere." Palin requested several earmarks in 2008. When she was mayor of Wasilla, she lobbied for and received $27 million in earmarks for a town of 6000 people--more than $4000 per resident. Note that according to the Anne Kilkenny letter, Wasilla was left with a $22 million deficit after Palin left for the statehouse, despite these earmarks.
CLAIM: Opposed "Bridge to Nowhere"
REALITY: Supported the project, then changed her mind during the public outroar and kept the earmark money to pad her budget surplus.
CLAIM: Oil and gas revenue rebate
REALITY: This is true. Palin did pass a windfall profits tax in the form of higher oil company taxes and correspondingly higher oil rebate checks to citizens. McCain has opposed windfall profit taxes nationally. Note that Palin is disguising a tax increase in this case by calling it something else.
CLAIM: "Broke oil lobby monopoly"
REALITY: By this she means the gas pipeline, which is being built by the state and was opposed by the oil companies.But on most other issues (excepting the windfall profits tax) Palin backs industry policy. She has derided alternative energy by falsely claiming they would take ten years to develop. So that leaves her only substantive policy proposals in her speech as 1) drill, and lay pipelines, 2) use more coal, and 3) use more nuclear power. This takes on the oil lobby how?
CLAIM: $40 billion natural gas pipeline
REALITY: The pipeline was approved by the legislature but will not be active for at least ten years. It is likely to cost $26.5 billion.
That leaves a one-time $40 million gas tax holiday, a windfall profits tax that is opposed by McCain nationally, and a pipeline project that won't make a damn difference in the price of oil or gas for at least ten years as her only notable accomplishments. And it leaves expanded petroleum and nuclear power production as her only suggested new national policies.