Friday, February 26,

By Sarah Palin

We should be thankful for yesterday’s 7-hour health care summit – it was helpful in that it allowed Americans to hear the fundamental differences in approaches to meeting health care challenges. On one side, commonsense conservatives laid out fiscally-sound, free market-based, patient-centered solutions; and on the left’s side we heard about the Democrats' belief that growing government is the only way to meet challenges. As the saying goes, “Everyone is entitled to his opinion, but not his own facts.” When these “facts” concern one-sixth of our economy and something as important to our personal wellbeing as health care, we’d better make sure they are the real deal. Please take a look at the compilation below from GOP.com correcting the top five falsehoods from yesterday’s summit. I appreciate their research and revelations compiled here. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010 TOP FIVE FALSEHOODS If Democrats Would Start Listening To The American People, They’d Stop Telling Falsehoods NO ONE’S TALKING ABOUT RECONCILIATION? Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) Claims “No One Has Talked About Reconciliation.” “No one has said -- I read what the President has online -- no one has talked about reconciliation but that's what you folks have talked about ever since that came out, as if it's something that has never been done before.” (“Transcript: White House Health Summit, Morning Session,” Kaiser Health News, 2/25/10) But Reid Himself Is Talking About Reconciliation. “Harry Reid’s got a gift for hyperbole – and it keeps on giving. The Senate majority leader’s latest gem came in response to hints that Democrats might try to use the fast-track budget ‘reconciliation’ to bypass a Republican filibuster of President Obama’s health care plan. After advising Republicans on Tuesday to ‘stop crying over reconciliation as if it’s never been done before,’ he ticked off a list of legislative feats he contends were accomplished through the filibuster-busting process: ‘Contract [with] America was done with reconciliation. Tax cuts, done with reconciliation. Medicare, done with reconciliation.’” (Jonathan Allen, “Hyperbolic Harry,” Politico’s “Live Pulse” Blog, 2/24/10) “For Some Bizarre Reason, During His Initial Presentation, Sen. Reid Said That ‘No One Has Talked About Reconciliation,’ … But That's Obviously Not True. Everybody's Talking About It. And A Lot Of Dems Would Be Pretty Upset If They Weren't Talking About It.” (Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo’s “Editors Blog” Blog, 2/25/10) ■“A Number Of Democratic Senators Have Signed A Letter Urging Reid To Use Reconciliation To Pass The Public Option.” (Eric Zimmermann, “Reid: 'No One Has Talked About Reconciliation,’” The Hill’s “Briefing Room” Blog, 2/25/10) Obama Health Reform Advisor Says The Door Is Open For Reconciliation. “Linda Douglass, the communications director of the White House Office of Health Reform, left reconciliation on the table as an option for passing a health care bill if Democrats and Republicans don't reach consensus during Thursday's summit. … ‘Certainly if that were not to be the case, he would be asking for a simple up or down majority vote and would certainly hope that the Republicans would not try to block that simple up or down majority vote.’” (Carol Lee & Patrick O’Connor, “Douglass Open To Reconciliation,” Politico’s “44” Blog, 2/25/10) THE AMERICAN PEOPLE AREN’T INTERESTED IN RECONCILIATION? Obama Claims Americans Don’t Care About Reconciliation. “You know, this issue of reconciliation has been brought up. Again I think the American people aren't always all that interested in procedures inside the Senate. I do think they want a vote on how we’re going to move this forward.” (President Obama, Health Care Summit, Washington, DC, 2/25/10) But 52% Of Americans Don’t Want The Democrats To Use Reconciliation To Pass Their Government-Run Health Care Experiment. “In the survey, Americans by 52%-39% oppose Senate Democrats using the procedure, which allows a bill to pass with a 51-vote majority rather than the 60 votes needed to end debate.” (Susan Page, “Poll: Expectations Low On Health Summit,” USA Today, 2/25/10) DEM PROPOSALS WILL LOWER PREMIUMS? President Obama Claimed CBO Determined His Plan Would Lower Premiums. PRESIDENT OBAMA: “It's not factually accurate. Here's what the Congressional Budget Office says. The costs for families for the same type of coverage that they're currently receiving would go down 14 percent to 20 percent.” SEN. LAMAR ALEXANDER (R-TN): “The Congressional Budget Office report says that premiums will rise in the individual market as a result of the Senate bill.” PRESIDENT OBAMA: “No, no, no, no. Let me -- and this is an example of where we've got to get our facts straight.” ALEXANDER: “That's my point.” OBAMA: “Well, exactly, so let me -- let me respond to what you just said, Lamar, because it's not factually accurate. Here's what the Congressional Budget Office says. The costs for families for the same type of coverage that they're currently receiving would go down 14 percent to 20 percent.” (President Obama, Health Care Summit, Washington, DC, 2/25/10) But Actually, CBO Determined The Bill Would Raise Premiums For Americans Purchasing Insurance Individually. “CBO and JCT estimate that the average premium per person covered (including dependents) for new nongroup policies would be about 10 percent to 13 percent higher in 2016 than the average premium for nongroup coverage in that same year under current law.” (Douglas W. Elmendorf, Letter To Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN), 11/30/09) INCREMENTAL PLANS ARE UNACCEPTABLE? Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): “[I]naction And Incrementalism Are Simply Unacceptable.” (Mike Allen, “Will Dr. Obama Go For Plan B-1, Or Plan B-2? -- Dems' Post-Summit Message: POTUS Was 'Thoughtful, Comprehensive,' Rs 'Insulted The Summit' -- New NYT Expose May Finish Gov. Paterson,” Politico’s “Playbook,” 2/25/10) But 56.4 Percent Of Americans Prefer An Incremental Approach. “Moreover, 56.4 percent of people indicated they would prefer Congress to tackle healthcare reform on a step-by-step basis, not take the comprehensive approach as embodied in the legislation that passed the House and Senate last year but has stalled for the past month.” (Jeffrey Young, “Poll: Most Americans Think Congress Should Start Over On Healthcare,” The Hill’s “Briefing Room” Blog, 2/16/10) PUBLIC FUNDS WOULDN’T GO TO ABORTION? Pelosi Said Abortion Wouldn’t Be Funded Under The Plan. “The law of the land is there is no public funding of abortion and there is no public funding of abortion in these bills and I don't want our listeners or viewers to get the wrong impression from what you said.” (Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Health Care Summit, Washington, DC, 2/25/10) But The Bill Allows Federally Funded Abortions. “Under the new abortion provisions, states can opt out of allowing plans to cover abortion in the insurance exchanges the bill would set up. The exchanges are designed to serve individuals who lack coverage through their jobs, with most receiving federal subsidies to buy insurance. Enrollees in plans that cover abortion procedures would pay with separate checks -- one for abortion, one for any other health-care services.” (Paul Kane, “To Sway Nelson, A Hard-Won Compromise On Abortion Issue,” The Washington Post, 12/20/10) Pro-Life Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) Calls Obama’s Abortion Language “Unacceptable.” “Unfortunately, the president’s proposal encompasses the senate language allowing public funding of abortion. The senate language is a significant departure from current law and is unacceptable.” (Ben Smith,” Stupak: “Unacceptable,” Politico’s “Live Pulse” Blog, 2/23/10) Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) Says 15 To 20 House Dems Who Can’t Support Obama’s Proposal. “Rep. Bart Stupak, the Michigan Democrat who led efforts to tighten abortion language in the House health care bill, said Wednesday morning there are 15 to 20 House Democrats who cannot support President Barack Obama’s effort to bridge the gap between the House and Senate health plans. … He said well over a dozen House members will likely balk, not just on abortion but on the residual tax on so-called Cadillac health plans, which he said the House had already rejected.” (“Stupak: 15-20 Dems Can’t Back Obama Health Plan,” The Wall Street Journal’s “Washington Wire” Blog, 2/24/10)

More of the Same, Only More Expensive

24 Feb 2010

By Sarah Palin

The President has wrestled control of the health care debate away from Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid by finally introducing his own plan. Unfortunately, the White House’s proposal includes everything we found untenable about the old Senate bill – only this one is even more expensive! This is what you might call putting “perfume on a pig.” What’s in this “new” proposal? It has the unpopular (and arguably unconstitutional) individual mandate that forces people and employers to purchase health insurance – only this time with much harsher fines on employers who choose not to go along with another expensive government mandate. It has provisions that will make employers think twice before expanding their workforce. It has cuts to Medicare Advantage, a popular program which allows seniors to pay a little more money out of pocket for better coverage. And, of course, it still has sweetheart deals – only this time they’ve been extended even more. We don’t know what the final long-term cost of this will be because the Congressional Budget Office hasn’t had a chance to calculate costs. We do know that the White House recognizes that its proposal will cost tens of billions more over the next ten years than the already-expensive $2.5 trillion Senate bill. The President promised last July that he won’t sign a health care bill if it “adds even one dime to our deficit over the next decade.” But he’s now proposing a health care bill with uncertain fiscal repercussions that could lead to endless deficits. The rising cost of care has driven the entire health care reform debate. So how does the President’s proposal address this central issue? Price controls. That’s right: Washington, D.C. wants to give a panel of bureaucrats the power to cap insurance premiums and prices. As Michael Cannon of the Cato Institute notes, “artificially limiting premium growth allows the government to curtail spending while leaving the dirty work of withholding medical care to private insurers.” This leads to rationing. Any economist worth his salt – including the White House’s own Larry Summers – will tell you that price controls lead to all sorts of negative unintended consequences. It’s another step towards government controlled health care and away from the real solution: free market, patient-centered reform. With a government-growing proposal this bad, it’s no wonder the President wants bipartisan cover for it in an election year. Thursday’s health care summit is already being revealed as little more than a photo-op. The Obama administration still denies the existence of the House Republicans’ health care plan that offers alternative solutions to health care challenges – even though the White House website links right to it. The President’s proposal doesn’t include pro-free market ideas like allowing people to buy insurance across state lines, giving individual buyers the same tax benefits as those who get insurance through their employers, or instituting real medical liability reform. Despite the “kumbaya” rhetoric, Democrats are making plans to ram this bill through the Senate using a partisan procedural maneuver that will bypass the normal bipartisan debate process. In the meantime, the White House will continue to ignore Republican reform ideas and cast the GOP as the party of no. That’s a hard sell considering that Democrats still hold the majority in the House and Senate. The only real “gridlock” preventing Democrats from doing what they want is the very real threat of America's voice being heard at the ballot box. The public is clearly opposed to the Democrats’ health care bills. Americans want to scrap these big-government plans and start over with common-sense, incremental reform. Some on the left have urged Democrats to vote for Obamacare because it’s a foot in the door for universal health care. They understand what’s at stake; so should the rest of us. The President can perfume this proposal however he wants, but it still doesn’t pass the smell test. Washington should listen to Americans now, or Washington will hear us in November. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010 **Besure to visit www.uswebtalkradio.com today.

Condolences on the Passing of Alexander Haig

20 Feb 2010

By Sarah Palin

Todd and I would like to offer our condolences to the Haig family on the passing of former Secretary of State Alexander Haig. In addition to being a decorated veteran of the Korean and Vietnam Wars, Secretary Haig’s service to our country spans many past administrations. He served America honorably as a four star general and a distinguished statesman. Our hearts go out to his family as we join them in mourning the loss of this patriot. Sarah Palin Facebook 2010

"Global Warming” – More Like a Snow Job

19 Feb 2010

By Sarah Palin

Over the last few months, and even again today, very unsettling revelations have come to light about the “settled science” of man-made global warming. With all of these shoes dropping you’d think every member of the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) would be barefoot by now. One thing after another keeps popping up to further discredit the theory of man-made global warming. The IPCC’s supposedly definitive report proving the theory is riddled with serious errors. The organization has been publicly chastised by everyone from its former chair to the heads of the UK’s biggest funder of climate research and Greenpeace UK. One of the world’s top climate change scientists, Prof. Phil Jones, has conceded that there’s been no significant warming since 1995; that the medieval period may have been warmer than today; and that he’s had trouble even keeping track of raw data crucial to the global warming theory. Yet President Obama still seeks to create a federal office for global warming, and they’re still talking about mandating their cap-and-tax plan that's based on discredited data. The Obama administration’s environmental extremism also shows up in its aversion to oil and gas development. A true all-of-the-above approach to energy would mean allowing oil and gas explorers to drill here and drill now because America has the proven reserves needed to meet our energy challenges. A new industry study reveals that the federal government's current restrictions on oil and gas drilling in Alaska and off the U.S. coastline will cost us $2.36 trillion through 2029. Think of the millions of U.S. jobs we could create, and how much more secure America would be, if we had a true free market approach to energy independence that allowed us to finally drill! And though I applaud the President’s newly declared interest in nuclear power, it should be noted that he’s merely following through on loan guarantees authorized during the prior administration. What’s more, while the White House now touts the building of new nuclear power plants, its budget inexplicably calls for cutting funding to the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. A real nuclear energy plan requires a strategy for dealing with nuclear waste storage and recycling. The man-made global warming hysteria isn’t based on sound science, and the Obama administration’s energy policy isn’t based on sound economics. If the climategate revelations teach us anything, it’s that we need to cool down the rhetoric and fire up our common sense. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010

Stimulus Bill Anniversary Proves Not-So-Stimulating

18 Feb 2010

By Sarah Palin

One year ago today, President Obama signed a nearly trillion dollar stimulus package and handed our children the bill. What did we get for that massive price tag? Many promises, but the promises have proven false. On this stimulus anniversary, Washington needs to hear our message that Americans expect, and deserve, better. Americans were promised the stimulus would keep unemployment under 8%. It’s now well over that. We were promised it would be targeted and pork-free. It’s been loaded with pork, corporate giveaways, union bosses’ goodies, and other manners of waste. We were promised there would be no fraud, but our government now tells us it can’t even verify the eligibility of people applying for the $325 billion worth of stimulus tax provisions. We were promised there would be strict oversight, but billions of dollars apparently were allotted to congressional districts that don’t even exist. We were promised it would provide “green jobs” for Americans, but 80% of the $2 billion they spent on alternative energy went to purchase wind turbines built in China! We were promised it would help state governments weather the recession, but states receiving the stimulus bait will be in worse fiscal shape now because local governments will be on the hook for new unfunded mandates and continuation of government programs they couldn’t afford in the first place – as many of us governors warned state legislatures. One year later, we see plainly that the stimulus was not a well-thought out plan. It hasn’t revived our economy; instead the debt-ridden package will prove to be a drag on our economy. It hasn’t put us on the path to a better future; instead it’s unfairly mortgaged our children’s future and stolen opportunities from them. It hasn’t strengthened us; instead it endangers our freedom and security by making us even more beholden to foreign lenders. The legacy of the stimulus isn’t jobs or economic growth – it’s more dangerous debt. But there is hope! And this hope lies in draining the swamp in D.C. and sending Commonsense Conservatives to Washington who understand the need for fiscal restraint. Those who are willing to rein in spending, respect Constitutional limits, and repeal the stimulus should get our support, and those who have been part of the problem should be replaced. In this election year, we’ll see many daring Davids take on entrenched Goliaths. Just one of these many brave souls is a northern Wisconsin patriot named Sean Duffy. He’s running in Wisconsin’s 7th congressional district against a liberal Goliath who’s been in Congress over 40 years now and has the dubious distinction of being the author of the stimulus bill. To commemorate the anniversary of the signing of the stimulus, Sean Duffy is holding a fundraising “money bomb” for his campaign so he can replace the career politician who drafted this government-bloating behemoth. If you’re frustrated about the waste in the stimulus bill, please support a solid fiscal conservative who will work to repeal it. Please visit Sean Duffy’s website and help him help us correct the mistakes of this past year. On this first anniversary of the stimulus, let’s send a message to the big-spenders in Washington by helping Sean Duffy unseat the author of the stimulus. Let’s put government back on our side and get to work revitalizing America! - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010 Be sure to visit US Web Talk Radio @ www.uswebtalkradio.com - You too can host a radio show & for Free.

Fox Hollywood – What a Disappointment

16 Feb 2010

By Sarah Palin

People are asking me to comment on yesterday’s Fox show that felt like another kick in the gut. Bristol was one who asked what I thought of the show that mocked her baby brother, Trig (and/or others with special needs), in an episode yesterday. Instead of answering, I asked her what she thought. Here is her conscientious reply, which is a much more restrained and gracious statement than I want to make about an issue that begs the question, “when is enough, enough?”: “When you’re the son or daughter of a public figure, you have to develop thick skin. My siblings and I all have that, but insults directed at our youngest brother hurt too much for us to remain silent. People with special needs face challenges that many of us will never confront, and yet they are some of the kindest and most loving people you’ll ever meet. Their lives are difficult enough as it is, so why would anyone want to make their lives more difficult by mocking them? As a culture, shouldn’t we be more compassionate to innocent people – especially those who are less fortunate? Shouldn’t we be willing to say that some things just are not funny? Are there any limits to what some people will do or say in regards to my little brother or others in the special needs community? If the writers of a particularly pathetic cartoon show thought they were being clever in mocking my brother and my family yesterday, they failed. All they proved is that they’re heartless jerks. - Bristol Palin” - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010

Sarah Palin wows NASCAR fans in Daytona Beach

15 Feb 2010

By ORLANDO SENTINEL

One fan wrote her own message in the palm of her left hand. Another fan wore her best look-alike outfit, sporting fashionable eyewear, a bright red jacket and a black dress. And they all came, by the hundreds, clutching their copies of Going Rogue to be signed by the former Alaskan governor and former vice-presidential candidate. Sarah Palin signed her best selling book at the Books-a-Million at the Volusia Mall today, making her second public appearance in the Daytona Beach area. Palin attended yesterday's Daytona 500, drawing huge applause from the throngs of NASCAR fans and she'll speak tonight at the $150-a-plate dinner for the Daytona Regional Chamber. The book signing drew 900 people, with the line extending outside and snaking through the store. The line flowed efficiently, with people able to spend a few moments with Palin, who shook hands then offered a quick, "Thank you for being here," or "I appreciate you," while she penned her signature. One of the most photographed fans wasDebbie Cavalier, a Ponce Inlet woman who won several Palin look-alike contests during Halloween. "My niece told me that I look like her," said Cavalier, who developed the complete look, from the teased hair and the crisp bright suits, to the high heels. Cavalier said that Palin loved her outfit. "She said, 'We're looking in the mirror,' " Cavalier said. Brenda Clapp of Daytona Beach had her own message for Palin, written out in the palm of her left hand: "Thank you for your support of special needs." And Daytona 500 fan Tony Maggio, from Weymouth, Mass., rounded out his annual trip to Daytona by getting his copy of Going Rogue signed. Maggio had waited outside the store last week at 5 a.m. Friday and snagged bracelet number 5. "She was so nice, so pleasant. She's so much more beautiful in person than on TV," Maggio said. ORLANDO SENTINEL

Honoring Alaska’s Olympians

12 Feb 2010

By Sarah Palin

As the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympic Games begins tonight, I’d like to join my fellow Alaskans in applauding the hard work and dedication of the seven Olympians from the Last Frontier: Callan Chythlook-Sifsof (the first Alaska Native Olympian) competing in Snowboard Cross; Jeremy Teela and Jay Hakkinen competing in the Biathlon; Kikkan Randall, James Southam, and Holly Brooks competing in Nordic Skiing; and the Mat-Su Valley’s very own Kerry Weiland competing on the U.S. Women’s Hockey Team. I’ve had the honor of meeting some of these fine athletes with outstanding work ethic. These great Olympians are the pride of Alaska and will bring honor to Team USA! - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010 Besure to vist www.uswebtalkradio.com - you can host your show for free !!

Alaska Steps Forward Towards Energy Security

10 Feb 2010

By Sarah Palin

Alaska Steps Forward Towards Energy SecurityShare Today at 2:29pm Congratulations are due Exxon and the State of Alaska’s Department of Natural Resources for completing the first development well at Point Thomson in northern Alaska. This is a huge field full of domestic crude, and it’s time to drill for it! This week we’ve witnessed great progress toward more energy security for Alaska and our entire nation. What began as hefty trucks and hard working men and women heading up an ice road last year, to the commencement of drilling at Point Thomson, this progress has finally led to Exxon’s announcement today of completion of its first development well to produce oil and gas. Our “tough stance” with big oil and perseverance in insisting that Alaska’s resources be developed instead of warehoused while foreign countries are busy developing their oil and gas reserves has paid off to the benefit of everyone involved. Drill here, drill now... energy independence is a national security issue that can’t be ignored any longer. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010

Angela McGlowan, is she running for Congress??

9 Feb 2010

By Staff reports

Judging from the loud cheers she generated, one of the highlights of last weekend's Tea Party Convention in Nashville was the appearance of Angela McGlowan, a Fox News contributor and former GOP congressional staffer. She electrified the crowd when she hinted she would be announcing her candidacy for Congress from neighboring Mississippi in a few days. If elected, Ms. McGlowan would become only the third African American elected as a Republican to the U.S. House in the past 75 years. "Conservatives advocate policies that recognize the innate value of all humans, as opposed to liberal policies that demean the poor and disadvantaged by encouraging victimhood," she told the enthusiastic crowd. Ms. McGlowan kicked off her candidacy yesterday by beginning a five-city bus tour of her sprawling northern Mississippi district, which is now represented by Democrat Travis Childers, who recaptured the formerly Republican seat in a 2008 special election at the nadir of the Bush presidency's popularity. Her candidacy puts the House GOP campaign committee in a bit of a jam. Republicans had previously identified State Senator Alan Nunnelee, chair of the powerful Appropriations Committee, as a top challenger in the race. He already has $292,000 in cash in his campaign account and was touted by the GOP committee as "one of the best candidates for us this cycle." The committee now insists it will stay out of the race and let primary voters decide who will run against the Democrat Mr. Childers. The feisty Ms. McGlowan is a force of nature, and a direct challenge to the GOP good ol' boy network. While not conversant with the details of all issues, she is a fast learner and clearly would have national fundraising ability. She also has a good chance of winning the GOP primary. There is a third candidate in the race, former Eupora mayor Henry Ross, and if the contest goes to a runoff she would have the advantage of nationwide attention in that faceoff. When it comes to the general election, Mr. Childers is well-funded and has been careful to oppose unpopular Democratic measures on health care and cap-and-trade. But in an anti-government year, any Democrat can expect to struggle to win re-election in a district that John McCain carried with 62% of the vote. Were Ms. McGlowan the GOP nominee, she would perhaps lose some votes on the basis of her race. But she would also gain some, especially from the 27% of the district's population that is African-American, much of which is socially conservative. This is not to say that Ms. McGlowan doesn't have challenges. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, a Baptist minister and fellow Fox News contributor, is headlining a fundraiser for Mr. Nunnelee next week, an indication that Ms. McGlowan will have some competition in nailing down the votes of religiously-oriented conservatives.

Read this Transcript: Sarah Palin Interviewed by FoxNews.com

8 Feb 2010

By Staff reports

The following is a transcript of an interview with former Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin by FoxNews.com's Judd Berger at the National Tea Party Convention on Feb. 6. in Nashville. PRINTEMAILSHARE RECOMMEND (2) Q: You recently endorsed Rand Paul. Why? How did you reach that decision, and -- well, let's start there. SARAH PALIN: He's got good domestic policy solutions that he wants to see implemented. He wants to rein in spending. He wants to limit the federal government's overreach. And I support that, and I'm happy to support him. Obviously, will not be agreeing with him on everything. He didn't agree with me on everything. Q: Any examples? PALIN: I, there will be plenty of things I'm sure, but no I'm happy to support him and I think this whole relationship that I will have with Dr. Paul is going to be I think reflective of other candidates that people may raise their eyebrows and say, why are you supporting them in a primary? I will do this when many of the positions can be supported but also my position on supporting competitive, rigorous contested primaries is very important. Q: You really want to get involved in the primary process? PALIN: Absolutely, because I do want competition to allow the cream of the crop to rise. Q: And what does your support translate to, I mean rallies, fundraisers donations from the PAC, how does that …? PALIN: Yeah, whatever they need me to do. Q: All of the above? PALIN: Yeah, sure, sure, depending on what position we're in …. Q: You said the cream of the crop, what other, I guess, up-and-comers or maybe not up-and-comers, but what other potential candidates are you looking at to support and fund and campaign for? PALIN: No doubt there are candidates who will not seek my support because some will perceive me as being too polarizing and if they're in more liberal districts or states they won't want someone like me who has been unfortunately by the media put in a box as being so parochial and myopic in terms of some positions that they won't recognize my own independence. So some people will shy away from my support that I could offer. But those who recognize that I do have strong opinions, a very strong independent streak in me and a lot of common sense and if they ask for my help, I'm gonna give it to them. Q: Any particular races -- because even if you're not looking at candidates do you have any particular races you're looking at that you might want to sort of get in there and find someone who meets that criteria? PALIN: Many of the Democrats who are continuing to support President Obama's misguided decisions like in Nevada, I will do whatever I can to help the other side of the aisle. Q: Are you gonna get involved in that primary? There's Tarkanian, Lowden? PALIN: Certainly in the general, because Reid's gotta go, and as for the primary right now I really like them both -- that's what my problem is, but we still have quite a few, quite a number of days to figure out what is best for the GOP in Nevada to help them out to defeat Reid and of course that's an easy one too, though, if the election were today, Reid goes, he would go down. Q: Could you be sort of a, in certain sections of the GOP, sort of a king or queen maker or is that going too far? PALIN: That's going too far because I do not have that power nor desire. Q: OK, I wanted to ask you about the speaking fee again -- you said in USA Today and on your Facebook page it's going back to the cause. What does that mean? Is it going likely through SarahPAC to certain candidates and certain campaigns? PALIN: I think the logistics of how it goes back -- I don't know if it goes through the PAC or not, I haven't talked to PAC treasurers or attorneys about it. I'm keeping it simple. I'm committing to not personally ... Q: To potentially tea party candidates? PALIN: Well the tea party is not a party but those who believe in what the tea party is all about -- limited government and a strong national security policy coming out of D.C., yeah I'm gonna support 'em. Q: Any particular campaigns you're looking at, I mean you're talking about campaigns, going back to not any think tanks or anything like that but going to campaigns? PALIN: The ones that I've already talked about and others that are on the docket. Q: Rand Paul? PALIN: We've already donated to Rand. Q: Oh, you have? PALIN: Yes we already have. Q: Is there more on the way or is that yet to be determined? PALIN: It is yet to be determined. There are hundreds of candidates on local, state and on the national level that hopefully we'll be able to help. Don't know how many and don't know specifically which ones it'll be today. Q: Shifting course. A week or two ago you made waves by calling out Rahm Emanuel, calling for his firing for using the R-word. PALIN: I said he shouldn't be in the president's inner circle calling the shots, policy decisions that are being made that affect Americans, he shouldn't be in the inner circle. That's what I called for. Q: So you don't, given what happened over the last week, he called this meeting, he apologized. Is that sufficient or that's not sufficient, he should still go? PALIN: Oh I think he needs to go for a variety of reasons. I think he gives horrible advice to our president obviously and I think he and some of the other president's advisers need to go. Look who the president has chosen with Van Jones and some of these other characters. I think if even if President Obama had a do-over he would ask for some changes in his administration. Q: I mean who else comes to mind, rises up besides Rahm Emanuel? PALIN: Well right now we're talking about ra--, we're talking about ---- Holder is giving poor advice on how we are to treat these terrorists, to bestow upon these terrorists the constitutional rights that our men and women in uniform fight and die for. These terrorists do not deserve these protections. And yet we are choosing, according to the White House, we are to choose to give them these protections. That's nonsense, they do not deserve these protections� Q: You think Holder should be out. PALIN: He, just like Rahm Emanuel for a variety of reasons. I look forward as a matter of fact, to three years from now when the White House dramatically is shifted in terms of persons calling the shots. Q: Back to the R-word for just a minute. … who reached out to you? And are you going to make this sort of a personal campaign or join another campaign? PALIN: Special-needs parents reached out to me and obviously they know me well enough to know that I am sincere in my efforts to make this world a more welcoming place for those with special needs. I made that commitment during the GOP convention speech. They knew that they could come to me and ask and I was happy to do it, I'd do it again in a heartbeat and I'm not politically correct, I am not a word police person but there are some things, especially coming from the most powerful office in the world, in the free world, the chief of staff in that office being so demeaning and degrading to those with special needs. And remember too it's not as benign as the White House wants to spin this into. He didn't just use the r-word applying it to a plan, he called opponents of a plan f'ing retards. That's demeaning, degrading, it's beneath the dignity of the White House. That alone should I think make the president ask for that do-over with his chief of staff. Q: Obama made a Special Olympics crack about a year ago. PALIN: Yeah he did, and so that pattern there -- Q: Did you say anything then? PALIN: I sure did, I did. I was the governor then and I made a statement saying you know, insensitive, come on, coming from the most powerful man in the free world, you should do better than that, Mr. President. Yeah I made a statement about that and was criticized for that too, but I don't care -- I ‘m not gonna sit down and shut up. I'm gonna tell people that this pattern of not just the insensitivity, but the flippant way of perhaps looking at those who are less fortunate and are not part of that elite crowd there in Washington I'm sick of it and I'm gonna stand up and I'm gonna say something about it because I think I'm speaking on behalf of others who are concerned about it. Q: Are you gonna join a group? I mean there's the r-word.org, it's sort of like trying to stop the word gay in a demeaning way, trying to stop the r-word. PALIN: I don't believe that I have to join any word or police thing or organization – I can speak out independently and say come on Mr. Emanuel enough is enough of that and Mr. President, come on, let's be civil, let's be professional and worthy of the positions that you have in the White House. Q: Now, where do you see the future of the tea party movement and your role in it as well? PALIN: The tea party movement is beautiful. It's a grassroots effort -- not a well-oiled machine that is replicated with the Dems or the Republicans thank goodness, because hopefully personalities and power struggles and titles won't get in the way of just doing what is right for this country and that's what the tea party's all about. Let's do what's right for this country, let's let our voice be heard on reminding Congress that we are taxed enough already. There are constitutional limits to what our federal government is trying to do, we're gonna remind them of that, and we are going to respect our Constitution and do all that we can to protect it. Q: You think it helps the GOP and not divide it any way? PALIN: It absolutely helps, no, and those who are fearful about it and those who are trying to stir up controversy about it -- they obviously are apprehensive in terms of the message getting out there and those people are gonna get thumped because this is a good message. Q: The organizers at this convention are very serious about what they want to do in the November elections. Do you think that in some districts, many districts, the tea party support is gonna have to be sort of must-have support in some of these GOP primaries. PALIN: Absolutely. In some of these districts, absolutely, and there's nothing wrong with that. Who can argue against the people's movement. It's like who can argue against it in America's past history, the movements that changed our views on civil rights and respect for equality in other arenas. This is what the tea party movement is all about too. Respecting our Constitution and not usurping the power of the people. All political power is supposed to be inherent in the people. Who can argue this movement? Q: I know you don't necessarily think polls are all that accurate, especially two, three, four years out, but various polls show you toward the top of potential 2012 challengers. Again, going back to this question, would you consider – if you felt the time were right, would you jump in the ring and challenge Obama? PALIN: I would be willing to if I believe that it's right for the country. Today I see many, many other men and women across our country who are in as strong or stronger position than I am to take on the White House and if they're in a better position than I in three years, I'll support them. Q: This poll said by I think a margin of about 4-1 among Republicans they thought you were more qualified to be president than Obama. Do you think you're more qualified to be president than President Obama? PALIN: The whole qualification issue still perplexes me, because in the campaign we tried to bring attention to the fact that Obama had really not a lot of experience. And I do say that my executive experience, as an administrator, as a team manager if you will was, and so was John McCain's as a matter of fact, was stronger and we had more experience than Barack Obama did in terms of managing huge multi-billion dollar budgets and thousands of employees that I had just come from a position of that and that hasn't changed. Q: But without McCain? PALIN: And without McCain, I mean Barack Obama had 150 days in the U.S. Senate where he was able to vote quite often present, not have to make decisions, being one of many, not having to manage. His executive position now in the White House is as, whether he likes it or not, a manager. He has to make tough decisions. He has to be willing to fire people, though you don't make any friends when you fire people and I know that first hand because I've had to do that. And you have to make tough decisions, and not dither on issues. You have to make quick decisions in many respects and I think that President Obama with all due respect, his lack of experience is really made manifest in the way that decisions are made in the White House today. Q: Is health care reform dead? PALIN: I sure wish that the present tool being used to reform health care would die, but I don't trust as far as I can throw them some of the people who are saying ok, we'll slow down, we hear from ya' -- people, we're not gonna try to take over one-sixth of the economy. I don't trust these, some of these people, that it is dead. It should be dead, the tool that's being put together right now for health care reform. We need to just get back to, scrap this thing, look at common sense steps that can reform health care like the tort reform and purchasing insurance across state lines and allowing employers and employees to receive the same tax benefits when you purchase insurance, those common sense steps that have broad support. That's what we should be looking at, not big old government with a trillion-dollar plus price tag, we're gonna take it over and we're gonna run it better than the private sector can, so in that respect what they're working on today there in Congress and the White House, it needs to die." From Fox News Besure to visit www.uswebtalkradio.com & may even host your very own radio show.... its FREE..

Sarah Palin Will Headline Pro-Life Event in Ohio in March 2010

Jan 8 2010

By LifeNews.com

Sarah Palin will headline a pro-life rally in Ohio this coming March. Her appearance on behalf of Ohio Right to Life will mark her third appearance at a major pro-life event since 2008, when she ran with John McCain against pro-abortion candidate Barack Obama. Ohio Right to Life informed LifeNews.com today that Palin will be its featured speaker at a rally on Friday, March 5 at the Aladdin Shrine Center at Easton in Columbus. The $40 general event ticket price will benefit the Ohio Right to Life Society as it lobbies and educates on the pro-life perspective across the state. The pro-life group is also selling tickets for a private reception with Palin that features admission to that portion of the event, onstage seating, a copy of Palin's new book Going Rogue, and a picture of the potential 2012 presidential candidate. In November, Palin rallied thousands of pro-life advocates at a gala event sponsored by Wisconsin Right to Life. There, she urged strong support for the pro-life position on abortion and end-of-life issues. Palin told the pro-life advocates that the same ideology that brought abortion on demand and 50 million abortions is bringing discrimination against the elderly and disabled. She worries that if some lawmakers have a mindset that says unborn children are expendable “perhaps the same mind-set applies to other persons.” “What may they feel about an elderly person who doesn't have a whole lot of productive years left,” Palin asked the approximately 5,000 people who attended. “In order to save government money, government health care has to be rationed… [so] than this elderly person that perhaps could be seen as costing taxpayers to pay for a non-productive life? Do you think our elderly will be first in line for limited health care?" Palin asked. “And what about the child who perhaps isn't deemed normal or perfect per someone’s subjective measure of their use or questionable purpose in the eyes of a panel of bureaucrats making our healthcare decisions for us,” she continued. Before that, in April, Palin appeared at what is billed as the largest pro-life banquet in the nation in Evansville, Indiana. She captured the attention of nearly 3,000 pro-life advocates in a speech that was the first major public event during 2009 featuring her. Palin criticized pro-abortion President Barack Obama for his rapidly growing pro-abortion record and she challenged the idea that abortion is the only solution for women -- even during a time of financial distress. Palin created a special closeness with the audience when she took time to look inward and focus on her own pro-life choices in life -- when she and her husband decided to give birth to a baby with Down syndrome in an era when 90 percent of babies with the condition die in abortions. "The moment he was born, I knew that moment my prayers had been answered," Palin said. "Trig is a miracle. He is the best thing that ever happened to me and I want other women to have that opportunity." "I know for sure my son is perfect just as he is, made in the image of God," she said. “A baby is God’s opinion that the world should go on." Related web sites: Ohio Right to Life - http://www.OhioLife.org For Right Right go to www.uswebtalkradio.com

LIVE FROM NASHVILLE: The 2010 National Tea Party Convention - link to watch video

7 Feb 2010

By Staff reports

LIVE FROM NASHVILLE: The 2010 National Tea Party Convention Go to >>> www.pjtv.com Watch Video: PJTV is an Internet TV channel that brings conservative, center-right and libertarian viewers the people, information and opinions that the mainstream media do not want us to hear.

Why I'm speaking at Tea Party convention

4 Feb 2010

By Sarah Palin

Later this week I'll head to Nashville, where I'll have the honor of speaking with members of the Tea Party movement. I look forward to meeting many Americans who share a commitment to limited government, common sense and personal responsibility. This movement is truly a grassroots, organic effort. It's not a top-down organization; it's a ground-up call to action that already has both political parties rethinking the way they do business. From the town halls last summer to the protests and marches in the fall to the game-changing recent elections, it has been inspiring to see real people — not politicos or inside-the-Beltway professionals — speak out for common-sense conservative policies and values. As with all grassroots efforts, the nature of this movement means that sometimes the debates are loud and the organization is messier than that of a polished, controlled machine. Legitimate disagreements take place about tone and tactics. That's OK, because this movement is about bigger things than politics or organizers. The soul of the Tea Party is the people who belong to it — everyday Americans who grow our food, run our small businesses, teach our children how to read, serve the less fortunate and fight our wars. They're folks in small towns and cities across this nation who saw what was happening to our country and decided to get involved. Thank God for them. Many of these good Americans had never been involved in their government before, but now they attend town hall meetings and participate in online forums. They write letters to the editor. They sign up to be precinct leaders and run for local office and support other independent patriots. They have the courage to stand up and speak out. Their vision is what drew me to the Tea Party movement. They believe in the same principles that guided my work in public service — whether I was working on the PTA and city council or serving as a mayor, commissioner or governor. I look forward to meeting some of these great Americans this weekend. Recently, some have tried to portray this movement as a commercial endeavor rather than the grassroots uprising that it is. Those who do so don't understand the frustration everyday Americans feel when they see their government mortgaging their children's future with reckless spending. The spark of patriotic indignation that inspired those who fought for our independence and those who marched peacefully for civil rights has ignited once again. You can't buy such a sentiment. You can't AstroTurf it. It springs from love of country and the knowledge that we can make a difference if we just stand up and stand together. I thought long and hard about my participation in this weekend's event. At the end of the day, my decision came down to this: It's important to keep faith with people who put a little bit of their faith in you. Everyone attending this event is a soldier in the cause. Some of them will be driving hundreds of miles to Nashville. I made a commitment to them to be there, and I am going to honor it. But participation won't be limited to those in Nashville who have a ticket. It's much bigger than that. Because the Tea Party movement is spread out across the country — with no central offices or annual events — this is an opportunity to connect with like-minded folks. Yes, there will be speeches given in a room in Nashville. But we'll also be speaking with thousands of Americans watching online at twitter.com/SarahPalinUSA, or through various news outlets. And the conversation will continue on my Facebook page. I will not benefit financially from speaking at this event. My only goal is to support the grassroots activists who are fighting for responsible, limited government — and our Constitution. In that spirit, any compensation for my appearance will go right back to the cause. The nature of the Tea Party movement means there may never be a "perfectly orchestrated" event: Democracy in action doesn't come with a manual. But we must not get caught up in the politics or the controversies that some hope will distract from the heart of the movement. The focus must remain on our ideas and beliefs, and on supporting those ideas and beliefs however we can. This weekend, it's Nashville, but in March, I'll head to Searchlight, Nev., for the kickoff rally at the Tea Party Express III. In April, I'll be in Boston for a Tea Party gathering there. Across the country, tea-partiers will be sharing our vision for America's future, a vision that promotes common sense solutions to out-of-control spending and an out-of-touch political establishment. The process may not always be pretty or perfect, but the message is loud and clear: We want a government worthy of the fine Americans that it serves. And we're going to keep spreading that message one convention, one town hall, one speech and one election at a time. Sarah Palin **Please visit www.uswebtalkradio.com - hear great radio host & even host your very own show from your home or office...

Freedom, Influence, Security Shrink as Budget Balloons

3 Feb 2010

By Sarah Palin

The White House recently announced its pricey Childhood Obesity Initiative to tell us what we should feed our kids. Helpful I’m sure – but most Americans would rather see government focus on other important areas right now. We know what our kids should eat: more healthy food, less junk food. There – we just saved Washington a ton of money by announcing that finding on personal responsibility. What does demand our full attention is the newly released $3,800,000,000,000 federal budget. The president and Congress have a huge job tackling the problem staring right at us as we look at a budget we obviously can’t afford. America’s freedom and security are endangered as we become beholden to other nations, thanks to ballooning deficits and debt. One congressman just warned that our nation may become insolvent if we don’t make better decisions starting now. As noted in a New York Times article today, unless “miraculous growth” or miraculous unforeseen change is on the horizon, America’s freedom, influence, and security will continue to erode. (Personally, at this point I believe it wouldn’t hurt to ramp up our nation’s humble request for the divine miraculous change and wisdom we’ll need to see us through.) Getting our arms around this will take all of us working together, making sacrifices, taking more personal responsibility, and sending elected leaders to Washington that we can trust. That’s why some of us may come across as strident in our efforts to call out the White House and Congress. We want to trust you, Washington; we want to work with you, but we cannot stomach some of the things being rammed down our throats. Your actions to pile on more debt make no sense, so we must question your motives and intentions. For instance, there’s just no room for expensive, dangerous, and unsustainable new initiatives like Obamacare, Cap and Tax, and a dramatically expanded federal payroll. These government-growing proposals will obviously cause more problems than they’ll solve. They are just further steps towards insolvency. Steps towards insolvency are steps away from freedom. They’re steps towards destruction. It’s the reason we ask why we should swallow what's coming out of Washington. The Wall Street Journal has a brilliant column by Gerald Seib today. It reads in part: The U.S. government this year will borrow one of every three dollars it spends, with many of those funds coming from foreign countries. That weakens America’s standing and its freedom to act; strengthens China and other world powers including cash-rich oil producers; puts long-term defense spending at risk; undermines the power of the American system as a model for developing countries; and reduces the aura of power that has been a great intangible asset for presidents for more than a century. “We’ve reached a point now where there’s an intimate link between our solvency and our national security,” says Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior national-security adviser in both the first and second Bush presidencies. “What’s so discouraging is that our domestic politics don’t seem to be up to the challenge. And the whole world is watching.” In the 21st-century world order, the classic, narrow definition of national-security threats already has expanded in ways that make traditional foreign-policy thinking antiquated. The list of American security concerns now includes dependence on foreign oil and global warming, for example. Consider just four of the ways that budget deficits also threaten American’s national security: • They make America vulnerable to foreign pressures. The U.S. has about $7.5 trillion in accumulated debt held by the public, about half of that in the hands of investors abroad. Aside from the fact that each American next year will chip in more than $800 just to pay interest on this debt, that situation means America’s government is dependent on the largesse of foreign creditors and subject to the whims of international financial markets. A foreign government, through the actions of its central bank, could put pressure on the U.S. in a way its military never could. Even under a more benign scenario, a debt-ridden U.S. is vulnerable to a run on the American dollar that begins abroad. Either way, Mr. Haass says, “it reduces our independence.” • Chinese power is growing as a result. A lot of the deficit is being financed by China, which is selling the U.S. many billions of dollars of manufactured goods, then lending the accumulated dollars back to the U.S. The IOUs are stacking up in Beijing. So far this has been a mutually beneficial arrangement, but it is slowly increasing Chinese leverage over American consumers and the American government. At some point, the U.S. may have to bend its policies before either an implicit or explicit Chinese threat to stop the merry-go-round. Just this weekend, for example, the U.S. angered China by agreeing to sell Taiwan $6.4 billion in arms. At some point, will the U.S. face economic servitude to China that would make such a policy decision impossible? Please read the rest of Seib’s column here. Our out-of-control spending is weakening our country. We can no longer afford to kick the can down the road to the next generation. We need to have a serious discussion about our spending priorities before it's too late. Commonsense conservatives have a sincere desire to work with the White House on these challenges, and we’re thankful for those in Congress making the offer to help. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010 Go to www.uswebtalkradio.com for a great line up of radio host in 2010.

Sarah Palin Speaking Engagements

4 Feb 2010

By Staff reports

Sarah Palin is speaking a lot these days. Speaking for money. Speaking for charity. Speaking for Conservatives. Speaking for Schools. Speaking for Republicans. It sure does seem like a campaign for something. You can add these dates to the Sarah Palin speaking tour: April 15 - Hamilton, Ontario at a fundraiser for the Charity of Hope From WGRZ.Com - This will be the first ever speaking engagement for Palin in Canada. Organizers are citing Palin's "star power" as a great way to raise the much-needed funds for the group. "She obviously is going to draw a big crowd," said John Stevens, president of the Wichita Pachyderm Club. "She speaks for an element of folks who feel like they haven't gotten a lot of representation lately. I think she's a good person whether you agree with all her views or not." May 2 - Wichita, Kansas at a fundraiser for The Bethel Life School From Kansas,Com - Following a private reception with major donors, she'll make a public appearance at Intrust Bank Arena beginning at 7 p.m. Bethel Life is hoping to not let politics overrun its event. Even so, local Republicans are preparing to come out to cheer Palin. Palin will be speaking Friday to a crowd of about 6,000 at Salina's Bicentennial Center, where she's addressing a Chamber of Commerce banquet. But can she fill Wichita's brand new 15,000-seat arena? "That's hard to say," Arnold said. "She sold out in Salina. I would not be surprised if she could pack out the (Intrust) arena." May 13 - Benton Harbor, Michigan to the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan. From CNN: Former President George W. Bush spoke to the same group in Benton Harbor last May, allowing reporters, but not television cameras, to cover the event. A spokesman for the economic club said plans for press coverage of Palin's speech have not been finalized. October 7 - Montgomery, Alabama at the Faulkner University's 2010 Benefit Dinner. From The Montgomery Advertiser: The event is at 7 p.m. Oct. 7 at the Renaissance Montgomery Hotel & Spa at the Convention Center. Tickets for the event are $150 each and include a meal at the Renaissance. Palin's appearance at Faulkner University will be only her second visit to Alabama and her first to the Capital City. Proceeds from Faulkner's Benefit Dinner featuring Palin will go toward student scholarships. Due to the popularity of the speaker, Faulkner is encouraging people to purchase tickets early. For ticket information, call the Office of University Advancement at 386-7257 or go online to Faulkner.edu. http://www.kansas.com/news/story/1164298.html So far her schedule is shaping up like this: February 5 - Salina, Kansas - Salina's Chamber of Commerce February 6 - Nashville, TN - Keynote Speaker Tea Party Convention February 7 - Houston, Texas - Campaign Rally for Governor Rick Perry, February 14 - Daytona, FL - Daytona 500 February 15 - Daytona, FL - Daytona Chamber of Commerce February 16 - Little Rock, AR - The Arkansas Republican Party March 26 & 27 - Arizona - Campaigning for Senator John McCain March 27 - Searchlight, Nevada - Kickoff for Tea Party Express April 6 - Las Vegas, NV - Keynote speaker, 2010 Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America convention April 7 - Minnesota - Campaigning for Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann April 14 - Boston, Massachusetts - Stop on The Tea Party Express April 15 - Hamilton, Ontario - Charity of Hope April 22 - Houston, TX - Barbara Bush's Literacy Foundation's "A Celebration of Reading" April 23 - Eugene, Oregon - Republican Fundraiser May 2 - Wichita, Kansas - Bethel Life School fundraiser May 13 - Benton Harbor, Michigan - Economic Club of Southeastern Michigan October 7 - Montgomery, Alabama - Faulkner University Benefit Dinner By the way, where are all of those people now who said Sarah Palin was not a big draw on the speaking circuit or the people who said candidates don't want Sarah Palin to campaign for them. It is simply amazing how Sarah Palin continues to prove her critics wrong time and time again.

Are You Capable of Decency, Rahm Emanuel?

1 Feb 2010

By Sarah Palin

The newly-released mind-boggling, record-smashing $3,400,000,000,000 federal budget invites plenty of opportunity to debate the merits of incurring more and more debt that will drown the next generation of Americans. Never has it been possible to spend your way out of debt. So... let the debate begin. Included in the debate process will be opportunities for our president to deliberate internally the wisdom of this debt explosion, along with other economic, military and social issues facing our country. Our president will discuss these important issues with Democrat leaders and those within his inner circle. I would ask the president to show decency in this process by eliminating one member of that inner circle, Mr. Rahm Emanuel, and not allow Rahm’s continued indecent tactics to cloud efforts. Yes, Rahm is known for his caustic, crude references about those with whom he disagrees, but his recent tirade against participants in a strategy session was such a strong slap in many American faces that our president is doing himself a disservice by seeming to condone Rahm’s recent sick and offensive tactic. The Obama Administration’s Chief of Staff scolded participants, calling them, “F---ing retarded,” according to several participants, as reported in the Wall Street Journal. Just as we’d be appalled if any public figure of Rahm’s stature ever used the “N-word” or other such inappropriate language, Rahm’s slur on all God’s children with cognitive and developmental disabilities – and the people who love them – is unacceptable, and it’s heartbreaking. A patriot in North Andover, Massachusetts, notified me of Rahm’s “retarded” slam. I join this gentleman, who is the father of a beautiful child born with Down Syndrome, in asking why the Special Olympics, National Down Syndrome Society and other groups condemning Rahm’s degrading scolding have been completely ignored by the White House. No comment from his boss, the president? As my friend in North Andover says, “This isn’t about politics; it’s about decency. I am not speaking as a political figure but as a parent and as an everyday American wanting my child to grow up in a country free from mindless prejudice and discrimination, free from gratuitous insults of people who are ostensibly smart enough to know better... Have you no sense of decency, sir?” Mr. President, you can do better, and our country deserves better. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010

Freedom, Influence, Security Shrink as Budget Balloons

Sarah Palin

By 3 February 2010

The White House recently announced its pricey Childhood Obesity Initiative to tell us what we should feed our kids. Helpful I’m sure – but most Americans would rather see government focus on other important areas right now. We know what our kids should eat: more healthy food, less junk food. There – we just saved Washington a ton of money by announcing that finding on personal responsibility. What does demand our full attention is the newly released $3,800,000,000,000 federal budget. The president and Congress have a huge job tackling the problem staring right at us as we look at a budget we obviously can’t afford. America’s freedom and security are endangered as we become beholden to other nations, thanks to ballooning deficits and debt. One congressman just warned that our nation may become insolvent if we don’t make better decisions starting now. As noted in a New York Times article today, unless “miraculous growth” or miraculous unforeseen change is on the horizon, America’s freedom, influence, and security will continue to erode. (Personally, at this point I believe it wouldn’t hurt to ramp up our nation’s humble request for the divine miraculous change and wisdom we’ll need to see us through.) Getting our arms around this will take all of us working together, making sacrifices, taking more personal responsibility, and sending elected leaders to Washington that we can trust. That’s why some of us may come across as strident in our efforts to call out the White House and Congress. We want to trust you, Washington; we want to work with you, but we cannot stomach some of the things being rammed down our throats. Your actions to pile on more debt make no sense, so we must question your motives and intentions. For instance, there’s just no room for expensive, dangerous, and unsustainable new initiatives like Obamacare, Cap and Tax, and a dramatically expanded federal payroll. These government-growing proposals will obviously cause more problems than they’ll solve. They are just further steps towards insolvency. Steps towards insolvency are steps away from freedom. They’re steps towards destruction. It’s the reason we ask why we should swallow what's coming out of Washington. The Wall Street Journal has a brilliant column by Gerald Seib today. It reads in part: The U.S. government this year will borrow one of every three dollars it spends, with many of those funds coming from foreign countries. That weakens America’s standing and its freedom to act; strengthens China and other world powers including cash-rich oil producers; puts long-term defense spending at risk; undermines the power of the American system as a model for developing countries; and reduces the aura of power that has been a great intangible asset for presidents for more than a century. “We’ve reached a point now where there’s an intimate link between our solvency and our national security,” says Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and a senior national-security adviser in both the first and second Bush presidencies. “What’s so discouraging is that our domestic politics don’t seem to be up to the challenge. And the whole world is watching.” In the 21st-century world order, the classic, narrow definition of national-security threats already has expanded in ways that make traditional foreign-policy thinking antiquated. The list of American security concerns now includes dependence on foreign oil and global warming, for example. Consider just four of the ways that budget deficits also threaten American’s national security: • They make America vulnerable to foreign pressures. The U.S. has about $7.5 trillion in accumulated debt held by the public, about half of that in the hands of investors abroad. Aside from the fact that each American next year will chip in more than $800 just to pay interest on this debt, that situation means America’s government is dependent on the largesse of foreign creditors and subject to the whims of international financial markets. A foreign government, through the actions of its central bank, could put pressure on the U.S. in a way its military never could. Even under a more benign scenario, a debt-ridden U.S. is vulnerable to a run on the American dollar that begins abroad. Either way, Mr. Haass says, “it reduces our independence.” • Chinese power is growing as a result. A lot of the deficit is being financed by China, which is selling the U.S. many billions of dollars of manufactured goods, then lending the accumulated dollars back to the U.S. The IOUs are stacking up in Beijing. So far this has been a mutually beneficial arrangement, but it is slowly increasing Chinese leverage over American consumers and the American government. At some point, the U.S. may have to bend its policies before either an implicit or explicit Chinese threat to stop the merry-go-round. Just this weekend, for example, the U.S. angered China by agreeing to sell Taiwan $6.4 billion in arms. At some point, will the U.S. face economic servitude to China that would make such a policy decision impossible? Please read the rest of Seib’s column here. Our out-of-control spending is weakening our country. We can no longer afford to kick the can down the road to the next generation. We need to have a serious discussion about our spending priorities before it's too late. Commonsense conservatives have a sincere desire to work with the White House on these challenges, and we’re thankful for those in Congress making the offer to help. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010 Please share this website with your friends & visit US Web Talk Radio @ www.uswebtalkradio.com

Obamacare = Stray Dog, So Says President

1 Feb 2010

By Sarah Palin

What am I missing, folks? We’re called obstructionists and made to feel uninformed in the Obamacare debate as we point out this is not a patient-driven, market-oriented approach to health care cost challenges. We’ve been saying for months that this is government takeover of our personal choices of insurers and doctors. We’re called liars when claiming that this is all about government mandates and control of up to a sixth of our economy. And yet, shockingly, the president admitted yesterday exactly what we’ve been saying: that his Democrats and lobbyists have crafted bills that in fact will prevent us from keeping our current insurance and/or choosing our own doctor. He said: The last thing I will say, though -- let me say this about health care and the health care debate, because I think it also bears on a whole lot of other issues. If you look at the package that we’ve presented -- and there’s some stray cats and dogs that got in there that we were eliminating, we were in the process of eliminating. For example, we said from the start that it was going to be important for us to be consistent in saying to people if you can have your -- if you want to keep the health insurance you got, you can keep it, that you’re not going to have anybody getting in between you and your doctor in your decision making. And I think that some of the provisions that got snuck in might have violated that pledge. [emphasis added] Thanks to Tom Bevan at RCP for spotting this. The president’s statement is shocking, enlightening, and in an odd and unfortunate way also encouraging. Folks, this admission tells us we’re not off-base and we need to stay vigilant so we’re not missing anything else in this scheme. This trillion-dollar government takeover of our health care system is full of “stray dogs and cats” (the president’s words, not mine), and that’s what we’ve been saying all along. Commonsense conservatives have better ideas on how to start tackling rising health care costs. Reps. Paul Ryan, Mike Pence, Eric Cantor, John Boehner, and others have offered solutions. I commend their efforts to counter the White House’s attempt to ram Obamacare through as these Congressmen seek bipartisan, sensible solutions. I implore them to speak louder because we’re listening, and we’re counting on them! - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010

Celebrating the Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.

18 January 2010

By Sarah Palin

Tomorrow, America honors the memory of one of our greatest – Martin Luther King, Jr. He used his gifts and talents in selfless, mighty ways to mobilize efforts against racial discrimination and is deserving of our honor. Please take a moment to tell your children about this great man. He fought for liberty and equality because he knew they were God-given and he knew that no government should be empowered to thwart our freedom. King summarized his mission when stating that no one should be judged based on skin color, but by the content of one's character. Seeming to have a foreboding notion of how quickly life passes, he did not waste time on pettiness. He believed that “the quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.” May our children follow in the footsteps of giants like King, who sincerely respected equality. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010 “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – MLK =================================================================================================== Go now to www.uswebtalkradio.com

Celebrating the Life of Martin Luther King, Jr.

18 January 2010

By Sarah Palin

Tomorrow, America honors the memory of one of our greatest – Martin Luther King, Jr. He used his gifts and talents in selfless, mighty ways to mobilize efforts against racial discrimination and is deserving of our honor. Please take a moment to tell your children about this great man. He fought for liberty and equality because he knew they were God-given and he knew that no government should be empowered to thwart our freedom. King summarized his mission when stating that no one should be judged based on skin color, but by the content of one's character. Seeming to have a foreboding notion of how quickly life passes, he did not waste time on pettiness. He believed that “the quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.” May our children follow in the footsteps of giants like King, who sincerely respected equality. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2010 “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – MLK =================================================================================================== Go now to www.uswebtalkradio.com

On the Tragedy in Haiti

14 January 2010

By Sarah Palin via Facebook

Todd and I join the world in extending our thoughts and prayers to the victims and families of those so impacted by the earthquake in Haiti. Our hearts are with the people of Haiti as they rebuild their country. Join us in donating to the American Red Cross relief effort. To assist those in need, consider sending a $10 donation to the Red Cross by texting 'Haiti' to 90999. Click here for details. Sarah Palin via Facebook

Sarah Palin, Special Keynote Speaker at the First National Tea Party Convention February 4-6, 2010

8 Jan 2010

By Staff reports

Tea Party Nation is pleased to announce the First National Tea Party Convention to be held February 4-6, 2010 at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN. The convention is aimed at bringing the Tea Party Movement leaders together from around the nation for the purpose of networking and supporting the movements' multiple organizations principle goals. This event will be co-sponsored by other national groups that believe in a responsible and limited federal government that is responsive to all the people. National Taxpayers Union, American Majority, Smart Girl Politics, and SurgeUSA are just a few of the organizations who will be on hand to contribute their time and talents to this convention. Special Keynote Speaker for the event will be Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska (2006-2009) and 2008 Republican Vice Presidential Nominee. The convention will feature well-known speakers, workshops, seminars, information centers, and organizational tools for leaders to take back to their respective local Tea Party organizations. For more info: http://www.nationalteapartyconvention.com

Merry Christmas

24 December 2009

By Sarah Palin

Todd and I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas! The Palin family is blessed to all be together among family and friends this Holiday – and that is one of the greatest gifts of all. But while this is a beautiful time of the year for families and friends around the world, we recognize that it is a difficult time of the year for so many others – especially this year. May we remember all those who are lonely or in need on this blessed night, and please join us in saying a special prayer for those away from their loved ones in the service of a grateful nation. May God bless you all and continue to bless our great country. - Sarah Palin Via Face Book 2009 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” (Luke 2:14)

A Conservative Christmas

December 21, 2009

By Mariea Cole

A Conservative Christmas December 21, 2009 by marieacole I wanted to write a parody of “The Night Before Christmas,” but the thought of Pelosi wiping the drool from her mouth (rhymes with House, don’t you see?) was more than I could take. I decided to tell the Conservative Christmas Story and give thanks to the Pelosi and Reid Washington bunch for making this the last Christmas the conservatives will be able to enjoy as free citizens. At least until next year after they have all had their “come to Jesus meeting” with the registered voters in America. Have you ever wondered why conservatives never seem to have as much money to spend on the frivolity that has become the Christmas party circuit? I think it is because conservatives have passed the Salvation Army kettles one or two times too many and choosing to share with those less fortunate have dropped more than they know into those kettles. Since many conservatives have lost jobs this year, even the kettles may suffer a little. But the one thing you can count on in a conservative household is love and as much comfort food as mom can afford to prepare. You’ll find us gathered in our churches on Christmas Eve participating in a silent Communion service we call “The Lord’s Supper.” We’ll be asking forgiveness for all the hateful things we said about RINOs and liberals and asking for God’s strength to continue fighting for our Republic and our Democracy in America next year. We will be giving thanks for our military men and women regardless of where they are serving this Christmas. We hope that each one of them will feel the love of their families and friends and the presence of God in a very real way with the knowledge that the American people appreciate their sacrifice as they perform the necessary duty of keeping us safe at home. Conservatives will be sharing quality time with families and friends. You know what I mean – football, video games, jigsaw puzzles, picking up little pieces of toys from the bedrooms that should be with the children in the den. (How do they get that far away, anyway?) There will be talk of how one of the kids in the family bit the dog back; how Dad hurt his back cleaning the gutters; how everyone remembers the year Mom burned the turkey. There will be laughter enough for everyone to hurt more than they do from eating too much. Mostly, there will be the love we feel for each other and the total enjoyment of the squeals of the younger ones as they open their much anticipated presents. Then in silence, we will look at each other using mental telepathy to say that we remember when times were easier, better, more economically profitable. And everyone will telepath back, “No problem. We still have each other and God is still in charge.” How does all this differ from the way a liberal will spend Christmas this year? It doesn’t. Well, maybe just a little bit. They will be gathered around the bread lines with the rest of us saying, “Why didn’t we realize what he meant when he said ‘Change’?” or “This global warming is freezing me to death!” or “Did you hear the one about Sarah Palin? Turns out she is smarter than we thought. I read her book. It took me 14 days of going to the bookstore to stand there and pretend that I was shopping, but I finished it.” The Palin Family will indeed be spending a wonderful Christmas sharing time with each other, cooking up all those wonderful Alaskan delicacies that go “right beside the mashed potatoes.” No doubt, Sarah will be remembering last Christmas. Her family was in the Governor’s mansion with those beautiful decorations hosting the parade of her Alaskan neighbors into the home belonging to the people of Alaska. This year – just family and friends will gather around the table laughing and talking and sharing just like the other conservative families in America. She puts things into perspective for me. Sarah is always gracious; always positive; always available to her family; always steadfast in support of her friends; always dedicated to the God she serves. Mostly, she is always Sarah. She is the same person whether she is in the Governor’s office, accepting the nomination for vice president of the United States, signing autographs for supporters at events across America promoting her book “Going Rogue: An American Life”, or sitting on a beach in Hawaii with her family enjoying the sunshine and the blessings that are her children. It has been totally disastrous for me to sit and watch what Obama has done to the People’s House in the less than 12 months since he moved in. Our country and the White House have been disgraced by the Apologizer in Chief. Conservatives are looking forward to celebrating a bit differently after the 2010 elections. Mayors, City Managers, Governors, State and US Senators and Representatives should appreciate this – the last Christmas they spend in office. Appropriate that they should be in DC “working” this Christmas. The one thing on probably every conservative Christmas list is a total change of command starting in 2010 and finishing the job in 2012. I don’t suppose I have to tell you who we want to rehabilitate the face of America in 2012, do I? I am aware of a “Draft Sarah in 2012” campaign. I am excited about the prospect, but also a little hesitant to join in myself. I would much prefer to have Sarah Palin announce her candidacy for president because it is what she wants to do rather than what we have drafted her to do, but I will take her in the White House either way! While Harry Reid spends his Christmas trying to learn the difference between the AARP and the NAACP ( ) the rest of us can sleep peacefully while sugar plums dance in our heads – sugar plums who look remarkably like Sarah Palin. Merry Christmas to all of my Conservative Friends……past and present. Read more at: http://marieacole.wordpress.com/2009/12/21/a-conservative-christmas/

My Letter to the Washington

Sarah Palin

By 17 December 2009

I’d like to thank Eugene Robinson for highlighting Alaska’s achievements on climate change [“Palin’s own ‘Climate- gate,’” op-ed, Dec. 15] and for noting that I’ve “treated the issue as serious, complex, and worthy of urgent attention,” while making “any number of pragmatic, reasonable, smart decisions as governor.” But he’s wrong to suggest that my views have somehow changed or that now I’ll have to “renounce” my past efforts. Once again: I don’t deny that climate change is real. In creating a sub-cabinet to deal specifically with the issue, I said that “Alaska’s climate change strategy must be built on sound science and the best available facts and must recognize Alaska’s interest in economic growth and the development of its resources.” That goal made sense to me then, and it makes sense to me now. Mr. Robinson tries to make hay out of the fact that I asked the group to advise me regarding opportunities to participate in “carbon-trading markets.” But considering voluntary participation in carbon-trading programs is much different from endorsing the economically disastrous cap-and-tax proposals put forward by Democrats in Washington. Those proposals will burden our job creators and raise energy prices for all of us, and that’s why I oppose them. As governor of Alaska, I sought common-sense solutions that took real-world costs and benefits into account. That’s what I’m looking for now. But that’s not what’s on the table in Washington or in Copenhagen. Sarah Palin, Wasilla, Alaska The writer, governor of Alaska from 2006 to 2009, was the 2008 Republican nominee for vice president. Via Face Book 2009

#1 USA Today; Going Rogue Continues to Break Records

16 December 2009

By Adrienne Ross

Wednesday, December 16, 2009 #1 USA Today; Going Rogue Continues to Break Records Going Rogue, Governor Sarah Palin's memoir, continues to break records. It is #1 on the USA Today Best-Seller List for the 4th straight week. According to my colleagues at Conservatives4Palin, this accomplishment means: She officially breaks the previous record that Colin Powell set of three-straight weeks at the top of the USA-Today Best-Seller list among all books. This makes the Governor the first politician to hold that #1 spot for 4 consecutive weeks. Go to www.motivationtruth.com & read more from Adrienne Ross

Greener Than Thou

Sarah Palin

By 16 Dec 2009

Why is Governor Schwarzenegger pushing for the same sorts of policies in Copenhagen that have helped drive his state into record deficits and unemployment? Perhaps he will recall that I live in our nation’s only Arctic state and that I was among the first governors to create a sub-cabinet to deal specifically with climate change. While I and all Alaskans witness the impacts of changes in weather patterns firsthand, I have repeatedly said that we can’t primarily blame man’s activities for those changes. And while I did look for practical responses to those changes, what I didn’t do was hamstring Alaska’s job creators with burdensome regulations so that I could act “greener than thou” when talking to reporters. Sarah Palin Face Book 2009 Want to host your very own radio show for free?? Go to www.uswebtalkradio.com 100% free

Stupid Conspiracies

4 December 2009

By Sarah Palin via Face Book

Voters have every right to ask candidates for information if they so choose. I’ve pointed out that it was seemingly fair game during the 2008 election for many on the left to badger my doctor and lawyer for proof that Trig is in fact my child. Conspiracy-minded reporters and voters had a right to ask... which they have repeatedly. But at no point – not during the campaign, and not during recent interviews – have I asked the president to produce his birth certificate or suggested that he was not born in the United States. Sarah Palin

Worthy American Heroes - Reminding Us What Really Matters

4 December 2009

By Sarah Palin

Today at 1:39am Ready and anxious to see America’s finest at Ft. Hood tomorrow. My heart is with every military mom, dad, spouse, child, grandparent... every supporter of our proud men and women in uniform. My brother passed the following along to me because he thought I’d like it; he was right. Enjoy... and please honor America’s finest. - Sarah Palin The average age of the military man is 19 years. He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country. He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father’s, but he has never collected unemployment either. He’s a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away. He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and a 155mm howitzer. He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk. He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark. He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must. He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional. He can march until he is told to stop, or stop until he is told to march. He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity. He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry. He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle. He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts. If you’re thirsty, he’ll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food. He’ll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low. He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job. He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay, and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death than he should have in his short lifetime. He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed. He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to ‘square-away’ those around him who haven’t bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful. Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom. Beardless or not, he is not a boy. He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years. He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding. Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood. And now we even have women over there in danger, doing their part in this tradition of going to War when our nation calls us to do so. As you go to bed tonight, remember this. A short lull, a little shade, and a picture of loved ones in their helmets. Sarah Palin Face Book 2009

Faith, Family, Freedom: Remembering What Really Matters

3 December 2009

By Sarah Palin

Today at 3:07am My parents and I just had a wonderful time at “Hard Work U” – the school motto of College of the Ozarks. It earned that proud nickname because students there work their way through college and graduate with little or no debt. (In other words, a place after my own heart, and the hearts of others who worked their way through college and, like me, maybe took five years to finish because of work schedules!) At tonight’s patriotic event at the college we heard some amazing personal stories of heroism and sacrifice by our military veterans in attendance, including members of our Greatest Generation, who we honored tonight. It was such an inspiration to hear their stories and affirm the principles that make this country great – faith, hard work, perseverance, patriotism, and public service. All Americans need to hear from these true, proud patriots. May we never forget their fight for freedom. Their battles make the petty shots and irrelevant “challenges” some of us face today pale in comparison. I thank them for allowing us a healthy perspective and a reminder of what really matters. Sarah Palin Re-post from Face Book 2009

Finally, A Decision for Afghanistan : We're In It to Win It

2 December 2009

By Sarah Palin

Three months ago, I joined a number of Americans in urging President Obama to provide the resources necessary to achieve our goals in Afghanistan. Tonight, I am glad he mostly heeded that advice. At long last, President Obama decided to give his military commanders much of what they need to accomplish their mission in Afghanistan. In the end, he decided to endorse a “surge” for Afghanistan, applying the counterinsurgency principles of “clear, hold and build” that worked so well in Iraq. Given that he opposed the surge in Iraq, it is even more welcome that he now supports a surge in Afghanistan. This approach means, as Senator John McCain has noted, that “We now have an opportunity to build a bipartisan consensus in support of a vital national security priority: defeating Al-Qaeda and its violent extremist allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and ensuring that these countries never again serve as bases for terrorist attacks against America and our allies.” We should be clear, however, that fewer troops mean assuming more risk. Talk of an exit date also risks sending the wrong message. We should be in Afghanistan to win, not to set a timetable for withdrawal that signals a lack of resolve to our friends, and lets our enemies believe they can wait us out. As long as we’re in to win, and as long as troop level decisions are based on conditions on the ground and the advice of our military commanders, I support President Obama’s decision. Sarah Palin Face Book 2009

Media's Priorities Shine Bright, Again!

1 December 2009

By Sarah Palin

It’s really comical at this point! Despite all of the important events happening in the world today – the president’s speech tonight on the strategy in Afghanistan, the Senate debate over health care reform, the disturbing details of the “Climategate” scandal, the continuing challenges facing the world economy – the media is concerned about my travel and lodging arrangements on my book tour?! Does this sound familiar? It should. The media showed the same out-of-proportion obsession with my personal arrangements, clothes, and hairstyles last year instead of focusing on the crucial issues involving the election. So what is this news “story”? That I fly on an airplane to complete some of the stops on my book tour when it’s impractical or physically impossible to reach the next event on time by bus. Some news outlets are behaving as if my travel was a secret that they didn’t know about – despite the fact that I’ve tweeted about my flights and at least one local newspaper reported on the arrival of my flight into Rochester, NY. What’s even funnier is that these same media outlets think it’s shocking that we stay in hotels. I guess they expected us to pitch a tent alongside the road. We love the great outdoors, but such an arrangement is hardly practical for a book tour. Using common sense, it was determined that traveling by plane between some stops would save time and energy and allow me to go to more events. Economically speaking for HarperCollins, it’s more efficient to travel by charter, and I am very grateful to the publisher for providing my family and me with this incredible opportunity to shake hands with as many Americans as possible on this book tour. If you’re scratching your head wondering why my flight and hotel logistics warrant news coverage, join the club. They can, of course, report on whatever they like, but in my opinion CBS loses whatever professional integrity it still has when it links in its report to a website devoted to the bizarre conspiracy theory that I’m not the real mother of my son Trig. I’m truly humbled by the response to my book tour by everyday Americans, and if traveling by plane means that I can meet more of these wonderful people, I’ll travel by plane (or bus or train or canoe or dog sled or whatever it takes). Please enjoy the photos below! Sarah Palin Face Book 2009

If We're In It, Let's Win It

29 November 2009

By Sarah Palin via Face Book

As Thanksgiving festivities wind down we contemplate all we have to be thankful for as free Americans! We head into the Christmas season wishing for leadership in Washington that reflects our commitment to the values and ideals that have built the freest and most prosperous and generous nation on earth. Heading into December and Tuesday’s announcement of our nation’s strategy in Afghanistan, I ask the President to reassure us that the administration is in this War on Terror to win. And I’ll pass along the following from Harold B. Estes, a 95-year-old member of the Greatest Generation: “I realize you never served in the military and never had to defend your country with your life, but you’re the Commander-in-Chief now, son. Do your job. When your battle-hardened field General asks you for 40,000 more troops to complete the mission, give them to him. But if you’re not in this fight to win, then get out.” Thank you, Mr. President. Please tell us on Tuesday that America is in it to win. - Sarah Palin Face Book 2009

Going Rogue in North Carolina

Monday, November 23,

By C4P & Staff reports

Sarah Palin, the hottest name in the Republican Party, took a detour from her book-signing tour Sunday to dine with Billy Graham at his mountaintop home in Montreat. "He's followed her career and likes her strong stand on faith," said son Franklin Graham, who was present for the 2 1/2-hour get-together. "Daddy feels God was using her to wake America up." [...] Palin, who will sign copies of "Going Rogue," her memoir, today at Fort Bragg, brought several family members with her to the Graham homestead: her mother, her father, a maternal aunt and daughter Piper and son Trig. Billy Graham's daughter, Anne Graham Lotz, a Raleigh-based evangelist, also joined the dinner. They ate chicken breast, roast beef and green beans - washed down, of course, with that most Southern of beverages, iced tea. All the food was catered, Franklin Graham said. [...] Billy Graham told his son that he ought to invite Palin to visit the next time she was near North Carolina. Palin accepted. At the airport, prior to the dinner, she told reporters that she considered the prospect of meeting Billy Graham "a once-in-a-lifetime honor" and credited the evangelist with being perhaps the world's most influential figure in passing along "issues that matter," including the eternal ones. At Graham's Montreat home, he and Palin sat one-on-one for 35 to 40 minutes, talking about spiritual and other matters, Franklin Graham said. An hour before former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was scheduled to appear at a PX store at Fort Bragg this morning, more than 1,000 people were waiting to see her, many clutching copies of her new memoir. The table where Palin will greet people was set up just inside the door of the North Post Exchange, a Wal-Mart-size department store on the base. The line waiting to see her spilled out the front door and wrapped around the building. Many people went into the PX to buy Palin's book, "Going Rogue: An American Life," then emerged to take their places in line. People took shelter from the rain under umbrellas and shielded their books in plastic bags.

McCain Defends Palin Against ‘Vicious’ Attacks

28 November 2009

By Staff reports

Former GOP presidential candidate Sen. John McCain of Arizona is defending his former running mate, Sarah Palin, against the “vicious attacks” the left has leveled against her. “I’ve never seen anything like it in all the years that I’ve been in politics,” McCain told Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren this week. McCain avoided mention of some of the harshest attacks on her that have come from some of his former campaign staffers, but said he is “very proud” of the former Alaska governor. “And I believe she will play a major role in politics in America. Americans like her,” McCain said, “whether the New York Times and others happen to like that or not.” The senator said he thinks the media attention that follows Palin wherever she goes is “fantastic.”

Congress Never Ceases to Amaze

26 November 2009

By Sarah Palin

Really? A tax on national defense? I hear liberal Congressional proposals and I, like most Americans, wonder if they’re serious. We’re going to put a price tag on security? With Congress and President Obama spending money on everything at breakneck speed, it’s interesting that they are only now getting nervous about spending – but only when it comes to providing the necessary funds to complete our mission in Afghanistan. They don’t need a new “war tax” to fund a strategy for victory in the war zone. They simply need to prioritize our money appropriately. I find it telling that the Pelosi-Reid Congress is only cost-conscious when it comes to our national defense. Scary. Nonsensical. Unacceptable. - Sarah Palin Face Book 2009

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

26 November 2009

By Sarah Palin

Over three hundred years ago, a group of settlers fleeing religious persecution decided to set a new course for human history in a new frontier. Those early pioneers chose a rocky shoreline to establish their way of life. Centuries later, America continues to set the example of what can come from a free and hardworking people. We truly remain the shining city upon a hill that the colonial leader John Winthrop implored us to be. What started as a small colony in the territory that would eventually become the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has progressed into the greatest and most prosperous nation in history. Americans remain the freest people on earth because of our cherished Constitution and the system of government it establishes. We have so much to be thankful for. We should recognize especially the sacrifices made on our behalf by those in uniform. Thousands of Americans will be spending Thanksgiving overseas in combat zones in order to protect our liberty and way of life. We should give thanks to those who willingly put their lives on the line for the rest of us. Where would we be without them? We are also thankful for what God has granted us. We are truly blessed in America with rich natural resources, plentiful energy sources, fertile land, beautiful cities, and the talented and industrious people we call “our fellow Americans.” We pray that God will continue to bless us. In his farewell address to the nation, President Reagan reminded us that “all great change in America begins at the dinner table.” Thanksgiving is an opportunity to discuss where we are as a nation at this moment in our history and where we should be heading in order to remain prosperous and free. Take time to discuss these things with each other, and take time to teach the young people in your family about our nation’s history so that they may never forget all that we have to be proud of and thankful for. Happy Thanksgiving! Sarah Palin Face Book 2009 Want to host your very own radio show & for free?? Go to www.uswebtalkradio.com 100% free

Sarah Palin is aware of this website - Www.DraftPalinforPresident.Com Watch Video

22 November 2009

By Richard Bernier

Sarah Palin visits Asheville today joining the Billy Graham Family. Franklin Graham was there at the airport to greet her today Nov. 22 at 3:10pm, with Piper and Tric by her side Sarah greeted everyone. She will be joining the Graham Family for dinner tonight. Click here or paste clip to watch the video: http://www.vimeo.com/7762762 Please besure to call Sarah at 828 305 9661, leave her a voice mail with your fist name,city & state. You will have 2mins to leave her a message which will be played on US Web Talk Radio.Com We will give Sarah a cd of your calls that come in. www.uswebtalkradio.com Thanks RB

In the Midnight HourShare

20 November 2009

By Sarah Palin

11:34pm The Senate is set to vote Saturday night, right before the holiday, on a motion to proceed on its latest health care government take-over bill. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is pushing for yet another weekend vote (commonplace now for the party of “transparency”) because he knows that the American people will be none too happy about the Democrats’ proposal the longer they have to look it over. A vote against the Democrats’ motion will help stop Obamacare before it gets any closer to becoming a reality. While this Saturday night vote might seem like a procedural matter, at the end of the day a vote against Senator Reid’s motion is a vote against massive new government spending and a take-over of 1/6th of the U.S. economy; it’s a vote against billions in tax increases and penalties; it’s a vote against federal funding of abortion; and it’s a vote against ignoring responsible tort reform. And in case you hadn’t heard – just a reminder that you’ll start paying higher taxes to fund this scheme in 2010 even though it doesn’t start up until 2014. Only in Washington does that make any sense. Among the provisions in this bill will be a $2500 cap on Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs). The IRS allows families with special needs children to use FSAs to cover educational expenses. This new $2500 cap will hit these families especially hard and cost them hundreds of dollars in new taxes every year. Contact your senators and tell them to vote against the motion to proceed tomorrow night. The American people don’t support this – we support the commonsense solutions that have been proposed, but totally ignored by (at this point) some out-of-control Washington politicians. Let’s put a stop to Obamacare before it goes any further. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2009

Cancer Screenings - Rational Advice or Rationed Care?

20 November 2009

By Sarah Palin

It was a breath of fresh air to finally hear the Democrats admit to their health care bill as “a lot of show and tell and razzmatazz,” (see Democrat talking points, in reference to my book). At least now we’re all on the same page when discussing the problems with their monstrous government health care “reform” plan. Now, tonight, more disconcerting news – the New York Times reports of new guidelines to scale back cervical cancer screenings. The recommendation from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists comes on the heels of another recommendation to limit breast cancer screenings with mammograms. There are many questions unanswered for me, but one which immediately comes to mind is whether costs have anything to do with these recommendations. The current health care debate elicits great concern because of its introduction of socialized medicine in America and the inevitable rationed care. We need to carefully watch this debate as it coincides with Capitol Hill’s debate and determine whether we are witnessing the early stages of that rationed care before the Senate bill is rushed through as well. Another question is why these women-focused cancers are seemingly receiving substandard attention at a time when proactive health and fitness should be the message. Every woman should encourage rigorous debate to ensure that our collective voices are heard. We are paying attention to Washington’s health care proposals, and we want to hear what helps patients the most. We need answers: Is early screening not saving lives? Why do doctors’ groups disagree? Did costs play any role in these decisions to change the recommendations on breast and cervical cancer screenings? We need assurances that everything we’ve heard this week about fewer tests for women’s cancers is a result of patient-focused research and providing the best care for the right reasons, and not because of bureaucratic pressure to control costs. Obviously the first thought that comes to mind when hearing of these new recommendations from bureaucratic panels is “rationed care.” It’s fair – and healthy – to ask if that’s what Washington has in mind with a government-controlled takeover of a health care system. - Sarah Palin

Go Rogue With the Rest of Us! - Details of the second half of the Going Rogue book tour!

17 Nov 2009

By Sarah Palin

Details of the second half of the Going Rogue book tour! I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in every stop on the tour, but I'm especially looking forward to meeting our brave men and women in uniform at Fort Hood. I'm joining the efforts of many others by donating my royalties from the book sales during our stop at Fort Hood to the families of the victims whose lives have been forever changed by the tragic events of November 5th. I am humbled to be able to join the larger effort called "Community Response to 11/5," which was established by the Central Texas-Fort Hood Chapter of the Association of the US Army (AUSA). You can read more about their great efforts here: http://www.forthoodausa.org/. As I mentioned last week, I'm going back on Twitter, so you can follow our path on SarahPalinUSA. Below are dates, times, and locations of the venues that I'll be referencing. Some other stops are still to be determined. Please contact each venue for more information. I'll see you soon! - Sarah Palin PS: Included below is a new flyer with the complete list of cities for the tour. Feel free to pass this one around, too! November 30th RICHLAND, WA TBD December 1st PHOENIX. AZ Costco 1445 West Elliot Tempe, AZ 85284 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM ROSWELL, NM Hastings Books 1705 N. Main Street Roswell, NM 88201 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM December 2nd SPRINGFIELD, MO Border's Books & Music 3300 S. Glenstone Avenue Springfield, MO 65804 10:00 AM - 12:30 PM December 3rd FAYETTEVILLE, AR Sam's Club 3081 North Highway 112 Fayetteville, AR 72704 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM OKLAHOMA CITY, OK Hastings Books 2300 West Main Street Norman, OK 73069 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM December 4th DALLAS, TX Legacy Books 7300 Dallas Parkway Plano, TX 75024 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM FORT HOOD, TX AAFES Main Exchange, Building 50004 Clear Creek Road Fort Hood, TX 76544 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM December 5th FAIRFAX, VA BJ's 13053 Fair Lakes Shopping Center Fairfax, VA 22033 11:00 AM - 2:00 PM December 6th SIOUX CITY, IA Barnes & Noble 4400 Sergeant Road Sioux City, IA 51106 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM SIOUX FALLS, SD Barnes & Noble 3700 West 41st Street Sioux Falls, SD 57106 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM December 7th MINNEAPOLIS, MN Barnes & Noble Mall of America 118 East Broadway Bloomington, MN 55425 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM December 8th BILLINGS, MT Borders Books & Music 2833 King Avenue West Billings, MT 59102 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM COLORADO SPRINGS, CO Borders Books & Music 1710 Briargate Boulevard Colorado Springs, CO 80920 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM December 9th SALT LAKE CITY, UT Costco 1818 South 300 West Salt Lake City, UT 84115 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM RENO, NV Costco 2200 Harvard Way Reno, NV 89502 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM December 10th COEUR D'ALENE, ID Fred Meyer 560 West Kathleen Coeur d'Alene, ID 83815 12:00 PM - 3:00 PM SANDPOINT, ID TBD December 11th HOME TO ALASKA! Sarah Palin Face Book 2009

Newsweek

16 November 2009

By Sarah Palin

The choice of photo for the cover of this week's Newsweek is unfortunate. When it comes to Sarah Palin, this "news" magazine has relished focusing on the irrelevant rather than the relevant. The Runner's World magazine one-page profile for which this photo was taken was all about health and fitness - a subject to which I am devoted and which is critically important to this nation. The out-of-context Newsweek approach is sexist and oh-so-expected by now. If anyone can learn anything from it: it shows why you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, gender, or color of skin. The media will do anything to draw attention - even if out of context. - Sarah Palin Face Book 2009

Pelosi "Health Plan" Should Be DOA

13 November 2009

By Sarah Palin

We need to be vigilant in investigating the ramifications of the Pelosi Health Care Bill. Some provisions sound so outrageous as to be considered impossible to fathom, but they’re right there in the bill in black and white. For instance, page 297 of the bill explains the punishment for not purchasing government mandated health insurance. If you don’t buy what the government considers “acceptable health care coverage,” you’re going to be hit with a tax of at least 2.5% of your income. And if you don’t pay that new tax, you could be fined as much as $250,000 and sentenced to up to five years in prison. But here’s the thing: they have to make the penalty for opting out very harsh in order to force us to buy coverage. The only way to keep this government run health care plan afloat is for everyone to buy into it – especially young and healthy people. That means that they will have to penalize citizens if we choose not to buy a plan that will cost a minimum of about $15,000 per family per year. The bill that came out of the Senate last month – the Baucus Bill – does just the opposite. It calls for a much lighter penalty ($750 maximum) for people who don’t buy government approved health coverage, making it cheaper to pay the fine than to pay for the coverage. (And with a recession on, who can blame families for not wanting to pay $15,000 for a government mandated health care plan?) But here’s the kicker: the bill also forces insurance companies to cover everyone, regardless of pre-existing conditions. Think about what that means. A lot of people – especially young and healthy people – will just pay the penalty instead of purchasing coverage because they’ll figure that it’ll always be there if they get sick, as government has promised. That’s what will happen, and when it does it will totally undermine the very concept of “insurance” – which is basically a group of people pooling their resources over time to cover themselves for a rainy day, paying while they’re healthy so that they’re covered when they’re sick. Those who are healthy now pay for those who are sick. If your insurance pool only contains sick people, it’s a bust. And that’s what this government plan will be. Without all of those young and healthy people paying into the pool and defraying the costs, the government will have to pony up more and more money, and who knows how long the whole crazy plan will last before it goes broke – and our country with it! That’s where we are with this bureaucratic mess: either the government penalizes people so harshly that they could be hit with huge taxes and even possible jail time, or the government makes the penalty a slap on the wrist and undermines the plan from the get-go. Forcing individuals to buy health insurance seems unconstitutional, yet Congress wants to foist it on us anyway. Proponents of government controlled health care will say, “But we’re made to buy car insurance and home insurance, what’s the difference with health insurance?” It’s apples and oranges. Auto insurance is a state law requirement, and people can always choose not to drive. Banks might require you to have home owner’s insurance, but again, you choose to own a home, just as you choose to drive. You have no choice at all when it comes to this federal government health care insurance mandate. There are other ways to reform health care without violating our Constitution and our personal liberties. Let’s get back to discussing market-driven, patient-centered, result-driven solutions, like, for example, allowing people to purchase insurance across state lines, tackling existing government waste and fraud, and reforming medical malpractice laws (tort reform) to stop unwarranted lawsuits that force doctors to order unnecessary procedures just to cover themselves. Please let your Senators know that the Pelosi Bill should be dead on arrival. Once we go down this big government path, it will be virtually impossible to reverse course. Let’s fight for the reform that makes sense for Americans before it’s too late. - Sarah Palin Face Book 2009 Want to host a free weekly taped radio show?? Go to www.uswebtalkradio.com get your voice heard - its 100% free..

"Going Rogue" Book Tour Dates Through Thanksgiving

9 Nov 2009

By Sarah Palin

Here are some details of the upcoming book tour. I’m starting in Michigan and you’ll understand why when you read the book. Last year, I made a promise to the good people of Michigan that I would be back, and now I’m keeping that promise. (Michigan is near and dear to my family’s heart! Our eldest son, Track, lived with a great host family there during his hockey days.) From Michigan, the “Going Rogue” tour will cover as much of the country as possible. I’ve decided to stop in cities that are not usually included in a typical book tour. For instance, I’m looking forward to meeting our honorable men in women in uniform and their families at a Fort Bragg book signing, and to reconnecting with friends my family made last year on the campaign trail in different book signing venues. We have a tight schedule, but I’m working with the publisher to allow possibilities of stopping at a few unannounced places, too. I’ll Twitter information when the tour starts, so I’ll post our progress from the road. You can follow on Twitter at SarahPalinUSA. Below are dates, times, and locations for the first part of the tour – this schedule brings us up to Thanksgiving, where I’ll get to connect with family in Washington state for the holiday. Stay tuned for our post-Thanksgiving schedule coming soon. Please contact each venue for more information. Can’t wait to see you soon! - Sarah Palin PS: Included below is a flyer for the tour. Feel free to pass it around! November 18th GRAND RAPIDS, MI Barnes & Noble 3195 28th Street SE Space B116 Grand Rapids, MI 49512 6:00 – 9:00 PM November 19th FORT WAYNE, IN Meijer’s 10301 Maysville Road Fort Wayne, IN 46835 12:00 – 3:00 PM NOBLESVILLE, IN Borders Books and Music 13145 Levinson Lane Noblesville, IN 46060 6:00 – 9:00 PM November 20th CINCINNATI, OH Joseph-Beth Booksellers 2692 Madison Road Cincinnati OH 45208 12:00 – 3:00 PM COLUMBUS, OH Borders Books and Music 6670 Sawmill Road Columbus, OH 43235 6:00 – 9:00 PM November 21st WASHINGTON, PA Sam’s Club 80 Trinity Point Drive Washington, PA 15301 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM ROCHESTER, NY Borders Books and Music 1000 Hylan Drive Rochester, NY 14623 6:00 – 9:00 PM November 22nd ROANOKE, VA Barnes & Noble 4802 Valley View Boulevard NW Roanoke, VA 24012 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM November 23rd FORT BRAGG, NC AAFES Bragg N Main Shop Bldg 8-5050, 2nd & Butner Road Ft. Bragg, NC 28307 11:00 AM – 2:00 PM BIRMINGHAM, AL Books-A-Million 757 Brookwood Village Birmingham, AL 32509 4:30 – 7:30 PM November 24th JACKSONVILLE, FL AREA Books-A-Million Orange Park Mall 1910 Wells Road Orange Park, FL 32073 9:00 – 11:00 AM THE VILLAGES, FL Barnes & Noble 1055 Old Camp Road The Villages, FL 32162 2:30 – 5:00 PM ORLANDO, FL Barnes & Noble Colonial Plaza Market Center 2418 East Colonial Drive Orlando, FL 32803 7:30 – 10:00 PM Face Book 2009

Commemorating a Victory for Freedom

9 Nov 2009

By Sarah Palin

Twenty years ago, the ultimate symbol of the division between freedom and tyranny was torn down. The Berlin Wall was constructed for one purpose: to prevent the escape of East Germans to the freedom of the West. The Wall’s cold, gray façade was a stark reminder of the economic and political way of life across the Soviet Union’s sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. Ronald Reagan never stopped regarding the Berlin Wall as an affront to human freedom. When so many other American leaders and opinion makers had come to accept its presence as inevitable and permanent, Reagan still hammered away at the Wall’s very premise in human tyranny, until finally the Wall itself was hammered down. Its downfall wasn’t the work of Reagan alone. Our president’s actions were joined with the brave acts of many individuals who stood firm and united in facing the Soviet Union. The Berlin Wall came down because millions of people behind the Iron Curtain refused to accept the fate of enslavement and their supporters in the West refused to accept that the “captive nations” would remain captive forever. Though that long, tragic episode in human history had come to a close finally with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, it wasn’t the “end of history” or the end of conflict as some had hoped. New conflicts confront us today throughout the world which call for courage and resolve and dedication to freedom. The new democracies and market economies that have emerged in Central and Eastern Europe still require our friendship and alliances as they continue to seek security, prosperity, and self-determination. But as we reflect on present and future challenges, let’s take time to celebrate the anniversary of this awesome victory for freedom. The downfall of that cold, gray concrete Wall should be a lesson to us in hope. Nothing is inevitable. Tyranny is no match for the hope and resolve of those who work and fight for freedom. - Sarah Palin Face Book 2009 Want to host a free radio show & reach over 17,000 people per day? www.uswebtalkradio.com Yes, 100% free

On the Tragic Shooting Today at Ft. Hood

5 November 2009

By Sarah Palin

Todd and I would like to offer our condolences to the families of the victims of the tragic shooting today at Ft. Hood. Our thoughts and prayers will be with them. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2009

Road Trip! Book Tour Announcement - Sarah Palin

4 November 2009

By Sarah Palin

I am very, very excited about the upcoming road trip for my book. It will be an honor to meet as many of you as possible! “Going Rogue” publisher HarperCollins is working hard to schedule book signings across the nation, and we’ll be announcing the locations in the next day or two. I’ve decided to travel to cities outside of the typical book tour venues, and I hope to cover as much of the country as I can. We’re in the process of arranging interviews with local and national media. An interview with Oprah Winfrey is already scheduled, and I’m also hoping to have the opportunity to talk with Bill O’Reilly, Barbara Walters, Sean Hannity, Greta Van Susteren, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, Laura Ingraham, Dennis Miller, Tammy Bruce, and others, including local Alaska personalities Bob & Mark and Eddie Burke. (Variety is the spice of life!) Can’t wait to hit the road. Can’t wait to see you! - Sarah Palin Face Book 2009

A Victory for Common Sense and Fiscal SanityShare

4 November 2009

By Sarah Pakin

Congratulations to the new Governors-Elect of Virginia and New Jersey! I’d also like to offer a special word of support to the new Lieutenant Governor-Elect of New Jersey, Kim Guadagno, the first woman to hold that office. Of course, the real victors in this election are the ordinary men and women who voted for positive change and a return to fiscal sanity. Your voices have been heard. The race for New York’s 23rd District is not over, just postponed until 2010. The issues of this election have always centered on the economy – on the need for fiscal restraint, smaller government, and policies that encourage jobs. In 2010, these issues will be even more crucial to the electorate. I commend Doug Hoffman and all the other under-dog candidates who have the courage to put themselves out there and run against the odds. To the tireless grassroots patriots who worked so hard in that race and to future citizen-candidates like Doug, please remember Reagan’s words of encouragement after his defeat in 1976: “The cause goes on. Don't get cynical because look at yourselves and what you were willing to do, and recognize that there are millions and millions of Americans out there that want what you want, that want it to be that way, that want it to be a shining city on a hill.” The cause goes on. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2009 Want to host a free radio show & reach 17,000 people a day? www.uswebtalkradio.com

It’s Imperative That We Exercise Our Right To Vote Today

3 November 2009

By Sarah Palin

“...the right which woman needed above every other, the one indeed which would secure to her all the others, was the right of suffrage.” Susan B. Anthony used those words to describe the cause she spent her life fighting for: the right of an American woman to cast a ballot for the candidate of her choice. Because of Susan B. Anthony’s tireless efforts and the courage and dedication of countless others, millions of American women will head to the polls today to exercise their right to vote. When we consider the sacrifices made to give us this right, there is simply no excuse not to vote. Today, the eyes of the nation are drawn in particular to the three big elections occurring on the east coast. New Jersey and Virginia will be electing new governors, and the 23rd Congressional District of New York will be sending a new representative to Washington D.C. The choices are clear in all three races. In New York’s 23rd Congressional District race, Doug Hoffman represents the return of the ordinary citizen-politician who is dedicated to bringing fiscal sanity back to Washington, D.C. Doug’s message of cutting spending, lowering taxes, and ending the outrageous growth in the size and scope of the federal government has resonated throughout his district and the country. Voting for Doug Hoffman will send an important message to the powers that be: no more politics as usual. The governor’s race in New Jersey is a referendum on the failed fiscal policies of the state’s current governor. New Jersey suffers under the highest tax burden in the nation – a burden which has caused many New Jerseyans to leave their home state for better economic prospects elsewhere. Chris Christie is dedicated to ending the reckless spending, the tax hikes, and the corruption that has plagued New Jersey for far too long. A vote for Chris Christie as the next governor of New Jersey will help to lead this great state – “The Crossroads of the Revolution” – back to prosperity. In Virginia, Bob McDonnell’s commitment to lower taxes and fiscal responsibility make him the common sense choice in the governor’s race. If Bob’s honorable military service and track record as Virginia’s Attorney General are any indications of how he will handle the governorship, then it is safe to say that Virginians have an easy choice to make today. Candidates like Doug Hoffman, Chris Christie, and Bob McDonnell represent common sense answers to the troubling economic questions facing our nation. They are a vote for fiscal sanity and for leaving our children an American future as bright and as promising as the one our parents left for us. Please take time today to exercise the right that so many people fought to secure for us. In considering these east coast races, it occurred to me that Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and so many of the women who fought to give future generations the right to vote hailed from these states. Vote today in honor of our past and with hope for our future. - Sarah Palin Face Book 2009

Response to Vice President Biden's Comments Today About My Position On Energy Independence

2 November 2009

By Sarah Palin

As the vice president knows, I have always advocated an all-of-the-above approach to American energy independence. Among other things, my alternative energy goal for Alaska sits at 50 percent because Alaska reached more than 20 percent during my term in office. The Obama-Biden administration, on the other hand, recently announced a renewable goal of only 25 percent. However, domestic drilling should remain a top priority in order to meet America’s consumption and security needs. The vice president’s extreme opposition to domestic energy development goes all the way back to 1973 when he opposed the Alaska pipeline bill. As Ann Coulter pointed out, “Biden cast one of only five votes against the pipeline that has produced more than 15 billion barrels of oil, supplied nearly 20 percent of this nation’s oil, created tens of thousands of jobs, added hundreds of billions of dollars to the U.S. economy and reduced money transfers to the nation’s enemies by about the same amount.” This nonsensical opposition to American domestic energy development continues to this day. Apparently the Obama-Biden administration only approves of offshore drilling in Brazil, where it will provide security and jobs for Brazilians. This election is about American security and American jobs. There’s one way to tell Vice President Biden that we’re tired of folks in Washington distorting our message and hampering our nation’s progress: Hoffman, Baby, Hoffman! - Sarah Palin Face Book 2009 www.uswebtalkradio.com - Host your show now for FREE..

Sarah Palin at the Switch (Just found this & wanted to share with everyone)

July 30, 2009

By Donald W. Miller, Jr., MD

As Dr. Arthur Robinson, writer of the "Pro-Science, Pro-Technology, Pro-Free Enterprise Monthly Newsletter" Access to Energy describes it, the American national railroad train is heading toward a fatal intersection. He writes, "There is a switch at that intersection. One direction leads to a wonderful valley of lower taxation, lower regulation, lower litigation, and less government – a valley labelled ‘freedom’ and ‘technology prosperity.’ The other direction leads to a destroyed bridge over a very deep canyon. The rocks at the bottom of the canyon are littered with the remains of many earlier civilizations. They are labelled ‘statism,’ ‘totalitarianism,’ ‘Marxism,’ ‘fascism,’ and ‘the tyranny of democratic socialism.’" Now operating as a free agent in the Lower 48 (states), Sarah Palin is likely to play a critical role in helping to turn the switch that turns America’s train in the direction towards less government. When she came on the national stage as the Republican vice-presidential candidate, LRC’s Walter Block wrote: "Here is a rifle toting, moose killing, basketball playing, beauty contest winning, charismatic and eloquent long happily married conservative hockey mom who has made something of herself in a very competitive field, who has not gone to finishing school at Harvard, Yale or Princeton... She is a breath of fresh air blowing in from our northernmost state." This is how Lew Rockwell viewed her arrival on the national scene: "The frenzied reaction of the middle class all over the country toward Sarah Palin has no real precedent that I can remember. Indeed, the reaction especially among women is completely understandable. She provides a much welcome cultural break from the chip-on-the-shoulder, grudge-against-the-world model of public women that have been held up to us for years, embodied in the belligerent and insufferable person of Hillary Clinton. "Sarah, on the other hand, is both beautiful and professionally accomplished, a wife and mother and a natural politician, both religious and secular, both feminine and fears no tasks such as hunting that are usually associated with men. She offers a different model of a woman who has excelled not through intimidation and aggressive demands for reparation, but through her own efforts, charms, and intelligence." Jack Wheeler points out (in his To The Point News) this special quality that Palin has: "A lower-middle-class woman who speaks the language of the country’s ordinary voters and has a profound personal understanding of the hopes and worries of a vast swath of the public." Feminists, intellectuals, academics, the Beltway (Washington, D.C.) culture and its media acolytes hold a different view of her. Sarah Palin provokes a visceral hostility in these special people, which compels them to make statements about her like these: "Caribou Barbie is one nutty puppy" (Maureen Dowd); a "religious fanatic and a proud, boastful ignoramus" (Christopher Hitchens); "anti-abortion, a member of the NRA and thinks creationism should be taught alongside evolution" (Susan Reimer); "it’s her extreme narcissism that gets to me" (Pepper Schwartz, a professor at the University of Washington [yes, I know her]); and "her greatest hypocrisy is her pretense that she is a woman" (Wendy Doniger, a professor at the University of Chicago). While the intellectual elite (liberal and conservative) and feminists loathe Sarah Palin, a substantial proportion of the U.S. population quite likes and admires her. This is particularly true with people who live in "flyover country" – that part of America that lays between the Beltway/East (establishment) Coast and the West (left) Coast. A lot of people in flyover country revere her. In the 2008 campaign, adoring throngs in the thousands, and sometimes as many as 60,000 people would greet her at rallies held around the country. She became a national sensation. The song "I am a Woman," written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller and wonderfully sung by Peggy Lee captures the attraction Sarah Palin has for many people, especially this verse: "I can make a dress out of a feed bag and I can make a man out of you." Now operating in the Lower 48 (states) as a free agent, Palin will be speaking at fundraisers for Republican House and Senate candidates in the run-up to the 2010 election. They will welcome her aid, not only because she draws large crowds wherever she goes, but most importantly for her fundraising ability. No Republican comes anywhere close to her in that regard. She has announced that she will also campaign for conservative Blue Dog Democrats (those "choked blue" by "extreme" Democrats from the left) who agree with her views on "Cap and Trade" and health care reform – and against those who voted for them. Her focus will be on the composition of Congress elected in 2010. More immediately, it will be on these two bills in Congress: the global-climate change Cap and Trade bill, H.R. 2454, which the House has already passed; and the "ObamaCare" health plan, H.R. 3200. These bills, if signed into law, will point America’s train, with increasing speed, towards the canyon of collectivism. In a July 14, 2009 article in The Washington Post, titled "The ‘Cap and Tax’ Dead End," Palin writes, "I am deeply concerned about President Obama’s cap-and-trade energy plan, and I believe it is an enormous threat to our economy. It would undermine our recovery over the short term and would inflict permanent damage." Good scientific evidence, ignored by proponents of Cap and Trade, like Al Gore, who stand to profit handsomely from its passage, shows that rising atmospheric CO2 levels do not cause global warming and are not harming the environment. Instead, higher CO2 levels increase plant growth. For a carefully considered and solid refutation of the CO2/Human-Caused Global Warming hypothesis see this (12-page) paper (with 133 scientific references), Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide by A. Robinson, N. Robinson, and W. Soon. The case for human-caused global warming is based on 1) worst-case computer models, which have no basis in fact and do not consider solar and celestial (cosmic ray) causes of climate change (see here) or the influence of the Southern Oscillation on global temperature (see here); and 2) on "consensus." Modern empirical science began in the 17th century, replacing medieval science based on authority, belief (unsupported by empirical evidence), and consensus. The dogmatic belief that Man is the cause of the recent warming harks back to medieval science with its claims of consensus, submission to the authority of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, and on (empirically unsupported) computer models. The Beltway politicians’ main motivation for implementing Cap and Trade is to raise taxes and to increase government power and control over Americans, and to lower their standard of living. To this end, as the Science and Public Policy Institute’s recently published (19-page) Climate Money (by Joanne Nova) reveals, "The US Government has spent more than $79 billion of taxpayers’ money since 1989 on policies related to climate change [human-caused global warming], including science and technology research, administration, propaganda campaigns, foreign aid, and tax breaks. Most of this spending was unnecessary." (The government will not fund research on other theories of global warming.) As Sarah Palin warns, Cap and Trade would adversely affect every aspect of the U.S. economy. Among other things, it will increase unemployment in the energy sector, raise the cost of doing business, increase the cost of farming and drive up grocery prices. The best recipe for energy independence, and for a sufficient supply of affordable energy necessary to restore American prosperity, is to cleanly tap abundant hydrocarbon resources in American soil (coal, oil, and gas) and build more nuclear power plants (see here and here). Asking the question, "Can America produce more of its own energy through strategic investments that protect the environment, revive our economy and secure our nation?" Palin replies, "Yes, we can. Just not with Barack Obama’s energy cap-and-tax plan." The purpose of the 1,018-page ObamaCare health plan is "To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes." [Emphasis added.] This includes 45+ million Americans who currently have no insurance, which includes some 10 million illegal aliens that the plan will cover. It will raise taxes on small businesses and wealthy Americans and cut costs by rationing and denying care. Like the UK’s National Health Service, the ObamaCare plan creates a National Health Care Board, which will approve or reject surgery and medical treatments like chemotherapy based on its cost divided by the number years the patient is expected to benefit from it. As one observer explains, this means "If you are over 65 or have been recently diagnosed as having an advanced form of cardiac disease or aggressive cancer…..dream on if you think you will get treated…..pick out your coffin." The plan empowers The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information and Technology (in the Department of Health and Human Services) to "monitor treatments being delivered to make sure doctors and hospitals are strictly following government guidelines that are deemed appropriate." And it states, "Doctors and hospitals not adhering to guidelines will face penalties" (i.e. fines and possible imprisonment). The Plan empowers the newly established Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research "to slow the development of new medications and technologies in order to reduce costs." The plan also contains provisions, such as the "Limitation on New [individual private coverage] Enrollment" clause on page 16, that give government the power, with its tax-subsidized coverage, to squeeze out and eliminate all private health care plans and nationalize America’s health care (which comprises 20 percent of the economy). Worse, Section 1233 of the bill requires "senior citizens to meet at least every 5 years [every year for people with chronic illnesses] with a doctor or nurse practitioner to discuss dying with dignity." In these "Advanced Care Planning" sessions people over 65 will learn "how to decline hydration, nutrition and how to initiate hospice care." ObamaCare is medical fascism with a vengeance. Sarah Palin opposes government intervention in health care and will strive to convince Americans that Beltway politicians have no constitutional or moral authority to outlaw private health insurance, which they will do if the House and Senate pass this bill, and nationalize health care. Shortly before she resigned as governor of Alaska, Palin signed a resolution (House Joint Resolution 27) declaring Alaska’s sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution, which states, "Powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States." (Thirty-five other states are considering a sovereignty resolution, and the legislatures in six states have passed such a decree. Currently, along with Sarah Palin, only one other governor, Phil Bredesen in Tennessee, has signed the legislature-passed sovereignty resolution in these states.) Sarah Palin has taken the lead in this important movement. Florida State Senator Carey Baker puts it well when he says, "Now more than ever, state governments must exercise their Constitutional right to say no to the expansion of the federal government’s reckless deficit spending and abuse of power." Sarah Palin was the only top-tier candidate in the 2008 Election who had anything good to say about Ron Paul. In an MTV interview (on August 29, 2008), Palin said Ron Paul was "cool." "He's a good guy," she added. "He's so independent. He's independent of the party machine. I'm like, ‘Right on, so am I.’" Now free, Palin would do well to study with Ron Paul. The country not only needs to have less government, lower taxes, fewer regulations, and to achieve energy independence, but it also needs to dismantle its empire (which is being run on borrowed money) and bring the troops home. Her support for the ruinous U.S. military interventions abroad reveals a lack of understanding on how harmful trying to maintain an empire is to America. She is a quick study, and she would benefit by having Dr. Paul tutor her on economics and politics. Along with Sarah Palin and Ron Paul, other people who are working hard to set the switch to send America’s train in right direction include Glenn Beck; Judge Andrew Napolitano; Lew Rockwell, Thomas Woods, and other proponents of the Austrian School of Economics; the Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama; Senator Jim Demint (South Carolina); Peter Schiff, and Dave Redick. The Anchorage Daily News called Sarah Palin "the Joan of Arc of Alaska politics, marching into battle against long odds on such big local issues as oil taxes and construction of a natural gas pipeline only to see her opposition crumble." In the Lower 48, Sarah could wind up being the "Joan of Arc" of America’s white, working poor. If she can do to American politics today what Joan of Arc did to French and English politics in the 15th century, there will be a lot of senators and congressmen elected in 2010 who will be beholden to her. Next comes 2012. Politicians in the Beltway who seek to turn America into a full-blown socialist/fascist state have good reason to fear Sarah Palin. July 30, 2009 Donald Miller (send him mail) is a cardiac surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is a member of Doctors for Disaster Preparedness and writes articles on a variety of subjects for LewRockwell.com. His web site is www.donaldmiller.com Copyright © 2009 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Governor Palin Endorses Principles Over Party

30 October 2009

By Adrienne Ross

The 2012 Draft Sarah Committee is pleased with Governor Palin’s three recent endorsements: Doug Hoffman for Congress in the New York 23rd Congressional District, Chris Christie for New Jersey governor, and Bob McDonnell for Virginia governor. Why these particular endorsements? She answers that question herself. Americans who believe in smaller government and free enterprise have a chance to show Washington that people all across the U.S. don’t want an ever-increasing national debt, more dependency on foreign energy sources, and more wasteful government spending. [1] These three candidates are committed to showing Washington just that. Palin’s support of Doug Hoffman is particularly noteworthy, for her endorsement is a bold statement that she is committed to putting principles above Party. She is backing Conservative-Party candidate Hoffman over Republican Dede Scozzafava. There has been an on-going debate about what the Republican Party must do to "right the ship." Many say they need to move further to the Left, to sell out the values upon which they have been built. In the midst of that nonsensical chit-chat, Governor Palin is standing up for principles. If that means she has to step away from a professing Republican who does not represent those principles, so be it. Doing the right thing is doing the right thing. Palin says: The federal government borrows, spends, and prints too much money, while our national debt hits a record high. Government is growing while the private sector is shrinking, and unemployment is on the rise. Doug Hoffman is committed to ending the reckless spending in Washington, D.C. and the massive increase in the size and scope of the federal government. He is also fully committed to supporting our men and women in uniform as they seek to honorably complete their missions overseas. And best of all, Doug Hoffman has not been anointed by any political machine. Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Republicans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty. [2] Governor Palin once again chooses to do what’s right rather than sell-out, to take a stand rather than sit down and be silent when a common sense voice is so needed. Is there any wonder why the 2012 Draft Sarah Committee is committed to encouraging her to run for the presidency in 2012? She is who America needs, which is why millions of us choose to stand alongside her as she stands up for this great country. -Adrienne Ross 2012 Draft Sarah Committee Media Spokesperson [1] See http://tinyurl.com/ykhpbrv [2] See http://tinyurl.com/yllsxk9

HEALTH CARE REFORM PLAN THAT WILL PROVE TO BE THE GAME CHANGER

30 Octber 2009

By Sarah Palin

Mark my words - tomorrow is the game changer! Tune in to hear common sense solutions that bury the false accusations that conscientious members of Congress have no solutions to meet America's health care challenges. If you're like me, shaking your head wondering why all the miscommunication between Washington and the American people who have been saying, "Please hear what we're saying about our desire for health care reform," then tomorrow will be a refreshing time of clarity for all. All Americans, and especially colleagues of House Republican Leader John Boehner: please listen to tomorrow's weekly GOP national address. Rep. Boehner will highlight a common sense alternative to Speaker Pelosi's 1,990-page government takeover of health care. I urge you to watch for it. For a preview, go to: http://HealthCare.GOP.gov You'll hear solutions. You'll hear of real choices based on America's proven free-market principles. You'll know once and for all what the GOP and Independents have been saying all along about alternatives to another big government take over. After tomorrow, you'll know that accusations against the GOP and Independents for not providing solutions are false. Those claims are bogus. There are alternatives. Tune in to Rep. Boehner's address tomorrow to hear them. I look forward to the game changer! - Sarah Palin Facebook

Support Doug HoffmanShare for Congress - Not a member of the GOP?? What !!

22 Oct 2009 8:28pm

By Sarah Palin

The people of the 23rd Congressional District of New York are ready to shake things up, and Doug Hoffman is coming on strong as Election Day approaches! He needs our help now. The votes of every member of Congress affect every American, so it's important for all of us to pay attention to this important Congressional campaign in upstate New York. I am very pleased to announce my support for Doug Hoffman in his fight to be the next Representative from New York's 23rd Congressional district. It's my honor to endorse Doug and to do what I can to help him win, including having my political action committee, SarahPAC, donate to his campaign the maximum contribution allowed by law. Our nation is at a crossroads, and this is once again a "time for choosing." The federal government borrows, spends, and prints too much money, while our national debt hits a record high. Government is growing while the private sector is shrinking, and unemployment is on the rise. Doug Hoffman is committed to ending the reckless spending in Washington, D.C. and the massive increase in the size and scope of the federal government. He is also fully committed to supporting our men and women in uniform as they seek to honorably complete their missions overseas. Sarah Palin Facebook 2009 Want to host a free radio show? www.uswebtalkradio.com And best of all, Doug Hoffman has not been anointed by any political machine. Doug Hoffman stands for the principles that all Republicans should share: smaller government, lower taxes, strong national defense, and a commitment to individual liberty. Political parties must stand for something. When Republicans were in the wilderness in the late 1970s, Ronald Reagan knew that the doctrine of "blurring the lines" between parties was not an appropriate way to win elections. Unfortunately, the Republican Party today has decided to choose a candidate who more than blurs the lines, and there is no real difference between the Democrat and the Republican in this race. This is why Doug Hoffman is running on the Conservative Party's ticket. Republicans and conservatives around the country are sending an important message to the Republican establishment in their outstanding grassroots support for Doug Hoffman: no more politics as usual. You can help Doug by visiting his official website below and joining me in supporting his campaign: http://www.doughoffmanforcongress.com/donate3.html. - Sarah Palin

Good Intentions Aren't Enough with Health Care ReformShare

18 October 2009

By Sarah Palin

Now that the Senate Finance Committee has approved its health care bill, it’s a good time to step back and take a look at the long term consequences should its provisions be enacted into law. The bill prohibits insurance companies from refusing coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and from charging sick people higher premiums. [1] It attempts to offset the costs this will impose on insurance companies by requiring everyone to purchase coverage, which in theory would expand the pool of paying policy holders. However, the maximum fine for those who refuse to purchase health insurance is $750. [2] Even factoring in government subsidies, the cost of purchasing a plan is much more than $750. The result: many people, especially the young and healthy, will simply not buy coverage, choosing to pay the fine instead. They’ll wait until they’re sick to buy health insurance, confident in the knowledge that insurance companies can’t deny them coverage. Such a scenario is a perfect storm for increasing the cost of health care and creating an unsustainable mandate program. Those driving this plan no doubt have good intentions, but good intentions aren’t enough. There were good intentions behind the drive to increase home ownership for lower-income Americans, but forcing financial institutions to give loans to people who couldn’t afford them had terrible unintended consequences. We all felt those consequences during the financial collapse last year. Unintended consequences always result from top-down big government plans like the current health care proposals, and we can’t afford to ignore that fact again. Supposedly the Senate Finance bill will be paid for by cutting Medicare by nearly half a trillion dollars and by taxing the so-called “Cadillac” health care plans enjoyed by many union members. The plan will also impose heavy taxes on insurers, pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, and clinical labs. [3] The result of all of these taxes is clear. As Douglas Holtz-Eakin noted in the Wall Street Journal, these new taxes “will be passed on to consumers by either directly raising insurance premiums, or by fueling higher health-care costs that inevitably lead to higher premiums.” [4] Unfortunately, it will lead to lower wages too, as employees will have to sacrifice a greater percentage of their paychecks to cover these higher premiums. [5] In other words, if the Democrats succeed in overhauling health care, we’ll all bear the costs. The Senate Finance bill is effectively a middle class tax increase, and as Holtz-Eakin points out, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation those making less than $200,000 will be hit hardest. [6] With our country’s debt and deficits growing at an alarming rate, many of us can’t help but wonder how we can afford a new trillion dollar entitlement program. The president has promised that he won’t sign a health care bill if it “adds even one dime to our deficit over the next decade.” [7] But his administration also promised that his nearly trillion dollar stimulus plan would keep the unemployment rate below 8%. [8] Last month, our unemployment rate was 9.8%, the highest it’s been in 26 years. [9] At first the current administration promised that the stimulus would save or create 3 to 4 million jobs. [10] Then they declared that it created 1 million jobs, but the stimulus reports released this week showed that a mere 30,083 jobs have been created, while nearly 3.4 million jobs have been lost since the stimulus was passed. [11] Should we believe the administration’s claims about health care when their promises have proven so unreliable about the stimulus? In January 2008, presidential candidate Obama promised not to negotiate behind closed doors with health care lobbyists. In fact, he committed to “broadcasting those negotiations on C-SPAN so that the American people can see what the choices are. Because part of what we have to do is enlist the American people in this process. And overcoming the special interests and the lobbyists...” [12] However, last February, after serving only a few weeks in office, President Obama met privately at the White House with health care industry executives and lobbyists. [13] Yesterday, POLITICO reported that aides to President Obama and Democrat Senator Max Baucus met with corporate lobbyists in April to help “set in motion a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign, primarily financed by industry groups, that has played a key role in bolstering public support for health care reform.” [14] Needless to say, their negotiations were not broadcast on C-SPAN for the American people to see. Presidential candidate Obama also promised that he would not “sign any nonemergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House Web site for five days.” [15] PolitiFact reports that this promise has already been broken three times by the current administration. [16] We can only hope that it won’t be broken again with health care reform. All of this certainly gives the appearance of politics-as-usual in Washington with no change in sight. Americans want health care reform because we want affordable health care. We don’t need subsidies or a public option. We don’t need a nationalized health care industry. We need to reduce health care costs. But the Senate Finance plan will dramatically increase those costs, all the while ignoring common sense cost-saving measures like tort reform. Though a Congressional Budget Office report confirmed that reforming medical malpractice and liability laws could save as much as $54 billion over the next ten years, tort reform is nowhere to be found in the Senate Finance bill. [17] Here’s a novel idea. Instead of working contrary to the free market, let’s embrace the free market. Instead of going to war with certain private sector companies, let’s embrace real private-sector competition and allow consumers to purchase plans across state lines. Instead of taxing the so-called “Cadillac” plans that people get through their employers, let’s give individuals who purchase their own health care the same tax benefits we currently give employer-provided health care recipients. Instead of crippling Medicare, let’s reform it by providing recipients with vouchers so that they can purchase their own coverage. Now is the time to make your voices heard before it’s too late. If we don’t fight for the market-oriented, patient-centered, and result-driven reform plan that we deserve, we’ll be left with the disastrous unintended consequences of the plans currently being cooked up in Washington. - Sarah Palin Facebook 2009 Besure to vist US Web Talk Radio at www.uswebtalkradio.com [1] See http://tinyurl.com/yjs3mgf [2] See http://tinyurl.com/yfuw3k3 [3] See http://tinyurl.com/yfxq8ca [4] See http://tinyurl.com/ykefsk6 [5] See http://tinyurl.com/ygf42fj [6] See http://tinyurl.com/ykefsk6 [7] See http://tinyurl.com/lkvgsp [8] See http://tinyurl.com/nx4nh6 [9] See ibid. [10] See http://tinyurl.com/yhhr56v [11] See ibid. [12] See http://tinyurl.com/yhzhkvg and http://tinyurl.com/lhyr9o [13] See http://tinyurl.com/yksd6h3 [14] See http://tinyurl.com/yl9gg27 [15] See http://tinyurl.com/yknpxd6 [16] See http://tinyurl.com/d2k5hb [17] See http://tinyurl.com/yf8qmfh

Please consider a Donation to The Liberty OSU Student Newspaper

16 Oct 2009

By Freedom is knowledge.com

This news section is normally used for "News of Sarah Palin" however we received a request today that I felt we must share. Please take the time to read this story & help them in matter that you are able to do so. Thanks Richard Bernier www.draftpalinforpresident.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- With a father who fought in the Navy on Okinawa in WWII in 1944, I am a firm believer in America's right of freedom of speech. And I especially demand it at institutions that have been assigned to educate American's youth. That is because when there is no debate or debate has been stifled, the worst of ideas can become the best of ideas. And we saw what that gave the German democracy after the 1932 elections for money over principles, and what is happening to America's freedom today under what Minnesota House Representative Michelle Bachmann now refers to as Gangster Government. To this end sometime in December 2008 and January 2009, Oregon State University stole distribution bins of one of its student newspapers, The Liberty, which they saw as an unwelcome voice on their campus. They not only stole the bins, but stole them as if thieves in the dark of night tossing them into a pile near the university's garbage heap. The newspaper staff thought their bins had been stolen by students who didn't like newspaper's sometime conservative viewpoint and called the police. Well the staff was partially correct, with the police finding out it was the university itself without warning who took The Liberty's newspaper bins and threw them into a field with other garbage. You can click here to view the photo for yourself along with an issue of The Liberty. The theft made the local television news at KEZI, Eugene, Oregon. Click here to view the June 2, 2009 report. The Liberty was started in 2002 by a group of conservative students who wanted to give an alternative to the blessed politically-correct university newspaper, The Barometer. The Liberty's publisher, Will Rogers (Source, Fox News) Since then The Liberty's now student publisher, Will Rogers, has taken over with his goal to shake the label conservative-only from the paper and have it known instead as a forum for all student opinion, which in our mind is the bases of conservatism and its love of liberty anyway. The label had to go for two reasons in Will's mind: First, Liberal vs Conservative is not descriptive enough to allow people to know where a person stands. For example, what is a Libertarian? A Libertarian is someone who is fiscally conservative and socially liberal. Secondly, he is not trying to provide a forum for only "conservative" students, but one where all ideas can be expressed. Will is trying to set the tone for what a university education SHOULD be; a place where students can exchange ideas freely and decide "Yes, I like that" or "No, that isn't for me." The Liberty staff is now suing for their free speech being denied, which was filed on September 29, 2009, in a U.S. circuit court by the OSU Students Alliance, owner of The Liberty newspaper. The "Introduction" on their suit reads as follows: "The hallmark of a free society is the ability of people to express their ideas without government restraint. Nowhere is this freedom more critical than on America’s public college campuses—the marketplace of ideas. But despite the importance of encouraging independent thought on campus, Oregon State University has instead arbitrarily limited the opportunities for its distribution. University officials targeted Plaintiffs’ student newspaper, The Liberty, for a form of discriminatory treatment not extended to the other campus student newspaper, The Daily Barometer. Though the university permits The Daily Barometer’s numerous distribution bins to be located throughout campus with no apparent restriction, university officials surreptitiously confiscated the few distribution bins belonging to The Liberty, and threw them in a heap in a storage yard near a dumpster, When The Liberty’s staff eventually located their bins with the help of the Oregon State Police, they found one broken, and the rest covered with mud and debris, and full of ruined copies of their paper." The university staff was reported to view The Liberty being around campus as a trash issue, arguing that the university supported newspaper, The Barometer, was over 100 years old with the campus not needing another newspaper to represent students. To that end I say thank goodness these so-called arrogant liberal Americans who have been hired to run Oregon State University were not around when Lincoln wanted to free the slaves after all those years or living in New York City 13-years ago when the FOX News Network started up, NBC having been around since the invention of the television signal. Today there are no black slaves in America and FOX News has more than double its audience of all its competitors on cable including MSNBC, now a far left news reporting organization of NBC owned by GE. But unfortunately under their watch a newspaper has been tossed into the trash along with the silly idea it had a right of free speech next to an elitist one, The Barometer. Below is the FOX News Network's report on June 12, 2009, of Oregon State University literally trashing the student newspaper, The Liberty. A FOX News Report on Oregon State University stealing the distribution bins of The Liberty student newspaper and tossing them with their contents into a field of garbage. Finally The Liberty is a member of the Collegiate Network (CN). The CN's mission statement is honorable by America's founder's standards, promoting free speech to student-run communication organs across America: The Collegiate Network has supported independent college newspapers that serve to focus public awareness on the politicization of American college and university classrooms, curricula, student life, and the resulting decline of educational standards. Each year over 100 papers across the country enjoy the benefits of a membership with the Collegiate Network, and the number continues to grow. CN member papers have earned reputations for both in-depth reporting and witty commentary. They serve to raise the level of discourse on the campus and provide an outlet for students to keep university faculty and administrations honest. Many prominent journalists have got their start by working for a CN paper. Now that you know The Liberty's story, I want to ask a favor of you. Would you please seriously consider donating to The Liberty student newspaper. The Liberty staff would be glad to accept the financial help and in return delighted to mail you a copy of their publication, eight issues expected each student year once they get back on their feet from this attack on their free speech by a taxpayer run state university. I can only image our founders rolling over in their graves of the intimidations that comes mainly from a liberal administration filled with bullies who in like kind run too many of our campuses today. These campuses are the very ones that were supposed to be teaching students about their rights of free speech, which so many Americans have lost their lives protecting for more than two-hundred years. If you would like to make a donation to The Liberty newspaper , payments should be made to the OSU Students Alliance, which as previously mentioned is the student group that publishes the newspaper Their mailing address is as follows:: The Liberty Newspaper c/o OSU Students Alliance, Attn: Will Rogers, Publisher 103 Memorial Union #415 Corvallis, OR 97331 It should be noted that the student group has 501(c)(3) public charity status with the State of Oregon as an educational foundation, making donations tax-deductible. If you make a donation of $25 or more you will also receive at your option a one-year subscription to The Liberty. However, to be fair to these young journalists, I would mail them at least $50 or more as they will make little money for mailing issues during the school year at the requested minimum donation. If you do wish a one-year subscription to the newspaper with your donation, please advise The Liberty by providing them with your return address and intend of wanting issues mailed to you. And if you have further questions please click to e-mail the publisher, Will Rogers, at The Liberty. The newspaper staff expects to eventually have a Web site up that will archive issues. Through what Will Rogers has endured, I believe one can safely say he now has a better understanding of the motivation for the quote by Patrick Henry, when that early American proclaimed about the protection of his freedom, "Give me liberty or give me death." The Liberty is on Facebook Keep up Freedom is Knowledge @ www.freedomisknowledge.com "A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." - Gerald R. Ford

Drill Petroleum is a major part of America’s energy picture. Shall we get it here or abroad?

October 16, 2009 4:0

By Sarah Palin

Given that we’re spending billions of stimulus dollars to rebuild our highways, it makes sense to think about what we’ll be driving on them. For years to come, most of what we drive will be powered, at least in part, by diesel fuel or gasoline. To fuel that driving, we need access to oil. The less use we make of our own reserves, the more we will have to import, which leads to a number of harmful consequences. That means we need to drill here and drill now. We rely on petroleum for much more than just powering our vehicles: It is essential in everything from jet fuel to petrochemicals, plastics to fertilizers, pesticides to pharmaceuticals. Ac­cord­ing to the Energy Information Ad­min­is­tra­tion, our total domestic petroleum consumption last year was 19.5 million barrels per day (bpd). Motor gasoline and diesel fuel accounted for less than 13 million bpd of that. Meanwhile, we produced only 4.95 million bpd of domestic crude. In other words, even if we ran all our vehicles on something else (which won’t happen anytime soon), we would still have to depend on imported oil. And we’ll continue that dependence until we develop our own oil resources to their fullest extent. Those who oppose domestic drilling are motivated primarily by environmental considerations, but many of the countries we’re forced to import from have few if any environmental-protection laws, and those that do exist often go unenforced. In effect, American environmentalists are preventing responsible development here at home while supporting irresponsible development overseas. My home state of Alaska shows how it’s possible to be both pro-environment and pro-resource-development. Alaskans would never support anything that endangered our pristine air, clean water, and abundant wildlife (which, among other things, provides many of us with our livelihood). The state’s government has made safeguarding resources a priority; when I was governor, for instance, we created a petroleum-systems-integrity office to monitor our oil and gas infrastructure for any potential environmental risks. Alaska also shows how oil drilling is thoroughly compatible with energy conservation and renewable-energy development. Over 20 percent of Alas­ka’s electricity currently comes from renewable sources, and as governor I put forward a long-term plan to increase that figure to 50 percent by 2025. Alaska’s comprehensive plan identifies renewable options across the state that can help rural villages transition away from expensive diesel-generated electricity — allowing each community to choose the solution that best fits its needs. That’s important in any energy plan: Tempting as they may be to central planners, top-down, one-size-fits-all solutions are recipes for failure. For the same reason, the federal government shouldn’t push a single, uni­versal approach to alternative-powered vehicles. Electric cars might work in Los Angeles, but they don’t work in Alaska, where you can drive hundreds of miles without seeing many people, let alone many electrical sockets. And while electric and hybrid cars have their advantages, producing the electricity to power them still requires an energy source. For the sake of the environment, that energy should be generated from the cleanest source available. Natural gas is one promising clean alternative. It contains fewer pollutants than other fossil fuels, it’s easier to collect and process, and it is found throughout our country. In Alaska, we’re developing the largest private-sector energy project in history — a 3,000-mile, $40 billion pipeline to transport hundreds of trillions of cubic feet of natural gas to markets across the United States. Onshore and offshore na­tural gas from Alaska and the Lower 48 can satisfy a large part of our energy needs for decades, bringing us closer to energy independence. Whether we use it to power natural-gas cars or to run natural-gas power plants that charge electric cars — or ideally for both — natural gas can act as a clean “bridge fuel” to a future when more renewable sources are available. In addition to drilling, we need to build new refineries. America currently has roughly 150 refineries, down from over 300 in the 1970s. Due mainly to environmental regulations, we haven’t built a major new refinery since 1976, though our oil consumption has increased significantly since then. That’s no way to secure our energy supply. The post-Katrina jump in gas prices proved that we can’t leave ourselves at the mercy of a hurricane that knocks a few refineries out of commission. Building an energy-independent Amer­ica will mean a real economic stimulus. It will mean American jobs that can never be shipped overseas. Think about how much of our trade deficit is fueled by the oil we import — sometimes as much as half of the total. Through this massive transfer of wealth, we lose hundreds of billions of dollars a year that could be invested in our economy. Instead it goes to foreign countries, including some repressive regimes that use it to fund activities that threaten our security. Reliance on foreign sources of energy weakens America. When a riot breaks out in an OPEC nation, or a developing country talks about nationalizing its oil industry, or a petro-dictator threatens to cut off exports, the probability is great that the price of oil will shoot up. Even in friendly nations, business and financial decisions made for local reasons can de­stabilize Amer­i­ca’s energy market, since the price we pay for foreign oil is subject to rising and falling exchange rates. Decreasing our dependence on foreign sources of energy will reduce the impact of world events on our economy. In the end, energy independence is not just about the environment or the economy. It’s about freedom and confidence. It’s about building a more secure and peaceful America, an America in which our energy needs will not be subject to the whims of nature, currency speculators, or madmen in possession of vast oil reserves. Alternative sources of energy are part of the answer, but only part. There’s no getting around the fact that we still need to “drill, baby, drill!” And if those in D.C. say otherwise, we need to tell them: “Yes, we can!” — Sarah Palin was governor of Alaska from 2006 to 2009, and the Republican candidate for vice ­president in 2008. This article appears in the November 2, 2009, issue of National Review. http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=Nzc2ZjhjY2MwMWUyM2M4NTM5YWRjYTcwMTEzZTNjMTc#more Want to host your very own radio show for free??? Go now to www.uswebtalkradio.com

Thoughts from Hong Kong

23 September 2009

By Sarah Palin

Many have asked to see my remarks as presented in Hong Kong. Here is an excerpt: So far, I’ve given you the view from Main Street, USA. But now I’d like to share with you how a Common Sense Conservative sees the world at large. Later this year, we will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall – an event that changed not just Europe but the entire world. In a matter of months, millions of people in formerly captive nations were freed to pursue their individual and national ambitions. The competition that defined the post World War II era was suddenly over. What was once called “the free world” had so much to celebrate – the peaceful end to a great power rivalry and the liberation of so many from tyranny’s grip. Some, you could say, took the celebration too far. Many spoke of a “peace dividend,” of the need to focus on domestic issues and spend less time, attention and money on endeavors overseas. Many saw a peaceful future, where globalization would break down borders and lead to greater global prosperity. Some argued that state sovereignty would fade – like that was a good thing? – that new non-governmental actors and old international institutions would become dominant in the new world order. As we all know, that did not happen. Unfortunately, there was no shortage of warning signs that the end of the Cold War did not mean the end of history or the end of conflict. In Europe, the breakup of Yugoslavia resulted in brutal wars in the Balkans. In the Middle East, a war was waged to reverse Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. North Korea’s nuclear program nearly led to military conflict. In Africa, U.S. embassies were bombed by a group called al Qaeda. Two weeks ago, America commemorated the 8th anniversary of the savagery of September 11, 2001. The vicious terrorist attacks of that day made clear that what happened in lands far distant from American shores directly affect our security. We came to learn, if we did not know before, that there were violent fanatics who sought not just to kill innocents, but to end our way of life. Their attacks have not been limited to the United States. They attacked targets in Europe, North Africa and throughout the Middle East. Here in Asia, they killed more than 200 in a single attack in Bali. They bombed the Marriott Hotel and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. Last year in Mumbai, more than 170 were killed in coordinated attacks in the heart of India’s financial capital. In this struggle with radical Islamic extremists, no part of the world is safe from those who bomb, maim and kill in the service of their twisted vision. This war – and that is what it is, a war – is not, as some have said, a clash of civilizations. We are not at war with Islam. This is a war within Islam, where a small minority of violent killers seeks to impose their view on the vast majority of Muslims who want the same things all of us want: economic opportunity, education, and the chance to build a better life for themselves and their families. The reality is that al Qaeda and its affiliates have killed scores of innocent Muslim men, women and children. The reality is that Muslims from Algeria, Indonesia, Iraq, Afghanistan and many other countries are fighting al Qaeda and their allies today. But this will be a long war, and it will require far more than just military power to prevail. Just as we did in the Cold War, we will need to use all the tools at our disposal – hard and soft power. Economic development, public diplomacy, educational exchanges, and foreign assistance will be just as important as the instruments of military power. During the election campaign in the U.S. last year, you might have noticed we had some differences over Iraq. John McCain and I believed in the strength of the surge strategy – because of its success, Iraq is no longer the central front in the war on terrorism. Afghanistan is. Afghanistan is where the 9/11 attacks were planned and if we are not successful in Afghanistan, al Qaeda will once again find safe haven there. As a candidate and in office, President Obama called Afghanistan the “necessary war” and pledged to provide the resources needed to prevail. However, prominent voices in the Democratic Party are opposing the additional U.S. ground forces that are clearly needed. Speaker of the House Pelosi, Defense Subcommittee Chairman Murtha, the Senate Armed Services Committee Chair, and many others, recently expressed doubts about sending additional forces! President Obama will face a decision soon when the U.S. Commander in Afghanistan requests additional forces to implement his new counterinsurgency strategy. We can win in Afghanistan by helping the Afghans build a stable representative state able to defend itself. And we must do what it takes to prevail. The stakes are very high. Last year, in the midst of the U.S. debate over what do to in Iraq, an important voice was heard – from Asia’s Wise Man, former Singaporean Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, who wrote in the Washington Post about the cost of retreat in Iraq. In that article, he prophetically addressed the stakes in Afghanistan. He wrote: “The Taliban is again gathering strength, and a Taliban victory in Afghanistan or Pakistan would reverberate throughout the Muslim world. It would influence the grand debate among Muslims on the future of Islam. A severely retrograde form of Islam would be seen to have defeated modernity twice: first the Soviet Union, then the United States. There would be profound consequences, especially in the campaign against terrorism.” That statesman’s words remain every bit as true today. And Minister Lee knows, and I agree, that our success in Afghanistan will have consequences all over the world, including Asia. Our allies and our adversaries are watching to see if we have the staying power to protect our interests in Afghanistan. That is why I recently joined a group of Americans in urging President Obama to devote the resources necessary in Afghanistan and pledged to support him if he made the right decision. That is why, even during this time of financial distress we need to maintain a strong defense. All government spending should undergo serious scrutiny. No programs or agencies should be automatically immune from cuts. We need to go back to fiscal discipline and unfortunately that has not been the view of the current Administration. They’re spending everywhere and with disregard for deficits and debts and our future economic competitiveness. Though we are engaged in two wars and face a diverse array of threats, it is the defense budget that has seen significant program cuts and has actually been reduced from current levels! First, the Defense Department received only ˝ of 1 % of the nearly trillion dollar Stimulus Package funding – even though many military projects fit the definition of “shovel-ready.” In this Administration’s first defense budget request for 2010, important programs were reduced or cancelled. As the threat of ballistic missiles from countries like North Korea and Iran grow, missile defense was slashed. Despite the need to move men and material by air into theaters like Afghanistan, the Obama Administration sought to end production of our C-17s, the work horse of our ability to project long range power. Despite the Air Force saying it would increase future risk, the Obama Administration successfully sought to end F-22 production – at a time when both Russia and China are acquiring large numbers of next generation fighter aircraft. It strikes me as odd that Defense Secretary Gates is the only member of the Cabinet to be tasked with tightening his belt. Now in the region I want to emphasize today: The reason I speak about defense is because our strong defense posture in Asia has helped keep the region safe and allowed it to prosper. Our Asian allies get nervous if they think we are weakening our security commitments. I worry about defense cuts not because I expect war but because I so badly want peace. And the region has enjoyed peace for so long because of our security commitment to our longstanding allies and partners. Asia has been one of the world’s great success stories. It is a region where America needs to assist with right mix of hard and soft power. While I have so much hope for a bright future in Asia, in a region this dynamic, we must always be prepared for other contingencies. We must work at this – work with our allies to ensure the region’s continued peace and prosperity. I know that you all -- like all of Asia and indeed the whole world – has a keen interest in the emergence of “China as a great power.” Over the past few decades China’s economic growth has been remarkable. So has the economic growth and political liberalization of all of our key allies in Asia, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Asia’s economic growth and political development, together with our forward military presence in the region and strong alliances, have allowed the region to prosper in peace for a long time. We hope that Asia will continue to be an engine of world economic growth, will continue to democratize and will remain at peace. Our future is now deeply linked to Asia’s success. Our children’s future. We must continue to strengthen our key alliance with Japan, a country going through its own democratic change. Together the U.S. and Japan built the security umbrella under which so many Asians prospered. While there is so much attention to China these days, we cannot forget the importance of Japan in helping to make this the “Pacific Century.” The recent elections in Japan demonstrated that voters wanted reform and an end to debt and stagnation. We have a substantial stake in Japan’s success -- our alliance with must continue to be the linchpin of regional security. With its open political system and vibrant democracy, South Korea wants to play a larger role on the international stage as well. Of course it wants us to work together toward a future where the peninsula is irreversibly denuclearized, and unified. But it also wants to play a global role. We need to work together with Japan, South Korea and our steadfast ally to the south, Australia, to make sure Asia remains peaceful and prosperous. Australia rightly reminds us to keep our eye on Southeast Asia, where Indonesia has proved that Islam and democracy can co-exist. Indonesia has fought extremism inside its own border and is consolidating a multi-ethnic democracy that is home to hundreds of millions of Muslims. Those who say Islam and democracy are incompatible insult our friends in Indonesia. Our great democratic friend India is also “looking East”, seeking a greater role in East Asia as well. Together with our allies we must help integrate India into Asia. If we do so we will have yet another strong democracy driving Asia’s economy and working on shared problems such as proliferation and extremism. And we must continue working with the region’s most dynamic economy, China. We all hope that China’s stated policy of a “Peaceful Rise” will be its future course. You know better than most the enormous change that has taken place in China over the last thirty years. Hundreds of millions of Chinese have been pulled out of poverty as China has undertaken economic reforms that have resulted in unprecedented growth. Even today, China’s economy is projected to grow by some 8%. It is helping to edge the world out of recession. China has amassed huge financial reserves. Chinese diplomats are engaged on every continent and, through its vote on the United Nations Security Council, China has become critical in gaining UN support on multilateral issues from Darfur to Iran to North Korea. Just four years ago, then-Deputy Secretary of State Bob Zoellick urged China to become a “responsible stakeholder” in the international system. He observed the many benefits to China of a “benign international environment.” The peaceful regional environment that China has enjoyed was created through the hard work of Americans, Japanese, South Koreans and Australians. Secretary Zoellick urged China to step up and play its role too. We are working with China to de-nuclearize North Korea. But to be a responsible member of the international community China should exert greater pressure on North Korea to denuclearize and undergo the fundamental reforms it needs. Zoellick urged China to play a greater role in stabilizing the international energy market by ceasing its support of dangerous regimes. China could play a role in stabilizing its ally Pakistan, and working for peace in Afghanistan. There are many areas where the U.S. and China can work together. And, we would welcome a China that wanted to assume a more responsible and active role in international politics. But Secretary Zoellick also noted that many of China’s actions create risk and uncertainty. These uncertainties led nations to “hedge” their relations with China because, in Zoellick’s words: “Many countries HOPE China will pursue a ‘Peaceful Rise’ but NONE will bet their future on it.” See: this is the heart of the issue with China: we engage with the hope Beijing becomes a responsible stakeholder, but we must takes steps in the event it does not. See? We all hope to see a China that is stable, peaceful, prosperous and free. But we must also work with our allies in the region and the world in the event China goes in a direction that causes regional instability. Asia is at its best when it is not dominated by a single power. In seeking Asia’s continued peace and prosperity, we should seek, as we did in Europe, an Asia “whole and free” – free from domination by any one power, prospering in open and free markets, and settling political differences at ballot boxes and negotiating tables. We can, must and should work with a “rising China” to address issues of mutual concern. But we also need to work with our allies in addressing the uncertainties created by China’s rise. We simply CANNOT turn a blind eye to Chinese policies and actions that can undermine international peace and security. China has some 1000 missiles aimed at Taiwan and no serious observer believes Taiwan poses a military threat to Beijing. Those same Chinese forces make our friends in Japan and Australia nervous. China provides support for some of the world’s most questionable regimes from Sudan to Burma to Zimbabwe. China’s military buildup raises concerns from Delhi to Tokyo because it has taken place in the absence of any discernable external threat. China, along with Russia, has repeatedly undermined efforts to impose tougher sanctions on Iran for its defiance of the international community in pursuing its nuclear program. The Chinese food and product safety record has raised alarms from East Asia and Europe to the United States. And, domestic incidents of unrest -- from the protests of Uighurs and Tibetans, to Chinese workers throughout the country rightfully make us nervous. It is very much in our interest and the interest of regional stability that China work out its own contradictions – between a dynamic and entrepreneurial private sector on the one hand and a one party state unwilling or unable to adjust to its own society’s growing needs and desires and demands, including a human being’s innate desire for freedom. I do not cite these issues out of any hostility toward China. Quite the contrary, I and all Americans of good faith hope for the Chinese people’s success. We welcome the rise that can be so good for all mankind. We simply urge China to rise responsibly. I simply believe we cannot ignore areas of disagreement as we seek to move forward on areas of agreement. Believe me, China does not hesitate to tell us when it thinks we are in the wrong. I mentioned China’s internal contradictions. They should concern us all. We hear many Chinese voices throughout that great country calling out for more freedom, and for greater justice. Twenty years ago, many believed that as China liberalized its economy, greater political freedom would naturally follow. Unfortunately that has not come to pass. Ummm, in fact, it seems China has taken great pains to learn what it sees as “the lesson” of the fall on the Berlin Wall and the demise of the Soviet Union: any easing of political constraints can inevitably spin out of control. But, in many ways, it is the essence of China’s political system that leads to concerns about its rise. Think about it. How many books and articles have been written about the dangers of India’s rise? Almost as large as China – and soon to be more populous – virtually no one worries about the security implications of India becoming a great power – just as a century ago the then-preeminent power, Great Britain, worried little about the rise of America to great power status. My point is that the more politically open and just China is, the more Chinese citizens of every ethnicity will settle disputes in courts rather than on the streets. The more open it is, the less we will be concerned about its military build-up and intentions. The more transparent China is, the more likely it is they we will find a true and lasting friendship based on shared values as well as interests. I am not talking about some U.S.-led “democracy crusade.” We cannot impose our values on other counties. Nor should we seek to. But the ideas of freedom, liberty and respect for human rights are not U.S. ideas, they are much more than that. They are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many other international covenants and treaties. They apply to citizens in Shanghai as much as they do to citizens in Johannesburg or Jakarta. And demands for liberty in China are Chinese, not American, demands. Just last year, many brave Chinese signed Charter 08, a Chinese document modeled on the great Czech statesman Vlacav Havel’s Charter 77. Charter 08 would not be unfamiliar to our Founding Fathers and was endorsed by Havel himself. No, we need not convince the Chinese people that they have inalienable rights. They are calling for those rights themselves. But we do have to worry about a China where the government suppresses the liberties its people hold dear. Nothing of what I am saying should be seen as meaning conflict with China is inevitable. Quite the contrary. As I said, we welcome China’s responsible rise. America and China stood together against fascism during World War II, before ravages took over in China – we were ready to stand together with China to shape international politics after World War II. Much has been accomplished since President Nixon’s fateful visit. And again, we stand ready to work with what we hope will be a more open and responsible China on the challenges facing the 21st century. All of you here know how deeply integrated the economies of the United States’ and China’s are. We rely on each other, sometimes unfortunately in unhealthy ways. America spends too much that we don’t have, and then we go to China as a lender of first resort. Our fiscal policy, lately, seems to be “tax, spend, borrow, tax some more, repeat” and then complain about how much debt China holds. America needs to gets its own fiscal house in order. That’s a Common Sense Conservative perspective. We can hardly complain that China holds so much of our debt when it’s over spending that created the debt. But here’s the reality. If in fact the United States does the “right” thing – if we spend less and save more – then China will also have to rebalance its economy. We need to export more to China – and we’d like China to consume more of our goods – just as we need to save and invest more. This vital process – so crucial to both countries – is impeded by problems of market access. We must talk about these issues with more candor. If China adopts policies that keep our highest value products out of their markets, by manipulating technical standards or licensing requirements, our economic relationship suffers. Our economic interdependence drives our relationship with China. I see a future of more trade with China and more American high-tech goods in China. But in order for that to happen, we need China to improve its rule of law and protect our intellectual property. We need to avoid protectionism and China’s flirtation with state-assisted “national champions.” On our part, we should be more open to Chinese investment where our national security interests are not threatened. In the end, though, our economic relationship will truly thrive when Chinese citizens and foreign corporations can hold the Chinese government accountable when their actions are unjust. I see a bright future for America in Asia. One based on the alliances that have gotten us this far, one based on free and open markets, one that integrates democratic India into East Asia’s political life and one in which China decides to be a responsible member of the international community and gives its people the liberty – the freedom – they so desperately want. Sadly, however, our largest free trade agreement ever in Asia, with South Korea, sits frozen in the Congress. In contrast, China is behaving wisely in negotiating free trade agreements throughout Asia. We want an Asia open to our goods and services. But if we do not get our free trade act together, we will be shut out by agreements Asians our making among themselves. All of you here follow global financial markets and economic policy closely, I know that it will come as no surprise to you that United States leadership on global trade and investment is being sorely tested at this moment. We are struggling with a monumental debate on whether fiscal discipline, or massive government spending, will drive a sustained recovery. We are struggling to repair the excesses that grew in our own economy and served as a trigger to a catastrophic collapse in the global financial system. And we are attempting to do so under the weight of a global imbalance of debt and trade deficits that are not only unbearable for the world’s mightiest economy, but also unacceptable in that they foster tensions between global economic partners like the United States and China. I am proud to be an American. As someone who has had the tremendous opportunity to travel throughout the United States and listen to the concerns of Americans in towns and cities across the country, I can tell you that there is a sense of despair and even crisis afoot in America that has the potential to shape our global investment and trade policies for years, and even decades to come. Never has the leadership of our government ever been more critical to keeping my country, and the world, on a path to openness, growth and opportunity in global trade and investment. It would of course be a mistake to put the entire burden of restoring the global economy on the backs of America’s leaders. There is plenty of work for all of us to do in this matter. Governments around the world must resist the siren call of trade protection to bring short term relief during a time of crisis. Those who use currency policy or subsidies to promote their nation’s exports should remain acutely aware that if there ever were a time in which such policies could be viewed as “tolerable,” that time has now passed. All participants who seek to find benefit in the global trading system must also take the responsibility of playing by the rules. The private sector has responsibilities as well. For instance, it should not be the responsibility of government to dictate the salaries of bankers or the ownership of companies. And yet, due of the excesses committed by some, this is exactly where we find ourselves now because government now owns substantial portions of the private economy – even, unbelievably, in the United States. These are challenging times for everyone, but we in the United States must humbly recognize that if we are to lead and to set the direction for the rest of the world, it must be by our example and not merely our words. And we must tread lightly when imposing new burdens on the imports of other countries. Well, CLSA: My country is definitely at a crossroad. Polling in the U.S. shows a majority of Americans no longer believe that their children will have a better future than they have had...that is a 1st. When members of America’s greatest generation – the World War II generation – lose their homes and their life savings because their retirement funds were wiped after the financial collapse, people feel a great anger. There is suddenly a growing sentiment to just “throw the bums out” of Washington, D.C. – and by bums they mean the Republicans and the Democrats. Americans are suffering from pay cuts and job losses, and they want to know why their elected leaders are not tightening their belts. It’s not lost on people that Congress voted to exempt themselves from the health care plan they are thrusting on the rest of the nation. There is a growing sense of frustration on Main Street. But even in the midst of crisis and despair, we see signs of hope. In fact, it’s a sea change in America, I believe. Recently, there have been protests by ordinary Americans who marched on Washington to demand their government stop spending away their future. Large numbers of ordinary, middle-class Democrats, Republicans, and Independents from all over the country marching on Washington?! You know something’s up! These are the same people who flocked to the town halls this summer to face their elected officials who were home on hiatus from that distant capital and were now confronted with the people they represent. Big town hall meetings – video clips circulating coverage – people watching, feeling not so alone anymore. The town halls and the Tea Party movement are both part of a growing grassroots consciousness among ordinary Americans who’ve decided that if they want real change, they must take the lead and not wait to be led. Real change – and, you know, you don’t need a title to do it. The “Tea Party Movement” is aptly named to remind people of the American Revolution – of colonial patriots who shook off the yoke of a distant government and declared their freedom from indifferent – elitist – rulers who limited their progress and showed them no respect. Today, Main Street Americans see Washington in similar terms. When my country again achieves financial stability and economic growth – when we roar back to life as we shall do – it will be thanks in large part to the hard work and common sense of these ordinary Americans who are demanding that government spend less and tax less and allow the private sector to grow and prosper. We’re not interested in government fixes; we’re interested in freedom! Freedom! Our vision is forward looking. People may be frustrated now, but we’re very hopeful too. And, after all, why shouldn’t we be? We’re Americans. We’re always hopeful. Thank you for letting me share some of that hope, and a view from Main Street with you. God Bless You. Sarah Palin Facebook 2009

Governor Palin Takes President Obama to School

21 September 2009

By Adrienne Ross

President Obama could learn a thing or two from Governor Palin. The president is in my state, the state of New York. In fact, today he will be a mere 35 miles from where I live as he speaks at Hudson Valley Community College. Yesterday he made media round after media round, causing some to wonder if these plethora of appearances are too much of a "good" thing. The New York Daily news reported: Obama will push his health care reforms on five morning news shows today, an unprecedented presidential feat that has stirred debate over whether Obama has hit the point of overexposure. [...] Obama's decision to hit five network shows today - ABC's "This Week With George Stephanopoulos," CNN's "State of the Nation," CBS' "Face the Nation," NBC's "Meet the Press" and Univision's "Al Punto with Jorge Ramos" - is known in media circles as "the Full Ginsburg." It is so named after William Ginsburg, who in 1998 became the first person to hit five shows in one Sunday as the attorney for White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Hillary Clinton later did it when she launched her presidential bid in 2007. Obama is the first President to even try, which just underscores his comfort level with the medium, experts said. Comfort level? Hmmm...Well, apparently he's not too comfortable with one particular media outlet, and that would be Fox News. It appears he's still pouting that they are not cheering, fainting, and getting tingly leg sensations at the mere sound of his voice. Therefore, he won't give them the time of day. For a president many tout as a brilliant politician, why has he thumbed his nose at the cable news show that leads all others? An L.A. Times article called "Top of the Ticket" stated: Latest ratings out for the second quarter of 2009 show the top-rated FNC having one of the best quarters in its entire history with prime-time ratings jumping an astounding 34%, not all of them Obama fans. That 8-11 p.m. slot is crucial for viewers -- and ad dollars -- which includes Fox's showcase "The O'Reilly Factor." Throughout the viewing day, Fox News did even better with its 1.2 million viewers, on average, more than doubling CNN's 598,000 and more than tripling third-place trailer MSNBC's average audience of 392,000. With the resistence of the American people to accept President Obama's Health Care Bill, one would think it a "brilliant" political move for him to have swallowed his intense dislike for the cable news channel he's always dissing and to have capitalized on the advantages of granting them an interview. Instead, didn't he dodge an opportunity to reach across the aisle, show he is not the ultra-partisan president he has been accused of being, and stand up to the hardball questions he would get from Fox that he would likely not get from other media outlets? GOP lawmakers said yes. A handful of Republican lawmakers, including Rep. Joe Wilson (S.C.), say that President Barack Obama is ignoring a large segment of the public by refusing to appear on Fox News. Obama is scheduled this weekend to appear on every major Sunday talk show except for “Fox News Sunday.” Fox News, which is considered more conservative-leaning than ABC, CBS, NBC and CNN, confirmed Obama will not be interviewed on its network on Sunday. Wilson, who was reprimanded this week by the House for his outburst at Obama last week, said that by excluding Fox, the president was not being fair. "If people are going to be on the Sunday talk shows, they should be on all of them,” Wilson said. [...] Freshman Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) said that the White House’s media strategy is an example of the president not living up to his promise to change the tone in Washington. “The only thing this shows is that the president is ignoring a very large segment of this country. He said he was going to reach across party lines and be a different kind of president, but so far he hasn’t followed through with real action,” Scalise said. Some House Democrats saw nothing wrong with Obama’s decision to forgo Fox. Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) said that it has become clear “which networks are really fair” while predicting that the president will eventually appear on “Fox News Sunday” in the future. So President Obama chose to appear on "really fair" networks while ignoring the likes of Fox News? Well, how interesting is that. I say the president has a lot to learn. Rewind to the 2008 campaign. People can say what they want about the McCain camp throwing Governor Palin to the wolves when they allowed the likes of Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson to have at her. Both Couric and Gibson had an agenda. Katie couldn't get past the abortion question and Charlie played a gotcha game with the Bush Doctrine question. Prior to both interviews, the McCain camp clearly knew that the interviewers were in the tank for Obama. We can go round and round about that decision, but there's one thing that stands out about the McCain camp as I consider that the President of the United States refused to appear on Fox News even as he seeks to win over the American people on health care: At least they didn't hide. I don't know why they refused to sit her down with Bill O'Reilly but instead sat her with Katie Couric and Charlie Gibson. But I do know she went on. I also know that when she returned to Alaska after the election, she invited Matt Lauer into her home and let him interview her. She didn't hide. I know, too, that upon her resignation announcement in July, Governor Palin didn't shy away from Andrea Mitchell but while fishing granted her an interview. Again, no hiding. The bottom line is that Governor Palin, demonstrating true leadership, has neither run away nor been shielded from those who have not exactly been in her corner. President Obama, on the other hand, has almost every media outlet in his back pocket, and he wouldn't even rise to the challenge of the one "fair and balanced" one that was sure to ask him the toughest questions--questions to which Americans want honest answers. He's not even campaigning anymore(or is he?); he's already got the job. And he's not lying about health care, right? So what's the problem? Maybe he'll answer that question while he visits with David Letterman tonight. Surely that'll be a tough interview. By Adrienne Ross - www.motivationtruth.com Want to host your very own radio show & for FREE??? Go to www.uswebtalkradio.com free taped 56min mp3 talk show

Alabama Women Donates $63,500 For Dinner With Sarah Palin & Wounded Warriors

19 September 2009

By Staff reports

Alabama Women Donates $63,500 For Dinner With Sarah Palin & Wounded Warriors Saturday, September 19, 2009 Huntsville, AL — A true fan of Governor Sarah Palin is paying $63,500 to have dinner with her. Cathy Maples of Huntsville, Ala., on Friday won the dinner in an Internet auction, which was a benefit for a charity that aids wounded veterans. Maples says she fully supports the military and the men and women fighting for this nation. Maples, who owns a defense contracting company, also says she's a "big advocate" for Palin, and would love to see her as president. Palin offered the dinner as part of the charity auction on eBay for the Ride 2 Recovery program, which supports wounded veterans through cycling programs. Organizers say the winner will have to foot the travel bill to meet up with Palin, likely in Alaska. Maples says that's no problem. -------------------------------------- Media that matters: www.uswebtalkradio.com

Lets look at 2010 first.... (Look back to Look ahead)

15 May 2009 ****

By Linda, Republicans For CA

The way the Left goes ballistic over Palin makes the GOP act like mice. The reason why there is no leadership in GOP is because whoever steps forward will be villified just like Palin. The Republican Party has NOT been a friend to conservatives. Just ask Rush about it. I was there at the CPAC in Washington DC and he really laid it on. His conclusion: Their agenda is almost indistinguishable from the liberal fascists, and this is an inevitable consequence of any 2-party system. Currently, Governor Sarah Palin is the only Republican politician who is in high demand on the talk show circuit, has galliardising support, is directly or indirectly responsible for developing massive email distribution lists, growing the online presence of conservative chat rooms, networking site and blogs and has the ability to fund-raise at the level of President Bush. Since the Nov. 4th election, most of the new conservative blogs and sites have been created on behalf of Sarah Palin or created by administrators supportive of Palin and/or her conservative positions. The online growth (blogs, youtube, conservative social networking) is Palin motivated and Palin targeted. The three largest national pro-Palin organizations, http://www.draftpalinforpresident.com/, http://www.teamsarah.org/ and the http://www.nfrw.org/links.htm have nearly 600,000 members. All three groups have a national organization, a fundraising apparatus and have utilized their membership lists, technology and networking capabilities to work on behalf of Senator Chambliss. DraftPalin and teamsarah only developed their networks in the last 200 plus days. These three sites, in combination with the other pro-Palin sites/blogs and networks will easily exceed the 1 million membership mark before the end of next year. The online Palin movement is the ONLY conservative network to adopt identical technology and networking platforms as the successful BO Presidential campaign. The Palin movement will be the critical factor in saving many Senators and House members in 2010, which is why liberals want Palin to become insignificant and shun from the national stage. We can’t forget Sarah Palin Radio http://www.wsradio.com/internet-talk-radio.cfm/shows/Sarah-Palin-Radio.html which has moved from 120th place at wsRadio to #7 in just 3 weeks. They are hoping that she will use this platform to speak directly, unfiltered to the American public, and I hope she does. Team Sarah is growing at the rate of about 150-200 new members every day, and is now over 64,000. When I joined 3 weeks ago it was just over 60,000. The RINO’s at the RNC may not like her, and the media hate her, but the regular people, like me, like her. I’ve already got a “You can keep the change, Palin 2012” bumpersticker on my car, and a Palin for President 2012 button. I have no doubt that if she decides to run in 2012 she will be able to raise the billion or more dollars that it will take to compete head to head with BO. She is the only politician that has actually inspired me, and a lot of others, to vote FOR her and not just against the other side. There are great things in store for her, all she has to do is reach out for it, and want it as much as we want her to want it. Newt would be great as RNC chair. What bugs me about Newt is that he doesn’t want to do the hard work to obtain a leadership position. For example in 2007, Newt said he would run for President only if people donated $30 million to him in a month’s time. In December 2007, Newt said he would consider running for RNC Chair if eonough people formed a “Draft Newt for RNC Chair”. Leadership means coming out and making the case for yourself. He wasted the greatest opportunity the GOP has had in the last generation. Had he been able to maintain his vows and keep spending in check we would have had a STRONG congress in 2000 that could have gotten down to real fiscal reforms. As much as he deserves some of the credit for the successes of the COA he deserves a certain share of the blame for the political climate in which we find ourselves today. ALSO remember Newt's hideously awful term as Speaker was the pre-eminent factor in the resurrection of Bill Clinton's presidency. Newt thought up a great campaign gimmick. His attempt to implement that gimmick was a ghastly failure. He's a fine strategist - but he's a terrible politician. Newt has long ago given in to the beltway, cocktail party mentality. Newt still dreams of getting the GOP nod himself. He is stuck with the perpetual dream of a fat boy who wants to be popular. He will never succeed, but he will try to undermine the prospects of other, better candidates. This photo was taken at their joint announcement of their support for the ascinine theory of 'Gorebal Warming!' Goodbye Newtie! You're a pain in the pelosi! He and pelosi already made the best commercial to use against Newt. Newt is a Republican/conservative fraud of the highest order. Of the Pelosi/Newt commercial on "climate change" which one is really the stooge/useful idiot for the other party??????????? Newt Gingrich: a younger version of Bob Dole. Let’s hope the Pubies don’t get Doled again like in ‘96! Newt has become so inconsistent that he is losing his credibility. Newt is smart but his eyes dart around all the time when he speaks. Shifty eyes to me appear to be a sign of a devious person. Sarah rocks! Newt slithers! Not even the fluid of nine tanna leaves can bring Newt's chances back to life. Us villagers already have our torches and pitchforks ready if he comes out. Newt is moot. Yesterday’s child. We are looking otward the future. And the future is Sarah Palin. The GOP can get onboard or stay at the station. Their choice. The Nuge is always right as usual. He should be syndicated throughout the country so that lefties get some truth. Okay, I appreciate Ted Nugent, but I really don’t feel inclined to read the political musings of anyone who writes the following sentences: “XXX is cool. It rocks.” No thank you. And the man is no Reagan, Churchill or Thatcher, which is what this country badly needs. Palin’s the one. I think for most RINOs, Sarah scares the pants off these guys because she is a direct threat to their control over the Republican Party. I also LOVE it that the Left feels very threatened by her. I will vote for ANYONE that the Left despises or feels threatened by. In 2012 Sarah Palin’s common sense approach will be the same breath of fresh air that Reagan was after the Carter debacle. The people that voted “for her” on Nov 2008 are not going to be swayed by anything the out of touch “leadership” attempts against her. The people are the “deciders” and Newt and the rest of the “leaders” will just have to go along with “the people’s choice in the next presidential election cycle. As far as I’m concerned, and as far as I can determine, Sarah is by far the front-runner for the conservatives/republicans who matter. The goal must be to find new faces of Conservatism and re-gain control of Government. As for Newt—get out of the way—or be swept up in history. He will make a good secretary of state in a new White House of led by Conservatives. She's admired and supported from Coast to Coast . . . Check out the MySpace Team Sarah. The people are from the East Coast to the West Coast, from the Rio Grand to the Canadian Border, from Key Largo to Honolulu. Newt, you're being used by the MSM. They know you are a has-been-there-done-that-ain't-gonna-do-it-again. Give it up and get a real job outside of politics. And Newt. Why don't you go take care of your sick wife. You are so 1990s. Newt, just like the RINOs in my tagline, you’re expendable. Sarah isn’t. Newt's nickname should really be "Neut" since he, single-glandedly, neutered everything he had stood for. 2010 and 2012 is going to be OUR year to choose OUR candidate. We will NOT allow the Media to hand us a RINO or other loser to vote for. THAT is part of what the TEA Parties have been all about. It’s THEM against US . . . Media and the “inside boys” against Normal US Citizen Taxpayers - people who do the right thing because it’s the right thing not because someone has passed a law that says we have to do the right thing. WE MUST KEEP MEDIA FROM HIJACKING THE ELECTIONS IN 2010 and 2012. --Linda, Republicans For CA

Remembering 9/11: We Are Americans

11 September 2009

By Sarah Palin

Today at 6:08am It has been eight years since the United States suffered the worst attack on our soil since Pearl Harbor. As we look back, we should take stock of what has transpired since then. We have sent our nation's soldiers into battlefields far from home to defend us. These brave men and women live in treacherous conditions, facing improvised roadside bombs, suicide bombers and other attacks. Yet they fight on in their mission to defend the United States and all of us without complaint. Our all-volunteer service is made up of Americans of all races, creeds, and economic backgrounds. These soldiers are on the front lines of this battle, and there are others in the fight as well. We must continue to give our utmost support to the United States military and those that support their efforts. In light of this, I have added my name to a letter sent to President Obama urging him to remain committed to prosecuting the War on Terror in Afghanistan. Never have so few defended the liberty of so many. We must continue to support their mission because they will continue to fight for us. President Reagan ended his first inaugural with this story: Under one such marker lies a young man-Martin Treptow-who left his job in a small town barber shop in 1917 to go to France with the famed Rainbow Division. There, on the western front, he was killed trying to carry a message between battalions under heavy artillery fire. We are told that on his body was found a diary. On the flyleaf under the heading, "My Pledge," he had written these words: "America must win this war. Therefore, I will work, I will save, I will sacrifice, I will endure, I will fight cheerfully and do my utmost, as if the issue of the whole struggle depended on me alone." The crisis we are facing today does not require of us the kind of sacrifice that Martin Treptow and so many thousands of others were called upon to make. It does require, however, our best effort, and our willingness to believe in ourselves and to believe in our capacity to perform great deeds; to believe that together, with God's help, we can and will resolve the problems which now confront us. And, after all, why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans. God bless you, and thank you. As we look back to that tragic day eight years ago we take pride in the fact that we came together as a nation in the days, months and years that followed. We rose to the challenge that fateful day and we still can. And why shouldn't we believe that? We are Americans. I thank all our servicemen and women, in and out of uniform, for keeping us safe over the last eight years in the face of enormous odds. Please thank a veteran today. They certainly do not look for those thanks, but they have more than earned it. - Sarah Palin Remarks from Sarah's Facebook Want to call & leave Sarah a message??? Call 828 305 9661 - Please give your first name & City & State

Obama and the Bureaucratization of Health Care

10 September 2009

By Sarah Palin

By SARAH PALIN Writing in the New York Times last month, President Barack Obama asked that Americans "talk with one another, and not over one another" as our health-care debate moves forward. I couldn't agree more. Let's engage the other side's arguments, and let's allow Americans to decide for themselves whether the Democrats' health-care proposals should become governing law. Some 45 years ago Ronald Reagan said that "no one in this country should be denied medical care because of a lack of funds." Each of us knows that we have an obligation to care for the old, the young and the sick. We stand strongest when we stand with the weakest among us. We also know that our current health-care system too often burdens individuals and businesses—particularly small businesses—with crippling expenses. And we know that allowing government health-care spending to continue at current rates will only add to our ever-expanding deficit. How can we ensure that those who need medical care receive it while also reducing health-care costs? The answers offered by Democrats in Washington all rest on one principle: that increased government involvement can solve the problem. I fundamentally disagree. View Full Image Associated Press . Common sense tells us that the government's attempts to solve large problems more often create new ones. Common sense also tells us that a top-down, one-size-fits-all plan will not improve the workings of a nationwide health-care system that accounts for one-sixth of our economy. And common sense tells us to be skeptical when President Obama promises that the Democrats' proposals "will provide more stability and security to every American." With all due respect, Americans are used to this kind of sweeping promise from Washington. And we know from long experience that it's a promise Washington can't keep. Let's talk about specifics. In his Times op-ed, the president argues that the Democrats' proposals "will finally bring skyrocketing health-care costs under control" by "cutting . . . waste and inefficiency in federal health programs like Medicare and Medicaid and in unwarranted subsidies to insurance companies . . . ." First, ask yourself whether the government that brought us such "waste and inefficiency" and "unwarranted subsidies" in the first place can be believed when it says that this time it will get things right. The nonpartistan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) doesn't think so: Its director, Douglas Elmendorf, told the Senate Budget Committee in July that "in the legislation that has been reported we do not see the sort of fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount." Now look at one way Mr. Obama wants to eliminate inefficiency and waste: He's asked Congress to create an Independent Medicare Advisory Council—an unelected, largely unaccountable group of experts charged with containing Medicare costs. In an interview with the New York Times in April, the president suggested that such a group, working outside of "normal political channels," should guide decisions regarding that "huge driver of cost . . . the chronically ill and those toward the end of their lives . . . ." Given such statements, is it any wonder that many of the sick and elderly are concerned that the Democrats' proposals will ultimately lead to rationing of their health care by—dare I say it—death panels? Establishment voices dismissed that phrase, but it rang true for many Americans. Working through "normal political channels," they made themselves heard, and as a result Congress will likely reject a wrong-headed proposal to authorize end-of-life counseling in this cost-cutting context. But the fact remains that the Democrats' proposals would still empower unelected bureaucrats to make decisions affecting life or death health-care matters. Such government overreaching is what we've come to expect from this administration. Speaking of government overreaching, how will the Democrats' proposals affect the deficit? The CBO estimates that the current House proposal not only won't reduce the deficit but will actually increase it by $239 billion over 10 years. Only in Washington could a plan that adds hundreds of billions to the deficit be hailed as a cost-cutting measure. The economic effects won't be limited to abstract deficit numbers; they'll reach the wallets of everyday Americans. Should the Democrats' proposals expand health-care coverage while failing to curb health-care inflation rates, smaller paychecks will result. A new study for Watson Wyatt Worldwide by Steven Nyce and Syl Schieber concludes that if the government expands health-care coverage while health-care inflation continues to rise "the higher costs would drive disposable wages downward across most of the earnings spectrum, although the declines would be steepest for lower-earning workers." Lower wages are the last thing Americans need in these difficult economic times. Finally, President Obama argues in his op-ed that Democrats' proposals "will provide every American with some basic consumer protections that will finally hold insurance companies accountable." Of course consumer protection sounds like a good idea. And it's true that insurance companies can be unaccountable and unresponsive institutions—much like the federal government. That similarity makes this shift in focus seem like nothing more than an attempt to deflect attention away from the details of the Democrats' proposals—proposals that will increase our deficit, decrease our paychecks, and increase the power of unaccountable government technocrats. Instead of poll-driven "solutions," let's talk about real health-care reform: market-oriented, patient-centered, and result-driven. As the Cato Institute's Michael Cannon and others have argued, such policies include giving all individuals the same tax benefits received by those who get coverage through their employers; providing Medicare recipients with vouchers that allow them to purchase their own coverage; reforming tort laws to potentially save billions each year in wasteful spending; and changing costly state regulations to allow people to buy insurance across state lines. Rather than another top-down government plan, let's give Americans control over their own health care. Democrats have never seriously considered such ideas, instead rushing through their own controversial proposals. After all, they don't need Republicans to sign on: Democrats control the House, the Senate and the presidency. But if passed, the Democrats' proposals will significantly alter a large sector of our economy. They will not improve our health care. They will not save us money. And, despite what the president says, they will not "provide more stability and security to every American." We often hear such overblown promises from Washington. With first principles in mind and with the facts in hand, tell them that this time we're not buying it. Ms. Palin, Sen. John McCain's running mate in the 2008 presidential election, was governor of Alaska from December 2006 to July 2009.

Shame on the Associated Press for Ignoring the Wishes of a Grieving Family

6 September 2009

By Sarah Palin

Shame on the Associated Press for Ignoring the Wishes of a Grieving Family Many of us join Secretary Gates in condemning the Associated Press for its heartless and selfish decision to turn its back on the wishes of a grieving family in order to exploit the tragic death of a true American hero. Lance Corporal Joshua 'Bernie' Bernard was a selfless young American who sacrificed everything for our freedom. Shame on the AP for purposely adding to the grieving family's pain. Ignoring the family's wishes by publishing a sacred image of their loved one proved a despicable and heartless act by the AP. The family said they didn't want the photo published. AP, you did it anyway, and you know it was an evil thing to do. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Bernard family. Words can not adequately express our sorrow and appreciation for your sacrifice. We will never forget your Marine or his fallen comrades. May God bless the Bernard family. -Sarah Palin Facebook - 2009

Want to have Dinner with former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin? Bid on dinner at Ebay !!

4 Sept 2009

By News of Barnardsville

The former Republican Vice Presidential Candidate, Sarah Palin is offering the dinner as part of a charity auction on eBay for the Ride 2 Recovery program, which supports wounded veterans through cycling programs. The 10-day auction starts at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday. The opening bid for dinner for five with Palin is $25,000, and meet up with her in Alaska. There are nine other celebrity items in the auction, including lunch with former Bush aide Karl Rove. That opening bid is $7,500. By comparison, $2.1 million was paid in 2008 for a lunch with financial guru Warren Buffett. Read more here: ■ http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&useridride2recoveryfcf also www.uswebtalkradio.com

Sarah Palin vs. Dr. Death

September 02, 2009

By Stuart Schwartz

Ezekiel Emanuel is upset. The president's health care czar sees the growing resistance to his vision, to his brave new world of government-run "communitarian" health care in which politicians and bureaucrats control one-sixth of the economy and 100% of our bodies. He doesn't quite understand how it all came apart on him, but he does know who started the unraveling: Sarah Palin. Where does she get off attacking him? Sarah Palin, it seems forever Sarah Palin. And he wonders, as have so many others, what it takes to put a stake through her heart? People should listen to him, not Sarah Palin. He is the philosopher king of Democrat health care. And he went to Harvard, you know. One day he was vacationing in the Italian Alps, a top-level government bureaucrat and Democrat insider enjoying the fruits of his labors on behalf of the common good. Government health care was cruising and Zeke was the guy Time magazine predicted will build the most "equitable and ethical" health care system north of Cuba. Marty Peretz, his friend and publisher of The New Republic,described him as quintessential Harvard, "very impressive" and stuffed with "gravitas." And then he got the call: Sarah Palin had done the unthinkable. She had read the health care bill. Mainstream journalists hadn't read the bill. Congress hadn't read its own bill. But Sarah Palin did. Sarah Palin! He has a medical degree and doctorate in political philosophy from Harvard. The only Harvard she's knows is the chunk of ice off Prince William Sound, Harvard Glacier. Then she writes something on Facebook -- Facebook, for Obama's sake! -- and suddenly the president, congress, the media, and everyone who is anyone inside the beltway is scurrying for cover. Palin wrote that she wanted nothing to do with Obama's "death panel," the collection of bureaucrats who Zeke was so proudly putting together to assess the "level of productivity" that would determine individual access to medical care They went after her, but...it was over. Everyone was talking death panels. Sarah Palin had let people know: if you're old, if you're sick, if you're disabled, they're targeting you. It became Mrs. Mom vs. Dr. Death, the governor vs. the terminator. She cut through the rhetoric, the academic jargon, and adoring press to the truth: Ezekiel Emanuel and Barack Obama and the Democrat-led Congress are putting in place a health care system that will control the lives -- and deaths -- of citizens to an extent never seen in this republic. Her reaction:"we're saying not just no, but hell no! And Zeke is upset. A slam-dunk had been transformed into an epic battle and, as an American Thinker commentator put it, ObamaCare turned into a "sick joke." That's not how it's supposed to be -- he went to Harvard, you know. Ezekiel Emanuel "abhors" what she's done. She read his articles, which "even well-educated people" would have a difficult time understanding. And she's certainly not well educated. She's a graduate of the University of Idaho, where they probably write doctoral dissertations in crayon. And she only has a bachelor's degree -- in communications, for Obama's sake!? It's as if the waitress at the Harvard Faculty Club had, instead of a check, taken out a baseball bat and cold-cocked him. Or the ball girl at the tennis event sponsored by the Harvard Club of Washington DC had reared back and smacked a Dunlop A-Player right into his groin. This is not supposed to happen -- he went to Harvard, you know. This is crazy! People are packing town halls in protest. They are listening to Sarah Palin and not Zeke, who has been a fellow at Oxford -- the one in England, not the suburb of Fairbanks. And he has written nine books, almost a dozen chapters in other books, and more than 225 other pieces on bioethics and morality. And certified as a genius by The New York Times, which hired him as a book reviewer for its Sunday newspaper And yet, this, this... this Facebook writer described his thinking as "downright evil." And demanded that he explain why he's trying to put in place centralized health care that "would refuse to allocate medical resources to the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled who have less economic potential." Evil!? Sarah Palin called him evil!? She said "death panels," he didn't. Hey, some lives are worth more to society than others. Therefore, health services cannot be guaranteed for individuals like Trig, Palin's baby with Down Syndrome, who are "irreversibly prevented" from contributing to the public good. There is a subtle difference. Sarah Palin simply does not understand. No nuance. She did not go to Harvard, nor is she a board member of Princeton University's Center for Human Values, where Zeke provides support for philosopher Peter Singer. Singer is best known for the view that fetuses and many disabled have less of a right to live than, say, fully functioning humans and "adult gorillas and chimpanzees." No, Zeke believes that those who know better, who understand morality, should make decisions for those less able to do so. Like Sarah Palin. Like Trig. Like your grandma. And this is because he cares. Just ask him: "I hope at the end of the day I can make things better for people, especially vulnerable people." As an original member of the academic "communitarian" movement, he has pledged to establish "just" health care by means that are "nondemocratic or practice discrimination." A just society doesn't simply happen, he explains. You can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs... so to speak. So when Sarah Palin says she doesn't want her "baby with Down Syndrome" to stand in front of his medical panels... that shows just how unsophisticated her thinking really is. She has already made the anti-social choice of giving birth to a child with a severe disability, who will never be able to live the "complete life" outlined by Zeke on behalf of the government. Therefore, it is the responsibility of a health care system that operates in the public good to deny Trig -- or grandma, for that matter -- health services that are better used elsewhere. Sarah Palin, not the government, is to blame. She chose to have Trig. She forced a situation that provides her with, as Zeke puts it, "bleak choices." And so government, for the sake of the common good, may deny Trig medical care. And may do the same with the elderly, the severely disabled, and others who fall low on the "complete life" value scale. It is the best way, the moral way, the smart way. And Zeke knows smart -- he went to Harvard, you know. Stuart H. Schwartz, Ph.D., is a former newspaper and retail executive. He is on the faculty at Liberty University in Virginia. Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/09/sarah_palin_vs_dr_death.html Want to host a free radio show? www.uswebtalkradio.com Yes, 100%free..

Looking for a leader, Tea Partiers issue invite to Palin

September 2nd, 2009

By News Daily

Looking for a leader, Tea Partiers issue invite to Palin Posted: September 2nd, 2009 10:53 PM ET As the Tea Party Express makes its way across the country, Sarah Palin has emerged as a favorite daughter of the movement, and organizers have invited her to join the tour — or at least come to the final stop in the nation's capital. The bus is scheduled to end its nationwide journey in Washington on Saturday, September 12. "We've been in touch with her people, letting her know the response that we've gotten. She's very suportive of the movement," says Joe Wierzbicki, one of the organizers traveling on the Tea Party Express. So far, no politician has emerged as a leader of the Tea Party movement – and the question of just who might eventually take up the mantle is a hot topic on the bus. Nobody may be better positioned than Palin — but organizers, some of the most motivated members of the conservative base, still say she'll need to earn that title. "Right now there's a handful of people who strike a chord with the tea party base, and she is certainly one of those people," says Wierzbicki. "Whether or not she emerges as one of those leaders, that's between her and the American people." Sal Russo, another organizer of the Tea Party Express, launched his career in conservative politics working for Ronald Reagan's California gubernatorial campaign in 1966. Russo thinks Palin might emerge as a leader of the Tea Party movement – but she'll have to earn that title first. "I think it's a possibility," he says. "When the election was over in November, I think her support was a lot stronger than it is today. She's got to kind of get her act together, and develop a presence with the public that inspires some confidence. "She could be the kind of person that becomes the leader of the Tea Party movement, but she hasn't done anything yet to assume that role." At tea party protests, Palin's is the name heard most often amongst participants. In El Paso, Texas Wednesday, the crowd chanted "Sar-rah, Sar-rah." One hot item: "Draft Sarah Palin 2012″ t-shirts. >> www.draftpalinforpresident.com Tom and Susan Mendez came to the tea party in Albuquerque looking for a leader. They have two homes in foreclosure. Tom, a general contractor, is having trouble finding work. "This movement needs direction," he told CNN. He said he fears the concerns of the tea partiers may not be heard in Washington. "They're not getting the message from us, so they need to get the message from someone. Maybe Sarah Palin." His wife Susan lit up at the mention of Palin's name. She voted for Ron Paul last year, and has a dream ticket in mind. "Palin and Paul sound good to me," she said.

I support Sarah and I ain't shy about it!

2 Sept 2009

By Jeff J.

I support Sarah because we need a genuine outside-the- beltway conservative who doesn't consider those entrenched politicians her "esteemed colleagues", isn't going to go to DC just to attend parties and make networking opportunities, and is ready to take back the America we used to know. To me, Sarah IS the heir to Ronald Reagan and that's why the media hate her so much because they are afraid of her. When someone tells me Sarah doesn't have "enough" experience to be President, I laugh and ask them, "Compared to who? That ridiculous peanut farmer one term governor from Georgia in '76? Or do you mean the philandering draft dodger from Podunk, Arkansas in '92? Or perhaps you mean that "community organizer" who spent a total of 45 days in the Senate before announcing his candidacy? In fact, who HAVE you run that had more experience than Sarah?". Then, I call them a sexist to their face for having the presumptuous audacity to even attempt suggesting Sarah doesn't have "enough" experience when everyone they've run had less! Then I remind them that the least experienced President we've ever had was that one-term Congressman from Springfield, IL named Abraham Lincoln, that the most experienced President was James Buchanan whose incompetence led us into civil war, and that if long term experience was a desired trait in our leaders we should be loving those entrenched bozos currently in the House and Senate. And of course don't forget that human gaff machine Biden! LOL The way I see it, the media are nothing but treasonous shills for the Democrat party and if I allow them to choose my potential leaders through charactor assassination of the ones they fear the most, we will have lost before we've begun. So I am NOT shy when someone gives me one of those blue-nosed, "What? PLEASE don't tell me you actually like Sarah Palin!", I tell them exactly what I think (see above) of such snide comments about a brave women who is EXACTLY what we need in Washington. God bless and keep Sarah Palin and I will follow her to HELL and back if necessary and it most likely will be! Best, Jeff J Want to call & leave Sarah a message?? Return to the home page to find out how. www.draftpalinforpresident.com Do a radio show?? www.uswebtalkradio.com

Sarah Palin to Speak at Hong Kong Investor Forum

31 August

By Bruce Einhorn

Sarah Palin to Speak at Hong Kong Investor Forum Posted by: Bruce Einhorn on August 31 Bill Clinton. Al Gore. Alan Greenspan. Sarah Palin? CLSA, the Hong Kong-based brokerage, announced today that the hockey mom who quit her job as Alaska governor last month will be the keynote speaker at its annual investor conference in September. The CLSA forum is a big deal, having attracted not only Clinton, Gore and Greenspan in the past but also heavyweights like Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Walt Disney boss Michael Eisner and scientist Craig Venter (who founded the Institute for Genomic Research and led the team that sequenced the human genome). In a press release, CLSA (in which France’s Credit Agricole is the major shareholder) boasts that it “consistently sets the benchmark for original and thought-provoking content.” The press release from CLSA also has this surprising bit of news: The trip to Hong Kong will be Palin’s first trip to this part of the world. “We are delighted that she will make her first visit to Asia to speak at the CLSA Investors’ Forum,” the statement quoted CLSA chairman and CEO Jonathan Slone saying. During last year’s campaign, the governor touted her state’s proximity to (the Asian part of) Russia as proof of her foreign-policy bona fides, so I’m surprised to read that she has never actually been here. It’s great that Palin finally plans on making it to Asia. However, a word of caution to people hoping to attend CLSA’s forum: According to this story in the Anchorage Daily News, people counting on Palin to be their keynote speaker sometimes get stood up. “Organizers of an Anchorage event that has been billing Sarah Palin for weeks as a star speaker were left scrambling Wednesday after learning that the former governor won’t be there for tonight’s event and claims to have never been asked,” the newspaper reported last Wednesday. “It would be at least the fourth time in recent months that an anticipated Palin speech has fallen through after Palin and her camp disputed they had ever confirmed it. That includes the brouhaha over whether she’d speak at the annual congressional Republican fundraising dinner in Washington, D.C., this summer.” Might the same thing happen to CLSA? The press release from the brokerage announcing its plans to host Palin doesn’t include any statement from the former veep candidate herself, and there’s no word yet on her Facebook page or her PAC’s website about the Hong Kong gig. Still, CLSA says there’s no reason to be worried. “It’s confirmed,” says Mandy Ho, a CLSA spokesperson. “She will be a speaker at our forum.” TrackBack URL for this entry: http://blogs.businessweek.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/15365.1412814644

Will you help Sarah??? Must Read.....

30 August 2009

By The Alaska Fund Trust

The Alaska Fund Trust is the official legal fund created to defend the integrity of the Alaska Governor's Office from an onslaught of political attacks launched against current Governor Sarah Palin, the First Family, and state-employed colleagues. These baseless accusations have cost Alaska more than $1 million in public monies to defend, and Governor Palin has incurred more than half a million dollars in personal debt defending her official actions as Governor. You can help by donating to the Alaska Fund Trust today! Statement of Trustee Kristan Cole "Over the past months it became increasingly clear that supporters of Governor Palin needed to help defend against the onslaught of frivolous attacks against her. These baseless accusations are designed to inhibit her ability to focus on the issues Alaskans truly care about and force massive personal debt on her and her family. I joined with fellow Alaskans in forming the Alaska Fund Trust to help alleviate the Governor's legal debt incurred while performing her job as well as eliminate the incentive for future attacks by her opponents. In doing so, we have created one of the most restrictive and transparent legal funds in history." Go Now to: http://www.thealaskafundtrust.com/

Letter from an Alaskan Fisherman

29 August 2008

By Dewie Whetsell

The last 45 of my 66 years I've spent in a commercial fishing town in Alaska. I understand Alaska politics but never understood national politics well until this last year. Here's the breaking point: Neither side of the Palin controversy gets it. It's not about persona, style, rhetoric; it's about doing things. Even Palin supporters never mention the things that I'm about to mention here. 1- Democrats forget when Palin was the Darling of the Democrats, because as soon as Palin took the Governor's office away from a fellow Republican and tough SOB, Frank Murkowski, she tore into the Republican's "Corrupt Bastards Club" (CBC) and sent them packing. Many of them are now residing in State housing and wearing orange jump suits. The Democrats reacted by skipping around the yard, throwing confetti and singing "la la la la" (well, you know how they are). Name another governor (in either party) in this country who has ever done anything similar. But while you're thinking, I'll continue. 2- Now with the CBC gone, there were fewer Alaskan politicians to protect the huge, giant oil companies here. So, she constructed and enacted a new system of splitting the oil profits called "ACES." Exxon (the biggest corporation in the world) protested and Sarah told them "don't let the door hit you in the stern on your way out." They stayed, and Alaska residents went from being merely wealthy to being filthy rich. Of course the other huge international oil companies meekly fell in line. Again, give me the name of any other governor in the country that has done anything similar. 3- The other thing she did when she walked into the governor's office is she got the list of State requests for federal funding for projects, known as "pork." She went through the list, took 85% of them and placed them in the "when-hell-freezes-over" stack. She let locals know that if we need something built, we'll pay for it ourselves. Maybe she figured she could use the money she got from selling the previous governor's jet because it was extravagant. Maybe she could use the money she saved by dismissing the governor's cook (remarking that she could cook for her own family), giving back the State vehicle issued to her, maintaining that she already had a car, and dismissing her State provided security force (never mentioning-I imagine-that she's packing heat herself). I'm still waiting to hear the names of those other governors. 4- Now, even with her much-ridiculed "gosh and golly" mannerism, she also managed to put together a totally new approach to getting a natural gas pipeline built which will be the biggest private construction project in the history of North America. No one else could do it although they tried. If that doesn't impress you, then you're trying too hard to be unimpressed while watching her do things like this while baking up a batch of brownies with her other hand. 5- For 30 years, Exxon held a lease to do exploratory drilling at a place called Point Thompson. They made excuses the entire time why they couldn't start drilling. In truth they were holding it like an investment. No governor for 30 years could make them get started. This summer, she told them she was revoking their lease and kicking them out. They protested and threatened court action. She shrugged and reminded them that she knew the way to the court house. Alaska won again. 6- President Obama wants the nation to be on 25% renewable resources for electricity by 2025. Sarah went to the legislature and submitted her plan for Alaska to be at 50% renewables by 2025. We are already at 25%. I can give you more specifics about things done, as opposed to style and persona. Everybody wants to be cool, sound cool, look cool. But that's just a cover-up. I'm still waiting to hear from liberals the names of other governors who can match what mine has done in two and a half years. I won't be holding my breath. By the way, she was content to return to AK after the national election and go to work, but the haters wouldn't let her. Now these adolescent screechers are obviously not scuba divers. And no one ever told them what happens when you continually jab and pester a barracuda. Without warning, it will spin around and tear your face off. Shoulda known better. Want to host a free radio show?? www.uswebtalkradio.com

Palin Wins One For the Gipper

August 24, 2009

By Patrick S. Adams

If it had been written from the Governor's desk, an ethics violation would have been filed because she used her office to advance her national agenda. If it had been said during a Katie Couric interview, it would have been another "I can see Russia from my house" joke. If it had been said at a campaign rally, it would have been glossed over or not reported. But because she said it from her Facebook page, bypassing all of the processes described above, it resonated and it resonated loudly. In using the quotationed words "death panel," Sarah Palin not only "won one for the good guys" as Seah Hannity so eloquently complimented her, she won one for the Gipper as well, and turned the tide on the media loving Obama-ites in the process. Ronald Reagan must be looking down from Heaven with a smile holding the LP record he recorded in early 1961 on Socialized Medicine. That was the first time the "death panel maneuver" was used to circumvent the press and go directly to the people on the issue of health care reform. Sarah Palin knows Ronald Reagan. She carries his presence and his philosophy in her servant's heart. And the liberals hate it. Before the mainstream media had a chance to rebut the "death panel" statement, Sarah Palin's Facebook page note was rocketing across the internet, being linked to every computer in America via Twitter, TeamSarah.org and Conservatives4Palin.com. Suddenly, conservative columnists, radio show hosts and TV show hosts were all over it before CNN, the Washington Post and MSNBC could have it fact checked incorrectly without the use of the quotation marks. Sarah Palin has defeated the Kobayashi Maru of politics. She resigned the office of Governor to "affect positive change.” So far, it's working. "When the leader of the free world is complaining about a posting on the former governor of Alaska’s Facebook page, he’s got problems," Chris Stirewalt writes in The Washington Examiner piece "The Thrill is Gone for Obama and the Media." Is there schadenfreude in knowing that the same media that short circuited Palin's vice presidential run is now the same media that is frustrated by the people not getting their message on health care reform? Or is just that the people aren't listening to the mainstream media anymore? Howard Kurtz complains in The Washington Post that despite all the media coverage, the Obama position is not winning: Perhaps journalists are no more trusted than politicians these days, or many folks never saw the knockdown stories. But this was a stunning illustration of the traditional media's impotence. Still, it was a stretch for White House officials, who have a huge megaphone, to blame media coverage for the sinking popularity of health reform. It was equally odd for Gibbs to tell reporters that stories about Obama backing away from a government-run health plan were "entirely contrived by you guys" -- this after Gibbs and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had said on Sunday morning shows that such a plan was not an essential part of Obama's proposal. For all the sound and fury, news organizations have labored to explain the intricacies of the competing blueprints. "NBC Nightly News" ran a piece examining how Obama's public health-insurance option would work. ABC's "World News " did a fact check on the end-of-life provision in the bill. "CBS Evening News" highlighted problems with the current system by interviewing some of the 1,500 people waiting at a free makeshift clinic in Los Angeles. Time ran a cover story on health care, titled "Paging Dr. Obama." And major newspapers have been filled with articles examining the nitty-gritty details. Those who say the media haven't dug into the details aren't looking very hard. But the healthy dose of coverage has largely failed to dispel many of the half-truths and exaggerations surrounding the debate. Even so, news organizations were slow to diagnose the depth of public unease about the unwieldy legislation. For the moment, the story, like the process itself, remains a muddle. No, Mr. Kurtz, the American people understand the story. There is no muddle about popular opposition to the measure. The only muddle is in the brains of elitists and the mainstream media who get thrills up their legs when Obama speaks. The key to a Republican comeback lies in the moment that the American people realize the media has been lying to them. That moment may have just arived as citizens across the country read the health care bill and tweet links to its harshest provisions. The American people are doing just what Sarah Palin is doing. They are bypassing the media and communicating with each other via social networks. The opposition to Obamacare is found in a grassroots that is now growing into a full blown natural turf lawn. Those in the media and the Obama Administration want to "cut that lawn." They mistook it for Astroturf. But Astroturf can't grow beyone its articificial capacity. Natural turf will overtake the land if its not "kept under control." Our nation's founders would call this patch of grass "We the People." The mainstream media and the propaganda arm of the Obama Administration have just met their death panel: the American people. Read more: http://reagantman.blogtownhall.com/2009/08/24/palin_wins_one_for_the_gipper.thtml Want to host a radio show?? A FREE radio show - Go now to www.uswebtalkradio.com Host your show now & for Free.....100% free

No Health Care Reform Without Legal Reform (by Sarah Palin)

21 August 2009

By Sarah Palin

No Health Care Reform Without Legal Reform Yesterday at 7:03am President Obama's health care "reform" plan has met with significant criticism across the country. Many Americans want change and reform in our current health care system. We recognize that while we have the greatest medical care in the world, there are major problems that we must face, especially in terms of reining in costs and allowing care to be affordable for all. However, as we have seen, current plans being pushed by the Democratic leadership represent change that may not be what we had in mind -- change which poses serious ethical concerns over the government having control over our families’ health care decisions. In addition, the current plans greatly increase costs of health care, while doing lip service toward controlling costs. We need to address a REAL bipartisan reform proposition that will have REAL impacts on costs and quality of patient care. As Governor of Alaska, I learned a little bit about being a target for frivolous suits and complaints (Please, do I really need to footnote that?). I went my whole life without needing a lawyer on speed-dial, but all that changes when you become a target for opportunists and people with no scruples. Our nation’s health care providers have been the targets of similar opportunists for years, and they too have found themselves subjected to false, frivolous, and baseless claims. To quote a former president, “I feel your pain.” So what can we do? First, we cannot have health care reform without tort reform. The two are intertwined. For example, one supposed justification for socialized medicine is the high cost of health care. As Dr. Scott Gottlieb recently noted, “If Mr. Obama is serious about lowering costs, he'll need to reform the economic structures in medicine—especially programs like Medicare.” [1] Two examples of these “economic structures” are high malpractice insurance premiums foisted on physicians (and ultimately passed on to consumers as “high health care costs”) and the billions wasted on defensive medicine. Dr. Stuart Weinstein, with the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, recently explained the problem: ”The medical liability crisis has had many unintended consequences, most notably a decrease in access to care in a growing number of states and an increase in healthcare costs. Access is affected as physicians move their practices to states with lower liability rates and change their practice patterns to reduce or eliminate high-risk services. When one considers that half of all neurosurgeons—as well as one third of all orthopedic surgeons, one third of all emergency physicians, and one third of all trauma surgeons—are sued each year, is it any wonder that 70 percent of emergency departments are at risk because they lack available on-call specialist coverage?” [2] Dr. Weinstein makes good points, points completely ignored by President Obama. Dr. Weinstein details the costs that our out-of-control tort system are causing the health care industry and notes research that “found that liability reforms could reduce defensive medicine practices, leading to a 5 percent to 9 percent reduction in medical expenditures without any effect on mortality or medical complications.” Dr. Weinstein writes: “If the Kessler and McClellan estimates were applied to total U.S. healthcare spending in 2005, the defensive medicine costs would total between $100 billion and $178 billion per year. Add to this the cost of defending malpractice cases, paying compensation, and covering additional administrative costs (a total of $29.4 billion). Thus, the average American family pays an additional $1,700 to $2,000 per year in healthcare costs simply to cover the costs of defensive medicine. Excessive litigation and waste in the nation’s current tort system imposes an estimated yearly tort tax of $9,827 for a family of four and increases healthcare spending in the United States by $124 billion. How does this translate to individuals? The average obstetrician-gynecologist (OB-GYN) delivers 100 babies per year. If that OB-GYN must pay a medical liability premium of $200,000 each year (which is the rate in Florida), $2,000 of the delivery cost for each baby goes to pay the cost of the medical liability premium.” [3] You would think that any effort to reform our health care system would include tort reform, especially if the stated purpose for Obama’s plan to nationalize our health care industry is the current high costs. So I have new questions for the president: Why no legal reform? Why continue to encourage defensive medicine that wastes billions of dollars and does nothing for the patients? Do you want health care reform to benefit trial attorneys or patients? Many states, including my own state of Alaska, have enacted caps on lawsuit awards against health care providers. Texas enacted caps and found that one county’s medical malpractice claims dropped 41 percent, and another study found a “55 percent decline” after reform measures were passed. [4] That’s one step in health care reform. Limiting lawyer contingency fees, as is done under the Federal Tort Claims Act, is another step. The State of Alaska pioneered the “loser pays” rule in the United States, which deters frivolous civil law suits by making the loser partially pay the winner’s legal bills. Preventing quack doctors from giving “expert” testimony in court against real doctors is another reform. Texas Gov. Rick Perry noted that, after his state enacted tort reform measures, the number of doctors applying to practice medicine in Texas “skyrocketed by 57 percent” and that the tort reforms “brought critical specialties to underserved areas.” These are real reforms that actually improve access to health care. [5] Dr. Weinstein’s research shows that around $200 billion per year could be saved with legal reform. That’s real savings. That’s money that could be used to build roads, schools, or hospitals. If you want to save health care, let’s listen to our doctors. There should be no health care reform without legal reform. There can be no true health care reform without legal reform. - Sarah Palin [1] See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204409904574350370729883030.html?mod=googlenews_wsj [2] See http://www.aaos.org/news/aaosnow/nov08/managing7.asp [3] Id. [4] See http://www.abajournal.com/magazine/new_laws_and_med_mal_damage_caps_devastate_plaintiff_and_defense_firms_alik/print/ [5] See http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/OpEd-Contributor/Tort-reform-must-be-part-of-health-care-reform-8096175.html

former House Speaker Newt Gingrich offers Governor Palin 6 Steps to keeping her presidential options open

August 15th 2009

By Politico, by Jeanne Cummins

In interview with Politico, by Jeanne Cummins, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich offers Governor Palin 6 Steps to keeping her presidential options open: 1. Write a book. Palin is already set to do that, which Gingrich applauds. A book, he said, helps a politician lay out his or her philosophy and experiences in their own unhurried words. It also helps score TV time, which in turn helps sell books, he added. 2. Land a regular commentator slot on television. It's a sure way for an outsider to stay inside the national dialogue and in touch with the incumbents, activists and strategists who can help launch a comeback. 3. Consider getting a condominium in New York or Washington. An East Coast base of operations would ease what could become an onerous travel schedule from Alaska. 4. Write and master three types of speeches. One speech "is to make money," he said, and should be something smart and entertaining. The second set of speeches includes what Gingrich calls "high-value" addresses designed to be delivered before major interest groups and universities, enabling Palin to "project her brand." The third speech, of course, is a campaign stump speech that she can take on the road in 2010 to help Republican candidates raise money and gain attention. 5. Create some sort of national project or center. This can serve as a base for her political return and an incubator for ideas and action on issues. A National Energy Project, Gingrich said, would be a natural for Palin. 6. Plan on working really, really hard. Many ex-politicians confuse being a celebrity with being a serious political player, Gingrich said. "She can be a personality for a long time," he said. "But that is very different from becoming a national leader." Read Full Article At: http://www.politico .com/news/ stories/0809/ 26018.html Ever wanted to do talk radio? Go to www.uswebtalkradio.com - 100% free radio time with over 45,000 people who tune in everyday!!

"Concerning the "Death Panels" Sarah Palin speaks out

12 August 2009

By Sarah Palin

Yesterday President Obama responded to my statement that Democratic health care proposals would lead to rationed care; that the sick, the elderly, and the disabled would suffer the most under such rationing; and that under such a system these “unproductive” members of society could face the prospect of government bureaucrats determining whether they deserve health care. The President made light of these concerns. He said: “Let me just be specific about some things that I’ve been hearing lately that we just need to dispose of here. The rumor that’s been circulating a lot lately is this idea that somehow the House of Representatives voted for death panels that will basically pull the plug on grandma because we’ve decided that we don’t, it’s too expensive to let her live anymore....It turns out that I guess this arose out of a provision in one of the House bills that allowed Medicare to reimburse people for consultations about end-of-life care, setting up living wills, the availability of hospice, etc. So the intention of the members of Congress was to give people more information so that they could handle issues of end-of-life care when they’re ready on their own terms. It wasn’t forcing anybody to do anything.” [1] The provision that President Obama refers to is Section 1233 of HR 3200, entitled “Advance Care Planning Consultation.” [2] With all due respect, it’s misleading for the President to describe this section as an entirely voluntary provision that simply increases the information offered to Medicare recipients. The issue is the context in which that information is provided and the coercive effect these consultations will have in that context. Section 1233 authorizes advanced care planning consultations for senior citizens on Medicare every five years, and more often “if there is a significant change in the health condition of the individual ... or upon admission to a skilled nursing facility, a long-term care facility... or a hospice program." [3] During those consultations, practitioners must explain “the continuum of end-of-life services and supports available, including palliative care and hospice,” and the government benefits available to pay for such services. [4] Now put this in context. These consultations are authorized whenever a Medicare recipient’s health changes significantly or when they enter a nursing home, and they are part of a bill whose stated purpose is “to reduce the growth in health care spending.” [5] Is it any wonder that senior citizens might view such consultations as attempts to convince them to help reduce health care costs by accepting minimal end-of-life care? As Charles Lane notes in the Washington Post, Section 1233 “addresses compassionate goals in disconcerting proximity to fiscal ones.... If it’s all about obviating suffering, emotional or physical, what’s it doing in a measure to “bend the curve” on health-care costs?” [6] As Lane also points out: Though not mandatory, as some on the right have claimed, the consultations envisioned in Section 1233 aren’t quite “purely voluntary,” as Rep. Sander M. Levin (D-Mich.) asserts. To me, “purely voluntary” means “not unless the patient requests one.” Section 1233, however, lets doctors initiate the chat and gives them an incentive -- money -- to do so. Indeed, that’s an incentive to insist. Patients may refuse without penalty, but many will bow to white-coated authority. Once they’re in the meeting, the bill does permit “formulation” of a plug-pulling order right then and there. So when Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) denies that Section 1233 would “place senior citizens in situations where they feel pressured to sign end-of-life directives that they would not otherwise sign,” I don’t think he’s being realistic. [7] Even columnist Eugene Robinson, a self-described “true believer” who “will almost certainly support” “whatever reform package finally emerges”, agrees that “If the government says it has to control health-care costs and then offers to pay doctors to give advice about hospice care, citizens are not delusional to conclude that the goal is to reduce end-of-life spending.” [8] So are these usually friendly pundits wrong? Is this all just a “rumor” to be “disposed of”, as President Obama says? Not according to Democratic New York State Senator Ruben Diaz, Chairman of the New York State Senate Aging Committee, who writes: Section 1233 of House Resolution 3200 puts our senior citizens on a slippery slope and may diminish respect for the inherent dignity of each of their lives.... It is egregious to consider that any senior citizen ... should be placed in a situation where he or she would feel pressured to save the government money by dying a little sooner than he or she otherwise would, be required to be counseled about the supposed benefits of killing oneself, or be encouraged to sign any end of life directives that they would not otherwise sign. [9] Of course, it’s not just this one provision that presents a problem. My original comments concerned statements made by Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, a health policy advisor to President Obama and the brother of the President’s chief of staff. Dr. Emanuel has written that some medical services should not be guaranteed to those “who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens....An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia.” [10] Dr. Emanuel has also advocated basing medical decisions on a system which “produces a priority curve on which individuals aged between roughly 15 and 40 years get the most chance, whereas the youngest and oldest people get chances that are attenuated.” [11] President Obama can try to gloss over the effects of government authorized end-of-life consultations, but the views of one of his top health care advisors are clear enough. It’s all just more evidence that the Democratic legislative proposals will lead to health care rationing, and more evidence that the top-down plans of government bureaucrats will never result in real health care reform. [1] See http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/08/president-obama-addresses-sarah-palin-death-panels-wild-representations.html. [2] See http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf [3] See HR 3200 sec. 1233 (hhh)(1); Sec. 1233 (hhh)(3)(B)(1), above. [4] See HR 3200 sec. 1233 (hhh)(1)(E), above. [5] See http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf [6] See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/07/AR2009080703043.html]. [7] Id. [8] See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/10/AR2009081002455.html]. [9] See http://www.nysenate.gov/press-release/letter-congressman-henry-waxman-re-section-1233-hr-3200. [10] See http://www.ncpa.org/pdfs/Where_Civic_Republicanism_and_Deliberative_Democracy_Meet.pdf [11] See http://www.scribd.com/doc/18280675/Principles-for-Allocation-of-Scarce-Medical-Interventions.

Win In 2010 & 2012? GOP Must Recognize Palin Is An Inspirational Icon

1 August 2009

By GovernorPalin4President.Blogspot.Com

Thursday, July 30, 2009 Christopher G. Adamo, of GOPUSA, wrote a great peice Why Sarah Palin Threatens The 'Establishment.' He also discusses the Republican Party's menopausal wing & Palin ditractors, Peggy Noonan and Washington Post’s Kathleen Parker and the GOP as a whole must wake-up. They must realize Gov Palin IS the future of the Republican Party and the inspirational icon of conservatism. The Republican Party continues to amass expertise in losing elections. Its current reticence in getting behind the momentum of Sarah Palin, now the former Governor of Alaska, unequivocally proves the point. Many have postulated in vain as to why such an energizing presence in the party has been soundly rejected by its "inner circle." Yet despite phony attempts at eloquence and deep analysis, it is clear that somehow, the basic integrity and common sense that Palin exudes are themselves the offending factors. All of that "of the people, by the people, and for the people," rhetoric may look good engraved on the monuments and surely sounds good in campaign ads, but this is just not how things are done in Washington anymore. When measured against the current "ruling class," Palin's faults, or more precisely, those qualities about her which critics attempt to manufacture into faults, are trivial at worst. More pertinently, the derisive commentary is far more reflective of truly serious character defects on their own part. Sadly, many of them claim to lean to the political right. Some have descended to the level of finding fault with the unconventional names Todd and Sarah Palin have given to their children. Certainly, such small-mindedness is a matter of absolute irrelevancy to Palin's nature, and merely another indication of the desperate efforts to marginalize her. It also reveals a glaring hypocrisy among those critics with their flagrantly selective powers of observation. In comparison, they studiously avoided ever noticing anything unusual about the name "Hussein," as if it is a typical moniker expected for the average passerby on Mainstreet in Middle America. Not surprisingly, many of these same critics have been having a field day ever since Palin's announcement of her resignation from the governorship of Alaska. Somehow, by prematurely leaving a political office, we are told that she has thoroughly betrayed the public trust and desecrated every worthwhile American institution right down to motherhood and apple pie. Yet little if any similar criticism was leveled at Hillary Clinton who, during her waning days in the unelected post of "First Lady," suddenly recalled a "Jewish" heritage and a lifelong affinity for the New York Yankees. And all of this happened just as she and the little man were making a frenzied purchase of their dream home in the New York City suburb of Chappaqua. Apparently, in the world of the political insiders, it is just fine to invent a residency in order to pursue political office and personal ambitions under the flagrant pretense of "representing" the people of New York in the United States Senate. Yet it is political "heresy" for someone to leave office, out of a sincere belief that their best interests and those of their State are served thusly. Nevertheless, in doing so Palin has proven herself to be of a far higher character than any of her attackers. Of course, no discussion of Palin's detractors would be complete without a mention of the Republican Party's menopausal wing, as epitomized by former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan and Washington Post token conservative "pundit" Kathleen Parker. In their incessant efforts to derail Palin, Noonan and Parker have descended to a level of discourse rife with shallow catcalls and jeers. In telling contrast, Noonan had heaped accolades on Barack Obama while Parker supports the elevation of judicial activist Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court and excoriates the GOP for refusing to follow along. Over time, a disturbing pattern of arrogance and elitism has revealed the mindset of the average Beltway insider, regardless of political affiliation, to be self-absorbed and disdainful of the hopes, dreams, and concerns of real America. As a result, on one issue after another, although the people of the heartland are steadfastly committed to their heritage and their roots, elected officials obsessively seek to move the country away from such things. Those entrusted to protect the rights, liberties, and property of the common man are instead fixated on vast increases in the concentration of power and wealth at the federal level, with the average citizen required to pay the bill. Throughout her public life, Sarah Palin has steadfastly opposed such entities, and in stark contrast to the mutual "back-scratching" corruption that permeates Washington, has dealt severely with any breaches of ethics on both sides of the political aisle. Rather than being "of the Ivy league" and for her own ambitions, she has made the difficult decisions needed to eradicate the facades and restore public confidence in the workings of government in her state. And it is clearly this personality trait, and the resolve to act on it, that makes her a hero to the citizenry, and a mortal threat to the "establishment" regardless of party affiliation. Having made a meteoric rise to national prominence on the heels of her nomination as John McCain's 2008 running mate, Sarah Palin became the foremost target of the Alinsky/Acorn political attack machine. Her ability to rise above it and advance the cause of conservatism will signify the ability of conservative America to do likewise. A recent Rasmussen poll shows that Americans still overwhelmingly consider themselves conservative. Sarah Palin can connect with that segment of the population, motivate and inspire it to action. In such a political climate, no excuses suffice for a party that professes to be conservative, yet is devastated at the ballot box as badly as was the case last November. What Republican Party hacks seem unwilling to recognize, or perhaps have become too jaundiced within the system to comprehend, is that Palin's success or failure will ultimately be their own. If real Republicans really want to win in 2010, they had better start by recognizing what it is that made, and continues to make Sarah Palin an inspirational icon of conservatism. **Do you want to host your very own talk radio show? Www.UsWebTalkRadio.Com http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/cadamo/2009/cga_07302.shtml http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/cadamo/2009/cga_07302.shtml

Sarah Palin's Farewell Address as Governor of Alaska

27 July 2009

By Pamela Geller

Sarah Palin's Farewell Address as Governor of Alaska Sunday was no farewell address at all. It was just the beginning; it was a commencement address. "I will fight even harder for you, for what is right and for the truth," she promised. "And I have never felt I needed a title to do that!" Her speech embodied what a great American sounds like, and what a President ought to sound like. Palin made no apologies. She said nothing like Obama's inane drone of "America's best days are behind us." No tearing down of our nation. Obama ranks on us; Palin raises us up and speaks of national pride. First and foremost, she thanked our brave men and women defending this great nation and ripped the media, warning: "You represent what could and should be a respected, honest profession that could and should be a cornerstone of our democracy. Democracy depends on you, and that is why, that's why our troops are willing to die for you. So, how about, in honor of the American soldier, you quit makin' things up?" She briefly outlined her plans for real energy independence -- American resources for Americans -- speaking of commercializing our clean natural gas (AGIA) as the first private sector energy project in the history of America. Palin believes (and rightly so) that the pressing issue of our time is energy independence. "There is," she said, "an inherent link between energy and prosperity...We will prove you can be pro-development and pro-environment because no one loves their clean air, and their land, and their wildlife more than an Alaskan. We will protect it!" She invoked America's pioneering spirit. She urged us to resist enslavement to big central government: "Be wary of accepting government largess." Sarah Palin embodies what an American is. She is what Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin envisioned when they carved out the American idea. Anyone who wants write her off, proceed at your own risk. The more evil succeeds and overwhelms our foreign and domestic policy, our culture, our discourse and the very social fabric of our lives, the clearer it becomes that Palin is the antidote, the answer to fighting this morally bankrupt sewer in which we find ourselves during the Obama Administration. The low state of the world is a fact, but so are great Americans who will fight tooth and nail to stop what Obama is doing to America. Clear thinking Americans see what is happening. America is being tested in a way she never has been before. The President has in every decision reinforced the impression that he is a radical, even a communist/Islamist: the usurpation of the Constitution, the bankrupting of our nation, the illegal grab of private wealth, the infiltration of Islamic supremacism, the abandonment of our allies, the weakening of our military. It's stunning. Sarah Palin sees it, too. Smart, sharp, patriotic, she best represents the majority of Americans. Not Obama's shills in the press, not the chattering elites and the Beltway insiders, but Americans. There was no way she could stay on as Governor, as she was unable to fulfill her duties while the leftists in America had her tied up in bogus lawsuits (all of which she won). She agreed to pay the travel fees for taking her children on one of her trips. Obama should do the same with those trips to Paris for his two girls. Pay it back. Pay back the $100,000 it cost taxpayers for his "date" in New York. Pay it back. Pay for those ridiculous $100 steaks and his 20 million dollar "farm" rental for a little R and R next week. Obama and his gang are the pigs at the public trough, not Palin. Their hypocrisy knows no bounds. There is no more iconic image than Sarah Palin at the Governor's picnic with Mark Levin's book on her lap, Liberty and Tyranny. The American Thinker called Levin's book "a compelling primer on the most basic principles of the American political order." Tony Blankley in the Washington Times said the book "carefully lays out the central historic, philosophic and constitutional relationship between conservative principles and our individual freedom." Contrast that to Obama was once photographed carrying while strolling across an airport tarmac: The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria. America wants Palin. Republican Party Chairman Michael Steele said recently that she would not run in 2012. But Steele speaks for no one. Neither he nor the GOP will pick our candidate. Palin is going to help us win back the House and Senate by campaigning and working for candidates in that fight in 2010. And we, the good, decent folks in America, are going to help her win the White House in 2012. We need her. She knows it. She is heeding our call. Is she a hack like Obama, planning to campaign on the taxpayers' dime, as he did as a junior senator when he ran for President? No. Is that in itself extraordinary in these times? Yes. But so is integrity, ethics and decency. The left is calling her a "quitter." She is just the opposite, my friends. Sarah Palin is a fighter, a winner. And she is getting into the fight. Sarah Palin is a Great American. She is the leader Americans need. She is the leader the tea parties need. In closing, Palin said, "G-d bless America." Have you ever heard Obama utter those words? The American Revolution has its leader. North to the future! Pamela Geller is the editor and publisher of the Atlas Shrugs website and former associate publisher of the New York Observer.

Former Presidential Candidate Gary Bauer: Pundits Will Eat Their Words On Governor Palin

Wednesday, July 15,

By Campaign for Working Families

Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer said that reports of Sarah Palin's political demise were "premature and reflect more the hopes and dreams of liberal analysts than actual reality." The chairman of the Campaign for Working Families made the following statement: "No Republican can get the GOP nomination for president or win the White House without the Values wing of the party. Given that reality, I have no doubt that between now and 2012 a leader will emerge. "For the media, the race is clearly in full swing, especially in regards to Sarah Palin. Reports of Sarah Palin's political death are highly exaggerated and reflect more the biases of the prophets, soothsayers and media talking heads than it does the political reality. Sarah Palin is a force in the GOP and one of the most promising figures in American politics whether she is governor of Alaska or not. It is totally premature to interpret Sarah Palin's announcement as a withdraw from American politics. A year from now, a lot of pundits may be eating their words." SOURCE Campaign for Working Families (http://www.cwfpac.com/index.php)

Palin PAC Brought In $730K In Six Months

14 July 2009

By

Palin PAC Brought In $730K In Six Months The AP reports that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's (R) PAC "raised nearly $733,000" between its launch in January and the end of June, according to campaign finance reports, while McClatchy says it is estimated she has raised another $200,000 since she announced her resignation on July 3. Roll Call noted SarahPAC "ended the month of June with $456,700 in cash on hand." The Politico adds that the "majority of the money raised by SarahPAC so far has come in the form of 'unitemized contributions,' meaning donations of less than $200 each." Meanwhile, in an op-ed for the Washington Post, Palin argues against "President Obama's cap-and-trade energy plan," saying it is "an enormous threat to our economy." ----------------------------------------------------- Host your radio show for FREE - Yes, 100% Free Go to www.uswebtalkradio.com

Sarah Palin's Declaration of Independence

By Otis A. Glazebrook IV

Sarah Palin, by virtue of her resignation and remarks, has now positioned herself to disrupt the status quo and send much needed shock waves through the entire American political system. It should not be lost on anyone that she made her resignation announcement on the eve of the most important anniversary in American history, the Fourth of July. There is a fundamental fact that is often overlooked about the Declaration of Independence. It was a declaration of war. Mrs. Palin has stated her position clearly: "And so as I thought about this announcement that I wouldn't run for re-election and what it means for Alaska, I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks... travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade - as so many politicians do. And then I thought - that's what's wrong - many just accept that lame duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck, and ‘milk it.' I'm not putting Alaska through that - I promised efficiencies and effectiveness! That's not how I am wired. I am not wired to operate under the same old ‘politics as usual.' I promised that four years ago - and I meant it." Liberal pundits who read this statement as anything other than a declaration of war on the status quo do so at their peril. Mrs. Palin, you are now free of the Republican Party. The Party needs you more than you need it. To say that the Republican Party, on its own, has a charismatic void is a vast understatement. You are now free to wage all out war on the status quo. More importantly you are free to fashion a Reagan-esque Conservative alliance on your terms. At the risk of being presumptuous, I would suggest the following lines of attack for your war against the Democrats and the Obama/ Pelosi / Frank/ Dodd Economy. Free market capitalism must be emphasized as our only true hope for recovery -- not the crony capitalism of the Democrats. Energy Policy: Mrs. Palin, you must continue to push your energy policy for Alaska and the country. We are going to need to fully exploit all of our energy resources for the foreseeable future. We must pursue drilling in ANWAR, nuclear power, off-shore drilling. We need it all. We know that subsidized green jobs destroy more than twice as many productive jobs than those they pretend to create. Green jobs end when the subsidy does. We no longer have the luxury of wasting time and money on 8th century B.C. technologies. We are going to have to double or triple our GDP in order to offset the generational theft of the Obama Democrats. Entitlement spending has left us $70,000,000,000,000.00 (trillion) in debt. WW II ended the Great Depression. This proved one unassailable point: In the end, a nation has to actually manufacture products the world needs, even if it is the material for waging war. We can not shuffle lawsuits and bureaucratic red tape forever and expect to remain the greatest economic power on Earth. Term Limit Congress: The concept of true public service must be returned to government. American politicians need to fear the voters again. Mrs. Palin make it your highest priority an end gerrymandering. Call for an end to "Safe Seats" for all parties. Mrs. Palin call for the shortest-split line algorithm for drawing congressional districts. Draw new congressional districts within the shortest radius and circumference possible using existing county boundaries. The country cannot be salvaged as long as those in "safe" districts continue undermine our founding principles. Congress must only be allowed to meet in Washington, D.C. annually for a maximum of three months. This is the geographic dispersal of special interest corruption. Senators and Congressmen and women must spend a minimum of 190 days in their districts or states. Repeal Government over-regulation of everyday American life: Americans must stop relying on the government regulation to keep them financially safe. Just as the police cannot be everywhere, neither can the SEC nor any other government regulator. Bernie Madoff was not the biggest Ponzi scheme perpetrator -- FDR, LBJ, Clinton, Obama, and any Democratic controlled Congress since 1933 were -- and still are. The combination of the entitlement debt and the debt that Obama has perpetrated is so massive that it could not be paid in full in thirty years if 100% of the federal budget were used to pay it off. The contrast must be made between those who were left penniless by their faith in Madoff and those who refuse to see the bankruptcy of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Call for the elimination of all federal czars and their bureaucracies, for all time. Taxes: Mrs. Palin, the Founders knew that taxing the fruits of one labor was the road to tyranny. Otherwise, they would have included the language of the Sixteenth Amendment as an original part of the Constitution or the Bill of Rights. The Constitution makes it clear that taxes (tariffs) were to be levied on the purchasing side of the economy and not the production side. Call for a flat fair tax for all Americans, worded in such a way that changing it would require a 75% majority of congress and any progressive aspects would be in direct violation of the Fourteenth Amendment. Why should one man's liberty be worth more than any others? On a flat percentage basis, the rich automatically pay more. Permanently end corporate income tax and the death tax. Capital gains in the US should be taxed at the lowest rate in the industrialized world. The combined federal, state, and local tax burdens should never be allowed to exceed 20% of GDP, except by specifically voted on "Emergency Legislation" passed by 75% of congress and always having a sunset provision. FICA and Social Security taxes should not be comingled in the general fund. Baseline budgeting must be eliminated. The Judiciary: All parts of those laws passed by Congress found to be unconstitutional must be severable and returned to the appropriate legislative body with constitutional recommendations. The constitutional portions should be left intact and enforced. Eliminate standing to environmental groups to bring lawsuits on behalf of the general public. Eliminate federal control of education -- this belongs to state and local governments. Return to Federalism: Call for constitutional original intent to again be the law of the land for political speech, religion, treaties, and foreign entanglements. Border Protection: End illegal immigration and protect both of our borders. Now is the time to be creating American jobs and create foreign jobs and stronger foreign economies by encouraging free trade. End the welfare application of the Fourteenth amendment to illegal aliens in order to end chain migration. Abortion: Apply the same end of life argument to the question of when life begins (when there is a brain wave). Make abortion a "States Rights" issue where it properly belongs. Would we need to import foreign workers if we had not killed 45,000,000 American children in the years since Roe? Foreign Policy: Institute a strong foreign policy based on the pre-emptive Bush Doctrine - return to a War on Terror footing until the Islamo-fascists are sufficiently neutered. Align yourself with Vice President Dick Cheney. Openly seek his advice and counsel because he will be seen as America's Churchill after the next Islamofascist attack on the United States or its assets. Mrs. Palin, you ended your remarks with: "In the words of General MacArthur said, ‘We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.'" Mrs. Palin: Now is the time to think and plan like General Douglas MacArthur at Inchon. Page Printed from: http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/07/sarah_palins_declaration_of_in.html --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Draft Palin for Presidnet is looking for folks who will host a free radio show from their home or office. Please go to www.uswebtalkradio.com for more info - Yes, 100% free.

**Alert** Palin Signs Alaska Sovereignty Resolution

13 July 2009

By Michael Boldin

By Michael Boldin Tenth Ammendment Center On Friday, July 10th, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin signed House Joint Resolution 27 (HJR27), sponsored by State Rep. Mike Kelly. The resolution “claims sovereignty for the state under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.” The House passed the resolution by a vote of 37-0 (3 not voting) and the Senate passed it by a vote of 40-0. Six other states have had both houses of their legislature pass similar resolutions – Tennessee, Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Louisiana – Alaska joins Tennessee as the second to have such a resolution signed by the Governor. A GROWING MOVEMENT Passage of this resolution appears to be part of what is now a growing state-level resistance to the federal government on various levels. Similar 10th Amendment resolutions have been introduced in 37 states around the country, and various states are considering single-issue legislation in direct contravention to federal laws. Most recently, the Arizona Legislature passed a measure for public approval on the 2010 state ballot that would give Arizona voters the opportunity to nullify, or opt out, of any potential national health care legislation. Since 2007, more than two dozen states have passed legislation refusing to implement the Real ID act of 2005. In response, the federal government has recently announced that they want to “repeal and replace” the law due to a rebellion by states. Pending legislation in states around the country also includes preventing state law enforcement officials from enforcing federal laws, refusing federal gun regulations, refusing to send a state’s national guard to any duty other than what the constitution authorizes, legalizing marijuana for various purposes and more. A FIRST STEP While HJR27 is strongly-word in support of the principles of limited, constitutional government that the 10th Amendment represents, it is a Joint Resolution and does not carry with it the force of law. But supporters say that this is an important first step to get their message out not only to grassroots supporters, but to the media, and legislators in other states as well. Read the final version of the resolution below: Relating to the Sovereign Powers of the State BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: WHEREAS the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”; and WHEREAS the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and WHEREAS some federal actions weaken states’ rights protected by the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and WHEREAS the Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal government may not usurp; and WHEREAS art. IV, sec. 4, Constitution of the United States, reads, “The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government,” and the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads, “The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”; and WHEREAS the United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S.Ct. 2408 (1992), that the United States Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and WHEREAS all states, including Alaska, find themselves regularly facing proposals from the United States Congress that weaken states’ rights protected by the Tenth Amendment; BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature hereby claims sovereignty for the state under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States; and be it FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution serves as Notice and Demand to the federal government to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers. COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Barack Obama, President of the United States; the Honorable Joseph R. Biden, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; the Honorable Lisa Murkowski and the Honorable Mark Begich, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; all other members of the 111th United States Congress; the presiding officers of the legislatures of each of the other 49 states; and the governors of each of the other 49 states. -------------------------------------------------------- We are seeking people who wish to host a free radio show Go to www.uswebtalkradio.com for more info. Rbn

"Why Sarah Palin Must Be Destroyed As A Political Force"

July 10th 2009

By John Grimm

John Grimm writing for BayouBuzz.com: Palin was different. She was committed to changing the culture of government. That message resonated. That message and her persona brought people to campaign rallies. She increased the numbers attending - the people were energized for her. Her presence on the ballot actually gave McCain his first and only lead. She is the people person. And for being the people person, for being the true maverick, for returning the power of government to the people and taking it away from the elites - she must fail. In campaigns, if you want to take a candidate down a peg, attack their record, attack them personally, and keep different attacks coming. Never give them the chance to catch their breath or answer effectively. If the voters never hear a response because it's lost in the attacks and if there are enough attacks, the voters grow tired of it all and capitulate. Some just are fed up with the endless stories and others believe that there is something there (there has to be). The attacks on Palin never stopped - why her? Because she's the most dangerous. All other Republican candidates are elitist - they can be dealt with if they happen to win (they will wheel and deal). They will keep the status quo. We (the elites) might have to allow them a bone or two, but in the end, they are "us." Palin is not. A rugged individualist, born of and living in a culture of individualism and personal responsibility, elected in a state where the individual and his or her ability to succeed makes the difference, Palin is just what the people want and need, but what the elitists abhor. They want no individual success - they want individuals to stay in their places. [...] So what for Palin. Palin is now free to support candidates for Congress and Senate, rally the people to their campaigns and get "people's" candidates elected. She can write a book to raise funds and to increase awareness and get out her story. Later, her efforts to raise money (from the people) for those candidates, bring people to their campaign events, etc. will pay dividends in support in key states she can win in early primaries - Iowa, South Carolina, etc. Palin is scary to the elitists because she can bring a real message of change - a change in their way of "herding the sheep." She can rally people on a whole bevy of issues and she can be the candidate to generate the emotional vote that no other candidate can - she can break the glass ceiling in politics for women! Obama did so for Black Americans, but let's face it, he's still another man in power. Palin can rally women behind the campaigns of 2010 and her own efforts for 2012. A quitter - she'll be attacked for that, but then, she's being attacked anyway. She isn't a quitter - she turned the reins of the state over to her "co-pilot." That's what co-pilots are for. Bobby Jindal is attacked every time he leaves the State of Louisiana and he doesn't have to travel as far. What Sarah is - IS DANGEROUS. She isn't dangerous to her followers, to the conservative, real people of this country - she's dangerous to the elitists that want to hold on to the power they have built up over the years. Sarah Pailin may be the people's last real hope for changing the government to where it belongs in the hands of the people - "of the people" and "by the people" and not of the people by an elite ruling class. ======================================================= This past week, we hear that the media admits they treated Palin not the same as VP candidate Bidden during the election. We have a media for our members to host free taped radio shows - US Web Talk Radio has over 45,000 listners per day & growing. If you or you know a person that want a free venue without the spin then go to www.uswebtalkradio.com for more info. Thanks RBN

Palin Power ??

July 2009

By Dr.Jack Wheeler

I'm embarrassed to admit it, but the instant I heard Sarah Palin announcing her resignation from the Alaska governorship, I thought of Richard Nixon. In 1960, he was cheated out of the presidency when Chicago Mayor Richard Daley stuffed enough ballot boxes to give Illinois to Kennedy, and Kennedy's running mate Lyndon Johnson did the same in Texas. In 1962, Nixon ran for governor of California and lost to Democrat Pat Brown by 300,000 votes. His career was finished, and there wasn't a politician nor a pundit in the country who didn't say so. He was washed-up, held no political office, and was under constant attack by a media that reviled him. Yet six years later he was elected president in 1968. How did he do this? The same way Sarah Palin can be elected president in 2012. He traveled abroad to meet with numerous world leaders and wrote articles for prestigious journals like Foreign Affairs. But that was window dressing. After Barry Goldwater's disastrous defeat by Lyndon Johnson in 1964, he spent most of 1965 and 1966 speaking at scores of fundraisers for Republican House and Senate candidates all over the country. He did this tirelessly, indefatigably, and his national fame drew local donors to the fundraisers in droves. The millions Nixon raised at these fundraisers enabled the GOP to gain 47 House seats plus three in the Senate in '66. He had single-handedly resuscitated the Republican Party. He articulated Republican positions better than anyone in the party - and most important, dozens of Republicans in Congress owed their seats to him. Their support in state after state enabled him to sweep the primaries in spring '68 and the nomination was his. History doesn't repeat itself, but as Mark Twain said, it often rhymes - and it will be rhyming for Sarah Palin from now to November 2012. Nixon's eight years as Eisenhower's vice-president gave him knowledge and experience in national and world politics that Palin doesn't have. But she's a fast learner and plenty savvy - plus there are four critical areas in which she leaves Tricky Dick in the dust: Principles, character and integrity, an amazing yet non-elite life everyday Americans can relate to, and charisma. Nixon had none of these. Let's take charisma as an example - for it's the one thing Sarah and Zero have in common. Zero, like Nixon, has a total lack of the first three. No American politician, Democrat or Republican, comes astronomically close to Zero in charisma - with the single exception of Sarah Palin. Thus no one comes astronomically close to her in fundraising ability for Republican candidates in 2010. And thus the Nixon Template will be her strategy from now to 2012. The "higher calling" she gave as her reason for stepping down will first be the resuscitation of the Republican Party - politically and morally. She understands you can't have one without the other - which is the reason the entrenched GOP elite hate and fear her almost as much as do the Dems. But the GOP elite cannot compete with her. Hungry for victory in 2010, swarms of Republican House and Senate candidates will clamor for her to speak at their fundraisers, and when she does, she will raise orders of magnitude more money for them than they could without her. All through the mid-term campaign, she never has to announce she's running for 2012. Her focus will be on Congress in 2010. "America is stuck with this Democrat president until 2012, but not with this Democrat Congress," she'll say "By electing a Republican majority in the House and the Senate in 2010, America can begin to undo the damage being done to her economy, her culture, and her national security." This strategy has an excellent chance of success, especially given how miserably apparent will be the economic, cultural, and security disaster the Zero Presidency will be over the next 15 months. Yes, the November 2010 mid-term elections are only 15 months away. The only way the Nixon Template strategy can work for Sarah is for her to cast aside the anchor of governorship in Alaska, and campaign nationally. But campaign not for herself, for individual Republican candidates across the country instead, for the rescue of America from the Dems by a reborn Republican Party that had been led astray like the Prodigal Son, and has returned (because she is forcing it to return) to its moral roots and basic principles. When and only when this strategy works and the GOP wins big in 2010, she can announce for 2012. The entire party, and dozens of Congressmen and Senators in particular, will be in her debt big time, and she can command their support in '12 primaries. The nomination will be hers. At least that's the strategy. It can work and has historical precedent. I admit I'm "all in" for Palin. One reason is that she is the Republican the Dems and the Left are in hysterical fear of - for that alone she's my favorite. There are many others, such as she is as real and authentic as Zero is phony and empty. A premier example of this, suggested to me by Joel Wade, regards optimism. Hers is genuine, his is not. Hers is reality-based, his is only rhetorical. She takes the world as it is - she is pregnant with a Downs Syndrome baby - and considers it a blessing of life, not a curse to be aborted. He mouths pretty words about "hope" and "change" that signify nothing. In American politics, the candidate perceived to be the most optimistic usually wins. Americans were bamboozled by Zero's empty optimism in 2008. They won't be in 2012 when they have the real thing to compare it to. I can see the campaign slogan, the tee-shirt, the bumper sticker now: AN AMERICAN WOMAN. AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT. SARAH PALIN 2012. But not until after November 2, 2010. From now to then, watch how the Nixon Template unfolds for Sarah. That's the Palin Potential. [Ps: And if the strategy doesn't work, well, then she can take Jack Kelly's advice and become the female Glenn Beck on Fox and just as rich.]

The Big Blog - Palin Stands Tall in the Polls

July11th 2009

By The Big Blog Settle New Source

Chart of the Day: GOP voters still like Palin despite resignation Seventy-six percent of GOP voters have a favorable opinon of Sarah Palin despite her sudden resignation as Alaska governor, according to a Rasmussen report released today. Although 40 percent of voters said they thought Palin's resignation hurt her chances at a 2012 presidential nomination, the sweetheart of the Republican Party still earned favorable opinions from 76 percent of voters -- 45 percent of that being very favorable -- and 24 percent of GOP voters said they would vote for her in a 2012 state primary putting her in second place behind Mitt Romney. For more insight go to: The Big Blog http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/thebigblog/archives/173212.asp Please consider doing a free taped radio show each week on US Web Talk Radio. Go to www.uswebtalkradio.com for more info 100% Free

Governor Palin will not seek re-election for Governor - Read transcript

3 July 2009

By Gov.Palin

Hi Alaska, I appreciate speaking directly TO you, the people I serve, as your Governor. People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine. I want Alaskans to grasp what can be in store for our state. We were purchased as a territory because a member of President Abe Lincoln's cabinet, William Seward, providentially saw in this great land, vast riches, beauty, strategic placement on the globe, and opportunity. He boldly looked "North to the Future". But he endured such ridicule and mocking for his vision for Alaska, remember the adversaries scoffed, calling this "Seward's Folly". Seward withstood such disdain as he chose the uncomfortable, unconventional, but RIGHT path to secure Alaska, so Alaska could help secure the United States. People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Alaska’s mission – to contribute to America. We’re strategic IN the world as the air crossroads OF the world, as a gatekeeper of the continent. Bold visionaries knew this - Alaska would be part of America's great destiny. Our destiny to be reached by responsibly developing our natural resources. This land, blessed with clean air, water, wildlife, minerals, AND oil and gas. It's energy! God gave us energy. So to serve the state is a humbling responsibility, because I know in my soul that Alaska is of such import, for America’s security, in our very volatile world. And you know me by now, I promised even four years ago to show MY independence… no more conventional “politics as usual”. And we are doing well! My administration's accomplishments speak for themselves. We work tirelessly for Alaskans. We aggressively and responsibly develop our resources because they were created to be used to better our world... to HELP people... and we protect the environment and Alaskans (the resource owners) foremost with our policies. Here’s some of the things we’ve done: We created a petroleum integrity office to oversee safe development. We held the line FOR Alaskans on Point Thomson – and finally for the first time in decades – they’re drilling for oil and gas. We have AGIA, the gasline project – a massive bi-partisan victory (the vote was 58 to 1!) – also succeeding as intended - protecting Alaskans as our clean natural gas will flow to energize us, and America, through a competitive, pro-private sector project. This is the largest private sector energy project, ever. THIS is energy independence. And ACES – another bipartisan effort – is working as intended and industry is publicly acknowledging its success. Our new oil and gas “clear and equitable formula” is so Alaskans will no longer be taken advantage of. ACES incentivizes NEW exploration and development and JOBS that were previously not going to happen with a monopolized North Slope oil basin. We cleaned up previously accepted unethical actions; we ushered in bi-partisan Ethics Reform. We also slowed the rate of government growth, we worked with the Legislature to save billions of dollars for the future, and I made no lobbyist friends with my hundreds of millions of dollars in budget vetoes... but living beyond our means today is irresponsible for tomorrow. We took government out of the dairy business and put it back into private-sector hands – where it should be. We provided unprecedented support for education initiatives, and with the right leadership, finally filled long-vacant public safety positions. We built a sub-Cabinet on Climate Change and took heat from Outside special interests for our biologically-sound wildlife management for abundance. We broke ground on the new prison. And we made common sense conservative choices to eliminate personal luxuries like the jet, the chef, the junkets... the entourage. And the Lt. Governor and I said "no" to our pay raises. So much success in this first term – and with this success I am proud to take credit... for hiring the right people! Our goal was to achieve a gasline project, more fair oil and gas valuation, and ethics reform in four years. We did it in two. It’s because of the people… good public servants surrounding the Governor's office, with servants' hearts and astounding work ethic... THEY are Alaska's success! We are doing well! I wish you'd hear MORE from the media of your state's progress and how we tackle Outside interests - daily - SPECIAL interests that would stymie our state. Even those debt-ridden stimulus dollars that would force the heavy hand of federal government into our communities with an “all-knowing attitude” – I have taken the slings and arrows with that unpopular move to veto because I know being right is better than being popular. Some of those dollars would harm Alaska and harm America – I resisted those dollars because of the obscene national debt we’re forcing our children to pay, because of today’s Big Government spending; it’s immoral and doesn’t even make economic sense! Another accomplishment – our Law Department protected states’ rights – TWO huge U.S. Supreme Court reversals came down against that liberal Ninth Circuit, deciding in OUR state’s favor over the last two weeks. We’re protectors of our Constitution – federalists protect states’ rights as mandated in 10th amendment. But you don’t hear much of the good stuff in the press anymore, do you? Some say things changed for me on August 29th last year – the day John McCain tapped me to be his running-mate – I say others changed. Let me speak to that for a minute. Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt. The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice. Over the past nine months I've been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations – such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters’ questions. Every one – all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We’ve won! But it hasn't been cheap - the State has wasted THOUSANDS of hours of YOUR time and shelled out some two million of YOUR dollars to respond to “opposition research” – that’s money NOT going to fund teachers or troopers – or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the “politics of personal destruction” … Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn’t cost them a dime so they’re not going to stop draining public resources – spending other peoples’ money in their game. It’s pretty insane – my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with THIS instead of progressing our state now. I know I promised no more “politics as usual,” but THIS isn’t what anyone had in mind for ALASKA. If I have learned one thing: LIFE is about choices! And one chooses how to react to circumstances. You can choose to engage in things that tear down, or build up. I choose to work very hard on a path for fruitfulness and productivity. I choose NOT to tear down and waste precious time; but to build UP this state and our country, and her industrious, generous, patriotic, free people! Life is too short to compromise time and resources... it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: "Sit down and shut up", but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out. And a problem in our country today is apathy. It would be apathetic to just hunker down and “go with the flow”. Nah, only dead fish "go with the flow". No. Productive, fulfilled people determine where to put their efforts, choosing to wisely utilize precious time... to BUILD UP. And there is such a need to BUILD up and FIGHT for our state and our country. I choose to FIGHT for it! And I'll work hard for others who still believe in free enterprise and smaller government; strong national security for our country and support for our troops; energy independence; and for those who will protect freedom and equality and LIFE... I'll work for and campaign for those PROUD to be American, and those who are INSPIRED by our ideals and won't deride them. I WILL support others who seek to serve, in or out of office, for the RIGHT reasons, and I don't care what party they're in or no party at all. Inside Alaska – or Outside Alaska. But I won’t do it from the Governor’s desk. I've never believed that I, nor anyone else, needs a title to do this - to make a difference... to HELP people. So I choose, for my State and my family, more "freedom" to progress, all the way around... so that Alaska may progress... I will not seek re-election as Governor. And so as I thought about this announcement that I wouldn’t run for re-election and what it means for Alaska, I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks… travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade – as so many politicians do. And then I thought – that’s what’s wrong – many just accept that lame duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck, and “milk it”. I’m not putting Alaska through that – I promised efficiencies and effectiveness! ? That’s not how I am wired. I am not wired to operate under the same old “politics as usual.” I promised that four years ago – and I meant it. It’s not what is best for Alaska. I am determined to take the right path for Alaska even though it is unconventional and not so comfortable. With this announcement that I am not seeking re-election… I’ve determined it’s best to transfer the authority of governor to Lieutenant Governor Parnell; and I am willing to do so, so that this administration – with its positive agenda, its accomplishments, and its successful road to an incredible future – can continue without interruption and with great administrative and legislative success. My choice is to take a stand and effect change – not hit our heads against the wall and watch valuable state time and money, millions of your dollars, go down the drain in this new environment. Rather, we know we can effect positive change outside government at this moment in time, on another scale, and actually make a difference for our priorities – and so we will, for Alaskans and for Americans. Let me go back to a comfortable analogy for me – sports… basketball. I use it because you’re naďve if you don’t see the national full-court press picking away right now: A good point guard drives through a full court press, protecting the ball, keeping her eye on the basket… and she knows exactly when to pass the ball so that the team can WIN. And I’m doing that – keeping our eye on the ball that represents sound priorities – smaller government, energy independence, national security, freedom! And I know when it’s time to pass the ball – for victory. I have given my reasons candidly and truthfully… and my last day won’t be for another few weeks so the transition will be very smooth. In fact, we will look to swear Sean in – in Fairbanks at the conclusion of our Governor’s picnics. I do not want to disappoint anyone with my decision; all I can ask is that you TRUST me with this decision – but it’s no more “politics as usual”. Some Alaskans don’t mind wasting public dollars and state time. I do. I cannot stand here as your Governor and allow millions upon millions of our dollars go to waste just so I can hold the title of Governor. And my children won’t allow it either. ? Some will question the timing. ? Let’s just say, this decision has been in the works for awhile… In fact, this decision comes after much consideration, and finally polling the most important people in my life - my children (where the count was unanimous... well, in response to asking: "Want me to make a positive difference and fight for ALL our children's future from OUTSIDE the Governor's office?" It was four "yes's" and one "hell yeah!" The "hell yeah" sealed it - and someday I'll talk about the details of that... I think much of it had to do with the kids seeing their baby brother Trig mocked by some pretty mean-spirited adults recently.) Um, by the way, sure wish folks could ever, ever understand that we ALL could learn so much from someone like Trig - I know he needs me, but I need him even more... what a child can offer to set priorities RIGHT – that time is precious... the world needs more "Trigs", not fewer. My decision was also fortified during this most recent trip to Kosovo and Landstuhl, to visit our wounded soldiers overseas, those who sacrifice themselves in war for OUR freedom and security… we can ALL learn from our selfless Troops… they’re bold, they don’t give up, they take a stand and know that LIFE is short so they choose to NOT waste time. They choose to be productive and to serve something greater than SELF... and to build up their families, their states, our country. These Troops and their important missions – those are truly the worthy causes in this world and should be the public priority with time and resources and NOT this local / superficial wasteful political bloodsport. May we ALL learn from them! *((Gotta put First Things First))* First things first: as Governor, I love my job and I love Alaska. It hurts to make this choice but I am doing what’s best for Alaska. I’ve explained why… though I think of the saying on my parents’ refrigerator that says “Don’t explain: your friends don’t need it and your enemies won’t believe you anyway.” But I have given my reasons… no more “politics as usual” and I am taking my fight for what’s right – for Alaska – in a new direction. Now, despite this, I don’t want any Alaskan dissuaded from entering politics after seeing this REAL “climate change” that began in August… no, we NEED hardworking, average Americans fighting for what’s right! And I will support you because we need YOU and YOU can effect change, and I can too on the outside. We need those who will respect our Constitution where government’s supposed to serve from the BOTTOM UP, not move toward this TOP DOWN big government take-over… but rather, will be protectors of individual rights - who also have enough common sense to acknowledge when conditions have drastically changed and are willing to call an audible and pass the ball when it’s time so the team can win! And that is what I’m doing! Remember Alaska… America is now, more than ever, looking North to the Future. It'll be good. So God bless you, and from me and my family - to ALL Alaska - you have my heart. And we will be in the capable hands of our Lieutenant Governor, Sean Parnell. And Lieutenant General Craig Campbell will assume the role of Lieutenant Governor. And it is my promise to you that I will always be standing by, ready to assist. We have a good, positive agenda for Alaska. In the words of General MacArthur said, “We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”

Governor Palin will not seek re-election for Governor

3 July 2009

By Richard Bernier

As we know, Governor Palin will not seek re-election for Governor of her home State. Governor Palin has done an outstanding job while as Governor of Alaska & we wish her well in the days ahead. Draft Palin for President is a "grass roots effort" with 1000's of citizens joining of efforts to encourage Mrs.Palin to seek the office of President in 2012. Please share our website with your friends & ask them to sign up to show their support for having Mrs.Palin to consider running for President. Go here to sign up today: www.draftpalinforpresident.com If you have stories you would like for us to post on the website to "why Governor Palin should run for President" please email them & we will post them in the days ahead. Thank you, DraftPalinForPresident.Com Media contact: Richard Bernier @ rdbnc@yahoo.com 828 301 9358

Gov.Palin Trip Outside Home State shows Palin's star still blazes

13 June 2009

By SEAN COCKERHAM

Trip Outside shows Palin's star still blazes ASPIRATIONS UNCERTAIN: Backers call her the future of the party; others not so sure. By SEAN COCKERHAM scockerham@adn.com Gov. Sarah Palin returned to the national stage in a big way this past week, rocketing back into the national consciousness with her David Letterman feud, slams on the Obama administration and drama with national Republican leaders. While Palin won't say if she is running for national office, there is no shortage of people offering advice and declaring her to be an inspiration or making her a punch line. Her trip to the Lower 48 over the past week has the country again fascinated. The passion of her supporters hasn't flagged a bit since last year's presidential election, burning far hotter than that of any other Republican presidential hopeful. They see her as the future of the party, an antidote to President Barack Obama. Yet she remains highly controversial and attracts intense criticism from non-supporters. "She is who people are talking about," said Matthew Dowd, a former top strategist for George W. Bush and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. "That trip demonstrated that whatever people's feelings about her, she is a point of conversation. So depending upon her, she has the potential to emerge as a leader of the Republican Party." For that to happen, though, Dowd thinks Palin needs to move beyond celebrity. She can do that, he said, by advancing a substantive values argument in her upcoming book. Another option, he suggested, would be to host an academic forum on economics in which she puts forth her own opinions. She's bright and charismatic but needs to prove substance, he said. "She's got to get back in the news sections and out of the style sections and People magazine coverage," he said. James Carville, the national Democratic strategist, said he wouldn't mind seeing Palin's profile grow. "Both as a Democrat and just as a person who enjoys being entertained, I can't get enough of her. I taught a class on the 2008 election at Tulane, and I had to get the students to stop me from talking about her because it was just too compelling. She doesn't always just sit on the edge of the cliff, she actually falls off it sometimes," he said. Carville said he doesn't think Palin is an act. "I think the depths of her beliefs are not in doubt, it's how curious and competent she is where the real doubt is," he said. "And it's not just policy. If it's 'no drama Obama,' drama just follows her around." CROWDS GATHER There's no disputing Palin's power to draw cheering crowds in the Lower 48. An estimated 20,000 people turned out to see her lead a parade in Auburn, N.Y., last weekend. She was featured prominently in interviews on Fox News Channel, CNN and NBC. But as in the presidential campaign, Palin continues to be very polarizing. On the national level, many seem to either love her or deeply dislike her. Her supporters will hear a Palin speech or interview and declare her brilliantly in touch with regular Americans and their values. Critics dismiss her as not being presidential material -- and worse. "She has crossed the line from political figure into celebritydom," said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. "But she's also demonstrated how polarizing and controversial she is, even with the Republican leadership." Cheri Jacobus, a Washington, D.C., Republican strategist, said Palin has taken an unfair beating, one that she asserts would not have happened to a male politician. "The only reasons she is polarizing is because the Democrats and the media demonized her so much that they made her a polarizing figure," said Jacobus (who is not related to the former Alaska Republican Party activist with the same name). Jacobus said Palin inspires a growing group of enthusiastic activist conservative Republicans around the country, the kind of people who went to the "tea party" events. Palin is a star whether she decides to run for president in 2012, bide her time until 2016, or take another path, she said "The woman is worth her weight in gold in terms of fundraising," she said. "Whether it's 2012 or beyond, or she just wants to be the kingmaker and make buckets of money for the party, she really has a wide berth to work with." What Palin needs now is to "set up a professional operation at the staff level," Jacobus said. There was drama last week over whether Palin would attend a major congressional fundraising dinner after a scheduling spat with Republican leaders. Most controversial was Palin's fight with Letterman over jokes involving her daughter. Letterman made the initial comments on Monday night's show. It was still making headlines Saturday, overshadowing the news, at least on the national level, that the oil giant Exxon Mobil has joined in the project she's pushing to build a natural gas pipeline to the Lower 48. Ken Sunshine, a veteran New York public relations executive, suggested to the Washington Post that the fight could turn out to be good for both Palin and Letterman. "Letterman is a master of this, and he's milking it for all it's worth," Sunshine said, citing similar ratings-boosting "feuds" that Letterman has engaged in with Sen. John McCain and Oprah Winfrey. "But people often underestimate (Palin) and underestimate her following. She's exploiting this very smartly. She's speaking to her core base that feels maligned. ... It's extraordinary that she can bring this off." "Poor Mitt Romney. He's probably wondering, 'Where do I get some of this?' " IDEOLOGICAL OR PRAGMATIC? Palin also ripped Obama on her trip, saying his policies since taking office were sending the nation toward socialism. She told Fox News host Sean Hannity she's not happy oil prices are rising because "the fewer dollars that the state of Alaska government has, the fewer dollars we spend, and that's good for our families and the for the private sector." John Bitney, a high school classmate of Palin's who was a political adviser on her 2006 campaign for governor, said he sees parallels now with Palin's past runs for office. "It's very similar to her two previous runs for office in that she starts off working the more conservative right wing base to establish herself and build a network, an activist base involved in her campaign," he said. "Once you get established as a viable candidate, you have to then begin to broaden your message to win. You just can't stay stuck over on that end of the spectrum." Is Palin more ideological or pragmatic as a campaigner? "Going back to the mayor's race, going back to the governor's race, going back to the city council and going back to the Wasilla High basketball court, she likes to win," said Bitney, who worked in the governor's office as legislative director after her election. He had a split with Palin and is now an aide to Rep. John Harris, R-Valdez. Palin was not considered an especially partisan governor before she was chosen as the vice presidential nominee, and often got along better with the Democrats in the Legislature than the Republicans. Bitney noted that she didn't push social conservative issues when he worked for her during her first year as governor. She vetoed a bill that sought to block the state from giving public employee benefits like health insurance to same-sex couples, saying it was unconstitutional. OPINIONS VARY ON HER CHANCES Dowd, the former Bush and Schwarzenegger adviser, believes Palin was mishandled and inexperienced when she ran for vice president last year and was a drag on the ticket. But she can rebound, he said, offering the example of Hillary Clinton, a polarizing figure who recast her image and almost became president. "It takes time, though, and Governor Palin has to be careful about being in too much of a hurry," he said. The University of Virginia's Sabato said Palin has clearly made a decision to stoke the Republican Party's base and worry later about broader appeal. That is not a bad strategy, he said, and the general election will be more about Obama's popularity at the time than anything else. But he is doubtful that Palin could pull it off. "Yes, there are many very conservative GOP base voters who would cast a ballot for her, but that's not enough, even for the nomination. She would have to convince Republican activists that she could actually win in November. And she may deserve a Nobel Prize if she can accomplishment that," Sabato said. Palin supporters vigorously disagree with that kind of talk. They're committed to promoting her, with their energy seeming to only grow in the months since the November election. Greg Mueller, a national Republican consultant, said Palin has a huge grass-roots network and will have no problem raising money. He said Palin is a "softer version of Margaret Thatcher." She can unite the social, limited-government and foreign policy conservatives, he said, and could be just what the voters are looking for after they are disillusioned with the Obama years. "The more she is attacked by the Washington establishment and elite media and people like David Letterman, the more people are going to come out and support her," he said. He suggested Palin follow a Ronald Reagan model, leaving Alaska when appropriate, giving speeches in smaller towns and talking to local press. "Katie Couric doesn't have a lot of fans in Des Moines, Iowa, and Manchester, New Hampshire," Mueller said. "Sarah Palin does." Read Sean Cockerham on our Alaska Politics blog (adn.com/alaskapolitics) or call him at 257-4344.

Palin offers justification to energy veto

06/08/2009

By KTVA

June 5, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is now inviting states to comment on a draft document developed for measuring and demonstrating compliance with stipulations attached to universal building code provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Last month, Governor Sarah Palin vetoed the $28.6 million in federal stimulus funds tied to adoption of building codes by municipalities. DOE has repeatedly stated that some energy funds are directly tied to the statewide adoption of new federal energy-efficiency codes. [Section 410(a)(2); March 12, 2009, DOE Guidance Manual, p.8, p.10, 25-26, p.33-34, Attachment 3; April 24, 2009, DOE Guidance Manual, p.8, p.10, p.25-26, p.33-34.] According to the Palin administration, the 2009 International Conservation Code for residences and the 2007 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers' code for commercial buildings throughout the state, are cited as conflicting with Alaska's energy needs. Currently there is no statewide energy code. The administration suggests that compliance by all local jurisdictions would include even Alaska's 114 second-class and mostly rural communities. Codes they argue would, "regulate even the type of lighting that can be installed," which the administration believes would cost Alaskans thousands of dollars per new home or renovation. "We took issue with Washington's universal building codes mandate and said they were unacceptable for Alaska," Governor Palin said. "Eventually, bureaucrats at DOE admitted the requirements were 'not appropriate' and offered funding if I would just push the codes on all our communities. I believe in local control, so I said no. Now, in the most recently issued statement on the subject by DOE, the requirements are back, clearer than ever." Specifically the administration takes issue with the June 1, 2009, DOE "State Compliance Evaluation Rev 2" which states: "[Section 410(a)(2] The State, or the applicable units of local government that have authority to adopt building codes, will implement the following: "(A) A residential building energy code (or codes) that meets or exceeds the most recent International Energy Conservation Code, or achieves equivalent or greater energy savings. "(B) A commercial building energy code (or codes) throughout the State that meets or exceeds the ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-2007, or achieves equivalent or greater energy savings." "While the 'State Compliance Evaluation Rev 2' is not final, it demonstrates DOE's continued efforts to force federal energy codes, enforcement costs, and compliance costs that will act as a mandatory tax on Alaskans building or renovating a new home," Governor Palin said. "Alaskans should continue to have the freedom to adopt, not adopt, amend, or rescind any type of building code they choose." Also included in the DOE document are draft guidelines for policing building codes in remote, rural villages and in towns. This would include items such as checking whether communities require energy code documentation prior to issuing a building permit, conducting plan reviews for energy code compliance, and using inspectors specifically trained in the requirements of the energy building code. Suggested compliance methods include on-site audits of randomly selected communities and buildings by inspectors.

Governor Highlights Accomplishments of Legislative Session

April 20th 2009

By State of Alaska

April 20, 2009, Juneau, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin thanked members of the 26th Alaska State Legislature for their work during the 2009 session. The session was highlighted by several positive pieces of legislation that will move the state forward. The governor is pleased with the work on several priority bills that passed this year, including legislation related to the budget, education and transportation. Budget The legislature worked with the administration to craft conservative budget bills that maintain essential state services, while reducing costs where possible in light of the state’s current revenue forecast. Governor Palin made significant reductions in the proposed spending plan for the next fiscal year, given the decline in general fund revenues projected for Fiscal Year 2010 -- from $5.3 billion estimated in the fall of 2008, to $3.2 billion in the spring of 2009. The leaner proposal reflected the governor’s fiscal philosophy of slowing government growth, keeping expenditures within the state’s means, meeting core spending obligations and saving as much as possible for potentially leaner times. The governor is concerned that the legislature chose not to fund certain public works projects related to resource development. The legislature also did not include funding for deferred maintenance and other projects while the state’s aging infrastructure is increasingly inadequate to handle population growth, and many of these needed projects could have been funded by matching federal funds that were available. “Responsible spending reductions and prudent use of reserve funds will help Alaska through the current economic conditions,” she said. “We must, however, continue to invest in infrastructure that will help develop our resources and our communities.” Energy Two key pieces of energy legislation were introduced this year aimed at reducing the high cost to consumers and providing for long-term reliability and more efficiently delivered energy. Governor Palin’s bill offers to bring Railbelt utilities together to ensure that the new power-generation projects that inevitably must be built can be realized with minimal impact to ratepayers. As a result of legislative hearings on this legislation, a landmark event occurred. On April 7, a joint meeting was held of the governing bodies of the six Railbelt electric utilities. They came together to discuss legislation and determined that they generally agree on consolidation of generation and transmission assets. They have committed to move forward through a task force that will meet over the next several months to prepare recommendations for the final legislation to be considered when the legislature convenes in January 2010. The governor also brought forward legislation and funding requests that lay the groundwork for an in-state gas pipeline. A four-phase plan for the development of an in-state pipeline was presented by the administration on March 3. Work continues on the legislation that will form the initial statutory framework for the development of the project. The legislature approved $7.1 million to continue work on the in-state gas pipeline. The legislature approved $100 million in FY2009 grant awards from the Renewable Energy Fund. The grants will allow utilities across the state to advance more than 80 generation projects utilizing wind, solar, hydroelectric, hydrokinetic, and bio fuels. Another $25 million in grants are included in the FY2010 capital budget appropriation bill. Education The Department of Education and Early Development budget includes $1.1 billion for Alaska’s 53 K-12 school districts and 129,000 students. The budget also funds $57 million in year two of a three-year increase for education, including: • $23 million for a $100 increase in the base student allocation from $5,480 to $5,580; • $22 million for an increase in funding for intensive-needs students from $49,320 to $61,380 per student; and • $12.4 million for an increase in the district cost factors that provide adjustments for the differences in the cost of providing education services across the state. The legislature also approved the administration’s request for $600,000 to assist school districts needing improvement particularly in the areas of reading and math. The funding allows the Department of Education & Early Development to hire a director of rural education to work with communities, organizations and schools to improve the academic success of rural and Alaska Native students. Transportation and Infrastructure More than 140 projects estimated at more than $1.2 billion are in the capital budget for highways, aviation, and transit infrastructure. The projects are expected to bring an estimated 12,000 direct and indirect jobs, fostering business growth throughout Alaska. The Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities are operating apprenticeship programs and are working with contractors to ensure that as many of these jobs as possible go to residents. Other Legislation • Medicaid for Adult Dental Services – Once, adults enrolled in Medicaid were only eligible for dental care that addressed immediate relief of pain and acute infection, which often resulted in tooth extractions. In 2006, the legislature authorized an enhanced program that provided preventative and restorative services to needy eligible adults under the Medicaid program with a sunset provision. This legislation, House Bill 26, very similar to a bill introduced by Governor Palin, passed extending this valuable program and deleting the sunset provision. • State Investment in Education Fund – House Bill 172 ensures that Alaskans will have access to low-cost loans to finance their postsecondary education and training through the Alaska Student Loan Corporation, continuing a 40 plus year Alaskan tradition of investing in their future. • Child Support/Cash Medical Support – Senate Bill 96, introduced by the Senate Health and Social Services Committee with the full support of the governor, brings the state of Alaska into federal compliance with a new federal medical-support regulation that requires states to have guidelines addressing how parents will provide for a child’s health care needs through insurance, cash, or both. The legislation prevents the loss of nearly $85 million in federal funds that support children and families. The governor expressed disappointment over several pieces of important legislation that were held in committee this year, but she anticipates progress by the lawmakers next year regarding: • A parental notification bill which would have required a 48-hour prior notification to parents, legal guardians or custodians of a girl younger than 17 before she has an abortion; • increased eligibility for pregnant women and children under the Denali KidCare health insurance program; and • the governor’s bill to restrict certain investments of the Alaska Permanent Fund, the state's retirement systems, the State of Alaska Supplemental Annuity Plan, and the state’s deferred compensation program in companies that do business in Sudan. Additionally, the legislature did not include funding that would leverage federal and other funds and key priority development projects such as: • $15 million for federal highway and aviation match; • $1.2 million for U.S. Corp of Engineers Harbor Program match; • $22 million for Dalton Highway improvements; • $4 million for oil and gas reservoir study work; and • $3 million for western Alaska access. The governor remains hopeful that legislators will continue to work on these important bills and funding next session. “Resource development and infrastructure projects are essential to Alaska’s future,” said the governor. “I will work diligently with the legislature to fund these vital projects in the next legislative session.”

2012 Draft Sarah Committee forms Executive Board

20 April 2009

By WWW.2012DraftSarahCommittee.Com

2012 Draft Sarah Committee forms Executive Board The 2012 Draft Sarah Committee (http://WWW.2012DraftSarahCommittee.Com/) formed an Executive Board of Directors last week which will help guide the committee members and thousands of supporters in their effort and sole mission to encourage Governor Sarah Palin to run for President in 2012. Formed in mid-November by co-founders Paul Streitz of Darien, CT and David L. Kelly of Colorado Springs, CO, the federally registered draft Committee has grown from just a handful of supporters to thousands across the nation. “Over the last five months we have grown rapidly and now have 27 State Organizers who are working hard on our mission and are the backbone of our grassroots efforts,” said David Kelly, Treasurer of the Committee. Kelly added, “It was time to take the next step in our organization and build a solid infrastructure within our group to help support our volunteers and keep our focus on having Governor Palin as our next President.” The (9) members of the Executive Board of Directors include Committee members from Alaska to Florida. The Board held an election for officer positions and elected Randy Highsmith as the new Committee Chairman. Highsmith was the Florida State Organizer. He has been heavily active within the Committee since its inception and is ready to lead and begin spreading the positive message about Governor Sarah Palin. Highsmith said, “Governor Palin represents so many everyday average working people. She shares our conservative values and is our standard barrier. That is why I am so passionate about our work and cause here at the 2012 Draft Sarah Committee.” Paul Streitz, co-founder and previous Committee Chairman, decided to step down from his post. His hard work and untiring efforts to build a solid foundation for the Committee have been greatly appreciated. Last week, several State Organizers held their first monthly “meet-ups” in their local communities. The meet-ups, which are public informal meetings of Sarah supporters, are intended to give all in attendance an opportunity to fellowship and network. Alaska State Organizer, April Moore, commented, “If brainstorming ideas with a group as committed and passionate as these folks in Fairbanks are is any indication, soon we will not be able to hold these meetings indoors! From our first meeting, we now have a Fairbanks Organizer and a Facebook Organizer. Volunteer, and there is a job you can do to help 2012 Draft Sarah Committee.” The committee hopes to have State Organizers in every state in the next few months and plans on becoming increasingly active in their communities.

Poll on Sarah Palin

5 April 2009

By Why Mommy is a Republican

Why Mommy is a Republican is conducting a new poll on Sarah Palin. Thought you might like to mention it on your site. Thanks. Why Mommy is a Republican is conducting a poll on views about Governor Sarah Palin. The poll is open to all. Please take a few moments to let us know what you think of Governor Palin. Pass it on to others, too! Visit the poll at this link. http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/428220 **READ BELOW** --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Help Governor Palin get her message out by doing a radio show - Yes you can!! Free radio. Go to www.uswebtalkradio.com for more info.

A Tale of Two Governors

23 March 2009

By Lisa Baker Graas (Why is Mommy a Republican?)

A Tale of Two Governors This is a story of two governors and two weather-related crises. One promotes big government that failed to work as promised. The other promotes outreach by man to his fellow man and succeeded through setting a personal example. It's also the story of preservation of culture and tradition and challenges you to understand whose role it is to preserve it. When I heard that Governor Sarah Palin and Lt. Governor Sean Parnell had traveled with an organization called Samaritan's Purse out to Western Alaska on a relief mission, I didn't think much about it. That's just something people do when there is a crisis, right? Well, not always. In early February, my home state of Kentucky was hit with its worst natural disaster ever recorded. This beastly menace was in the form of an ice storm. Here in Grayson County, our local communities were reportedly hit the hardest and local officials were begging for volunteers to come in from other states. Read a report at Louisville station WAVE-3. God bless them, volunteers responded to the call. It was a frightening experience for many because of the magnitude of the onslaught and because it had come with little warning unlike the several days' warning that hurricane strike zones usually receive. Kentucky is covered with trees and not one of them wasn't bowed down from the weight of the ice or sliced like a bloomin' onion. Power was out all over the state. For several days there was no television, no video games, no microwaves or refrigeration – so we all learned lessons in the importance of our personal relationships. Even cell phone service was knocked out with the exception of one service. Stores were closed. People had to rely on what they already had in their cabinets. Tap water was unsafe and well pumps were without power so clean water was hard to come by for many. Many people were unable to leave their homes because of the danger of falling limbs or because fallen limbs blocked driveways and roads. Telephone lines were down. Some power poles were snapped like twigs. Neighborhoods organized crews consisting of the able-bodied to check on other neighbors known not to be able-bodied, some of whom were found in desperate conditions, without power and shivering in frigid temperatures. Imagine, for a moment, regular people helping regular people without the help of “Daddy Government”. As I was reading many days later how the Passionists got through it, I was inspired to comment that it was “a horrifically beautiful experience”. Indeed, it was. Kentuckians managed, with the help of each other and with the help of volunteers who came in from other states, to get through the worst natural disaster we had ever experienced, and it was largely without “Daddy Government's” help. During the height of the time of need the mayor of our county seat had one word for higher officials (e.g., Obama, FEMA and Democratic Governor Beshear). That word was “Disgusted”. It pretty much sums up the way everyone I know felt around here about “Daddy Government”. Thanks, Mayor, for saying that. Liberals who believe big government should play a primary role in disasters like this were disgusted because there was no response from “Daddy Government” to speak of. Conservatives who believe big government should just stay out of our way were disgusted by the fact that big government officials were claiming credit where none was due. A quote from Governor Beshear from the AP illustrates an unwillingness to admit that a practical test of his ideology ended in total failure: "We have had tremendous and quick response from President Obama and his administration. I don't think any of our folks that have dealt with disasters before ever recall as quick a response as we got last Wednesday." Yeah, right. Here's what really happened folks. Is Beshear a poster child for voter registration or what? Excuses abound but the fact is that Kentuckians weathered it without President Obama and, largely, even without Governor Beshear. [Note to Michelle Malkin: God bless you and other conservative bloggers for using your gift to perform a needed service. With power out and with cell services down, it was difficult to receive and send any information. You did the right thing. You promoted ground level volunteerism through your blog and I applaud you for that important outreach.] I'm not going to criticize our “big government” liberal officials for anything but hypocrisy. Sadly, many people across the state died, but we got through it.........together.........and, to be sure, with a lot of help from folks coming in from neighboring states. My own family evacuated to Nashville and everywhere we went, we were greeted with compassion from citizens. (God bless Tennessee, the Volunteer State!) I remember reading a comment by a resident from tiny Rabbit Flat, Kentucky, on the website of a Louisville news station wherein she pleaded for the government to just stay away because local residents in her community were all helping each other and everyone had been accounted for. Not everyone felt “Daddy Government” should stay away but this is a heavily Republican county in a red state and most people did express the same sentiment as that resident from Rabbit Flat. The overwhelming emotion was disgust in the face of “Daddy Government's” hypocrisy in saying he had fulfilled his promise. Kentuckians on the ground knew better. Now let's switch gears and talk about another governor dealing with harsh weather conditions. As I've noted, when I read the reports about Governor Palin and Lt. Governor Sean Parnell going out to the Russian Mission area of Alaska to deliver supplies to residents who were suffering due to harsh conditions, I promise you, I really didn't spend more than a few seconds thinking about it. I didn't think, “Oh, well, that's what governors do.” Believe me when I say that I thought to myself, “that's what Christians and all people of good will do.” I never imagined that anyone would respond to this mission of mercy on the part of a group of Christians and other people of good will with complaints that she showed a “lack” of compassion! That sure is some funny Kool-Aid you liberals are drinking these days. One person commented that this demonstrates that Sarah Palin has an inability to show empathy unlike Obama “who has the ability to empathize with people”. Huh???? The weird thing, though, is that absurd accusations have a way of grabbing my attention. Simply because they are absurd, they automatically make me think that there must be something to the story that I'm not getting! Absurdity doesn't compute with me and I have this strange desire to investigate absurdity because nonsense gets under my skin. It's just the way I am. I was compelled, therefore, to investigate further. My investigation of this absurdity found me looking into the accusations for clues regarding where these folks might be getting this anger. The complaints center around the plight of Natives in rural areas. Without going into details, let me just say that for personal reasons (and even theological ones) I have a soft spot in my heart for people who want to preserve tradition. When I read various complaints by liberals accusing Governor Palin as if she is responsible for the suppression of culture in rural villages, I had to notice and I had to investigate further. Their argument seems to be (and I invite them to provide me with more information if they think I am lacking it) that people shouldn't have to leave their rural villages for jobs. When the young people get older, it is said, they must move away for jobs and the preservation of culture suffers. It is, indeed, a sad reality for many. In shame I admit that I nearly bought the notion that somehow Governor Palin might not be responding adequately to the sufferings of those who want to preserve their traditional culture. I was actually worried about these people and thinking that maybe the liberals could be right that Governor Palin isn't that concerned about Native Alaskans. Thanks be to God that there is no such thing as “Sarah Palin Kool-Aid”. Also, I would be a pretty sorry Christian if I drank any political Kool-Aid, so I set my feet on the path to wisdom to investigate the claim. Just as I did on the predator control issue, I set out to find out what the heck is going on up there! I contacted two individuals who work for separate Native organizations so that I could understand more about Native Alaskans. As I write, I have heard back from one of them, Vicki Otte who is Coordinator of Get Out the Native Vote in Alaska. You MUST see that website. Doesn't it really grab you? I had not actually seen the website when I contacted her. I had found her through the national site at this link. Basically, I asked Vicki if she could please answer a few questions for me to help me get a feel for what things are like for Native Alaskans. She let me know up front that she is not allowed to express political positions due to the nature of her position in the vote project, so I asked her if she could answer questions about Natives in Alaska without addressing politics. She agreed and she sent me a .pdf file with the very impressive 2008 ANCSA Regional Association Economic Report. (I can't find a link to this report online but will send readers a copy via email upon request.) I found online that Vicki also happens to be the Executive Director of the ANSCA Regional Corporation Presidents and CEOs. (Note: I am not certain if she still holds this position or if she is a former executive director.) You can find some background information about her in the program of The 2006 Alaska Conference. With the arrival in my email box of the economic report, my feet were indeed set on the path of wisdom about the economic status of Alaska Natives. There is information about the ANSCA at Wikipedia, but basically, it is an association of Native Alaskans from various regions in Alaska. I believe there is also an association for Native Alaskans who don't actually reside in the state. This organization came about with the passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. After reading this information and seeing the Get Out the Native Vote site, my view of Native Alaskans has been completely changed from thinking they were all suffering in poverty in remote areas to knowing that, hey, a program exists that is meant to ensure that they prosper as a people. If this economic report is any indication of Native economic prosperity in the macro, these are a thriving people. My research into the preservation of Native culture also showed that, again, these are a thriving people. I don't for a second pretend to believe that all Alaska Natives are rich or that all Native Alaskans are sufficiently able to preserve their traditional culture. What I do have is evidence that on the large scale, economic prosperity and preservation of traditional culture isn't a problem. Please, correct me if I am wrong about this, readers. As a faithful Catholic mother of four with friends who are parents and share my Faith, I understand on a personal level that there are problems with young people these days. I see teenagers who, sadly, don't share my great love for Sacred Christian Tradition and the culture that I have come to love. (See my website for Catholic parents who want their children to share their Traditional Faith. Yes, I'm pretty serious about preserving my Catholic culture. See my site review at Catholic Culture which is my favorite site online, hands down.) Liberals, of course, who proudly profess their sacred belief in cultural relativism will quickly note that Catholic culture is sub-standard. Hypocrisy abounds and hypocrisy is something that really offends me. If I were a hypocrite myself, I would demand that government step in to promote my sacred traditional culture...........but, friends, it is not government's job to preserve the Sacred Christian Tradition and culture in my family. It's my job. The charge from liberals is that economic prosperity must come to local villages so that young people won't be forced to travel far to where the jobs are. I have found, though, that many Alaskans in rural areas have work schedules that make it possible for them to continue to be active in their local communities and participate in the traditional culture. Governor Palin has expressed what I view to be a common sense dislike for having to hire out-of-state workers to fill jobs when Alaskans in rural areas are crying out for jobs to be brought there for the SOLE REASON of preservation of culture. Upon my coming to an understanding of all of these things, I was faced once again with the realization that the leftist bloggers have been engaging in absurdities. When you are a Christian (and Sarah Palin is a Christian, plain and simple), you can't do truly good things without getting hammered by people who hate Christianity and see themselves as the saviors of the world. And do you know why that's so? It's because Christianity itself is absurd to them. If only the liberal, cultural relativists and the haters of personal responsibility and good character would take the time to investigate what they see as an absurdity, they might be freed from their bitterness! Unfortunately, I think they are actually enjoying the attack mode too much. Since many of them are relativists who believe there can be no truth (except, of course, the "truth" that Christian culture is sub-standard), it is understandable that they would resolve within themselves that there's no sense looking for it. We can pray for them. So, now what? What do I think of what is going on in Alaska with Sarah Palin and the Native community? I think that together they can handle it. In fact, when I watched this video of Governor Palin addressing the Alaska Native Village CEOs, I realized that, once again, this woman has proven that she knows what the heck she is doing!!! I am certainly willing to discuss with anyone any disagreements they may have with me on this and I am prepared to hear new information that could make me think differently, but at this point, here is what I think. Like the predator control issue, Governor Palin and the people of Alaska have a pretty good handle on this issue. For more info go to: genuinegopmom.blogspot.com

Alaska vows to be part of the solution, not the problem

19 March 2009

By Unkown

March 19, 2009, Juneau, Alaska - Governor Sarah Palin submitted her federal economic stimulus appropriation bill to legislators today to provide jobs and needed infrastructure improvements in Alaska under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Governor Palin is accepting just 55 percent of the available stimulus funds, all for capital projects. This amount includes the funds the state accepted last month for Department of Transportation projects. "We will request federal stimulus funds for capital projects that will create new jobs and expand the economy," Governor Palin said. “We won’t be bound by federal strings in exchange for dollars, nor will we dig ourselves a deeper hole in two years when these federal funds are gone. For instance, in order to accept what look like attractive energy funds, our local communities would be required to adopt uniform building codes. Government would then be required to police those codes. These types of funds are not sensible for Alaska.” The legislation does not include funding requests for government operating programs. Governor Palin has indicated the state will not stand in the way of local governments or other entities pursuing stimulus funds directly from the federal government. "The law requires me to certify that the requests I forward for legislative approval will meet the requirements of the ARRA to create jobs and promote economic growth," Governor Palin said. “Legitimately, I can only certify capital projects that are job-ready. Alaska has seen unprecedented increases in the level of state funding for education because that is our priority. I don’t want to automatically increase federal funding for education program growth, such as the National Endowment for the Arts, at a time when Alaska can’t afford to sustain that increase." "Simply expanding state government under this federal stimulus package creates an unrealistic expectation that the state will continue these programs when the federal funds are no longer available,” said Governor Palin. “Our nation is already over $11 trillion in debt; we can’t keep digging this hole.” Preliminary estimates for federal economic stimulus funds to Alaska state agencies are approximately $930.7 million. Of that total, the state requested allocations for transportation and aviation projects in February estimated at $262.6 million, although more was requested in contingency and other funds. With the additional $251.5 million in economic stimulus funds requested today, the proposed total capital spending is $514.1 million, or 55 percent of the state's estimated allocation. Funds that are available competitively or that go directly to communities or other organizations are not included in these estimates. "Our desire is to foster a discussion about what is true stimulus and what is just more federal interference in Alaskans' lives through the growth of government," Governor Palin said. "We think stimulus items devoted to government agency growth and program expansion ought to be examined in light of the funding needs already being addressed with our pending budget requests." Not counting the transportation stimulus dollars the governor requested in February, today's legislation requests $252.5 million for capital projects. Capital projects requested include $20.7 million for education and job training, $68.6 million for water and sewer projects and storage tank replacements, $3.0 million for the Alaska Vocational Training Center, $2.5 million for Fire Fuels and Forest Management, $39.6 million for public housing projects through the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, and $116.0 million for the University of Alaska Fairbanks Research Vessel. The bill also includes two $1.0 million placeholders for competitive grant opportunities for state agencies and the University. "We need to ensure that these stimulus dollars are used for job opportunities for Alaskans, while preserving the regular operating spending decisions through the normal budget process," Governor Palin said.

Far-Left Blogs Bash Bristol Palin Over Breakup With Baby's Father

13 March 2009

By Fox News - Bill O'Reilly "On the Record"

Far-Left Blogs Bash Bristol Palin Over Breakup With Baby's Father Friday , March 13, 2009 ADVERTISEMENTThis is a rush transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," March 12, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated. BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Personal Story" segment tonight: Reports out of Alaska say 18-year-old Bristol Palin will not marry the father of her child. Apparently the couple has parted ways. Now you may remember, Bristol became pregnant during the presidential campaign, and she and her mother were subject to brutal attacks by the far left. Well, nothing's changed. Led by the incredibly vicious MSNBC network and the off-the-chart hateful Web sites, garbage is flying: • "Bristol and her beau have apparently called off their engagement, making the product of their special night of conservative 'value swapping' in the back of a Chevy — son Tripp — one helluva elephant in the GOP's cathedral of morality." • "Reminds me again why I hate the hell out of Sarah Palin." • "Hilarious. An unmarried teenage mom with a kid (possibly two) whose mom wants to be prez." • "Let grandma raise the baby. She's sooo good at child-rearing." And on and on and on. Joining us from Washington, FOX News anchor Greta Van Susteren, host of "On the Record," who knows the Palin family well. You know, these are disturbed individuals. They're egged on by, you know, the people at MSNBC and Air America on the radio. But there's no excuse for this, is there? Click here to watch the segment! GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST, "ON THE RECORD": Well, you know, you say that I, just as an aside, that I know them very well. The only way that I've met them is by interviewing them. So, you know, I don't socialize or spend a lot of time with them. But I do have a little bit of a sense having interviewed them multiple times. I'll tell you what's even more stunning, I mean, we sort of expect that kind of behavior on the Internet where people type and run like cowards. I mean, that's, you know, sort of the status quo these days. But I'll tell you what's more disturbing is I've had people in the news business come up to me as though they think I'm so close to the Palin family and sort of gushing with glee that this has happened to this poor kid, you know, as though they don't have children, as though this is so particularly unique. O'REILLY: Let me ask you about that. VAN SUSTEREN: I'm more scandalized by them. O'REILLY: I guess you don't want to mention their names, right? VAN SUSTEREN: No. But I mean, they live with themselves. They live with themselves. I'm just — I am appalled because this is an 18-year-old kid. O'REILLY: OK, wait, wait, wait, wait. OK. Let's walk through it though because you are raising a very interesting point. You know professional journalists who are happy that Bristol Palin is being humiliated once again and her mother and father are being held up to a spotlight negatively once again. They are happy about it. Do you ask them, Greta, why are you delighting in the misery of others? Why are you doing that? Do you ask them that? VAN SUSTEREN: No, Bill, because I think it's so pathetic. And I mean, I'm sort of a little bit amused as it relates to me sort of gush up to me like they think it's funny or, you know, they laugh at her. O'REILLY: Nobody would dare do that to me. I mean, you're much nicer than I am. But nobody would dare — because I would ask them that very question. Why are you reveling in the suffering of another person who you don't know, OK? VAN SUSTEREN: I guess you care more about these people than I do who do that. I mean, I'm frankly very dismissive. O'REILLY: I don't care about them, but I would hold them to account. VAN SUSTEREN: I'm totally dismissive of them. You know what? I check them off. O'REILLY: OK. VAN SUSTEREN: I just check them off, gone. You know, I just treat it differently. But you know, if you think about it, this is an 18-year-old who, when she did an interview with us, and I — the only time I've ever spent with her is what you saw on camera. There wasn't any even off-camera, I think, even a few minutes. And what she was trying to do is she was trying to get a message out there that she loves her baby, that it's very difficult, that she wished she'd waited until she was a little older, hoping to send a message out there that was one that would be instructive to other people. Instead you've got 45-, 55-, 65-, 35-year-old people, especially in journalism, who are just salivating at someone's misfortune. And that is what is so extraordinary to me. O'REILLY: All right. But here's the crux of the matter that everybody in America needs to understand tonight. John Edwards got in a lot of trouble. I didn't cover it. VAN SUSTEREN: He's a little older. He's a little older. He also had a wife and kids, but anyway. O'REILLY: Listen to me. Listen to me. This is important. John Edwards got in a lot of trouble, OK? Not here. We mentioned it. We didn't dwell on it, because we knew that Mrs. Edwards was suffering greatly. VAN SUSTEREN: Bill... O'REILLY: We don't have any use for John Edwards, but we — wait, wait, wait, wait. So we didn't do it, OK? I didn't get a lot of conservative hate mail. I didn't get a lot of right-wing "O'Reilly, you should have gone after him." I didn't get that. I didn't get it, OK? And this network, this network didn't go after John Edwards, FOX News. We reported it, and then we covered other things, out of compassion for a woman who with cancer… VAN SUSTEREN: Let me talk about that for a minute. O'REILLY: But the left, the left — hold it. The left does exactly the opposite every single time. Now, I'm going to tell you right now. There are right-wing kooks. I know it. But the far left in this country — and you can see it on display every night on MSNBC — is vicious, has no class whatsoever, will do anything to harm people with whom they disagree, Greta. That is the truth. Go ahead. VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Let me separate a couple things. First of all, John Edwards was a politician. He's not just a remote family member. O'REILLY: Sarah Palin is a politician. VAN SUSTEREN: Well, you're talking about Sarah Palin. I'm talking about — I'm talking about Bristol. O'REILLY: They're going after Bristol to get Sarah. VAN SUSTEREN: I'm not talking about — OK, all right. That's the first thing. The second thing is, is the whole sort of — the aspect with John Edwards is that, you know, he was a profound disappointment to many people. And he was raising very important points about the fact that there are people who are, you know, living in poverty. And he was basically taking the moral high ground out there about his own behavior. And his own behavior was of, now has turned out to be deplorable and even using an excuse, which was even worse, which was that his wife was in remission. O'REILLY: But we did not do exploit that situation. We did not do it. VAN SUSTEREN: I don't know if we even covered it on "On the Record," but I will confess, I certainly read about it. It's not as though I simply put it away and we covered it. I read about it. I read it. O'REILLY: You're getting my point here. You know what's going on. VAN SUSTEREN: I get your point. No, look, you know what? I'd be ashamed. I'd be ashamed to be so gleeful about someone else's misfortune like that. O'REILLY: It's horrible. It's horrible. All right. Check Greta out at 10, "On the Record." Watch "The O'Reilly Factor" weeknights at 8 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET!

United States Surrenders in Iraq 2010

10 March 2009

By StudentsofAmerica Blog

United States Surrenders in Iraq 2010 President Obama announced that the United States will surrender to Al-Qaeda, Sadr's Army, Hezbollah, and Iran in Iraq. August 31st, 2010 United States Military forces will withdraw from Iraq. Why call it a "withdrawal" or "end of combat operations"? Because these words downplay the actuality of surrendering. There is a reason why we don't announce dates, now that every terrorist organization knows when the US is going to leave they are going to stop their operations, train, and build up their forces so that on Sept. 1st, 2010 every known faction from Al-Qaeda to Iran will invade and takeover Iraq. Why would President Obama make such a foolish public announcement, at least keep it secret between you and the Iraqi Government. Now that our surrender has a date every milita and terror group is going to go into hiding and wait it out that even our own Intelligence forces are going to lose track of them. Shame on President Obama for surrenduring to terrorism and giving a date for the fall of Iraq. Join the Conversation at StudentsofAmerica Blog

Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee speaks out

Feb 7th 2009

By Michael Steele,Chair GOP

"This is Michael Steele, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Democrats have controlled both branches of government for less than a month. And you have to wonder if all that power has gone to their heads. "For the last two weeks, they've been trying to force a massive spending bill through Congress under the guise of economic relief. "All of us -- Republicans and Democrats -- agree the government must act to kick-start the American economy. American families are doing their best to balance their own budgets and pay their mortgages. "The fastest way to help those families is by letting them keep more of the money they earn. Individual empowerment: that's how you stimulate the economy. "But the Democrats have a different philosophy. Instead of leaving money in the family checkbook, they want to send it to Washington, run it through a slow and inefficient government, and hope that does some good. "When families keep the money, they spend it, save it, or invest it. And the private sector economy benefits when families and businesses buy consumer goods or invest it for the future. But when Washington spends the money, some of it may flow into the economy, but all too often, much gets wasted. "Democrats in Congress want a one-trillion dollar spending bill. You've heard about the pork-barrel programs they want to fund... 45 million dollars for ATV trails and removal of fish passage barriers is one that caught my eye. Exactly what is a fish passage barrier and why does it cost 45 million dollars to stimulate the economy with it? "That's why Republicans in the House voted against uncontrolled spending. This is not a bragging point, but rather a statement that at least Republicans would stand with the American taxpayer. "But voting 'no' is not enough... and Republicans have offered innovative ideas to help struggling families and small businesses. We've offered plans to spark job creation and investment through lower taxes, to stop the taxation of unemployment benefits, and to help Americans keep their jobs and their homes. "The comprehensive Republican plan would lower taxes for all working American families. If you're married, the first 16,750 dollars you make this year will be taxed at ten percent. Why don't we cut that rate in half to give instant buying power to every working American family? "Good ideas... lots of them... all left out of this plan by the Democrats in Congress. "Republicans stand ready to work with reasonable Democrats to do what is right for America. "But it will take more than bipartisan words from the President. It will require fair-minded action from Democrats in Congress.

Governor Palin Issues Statement on Extremist Group

Feb 5th 2008

By Lisa Graas

Please visit www.genuinegopmom.blogspot.com to read more great news story, Lisa Graas shares insight to many people. We are very glad to have Lisa sharing news stories with the members here at Draft Palin for President. Thanks Lisa, Richard Bernier Again, please visit lisa's blog at www.genuinegopmom.blogspot.com

Governor Palin Issues Statement on Extremist Group

Wednesday, February

By www,genuinegopmom.blogspot.com

Wednesday, February 4, 2009 Governor Palin Issues Statement on Extremist Group In a previous post, I shared with you some information about a campaign sponsored by the political group "Defenders of Wildlife" to defame Governor Sarah Palin. The ad personally blames Palin for the aerial hunting of Alaskan wolves, a practice which the group deems to be cruel and unnecessary. Yesterday, February 3, Governor Palin issued a statement addressing this. The statement appears below in its entirety. February 3, 2009, Juneau, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin released the following statement today in response to attacks by the Defenders of Wildlife: “It is reprehensible and hypocritical that the Defenders of Wildlife would use Alaska and my administration as a fundraising tool to deceive Americans into parting with their hard-earned money. “The ad campaign by this extreme fringe group, as Alaskans have witnessed over the last several years, distorts the facts about Alaska’s wildlife management programs. Alaskans depend on wildlife for food and cultural practices which can’t be sustained when predators are allowed to decimate moose and caribou populations. Our predator control programs are scientific and successful at protecting vulnerable wildlife. These audacious fundraising attempts misrepresent what goes on in Alaska, and I encourage people to learn the facts about Alaska’s positive record of managing wildlife for abundance. “Shame on the Defenders of Wildlife for twisting the truth in an effort to raise funds from innocent and hard-pressed Americans struggling with these rough economic times.” The statement by Governor Palin contains relevant information that is consistent with information provided about the program on the website of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, as well as reports to date from the Anchorage Daily News on the history of this issue and an admittedly cursory review of the ad's claims which I found today at FactCheck.org. While it is true that the issue of aerial hunting in general has been surrounded by a certain level of controversy for decades, there is far more to this story than meets the eye. This is a story about controlling predators, but on a grander scale than you may realize. In the larger story behind the issue of Alaskan efforts of responsible predator control, American public opinion is the prey and “Defenders of Wildlife” are the predator that has grown wildly out of control. The “Defenders of Wildlife” are apparently counting on public disapproval of aerial hunting as well as the general lack of awareness among the vast majority of Americans that (1) this is a “State of Alaska” issue, not a “Governor Palin” issue and that (2) circumstances in Alaska make this program necessary. What more proof that this is a personal attack on Governor Palin does one need than that the website where the ad is being marketed is called “eyeonpalin.org” rather than something to do with wolves, conservation or the State of Alaska? The ad is a smear. That is the plain and simple truth. (Admittedly, there is an alternative explanation which is that they believe Governor Palin is the only person who actually lives in Alaska, but I don't think they are that stupid.) Before I get into the deeper ramifications of all of this, I will share some basic background information on the core issue addressed by the “Defenders of Wildlife” ad. Alaska's predator control program is not sport hunting per se and the animal being killed is not just any animal. Further, the nature of the landscape in Alaska does not lend itself to alternatives easily. While the Alaska Department of Fish and Game predator control program does incorporate sport hunting, the program cannot reasonably be characterized as a “sport hunting program” because it was designed solely to prevent the decimation of moose and caribou herds that occurs when the predator population grows too large. Because of the gravity of the predator control problem and because of the nature of the Alaskan landscape which necessitates the use of aerial hunting, Alaska's current aerial predator control program is exempt from the federal law banning aerial hunting. Why use airplanes? In its white paper on the predator control program, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game describes the program's objective which arguably justifies the use of aerial hunting: “The initial objective in a control program is a reduction (not elimination) in numbers of predators in the shortest possible time, in a specified area, followed by maintenance of predators at this temporarily lower level to enable the prey population to increase.” There you have it. That is why airplanes are used. It's more efficient and precise. Now that you have the basics (and I do encourage you to read more on this at the website of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game), let's move on to the bigger problem of the culture war. Being a citizen of a wildlife-rich state where hunting and fishing are important, I can understand the frustration that Governor Palin and other Alaskans must be feeling as a result of this misinformation campaign by people who are not affiliated at all with any state wildlife department. Our state wildlife departments are the ones Americans have (I think, rightly) placed their trust in to manage our wildlife! Certainly, the record needs to be set straight, but in my book that isn't a matter of protecting Governor Palin at all. It is a matter of informing the public about responsible conservation as well as defending the lifestyles of those who rely on hunting and fishing as a matter of survival and culture. It's also a matter of speaking out on behalf of our state wildlife departments who work so hard every day to care for our environment responsibly and to educate others about conservation. Some people may think going to an Ashley Judd movie is the primo family experience, and that is their right if they choose to do that, but there are far more families in America in which hunting and fishing are a core part of family tradition and togetherness. “Defenders of Wildlife” can try to make this seem to be a criticism of Governor Palin, but in their attempts to take her down they are dragging down many more besides and on this we should not be silent. In Alaska as in other wildlife-rich states, many people prefer to use local meat sources. Reliance on local fish and game is obviously even more pressing in Alaska than in other states since otherwise a lot more meat would have to be shipped in from a long distance. Alaskans are famous for their self-sufficiency and for their independence. This, coupled with the fact that Alaska can have bountiful sources of meat (provided that the predators don't overpopulate), has led to the establishment of the predator control program. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, and indeed all state wildlife departments, do an outstanding job of managing wildlife so that families may have plenty of fish and game to hunt, photograph and marvel at for generations to come. Alaskans (and many of us in the Lower 48) have a keen understanding of the role hunting and fishing can play in family life as well as the role that our state wildlife departments play in management of these precious resources. If you want to learn about Hollywood, ask someone who works there. If you want to learn about wildlife, ask your state wildlife department! Ashley Judd lends her "credibility" as a Hollywood star (an oxymoron in my book) by narrating one of the ads used by the group to criticize Palin for the predator control program. Like me, Judd is a native Kentuckian (although she was born in California) and seems to be proud of that fact. I do wonder about Judd's priorities, though, and whether or not she truly values Kentucky culture as much as she would have us believe. As a Kentuckian, I grew up accepting the fact that many people rely on hunting and fishing to put meat on the table. Our neighbors were avid hunters and the main meat course on their table was wild game roughly half of the time, if memory serves. They also raised pigs, pheasants and other animals for meat. In Kentucky as in Alaska, hunting is for sport and subsistence as well as a core component of local culture. Perhaps most people in the Defenders of Wildlife aren't aware of this, but as a Kentuckian Ashley Judd should be. I urge all Americans not to put your faith in Hollywood when it comes to wildlife management. The men and women of our state wildlife departments work tirelessly to maintain our environment and to pass on credible information about what you can do to ensure the protection of wildlife for generations to come. Here are a couple of links to get you started. Read more here: www.genuinegopmom.blogspot.com

Gov. Sarah Palin gives the state of the state address to a joint session of the Senate and House in the Capitol in Juneau

22 Jan 2009

By Governor Sarah Palin

State of the State Address Governor Sarah Palin Thank you. Our good Lieutenant Governor Parnell, President Stevens, Speaker Chenault, lawmakers, Native Leaders, my dear family, and all Alaskans. Thank you for this opportunity. First, please join me in thanking those who protect our freedoms that allow us to assemble – our good men and women in uniform – they are America’s finest, our U.S. military. It’s been quite a year since we last gathered in this chamber. Just two days ago we witnessed a shining moment in the history of our country. Millions of Americans are praying for the success of our new president, and I am one of them. His work is cut out for him, but if President Obama governs with the skill, grace and greatness of which he is capable, Alaska’s going to be just fine. We congratulate President Obama. And, for keeping the homeland safe, and being a friend to Alaska, I thank President Bush. 2008 was the year when America looked to Alaska, and one of our own sprang to national attention. There was political drama, controversy, lively debate, a few awkward moments and in the end, some disappointment. But what a glorious debut for a unique Alaskan - and we congratulate our former Senator Mike Gravel. [Gotta love that wonderful woman!] In the history of Alaska, it was also the conclusion of a long and distinguished Senate career. We thank Ted Stevens, and wish him all the best. We look forward to working with his successor Senator Mark Begich. The best to our new man in Washington. And to working with long-serving Representative Young and Senator Murkowski. Congratulations on her worthy committee assignments. Tonight, I’m pleased to see new faces here, and I appreciate all who have sworn to uphold our constitution. Newcomers, some say we have some pretty strong differences among us, and well – subtlety is not always one of our strong points. But we try to keep things friendly and civil, and we’ve been known to actually succeed. I used to wonder if the occasionally rough edges of politics were unique here under the Great North Star. But I ventured out a bit this past year, and I tell you that, as partisan quarrels go, ours really aren’t so bad. At our best, we are forthright in our opinions, charitable in our judgments and fair just like the people who hired us to work for them. Today, when challenges may seem as high as Mt. McKinley, and change as constant as the mighty Yukon flows, and political events send shockwaves through our foundation like the ’64 quake – what do Alaskans do? We climb Denali, we forge the river, we rebuild a stronger foundation on higher ground. When it matters most, lesser differences fall away. Just like family, Alaskans unite. It was this kind of determined action that turned the northland wilds into a territory, a territory into a state, and that state, across 50 years, into a land of industry, opportunity, and enduring beauty. And now that perseverance is needed again, as we go through a time of testing for our country – a time of economic worry for many Alaskans – a time of challenge to the wisdom and resolve of state government. Governor Wally Hickel said he feared more than any economic depression – a depression of the spirit. Alaska, it’s time we revive the optimistic, pioneering spirit that our founding mothers and fathers birthed in our State Constitution! As we celebrate statehood – let that spirit rise now, and our actions correspond as our founders intended. See, we have that choice, how to respond to circumstances around us. As public servants, will we draw from a servant’s heart the resolve to put pettiness and power struggles aside and work together for the good of the people? We have the choice. I speak for the entire Palin/Parnell Administration when I declare we choose optimism and collaboration and hard work to get the job done. It starts with a frank assessment of our economy and our budget. We have natural advantages to defer some effects of the global recession. Our banks have good liquidity, our credit market is relatively strong, home foreclosures are lowest in the nation. That’s the upside of a regional economy. The reverse side, our unemployment rate is about the national average – over seven percent, which means thousands of Alaskans need jobs. And when our budget is 90 percent reliant on the value of energy resources, there are consequences. Two years ago at this podium, I urged spending restraint. I asked that billions of surplus funds be deposited in state savings. This struck me as a simple precaution against, as I described it, massive single-year cuts down the road, if and when we faced tougher times. You legislators agreed, so we can now meet our challenge in a stronger position. And you understood the challenge is not just to think fast and change plans when the price of oil suddenly falls, affecting revenue by billions of dollars. The challenge is to follow a consistent plan despite inconsistent prices. With prudence, you built our reserves – that was good planning. This national economic downturn that’s spread to the energy market – it found us prepared. And that’s more than many states can say about their financial situation. When oil prices and state revenue are on the rise, as was the case, there’s temptation to assume it’ll go on rising forever, and to spend accordingly. Since prices fell, there may be an equal temptation to draw heavily on reserves or, for some, to be tempted to tap the permanent fund earnings or tax our hardworking families. No. With the budget, the aim is to keep our economy on a steady, confident course. The aim is – with discipline – we protect our reserves and promote economic growth. Now, unless the price of a barrel of oil dramatically increases, soon, we’re looking at a potential revenue shortfall in excess of a billion dollars this year. So with a close eye on price, we need to be willing to curtail spending as needed. If there’s a shortfall, there are options. It’ll take a cooperative spirit all around to see us through the uncertainty. I had proposed we start with an overall reduction of seven percent from last year’s expenditures. This is a real reduction, not just a reduction in the rate of spending increases – as cuts are often defined elsewhere. That’s transparency in budgeting – just as the public saw when we put the state’s checkbook online. We stand ready to work with lawmakers – who hold the purse strings – to amend the budget, as we receive revenue updates in weeks ahead. Last year, we all expected another surplus. But even then, with record high prices, I chose prudence and directed state commissioners to cut millions in operating costs. Finding efficiencies even during times of plenty – that’s common sense fiscal responsibility. Now obviously, circumstances have changed that even international seasoned oil experts could not predict, requiring us now to adjust even more. Therefore, I am implementing a hiring freeze, exempting public safety, and I am restricting non-essential purchases. These actions reduce the draw on savings as we monitor revenue for the rest of 2009. For too long, Alaska’s economy has struggled with fluctuating revenue due to global commodity prices. In a volatile economy, numbers are not fixed, but principles are. We’ve followed the same principles from the start of this administration: fiscal discipline, limited government, and responsible stewardship. At a time when other state legislatures are staring at multi-billion-dollar deficits, and when our federal government proposes a deficit in excess of a trillion dollars this year alone, we have all the cautionary examples we need in the virtues of living within our means. With less revenue, we have an obligation to spend less money. With our share of federal funds and Congress’ stimulus package, our obligation is equally clear: we must ensure these public funds serve vital needs – as is the case of infrastructure for our gas pipeline, needed by the nation; and the Kodiak Launch Facility, adding to national defense. President Obama pledged not to let this stimulus package devolve into the past familiar scene of politicians lining up for obscure earmarks. This is reform at work. Thankfully, in the state, these past couple of years we’ve allocated billions for roads, ports, schools, and other vital public works. That money hits the streets and grows the economy this year – so the private sector creates, and we keep, many thousands of good Alaskan jobs through this. We can stay on that path of investment in growth with continued support for essential construction projects that will – literally – build this state. Now, we can’t buy into the notion that for government to serve better, it must always spend more. Reductions we support are a chance to show the true measure in public policy. Simply increasing budgets every year, a common government practice, is no guarantee of success. More often, it’s an incentive to failure. Good public policy is accountable for results, and focused on critical priorities. We promised public education reform – so schools can plan ahead, and bureaucracies do not smother a school’s creativity or a student’s aspiration. We now take the next step in our three-year education plan – to offer every young Alaskan – rural and urban – the opportunity to learn and work and succeed in the world. We’ll fully forward-fund all our school districts with more than a billion dollars – that’s more than 21 percent of General Fund expenditures. Education is that high a priority. We’ll focus on early learning, vo-tech and workforce development, an enhanced University, streamlined operations, we’ll hold schools accountable, and we’ll encourage opportunities for students with special needs. One of the great privileges given to me last year was the chance to be a witness for the truth that every child has value; to say to special needs children that they are beautiful and loved. And needed. We learn more from them than they from us. Across America, a great change is coming in public policy affecting these children, and Alaska can lead the way. This is a part of the culture of life where every child is cherished and protected. In this chamber, we share a commitment to serious health-care reform. We’ve learned from experience that all the answers do not come from Washington. When Congress turns to health-care reform this year, we look to our delegation to make the case for greater competition, more private sector choices, and less litigation in the health-care market. But we’re not going to wait. Here, reform can move forward without delay. I look forward to working with you on adjustments to kid’s health insurance. We’ll fund more early screening – for example, for autism – because early detection makes all the difference. We’ll focus on preventing disease and promoting healthy living. I’ll ask that physical education be incorporated into daily school schedules, too. We have alarming levels of heart disease, diabetes, childhood obesity – and all of these maladies are on the rise. Now, I won’t stand here and lecture – for very long – but health care reform on an individual basis is often just this simple: we could save a lot of money, and a lot of grief, by making smarter choices. It starts by ending destructive habits, and beginning healthy habits in eating and exercise. In my case, it’s hard to slack when you have the ever-present example of an Iron Dogger nearby. But many of us could use a little more time in our great outdoors – and when you live in the Great Land, there’s no excuse. Protecting good health is largely a matter of personal responsibility, but government policy can help. Our new Alaska Health Care Commission will recommend changes that affect the well-being of Alaskans far into the future. So, a healthier Alaska via personal responsibility, and subsisting more on our pure and plentiful Alaskan food sources! It’s why we protect our waters and soils from pollutants, and it’s a reason we manage our wildlife for abundance. To ensure this, we’ve successfully brought the Habitat Division back into Fish and Game, as I promised. Our biologists have protected game by eliminating predators from calving grounds and we'll further protect herds, some of which are at precariously low levels of abundance - thus ultimately promoting the population growth of every species. We’re building viable personal use and commercial fisheries in some of the most controversial and complex fisheries in the world, dealing with half a dozen foreign countries, including Japan, Russia and Canada. We’re establishing sustainable seafood stocks, and limiting salmon bycatch in the trawl fishery. We’ve increased research on salmon runs, and we’re building new hatcheries for vibrant industry. As the largest and only Arctic state, we’re studying climate-change through our DEC-led subcabinet. And we’re suing the federal government for misusing the Endangered Species Act. There is an attempt there to use the ESA to impose environmental policies that should be debated and approved legislatively, not by court order or bureaucratic decree. Alaskans have shown through our protective laws that we’re willing and able to protect our magnificent wildlife, while developing our God-given resources, by using conservation laws as they were intended. We’ll challenge abuse of federal law when it’s used just to lock up Alaska. Vital projects now underway show how much science and technology have improved in a generation, greatly reducing risk to the environment. Continued work in Cook Inlet and on the North Slope, new drilling at Nikaitchug, new exploration in NPRA – these projects and more will be carried out with the safest methods. My administration has dramatically ramped up oversight. We demand the highest standards of stewardship and corporate responsibility, because we want to pass on this Alaska that we cherish to our children and grandchildren and beyond. And just as we strive to keep our environment safe, we’re dedicated to keeping Alaskans safe. We’ve finally filled vacant trooper positions this fall and we have several innovative initiatives moving, like a Highway Patrol Bureau focused on road safety and DUI enforcement. And I’m excited about the Troop to Trooper program, which offers our National Guard hometown heroes careers in law enforcement. These priorities should be a powerful incentive to think clearly and act decisively – not politically – in pursuit of funding them with our next economic lifeline: the gasline. Without revenues from developing clean natural gas, priorities can’t be funded, and we will deplete reserves within a decade. Working together, we’re developing a 10-year plan to keep a healthy balance in the Constitutional Budget Reserve. We’re laying up stores, until strong revenue comes in with the flow of natural gas to feed hungry markets here and outside. Unfortunately, some focus only on potential obstacles when they discuss projects like the gasline: the giants in the land preventing us from gathering fruit. But as I recall, we’ve already slain a few giants. Remember TAPS 30-some years ago? Alaskans were told the oil line was impossible. And then, all those years when this capitol was filled with talk about a $40 billion gasline, but that’s all it ever amounted to – talk, and closed door deals? Working with you, we shook things up, and passed Ethics Reform and AGIA and ACES. By inviting the private sector to compete for the right to tap our resources, we now have two major efforts underway to commercialize gas – without surrendering Alaska’s sovereignty. The big line will be the work of years. Last month we took another step closer to steel pipe when we signed the license with TransCanada-Alaska. To further develop, we’re commissioning preliminary work on a road to Umiat, and pursuing a road to Nome. We need access to our resources. Alaskans – especially in our smaller communities, the heartbeat of Alaska, with truly so much potential – we need jobs for income and achievement. Responsible resource development – including drilling, mining, timber and tourism – means more jobs, instead of more government. Now with the big line, every enterprise – every great thing worth doing – involves challenges. But we can be confident in this enterprise because it’s founded on the fundamental interests of our state and nation. America needs energy: affordable, abundant and secure. With international conflicts, war, and environmental concerns, laws and markets seek safe, clean energy, and that’s what we offer. The last president supported a gasline, and so does the new president. Because even the most promising renewable energy sources are years from general use, between then and now, we need a clean interim fuel to power our grid and heat our homes. Natural gas is ideal. In Alaska, all roads lead – well, really we only have the one, North – but it leads to the North Slope, and to the central importance of our North American gasline. America’s security, Alaska’s revenue, Alaskan careers, affordable fuel, even our ability to finally diversify our economy – all these hinge on the success of this great undertaking. I assure you: The line will be built – gas will flow – Alaska will succeed. Ironically, our people are blessed with owning the richest natural resources in the country; here we’re getting ready to flow four-and-a-half billion cubic feet of gas every day in a huge line; yet we’ve been more vulnerable than other Americans to every rise and fall in energy prices. Even though we own the resources. The solution for our state is much the same as for the rest of our nation – only the source is ours and much closer to us, so delivery can come sooner. We’re facilitating a smaller, in-state gasline with legislation we’ll hand you next month. My goal for this in-state line is completion in five years. It will carry 460-million cubic feet of gas every day to energize Alaska. Previously, we’ve relied on a diminishing gas supply from Cook Inlet, and expensive diesel, and a mix of government subsidies, and not enough conservation – but that is not sustainable. And it shouldn’t take another spike in energy costs to stir us into action. Alaska will help achieve energy independence and security for our country, and we can lead with a long-needed energy plan for America. But let us begin with energy security for ourselves. This includes meeting my goal of generating 50 percent of our electric power with renewable sources. That’s an unprecedented policy across the U.S, but we’re the state that can do it with our abundant renewables, and with Alaskan ingenuity. In our energy plan, for the first time, Alaskans will see cooperation among our utilities. We’ll introduce legislation creating the joint utility corporation to finally accomplish this. No more fractured efforts to generate power along the Railbelt via so many different utilities, headed in so many different directions. We will have coordinated power generation that will finally make sense for consumers. Energy is key. Governor Hickel spoke of the undeniable tie-in between energy and poverty, energy and peace and life. He said, “Our answers begin with energy. Freedom depends on it, so does hope.” For goals of hope, opportunity, and self-sufficiency, government is not the answer, but government can help with energy challenges. In villages, our weatherization programs provide jobs and reduce the cost of living. We continue to support bulk fuel purchases, PCE, power plant upgrades and many projects that foster opportunities and self-sufficiency. We’ve got to row together as one crew – that’s the only way to reach these goals. Now, we need more oil in the pipeline, too. So we strictly enforce state laws and contracts with oil companies. We’ll hold them accountable with those contracted commitments they signed, to develop our resources – as we are expected to keep our word to them. Our reformed oil production formula, ACES, helps them with strong incentives to keep capital re-invested, and it’s working with new developments, as DNR just announced a banner year for new companies entering our competitive oil and gas arena. Alaska, there will come a day when our success is not measured in barrels. The goal is multiplicity – an economy made strong by a wealth of petroleum, but no longer solely dependent on it. And again, the test of leadership is to be prepared. We need a plan. Business leaders, local officials, and other stakeholders, we all agree for our economic future, we need this. Like the saying, “Fail to plan? Then you plan to fail.” To that end, I issued an administrative order this week calling for the state’s first comprehensive economic strategy. Like our unprecedented energy plan rolled out this month, the Alaska Legacy Plan is the first of its kind. It will determine practical strategies to implement today and for the next 50 years. In the past, organizations have studied our strengths and weaknesses. They offered generalized suggestions for change. That’s good, we’ll utilize that. We propose a strategic action plan for private sector and government to stimulate and diversify the economy. We’ll need participation and common sense from those who make this economy run – namely, the small-business owners who do the hard work – they create jobs. That’s where the best ideas are. This will be the road map for activities and investments, to grow us strong, here in the Great Land of plenty. With our ideal, strategic position on the globe as the air-crossroads of the world; with our massive size, with stores of potential, with our spirit, with our people – together we will plot the course. I have confidence in Alaskans, in their judgment and groundedness. Even more so after the journey I completed on November 4th. I learned more about fighting the good fight, facing long odds, the need to protect family – my own and our Alaska family – and putting Country First even when voters put you second. Not unlike Alaska’s journey. When I took my oath of office to serve as your Governor, remember, I swore to steadfastly and doggedly guard the interests of this great state like a grizzly with cubs, as a mother naturally guards her own. Alaska, as a statewide family, we’ve got to fight for each other, not against and not let external, sensationalized distractions draw us off course. As an exciting year of unpredictable change begins, we, too, have our work cut out for us. And we’re all in this together. Just like our musk ox, they circle up to protect their future when they are challenged. We’ve got to do the same. So now, united, protecting and progressing under the great North Star, let’s get to work. Thank you. God bless. Governor Sarah Palin 22 Jan 2009

Sarah Palin - A True American Hero

22 Jan 2009

By Seth Adam Smith

Sarah Palin - A True American Hero Despite the image that the liberal media has painted of her, Sarah Palin stands tall as an American hero; staying true to her pro-life convictions, her belief in God and her support of families with special needs children. Perhaps one of the most frustrating things of this election was the media coverage of Sarah Palin. Stepping out of obscurity, she became an overnight sensation, frustrating daydreaming Democrats and loud-mouthed liberals. Her appearance on the national stage seemed almost to overshadow Barack Obama's historic nomination for President and as such, she was massacred by the media. They ripped into her family, her faith, her education, her record, the cost of her clothes and even published nasty and disgusting rumors about her. Coverage of her was clearly biased, full of menace and left America with a tarnished image of a wonderful woman who got caught in the ugly world of politics. The truth of the matter is that Governor Palin is a true American hero. She's a self made woman from a working class family. One that worked hard in school, earned scholarships, started a family with her high school sweetheart, helped run a business, got involved in the PTA, city counsel and eventually became mayor of her hometown. She then went on, against all odds, ran against her party, became Governor of her state, took on the oil companies, had one of the highest approval ratings of any politician in the union (before the Democrats sent an army of investigators to tear her down after her nomination) and went on to become the first Republican VP pick. But laying that aside, her convictions, in the face of extreme adversity, is truly remarkable. Her pro-life stance while having a son with Down Syndrome is not something that can just be tossed aside. Nor can one ignore how she has been able----despite all the odds being stacked against her----to smile, carry on and keep moving forward, after having your entire personal life portrayed in the most negative (and in some cases, blantantly false) light possible. Truly, we have just seen a TRUE American hero. This video was made to honor Governor Palin. Please share it with as many people as you can and help people see what 'heroism' truly means. Please paste this to watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM0fl7-tBtc Sincerely, Seth Adam Smith www.youtube.com/sethadamsmith Also besure to read Adam's blog @ sethadamsmith.blogspot.com

Sarah Palin best celebrity people want as neighbour

02 January , 2009

By sify.com/news

Sarah Palin best celebrity people want as neighbour New York: Britney Spears is No 1 on list of celebrities people don't want next door while Alaska governor Sarah Palin has been named the most desirable neighbour. The pop star landed the top spot in the Zillow.com poll, reports the New York Daily News. Some 2,000 people were questioned for the real-estate site's survey, and one in five said they wouldn't want to live near Spears. Comedian Rosie O'Donnell came second. Joe the Plumber of 2008 election fame, Lindsay Lohan, Pacman Jones and disgraced ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer were among those who really need big fences. In the survey, 13 percent said Oprah Winfrey would make a good neighbour, followed by Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and Tina Fey.

Clinton and Palin Encourage Women Politicos

12/31/08

By Ronni Mott

Clinton and Palin Encourage Women Politicos Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Sarah Palin are an inspiration for women’s increased involvement in politics, a recent poll reveals.by Ronni Mott December 31, 2008 Women believe that Sen. Hillary Clinton and Gov. Sarah Palin crashed a few glass ceilings in the Nov. 4 general elections. Despite the media treating them unfairly, concentrating far too much on hairstyles and clothing, the majority of women voters say that the two politicians have paved the way for more women to run for office in the future. Those opinions and more emerged from Lifetime Television’s “Every Woman Counts” poll, which surveyed 600 women nationwide from Nov. 21 through 24, 88 percent of whom cast their votes in the November presidential election. The survey included questions asking why the women voted the way they did and their expectations for the incoming Barack Obama administration and 111th Congress, and zeroed in on the Clinton and Palin candidacies. “Women, traditionally, don’t look all that different from men in the way they feel about the issues and what they place in importance,” said Dr. Ashleigh Powers, assistant professor of political science at Millsaps College, who is studying women and politics in Mississippi. Nearly three-quarters of women polled said the economy must be the first order of business for the new president and Congress. That’s not particularly surprising given the turmoil of the global markets and recessions worldwide, but it represents a left turn from the top issue just one year ago: education. This year, every other issue—the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, health care, education—paled in comparison to the economy. Most women, about 60 percent, trust Obama to represent them and their values, but women’s issues, including pay equity, also took a back seat to the state of the economy. “It seems that the economy, for everyone, is the key issue. So that is about what we’d expect, I think,” Powers said. Half the women surveyed say that the downturn has already affected them, with more saying it will in the future. Rising energy costs were particularly troublesome. Among women who are currently retired or stay-at-home, a third believe they might have to re-enter the workforce to cover household expenses. “Women suffer more in difficult economic times than men do, so focusing on that, concentrating on equal pay and health care (are) all good things that I saw in the (survey) summary,” said Jenni Smith, president of Mississippi National Organization for Women. She said that NOW is in the process of finalizing its legislative agenda for the 111th Congress, and is including many of the items that the poll revealed as women’s concerns. She emphasized that the economy is most definitely a women’s issue. The majority of women voters (57 percent) made their decisions based on the candidates’ positions on the issues, with experience, values and party ideology all lagging behind. The historical significance of the 2008 elections entered into women’s voting decisions, with roughly a third of women who voted for Obama saying they considered his potential to become the first black U.S. president. Of McCain voters, Palin’s prospective position as the first woman vice president swayed only 17 percent. Even fewer Republican voters, 9 percent, voted for the McCain-Palin ticket because of Palin’s gender. Lifetime’s “Every Woman Counts” campaign launched about a year ago with three major goals: to get women registered and to the polls, to get them to run for office and to keep women’s issues in the political forefront, said Meredith Wagner, executive vice president of Lifetime Networks, during a Dec. 3 media teleconference. The gender double standard is alive and well in politics, the poll revealed, with 65 percent of all respondents—crossing every demographic and political line—saying the public has different yardsticks for male and female candidates. The American people take women candidates less seriously, they said, and the media gives them less serious coverage. Voters perceive them as not having enough experience, or not being tough enough for political office. “It was a post-gender election in terms of women looking beyond their gender as voters, but not in how women believe that male and female candidates were treated differently,” said pollster Kellyanne Conway of WomanTrend during the teleconference. But the women surveyed were not immune to the stereotypes, believing it’s easier for men to address weighty issues on the campaign trail like national security, terrorism and the economy. “There’s kind of an assumption of legitimacy for men in these areas that you don’t see for women,” Powers said, adding that often women who would otherwise be eligible don’t seem to have political ambitions. The same double standard seems to permeate every woman’s campaign. An August Pew Research study indicated that while Americans believe women have more of what it takes to be leaders—honesty, intelligence, compassion and so forth—less than six percent believe women make better political leaders than men. In the Lifetime poll, women agreed that qualifications should trump gender as Obama chooses his advisors. Smith said she would like to see the Obama administration continue to ensure that women are included at the highest level of government. “President-elect Obama, through his Cabinet-level appointments, anyway, has made it clear that he is committed to having diverse voices, including women and people of color,” Smith said. Women on both sides of the aisle thought the media did not provide enough information about Palin’s and Clinton’s policy positions, especially when covering Palin. Asked to compare coverage of Clinton and Palin to other candidates, 64 percent said the media was more negative about Palin than anyone else, with half the women saying the coverage was not substantive as well, focusing on their hair and wardrobe instead of where she stood on the issues. “We hope that the media executives who are looking at (future coverage of women candidates) see that we don’t want to be discussing clothes and ankles,” Smith said. “We want to see the substance, the discussion on their positions and the issues.” Still, women see the 2008 elections as a step toward electing the first female president in their lifetimes by a margin of more than 12 to one, and feel Clinton and Palin will encourage more women to run, having demonstrated that women have what it takes. Younger women especially, they said, will be more likely to take an interest in politics because of the two top female candidates in 2008. “They see (those campaigns) as an avenue in a way that they might not have before,” Powers said. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jackson Free Press posted by Heyoka! on 12/31/08 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/

Sarah Palin Wins Conservative Of The Year

12-22-08

By Ann Coulter

Sarah Palin Wins Conservative Of The Year Sarah Palin wins “Conservative of the Year” Award for 2008 from HUMAN EVENTS for her genius at annoying all the right people. The last woman to get liberals this hot under the collar would have been … let's see now … oh, yeah: Me! The entire presidential election year was kind of a downer for conservatives. Once the “maverick” John McCain won the nomination, the rest of the year was like watching a slow motion car crash. Except at least a slow-motion car crash is occasionally entertaining. So it was going to be a long year. Until Palin.When McCain chose our beauteous Sarah as his running mate, the maverick was finally acting like a real maverick -- as opposed to the media’s definition of a “maverick” which is: “agreeing with the editorial positions of the New York Times.” Pre-Palin it had been one race -- boring old “You kids get off my lawn!” John McCain versus the exciting, new politician Barack Obama, who threw caution to the wind and bravely ran as the Pro-Hope candidate. And then our heroic Sarah bounded out of the Alaska tundra and it became a completely different race. This left the press completely discombobulated and upset. They didn't know whether to attack Sarah for not having an abortion or go after her husband for not being a sissy. I assume Palin was chosen because McCain had heard that she was a real conservative and he had always wanted to meet one -- no, actually because he needed a conservative on the ticket, but that he had no idea that picking her would send the left into a tailspin of wanton despair. But if anyone on the McCain campaign chose Palin because she would drive liberals crazy, my hat is off to him! True, Palin made some embarrassing gaffes. She complained that we didn’t have enough “Arabic translators” in Afghanistan -- not realizing the natives don’t speak Arabic in Afghanistan, but rather a variety of regional dialects, the most common of which is Pashtun. Speaking to military veterans one time, Palin said, “Our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes -- and I see many of them in the audience here today.” She bragged about passing a law regulating the nuclear industry that it turned out never became a law at all. Some days Palin said Venezuela's dictator Hugo Chavez should suffer "regional isolation" -- but then on others she’d say she supported the president’s meeting with Chavez. She told one audience about recent tornados in Kansas that had killed 10,000 people. In fact, a dozen people were killed in the tornados. She referred to the “57 states” that make up the U.S. Speaking of her eldest daughter’s pregnancy, she said Bristol was being “punished” with a baby. As you probably know -- or guessed by now -- none of these gaffes were uttered by Palin. They are all Obama gaffes. Luckily, he made them to a star-struck press that managed not to ask him a difficult question for two years. It seemed like the media would introduce an all-new double standard each day throughout the two glorious months of Palin’s candidacy. I don’t remember, for example, zealous inquiries into the supposedly peculiar religious practices of any candidates in past elections. No one in the press touched on Sen. Joe Lieberman’s religious beliefs when he was Kerry’s running mate. (Nor, while we’re on the subject, was the media particularly interested in the beliefs of the religion that inspired the 9/11 attacks on America.) But the press snapped right back into their anti-religious hysteria for a candidate who was a Pentecostal! The same media that couldn’t be bothered to investigate Obama’s ties to former Weathermen or Syrian Nationalist Tony Rezko was soon hot on the trail of a rumor that Palin’s church had a speaker 30 years ago who spoke in tongues! Let me think now: Were there ever any unusual or otherwise noteworthy speeches or sermons given in churches where Obama worshipped? Hmmm … it's on the tip of my tongue. Liberals also suddenly decided that a woman with children could not handle the stress of higher office. Until Palin reared her beautiful head, this is precisely the sort of thinking liberals would have denounced as the Neanderthal, backwards, good old boy network attitude that had created a “glass ceiling.” Let’s consider the facts: Palin’s oldest son was about to be under the tender care of Gen. David Petraeus after being shipped off to Iraq. Her next oldest child was about to be married and probably would prefer that her parents butt out. That left three children under the age of 15, which was almost the same as Obama had. So Palin had one more child -- and a lot more executive experience -- than the guy at the top of the Democrats’ ticket. (I suspect what liberals were really mad about was that if Palin became Vice President, she probably would have hired a nanny who was a U.S. citizen.) Having indignantly rejected experience as a presidential qualification in the case of Obama, liberals had to raise questions about Palin’s experience gingerly. But, in short order, they threw caution to the wind and began energetically criticizing Palin for her lack of experience. I call that two … two … two standards in one! Like most Democrats, both Obama and Biden boasted of their humble beginnings, while having fully adopted the attitudes, pomposity and style of the elites. Meanwhile, Palin is the sort of genuine American that brings out the worst, most egregious pomposity of liberals. For weeks, Carl Bernstein was showing up on TV to announce: “We still don’t have the date of first issuance of her passport.” Members of the establishment would be astonished to learn that more Americans have guns than passports. Liberals were angry at Palin because they thought she should look and act like Kay Bailey Hutchinson: Upper crust, prissy and stiff. Palin had a husband in the Steelworkers Union, a sister and brother-in-law who owned a gas station, and five attractive children -- one headed for Iraq, one a Down’s syndrome baby and one the cutest little girl anyone had ever seen. In a nutshell, Palin was everything Democrats are always pretending to be, but never are. She didn’t have to conjure up implausible images of herself duck hunting as Hillary Clinton did. Nor was Palin the typical Democratic elected female official who went straight from college into politics, like Nita Lowey. Despite their phony championing of “women’s issues” (i.e. abortion) there was not one Democrat woman who could win a head-to-head contest with Palin. Especially not if we got to see their faces. Democrats may have a fleet of women politicians, but they don’t have a deep bench of attractive ones. You don’t even think of most Democratic woman as women: Rosa Delauro, Nita Lowey, Patty Murray, Janet Napolitano -- and the list goes on. Oh, sure, there are the odd female Democrat sex kittens -- your Janet Renos, your Donna Shalalas -- but they're the exception to the rule. After Palin gave her barnburner of a speech at the Republican National Convention, a friend of mine in a liberal industry told me his friends were aggressively confronting him demanding to know if Palin was raised by a secret cult of Christians that taught children nothing but Creationism and public speaking. Oh, how I wish he had said “yes.” Imagine the aneurisms! I think what liberals were trying to say was: Gosh, she’s an exceptionally attractive mother of five! The Obama campaign was so alarmed by Palin’s speech, it loudly dismissed the speech saying she didn’t write it. At least that’s what a press release written by an Obama campaign staffer said. Indeed, the first words out of every Palin critic's mouth were: "Good speech, but she didn't write it." So I guess all liberals were reading the same talking points written for them by the Obama campaign. At least Palin pays her speechwriters. Neil Kinnock is still waiting for his check. Speaking of Joe Biden, he said that Palin’s speech had a lot of style but little substance. Inasmuch as Biden was Obama's running mate, I think that meant he liked it! A newspaper in Boston responded to Palin’s speech by interviewing hairdressers who criticized Sarah's hairstyle. (Where were these people after Joe Biden's speech?) Trendy dinner party opinion soon demanded that all liberals take up the cry that Palin must let the press have a whack at her. Almost immediately after she was introduced to the nation, the cry went up: “When are we going to be allowed to ask Palin questions?” Palin’s refusal to meet with the press for one week after being chosen as McCain’s running mate was evidently more maddening than Obama's refusal to appear on Fox News for almost the entirety of his campaign. Everyone acted as if Obama’s feat of running for President for two years constituted a complete and thorough vetting. It might have been, except that the entire media had apparently agreed: “OK, none of us will ask Obama about Tony Rezko, William Ayers, and Jeremiah Wright.” Hillary was hissed by the audience for mentioning Rezko at a Democratic debate and George Stephanopoulos nearly lost his career for asking Obama one William Ayers question at another. Osama bin Laden was more upset about the Rev. Jeremiah Wright than liberals were -- especially after "Jeremiah Wright videos" passed "al Qaeda videos" for most total viewings on Youtube. (He was kicking himself for not coming up with that “God Damn America” line first!) Who cares if Palin was qualified to be President? She was running with John McCain! There was no chance that ticket was going to place her anywhere near the presidency. In fact, I can’t think of a better place to put someone you wanted to keep away from the White House than on a ticket with McCain. Palin was a kick in the pants, she energized conservatives, and she made liberal heads explode. Other than his brave military service, introducing Sarah Palin to Americans is the greatest thing John McCain ever did for his country. But unless Palin is going to be the perpetual running mate of “moderate” Republicans who need conservative bona fides, she will need to become wiser and better read. Even Reagan didn’t run for President in his 40s. (True Obama is in his 40s, but we are not Democrats.) Perhaps Palin’s year is 2012, but I would recommend that she take a little more time to become older and wiser. She ought to spend the next decade being a good governor, tending to her children so none of them turn out like Ron Reagan Jr., and reading everything Phyllis Schlafly, Thomas Sowell, Ronald Reagan and “Publius” have ever written. (She also might keep in mind that HUMAN EVENTS was Ronald Reagan’s favorite newspaper!) In time, HUMAN EVENTS’ 2008 Conservative of the Year will be ready to be our President and someday can sweep into office and dismantle all the heinous government programs Obama and the Democrats are about to foist on the nation. Who knows? She might even be able to run as the candidate of "hope" and "change." Our Thanks To Everyone At Team Sarah For All Of Your Votes by Ann Coulter 12/22/2008

Sarah for Senate?

December 22, 2008

By By Josh Kraushaar - Politco.Com

If Sarah Palin wants to run for the Senate, a race against Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) in 2010 might give her a golden opportunity to win. A newly released poll shows that Palin would trounce Murkowski if she challenged her in a primary. The poll, commissioned by the Daily Kos, shows Palin leading Murkowski by 24 points, 55 to 31 percent, in a hypothetical primary matchup. Palin still has sky-high approval ratings in Alaska: 60 percent of respondents said they view Palin favorably, while 38 percent view her unfavorably. A 51 percent majority of Alaskans said they viewed Murkowski favorably, while 43 percent viewed her unfavorably. Palin has given little hint of her future intentions, but she has experience taking on the Murkowski family. She was elected governor of Alaska by handily defeating Lisa Murkowski’s father, then-Gov. Frank Murkowski, in the Republican primary. The governor took criticism in the campaign for (among other things) appointing his daughter to his Senate seat when he was elected. For her part, Lisa Murkowski is preparing for the fight. She told Politico’s Manu Raju earlier this month that Palin would face a “tough election” if she jumped in the race. And Murkowski cited her seniority and service as the ranking Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee to dissuade Palin from running. “If she were to kind of move me over, if you will, to run for national office again at the expense at this seniority that’s been built, I don’t know if Alaskans would look too favorably on that,” Murkowski said. The poll also tested several general election matchups, including a Senate rematch of the 2006 gubernatorial race between Palin and Democrat Tony Knowles. Palin would defeat Knowles by 14 points, 53 to 39 percent. The poll, conducted by Research 2000, surveyed 600 likely voters between December 15-17. It has a four percent margin of error. http://www.politico.com/blogs/scorecard/1208/Sarah_for_Senate.html?showall

Chief: Gov. Palin's home church damaged by arson

Saturday, December 1

By AP News

AP News Saturday, December 13, 2008 Gov. Sarah Palin's home church was badly damaged by arson, leading the governor to apologize if the fire was connected to "undeserved negative attention" from her failed campaign as the Republican vice presidential nominee. Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said Saturday. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele. He said the blaze was being investigated as an arson but didn't know of any recent threats to the church. Authorities didn't know whether Palin's connection to the church was relevant to the fire, Steele said. "It's hard to say at this point. Everything is just speculation," he said. "We have no information on intent or motive." Steele would not comment on the means used to set the fire. Pastor Larry Kroon declined to say whether the church had received any recent threats. "There are so many variables," he said. "I don't want to comment in that direction." Palin, who was not at the church at the time of the fire, stopped by Saturday. Her spokesman, Bill McAllister, said in a statement that Palin told an assistant pastor she was sorry if the fire was connected to the "undeserved negative attention" the church has received since she became the vice presidential candidate Aug. 29. "Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good," McAllister said. The 1,000-member evangelical church was the subject of intense scrutiny after Palin was named John McCain's running mate. Early in Palin's campaign, the church was criticized for promoting in a Sunday bulletin a Focus on the Family "Love Won Out Conference" in Anchorage. The conference promised to "help men and women dissatisfied with living homosexually understand that same-sex attractions can be overcome." The fire was set at the entrance of the church and moved inward as a small group of women were working on crafts, Steele said. The group was alerted to the blaze by a fire alarm. Outside temperatures were minus 20 as firefighters battled the blaze. Steele said a multi-agency task force was being assembled to investigate the fire. Wasilla, the governor's hometown, is 40 miles north of Anchorage.

Governor Sarah Palin's Church Severely Damaged by Arson

Sunday, December 14,

By Associated Press

ANCHORAGE, Dec. 13 -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's home church was badly damaged by arson, leading the governor to apologize Saturday if the fire was connected to "undeserved negative attention" from her campaign as the Republican vice presidential nominee. Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to James Steele, the Central Mat-Su fire chief. He said the blaze was being investigated as an arson. Steele said he didn't know of any recent threats to the church, and authorities did not know whether Palin's connection to the church was relevant to the fire. "It's hard to say at this point. Everything is just speculation," he said. Pastor Larry Kroon declined to say whether the church had received any recent threats. Palin was not at the church at the time of the fire. She stopped by Saturday, and her spokesman Bill McAllister said in a statement that the governor told an assistant pastor she was sorry if the fire was connected to the "undeserved negative attention" the church has received since she became the vice presidential candidate Aug. 29. "Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good," McAllister said. The 1,000-member evangelical church was the subject of intense scrutiny after Palin was named Sen. John McCain's running mate. Early in Palin's campaign, the church was criticized for promoting in a Sunday bulletin a Love Won Out conference in Anchorage sponsored by Focus on the Family. The conference promised to "help men and women dissatisfied with living homosexually understand that same-sex attractions can be overcome." The fire was set at the entrance of the church and moved inward as a small group of women worked on crafts, Steele said. The group was alerted to the blaze by a fire alarm.

Governor Sarah Palin discusses energy with Obama, Biden

Dec 2008

By Morris News Service, Alaska

Philadelphia, Pa. - Governor Sarah Palin participated in a joint meeting Dec. 2 with President-elect Obama, Vice President-elect Biden and many of the nation's governors on key issues including Alaska energy projects. The Governor also met separately with Vice President-elect Biden and senior staffers to President-elect Obama. In a two hour meeting, Governor Palin stressed the need for a pipeline from Alaska's North Slope to carry natural gas to North America markets. She emphasized that the project has enjoyed bipartisan support in the Congress and the Alaska State Legislature. "This was a very productive opportunity to discuss how Alaska's North Slope gas can help put America on the path to energy independence," Governor Palin said. "I was able to share Alaska's message with dozens of other governors and incoming federal officials." An Alaska natural gas pipeline is expected to deliver at least 4 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas to North American markets as soon as 2019. The Commissioners of Natural Resources and Revenue will sign the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act license awarded to TransCanada Alaska Company, LLC and Foothills Pipe Lines Limited in Fairbanks on Friday.

Sarah Palin might have courted Google searches, but that didn't transfer to votes in the presidential election

12 December 2008

By Murad Ahmed, Technology Reporter

Google has published its annual round-up of most searched terms today, revealing that the public spent much of the year procrastinating on Facebook, energised by the Large Hadron Collider and obsessing about the downfall of a bank in Iceland. Each year the search engine giant compiles its “zeitgeist” list, uncovering the most popular keywords among billions of Google queries. One of the fastest rising search terms of 2008 was “Large Hadron Collider”, reflecting the way in which the giant atom-smasher that promises to reveal the secrets of the universe captured the public imagination as it was switched on in September. In the UK, "Large Hadron Collider" outranked even “Obama”, despite the American Presidential election's domination of the airwaves and front pages for weeks before his election win on November 4. Globally, the president-elect was beaten by his vanquished rival for the vice-presidency, Sarah Palin. The Governor of Alaska topped the the worldwide list of fastest rising queries. Mr Obama was only sixth in the list of top climbers, just behind the late Heath Ledger, who played the Joker in the latest Batman remake. He died in January after taking an overdose of prescription drugs. The economic crisis led to a rise in searches for Icesave, the Icelandic bank whose collapse led to the British Government compensating thousands of customers who faced losing their savings. Icesave, the online British arm of Landsbanki, was the fastest rising finance term this year, higher than Natwest, Halifax or Barclays. Unsuprisingly, the word most frequently searched for was Facebook, the social networking website. In the UK there are 12.6 million active users — about a third of the online population. Other popular websites dominate the list of top search terms, such as YouTube, the world’s largest video-sharing website, and eBay the popular online auction site. The fastest rising term in UK searches was iPlayer, the BBC on-demand service, which in its first year was viewed 237 million times. As this article is loaded with popular search terms, The Times fully expects that this piece may be heading the top of the results from one of your Google searches very soon. Top UK search terms 1. Facebook 2. BBC 3. YouTube 4. eBay 5. games 6. news 7. Hotmail 8. Bebo 9. Yahoo 10. jobs Fastest rising UK search terms 1. iPlayer 2. Facebook 3. iPhone 4. YouTube 5. Yahoo Mail 6. Large Hadron Collider 7. Obama 8. Friv 9. Cam4 10. Jogos Fastest rising global search terms 1. Sarah Palin 2. Beijing 2008 3. Facebook login 4. Tuenti 5. Heath Ledger 6. Obama 7. Nasza Klasa 8. Wer Kennt Wen 9. Euro 2008 10. Jonas brothers

Palin Went Down to Georgia & her popularity is undimmed

15 December 2008

By Marjorie Dannenfelser

12/15/2008, Volume 014, Issue 13 It looks like Sarah Palin won't be fading away. Not if Saxby Chambliss has anything to say about it. "I can't overstate the impact she had down here," said Chambliss shortly after his surprisingly solid 15-point victory in the December 2 Georgia Senate runoff. Chambliss, who went from a 49.8-46.8 percent lead on November 4 to a 57-43 victory over Democrat Jim Martin in the runoff (Georgia law requires an absolute majority), credited Palin with helping his campaign "peak" with four hugely attended election-eve rallies. "All these folks did a great job coming in," he said, referring to an all-star cast of Republicans who made appearances on his behalf. "But when she walks in a room, folks just explode." Despite the best efforts of the media, left-of-center feminists, and a brigade of political elites, including more than a few Beltway Republicans, to write obituaries for Palin's national political career, she continues to be the second biggest phenomenon of the 2008 election cycle, behind only the president-elect. "I am not going to Washington to seek their good opinion," she said in her convention acceptance speech, referring to the media. And gain it, she did not. But their disdain--like that of the abovementioned elites--seems only to fan the firestorm of support for her. Witness the independent "Team Sarah" website, started September 15 by the Susan B. Anthony List, the pro-life group I head. Every time Palin is hammered by the media, this stable of online supporters grows. Our Facebook-style political networking site has grown from 50 members to 60,000 in less than two months, the biggest surges coming when Palin-bashing crests. These are highly motivated grassroots activists, some involved in politics for the first time, some seasoned types, all awaiting the next Palin project. Some of the most eloquent are women ecstatic over the new brand of feminism Palin represents: populist and pro-life. There is no other woman on the national political stage like her--and hasn't been in recent times. To whom could she be compared--Geraldine Ferraro, Hillary Clinton, Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein? She doesn't begin to fit this cookie-cutter model of pro-choice, pro-gender-quota woman in politics that left-feminism has served up. But Palin has forebears in American politics. She looks a lot more like the early suffragists than anyone on the national stage now, especially in her pro-life stance. Susan B. Anthony, for whom my organization is named, for instance, called abortion "child murder." Elizabeth Cady Stanton called it a sickening symptom of women's mistreatment: "When we consider that women are treated as property, it is degrading to women to treat our children as property to be disposed of as we see fit." Under media attack and scrutiny, Palin and her family became a kind of microcosm of America's "crisis" abortion debates. Her Down Syndrome baby Trig and her pregnant teenage daughter are witnesses to the life-affirming attitudes the early feminists held. And Palin operates in a grievance-free environment. She likes being a woman. It is apparent, attractive, and typical of what most American women feel, or would like to. She gives every appearance of loving her role as a wife and mother of a bunch of kids. She lives as if she believes in the natural complementarity of men and women, rather than the supposed enmity and competition of the sexes depicted as universal by left feminism. She is feminine and she is confident. This confidence is what gets under the skin of the old-guard feminists the most. How could she? She takes her femininity and pro-life position and strides confidently right through those doors they feel they opened. And it drives them to distraction that millions of American women either love it or are intrigued by it. Finally, after all these years, we see a confident, successful, feminine woman no more afraid of barriers than the hardest-core liberal feminist. Put another way, her attractiveness is her authenticity. Perhaps that's the upside of the "hokey" epithet pundits throw at her. She does not try to be somebody she is not, and she has resisted the professional image packagers that threaten to unravel her appeal. The crowds that flock to see Palin wherever she goes have found something different in her: authenticity, charisma, and hope. Too bad these qualities are "different" in American politics, but the palpable craving for them explains much of people's continuing interest in her. Palin's contribution to the Chambliss campaign's impressive closing kick is evidence of two things. Grassroots America does not want her to go away, and she has no intention of doing so. Marjorie Dannenfelser is president of the Susan B. Anthony List and cofounder of Team Sarah. The SBA List and Team Sarah communicated through mail, phones, and radio with 400,000 registered pro-life voters in the Georgia Senate race. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/897qplyo.asp

Voters in the US state of Louisiana have elected the first Vietnamese-American member of Congress.

12-07-2008

By BBC News

Voters in the US state of Louisiana have elected the first Vietnamese-American member of Congress. ---------------------------------------- Anh Joseph Cao, a Republican, defeated the incumbent Democrat Representative William Jefferson, who faces trial on bribery and money-laundering charges. Lawyer Mr Cao was born in Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, and came to the US with his family at the age of eight, after the end of the Vietnam War. The election, delayed by Hurricane Gustav, was one of two in Louisiana. Both resulted in victories for the Republican Party. Mr Cao won 50% of the vote in the 2nd congressional district, which includes most of New Orleans, to Mr Jefferson's 47%, state officials said. Strong campaign: Analysts say the Republicans ran an aggressive campaign to take the seat from Mr Jefferson, 61, who is accused of soliciting millions of dollars in bribes and using his office to broker business deals in Africa. In a search of his home, FBI agents said they found $90,000 in bribe money in a freezer. Mr Jefferson, who has been in Congress since 1991, denies the charges and a trial date has not yet been set. Mr Cao, 41, has never held public office before. His father was an officer in the South Vietnamese army who spent seven years in a communist prison before moving to the US. "The people of the 2nd District have spoken. We want new direction. We want action. We want accountability," Mr Cao told supporters. Mr Jefferson blamed low voter turnout for his defeat. In the 4th Congressional District in western Louisiana, Republican John Fleming narrowly beat Democrat Paul Carmouche in the race to replace retiring 10-term Republican Jim McCrery. Both polls were postponed because of Hurricane Gustav, which pounded Louisiana in September. Mr Jefferson's defeat will not seriously affect the balance of power in the US House of Representatives, where Democrats hold a strong majority of the 435 seats. ----------------- Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7769795.stm

TROOPERGATE: Governor's office says report was to be made public, not deposition.

12/06/08 03:31:56

By LISA DEMER

Access denied to Palin's testimony TROOPERGATE: Governor's office says report was to be made public, not deposition. By LISA DEMER ldemer@adn.com ----------------------- As far as Gov. Sarah Palin is concerned, Troopergate is behind her and she won't release to the public testimony she gave in an investigation into whether she violated ethics laws in firing her public safety commissioner, Walt Monegan. But the day she testified, Palin's attorney said she wanted to make her testimony public. She gave her only testimony in the matter on Oct. 24 while on the vice presidential campaign trail. Her attorney, Thomas Van Flein, said at the time that she wanted to release a transcript of her sworn testimony. Reached this week, Van Flein said he hadn't talked to Palin about releasing it since then. "That's their call, I guess," he said. The governor has maintained she did nothing wrong and that Monegan was dismissed for reasons unrelated to her concerns about her ex-brother-in-law, trooper Michael Wooten. She called Wooten a "trooper time-bomb" and complained to Monegan in an e-mail that Wooten had tasered his stepson, drank beer in his patrol car, and shot a moose without a permit and yet was still on the street. Palin's husband, Todd, as well as administration officials, repeatedly talked to Monegan and others at the Department of Public Safety about Wooten. Monegan has said he believes he was fired in part because he wouldn't get rid of the trooper, and one investigation into the matter came to the same conclusion. Palin cooperated with only one of two investigations into the circumstances of Monegan's dismissal, the one by the state Personnel Board, which she said was the proper venue for an ethics investigation and which cleared her. She didn't cooperate with the separate investigation by the state Legislature, which found she abused her power by failing to rein in Todd Palin and others but still had the right to fire Monegan. When the Personnel Board investigation began, Palin said she wanted it made public. "The people of Alaska -- and of the nation -- deserve to have a decision from the proper tribunal putting their minds at ease that suggestions of misconduct that have circulated on the Internet and in some media outlets are not true. I therefore am waiving the confidentiality that usually covers personnel board complaints," Palin said in a statement released by Van Flein on Sept. 2, just days after she was named John McCain's running mate. Palin is simply ready to move on, her deputy press secretary, Sharon Leighow, wrote in an e-mail exchange this week. "Governor Palin waived her confidentiality to release the Personnel Board report -- not her deposition," Leighow wrote. "Two investigations concerning this matter have been conducted and concluded; we are not going to relitigate this in the media now. The politics are over and behind us. In both investigations, the investigators found that the governor acted with her proper and lawful authority in dismissing Walt Monegan. We are moving forward now and not looking back at a matter which has distracted Alaskans from the key issues at hand; the price of oil, the state of our budget and resource development in Alaska, including the ultimate construction of a natural gas pipeline." The governor's office also refused to release a transcript of Todd Palin's deposition and other key documents that were part of the Personnel Board investigation but not included as attachments to the official report. For instance, the governor's office wouldn't provide copies of e-mails among top administration officials, the governor and her husband that were sent in the days before an infamous call by Palin aide Frank Bailey to a trooper lieutenant about Wooten. In the call, which was recorded, Bailey said, "Todd and Sarah are scratching their heads. You know, why on earth hasn't, why is this guy still representing the department?" Palin has said she never authorized the call. The e-mails are not public because of reasons including "executive privilege," the governor's office said. The governor's office also declined to release notes from a meeting of Palin administration officials assessing Wooten's ability to return to work after being off on a worker's compensation claim. The Personnel Board investigation, by prosecutor-turned-defense lawyer Tim Petumenos, said the notes could be read to mean that officials talked about the possibility of assigning Wooten to duties "that would cause him to resign." The notes are exempt from the state public records law because they relate to a confidential personnel matter, the governor's office said. As to the governor's testimony, Leighow said: "This matter is closed. We see no public purpose in artificially prolonging this controversy." Find Lisa Demer online at adn.com/contact/ldemer or call 257-4390. LISA DEMER ldemer@adn.com -------------------------------- Find Draft Palin for President T-shirts for only $9.00 in our store. http://www.draftpalinforpresident.com/members/store

Governor Palin proposes new funds to benefit children $5 MILLION IN NEW MONEY

12/05/08 04:16:09

By SEAN COCKERHAM

By SEAN COCKERHAM scockerham@adn.com www.adn.com ------------------- Gov. Sarah Palin is calling for more state spending on children's health insurance, preschool and other programs, even as Alaska oil prices and state revenues plunge. Cash flow into the state is shrinking as oil prices drop below $40 a barrel, the lowest level in nearly four years. Most state general fund money comes from taxes and royalties the state makes from oil. But Palin said the state can afford more than $5 million in new spending on areas like Head Start, obesity prevention, a test program of half-day preschool, and expanded Denali KidCare insurance. "That means more working families will have health coverage. This isn't done lightly, a decision like this, and we know there will probably be some healthy debate stemming from some opposition in the Legislature over this," Palin said. Palin will release the rest of her proposed state budget next week and said not to expect any significant cuts. She downplayed the danger falling oil prices pose to the state budget, saying Alaska is in a far better position than other states. Palin claimed the state could still end up with a surplus even if oil averages $45 a barrel over the next several months. David Teal, the state Legislature's chief budget analyst, said that is possible for the current fiscal year that ends in June. But he has doubts. "Oil is falling pretty fast; we don't know if we're going to have a surplus or a deficit," Teal said in an interview. Palin's new spending plan, though, would start in the next fiscal year -- when Alaska oil prices would have to average at least $20 a barrel more than now to balance the budget. The state has put billions of dollars into savings accounts, however, and the governor's office said there is no "imminent threat to government services" even at lower oil prices than this. Palin's health proposals unveiled Thursday don't come close to the sweeping policy changes proposed by some legislators who are promoting universal health care. The governor established a commission to provide recommendations on putting together a health care plan for the state. Anchorage Democratic Sen. Bettye Davis said Palin's proposals are a beginning, but not enough. "I'm pleased she is at least admitting we need to move from where we are," Davis said. North Pole Republican state Rep. John Coghill said he's worried Palin's plan to increase Denali KidCare goes too far in expanding an entitlement program outside the welfare system. He said he'd like a co-pay or some other incentive for people not to rely indefinitely on the state system. But Cogill said he probably would not fight the increase, and expects that it will likely make it through the Legislature. Lawmakers have scrapped for years over Denali KidCare, which provides health insurance for lower income children and pregnant women. Palin last year opposed the push to increase coverage -- even though the state was enjoying a huge surplus at the time from high oil prices. It's one of dozens of policy calls that came under scrutiny as the governor became a national figure in the wake of her nomination this summer for vice president. Palin, pressed on why she's now changed her position, kept repeating that it is an opportunity for more children to be covered. A major issue last year in the debate was that lawmakers feared the federal government might reduce its 70 percent share of the program. There's more certainty now in the federal match. The proposed increase -- taking Denali KidCare eligibility to 200 percent of the federal poverty level instead of 175 percent -- is estimated to bring about 1,300 children and about 225 pregnant women into the program. Palin also called for an $800,000 increase in Head Start preschool programs and another $2 million for the state Department of Education & Early Development to try a pilot program for half-day preschool. The state preschool would include up to 500 children spread around the state. School districts would get the money through grants. The idea is to target kids who do not have access to preschool otherwise, according to state officials. Palin said some cost savings will come with the end of a teacher performance cash incentive program that the teachers union said was badly flawed. ------------------------------------------------------ Draft Palin T-Shirts just $9.00 - visit our store!! www.DraftPalinForPresident.com

Rebuilding the Republican Party with Governor Sarah Palin

5 December 2008

By www.draftpalinforpresident.com

Please take 4 minutes and watch this video, it shows just how much Americans are backing Sarah Palin. Rebuilding the Republican Party (paste) http://www.tlaurl. com/159 Also, thank you for the GREAT response so far to the message we sent out a few days ago. If you missed that email, here is some of it below. Log into your members area http://www.draftpal inforpresident. com/members and click on the STORE link at the top (you will only see it once logged in). Once there, pick out a T-Shirt and/or Sweat Shirt. Buy one for you, one for your spouse or loved one, and buy some for Christmas presents. The money made (while not much at those prices) will go to buy needy children Christmas. We here at Draft Sarah Palin For President will match all funds up to $1000. That's right, every dime of profit plus our match, will go to buy as many kids as we can Christmas. Plus as an added bonus, 5 lucky buyers will be picked at random and receive a FREE signed copy of Sarah Takes On Big Oil. So you can do 3 things at once, Buy your Christmas for loved ones, help buy Christmas for needy children, and have a chance to win a FREE copy of the new book Sarah Takes On Big Oil. So stop by the store today. Please try to place your order well before Christmas so we can have time to ship it to you and so we can have time to buy the children Christmas.Log in today! http://www.draftpal inforpresident. com/members Also, if you want a copy of the book Sarah Takes On Big Oil, follow the directions below.Go to this link.http://www.tlaurl. com/160 Once you purchase the book and fill out the PayPal info, there will be a special area to leave special instructions. In that space please put "I saw the book on Draft Sarah Palin For President" and they will give us a $9 commission. We will then take all that money and donate it to either buy more Christmas for needy children (if purchased before Christmas) or after Christmas we will donate it to Children with Special Needs Foundation. The point is you can get a GREAT book and help kids out at the same time. You will find that we are not in this for money, we really want Sarah Palin for President of the United States Of America! Spread The Word! Our Voice Will Be Heard! Draft Sarah Palin For President 2012

Senator discounts Palin as rival - RUMORS: Governor's spokesman says the story didn't start with her.

(12/03/08 23:08:29)

By The Associated Press

The Associated Press Gov. Sarah Palin has indicated she's open to a presidential run in 2012, but her spokesman said Wednesday she has never stated she would first seek the Senate seat held by fellow Republican Lisa Murkowski. "I have never heard it come up. More than that, I'm unaware of why we're even talking about this," spokesman Bill McAllister said. He was referring to comments made by Murkowski that Palin would have a hard campaign beating her, an incumbent with rising seniority in the Senate. "I can guarantee it would be a very tough election," Murkowski said in an interview published this week on Politico.com. Murkowski was appointed in 2002 by her father, Frank Murkowski, who held the Senate seat for more than two decades before he was elected governor. She will become Alaska's senior senator after the recent loss by Ted Stevens, the Senate's longest serving Republican ever. Frank Murkowski served just one term as governor before he was defeated in the 2006 primary by Palin, who went on to beat other rivals including former Democratic Gov. Tony Knowles. Palin could run for a second term in 2010. But that's also when Lisa Murkowski is up for re-election for a seat with potentially more national exposure for Palin. Mike Brumas, a spokesman for Murkowski, told The Associated Press on Wednesday the senator has nothing more to say on the matter. Murkowski told Politico that a Senate race would be risky for Palin. A loss could hurt a presidential run while a win would erase any seniority by Alaskans in the Senate -- and Palin would have to launch her presidential bid right away. "If she wants to be president, I don't think the way to the presidency is a short stop in the United States Senate," Murkowski said. Murkowski told Politico that she had not spoken with Palin about whether she will run and said the topic might be "more media-generated than what actually might be the thought process in Juneau right now." McAllister said he wonders why anyone is putting any weight to speculations of a Senate run by Palin. "Certainly the governor hasn't mentioned it," he said. http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/v-printer/story/611017.html ---------------------------------------------------------- Find Draft Palin T-shirts only $9.00 @ www.draftpalin.com >>>>>(members area only)

Media Can't Understand Why Palin's Still Popular Internet Search

2008-12-02

By By Warner Todd Huston

Media Can't Understand Why Palin's Still Popular Internet Search By Warner Todd Huston ===================== This particular Palin report is funny for it's cluelessness, but a spokesman for the Internet search engine company Lycos is astounded that people are still interested enough in Governor Sarah Palin to put her name in the search field of an Internet search engine like Lycos or Google. After all, we have Obama, now, the spokesman says. Why do we need Palin info still? The quotes from Kathy O’Reilly, a spokeswoman for Lycos, were reported by Politico [1] last week and goes to show that the appeal of Sarah Palin is still little understood in many quarters. Sarah Palin has stayed in the list of the top 5 Internet searches since she was chosen as John McCain's running mate in October. [With luck, the blind may see. O:-) ] The scope of the GOP ticket’s loss -- and the role her critics assigned to her in that defeat -- hasn't cooled interest in Palin. She ranked as the No. 2 top news search at Ask.com this week and No. 2 (after Obama) among newsmakers on the AOL 2008 year-end hottest searches list, and she occupied two slots on Politico's list of the site's 10 most searched terms. Palin also ranked fourth among Yahoo searches, behind "Black Friday," a Czech model and a contestant on the hit television show "Dancing with the Stars." She was the only politician on the Yahoo top 20 list. To Lycos spokesman O'Reilly, though, it's all a mystery. "People are still searching for her in record numbers," said Kathy O’Reilly, a spokeswoman for Lycos. "How bizarre is that? Obama is the president-elect after the most historic election of all time and you'd think he would be dominating search activity and he only now is going ahead of her." "It's astounding that someone who should have faded into the background [LOL!] after the election is not only making headlines but being searched for in record numbers online," said O'Reilly. "People still have a fixation with her, for whatever the reason." Politico also makes a mistake that is ubiquitous in the media. The polarizing role she played in the presidential campaign may also be driving the enduring fascination with all things Palin. Who says she was "polarizing"? The media does. Again this is a use of false authority. Since they say she is "polarizing" she is. But, it isn't really because of what she did, what she said or how she campaigned that was really "polarizing." This claim of polarization is the determination of the anti-Republican, anti-conservative media and they all echo it dutifully. Just as the media proclaimed the war in Iraq lost -- until it was won -- just as they proclaimed John McCain's campaign finished several times before he actually won the nomination, and just as the press universally assumes the "fact" of global warming, the media relies on its false authority to proclaim the "truth" of a situation and then they all echo the claim in unison. Even when proven wrong, they simply move on to proclaim the next "truth" and promulgate that as an authorized determination that defies debate. Still, it is amusing that this Lycos woman and Politico just don't understand why anyone would be interested in Sarah Palin. After all, they have all determined that she is finished, right? And we have The One to save us. So, who needs her? Published on NewsBusters.org (http://newsbusters.org)

Governor Sarah Palin credited for landslide win in Georgia

Wednesday, December

By 3 December 2008

Palin credited for landslide win in Georgia Chambliss: ‘Dynamite’ Palin turned out vote Newly reelected Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) credited Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin with firing up his base and allowing him to cruise to a victory over Democrat Jim Martin. Chambliss heaped praise on Palin, saying she has a “great future” in the GOP. “I can’t overstate the impact she had down here. All these folks did a great job coming in,” he said, referring to former presidential candidates Mike Huckabee and Rudy Giuliani. “They all allow you [to] add momentum to where we were in the campaign. But when she walks in a room, folks just explode.” Party leader credits Palin, majority for GOP victory in Georgia “The margin you see in this race, I think you can attribute to her involvement in the end,” McKoon said. Biden to Palin: With the race over, ‘no one pays attention to me’ “I might point out, as I told you when we walked in, since the race is over, no one pays attention to me at all … Maybe you will walk outside with me or something later and say hello to me,” Biden said, Perry, Sanford and Palin fight for Taxpayers at Philly Conference Republican Govs. Rick Perry of Texas, Mark Sanford of South Carolina and Sarah Palin of Alaska, led a spirited debate about the pitfalls of adding to the $10.7-trillion federal debt. “They warned that the U.S. economy could collapse”, said Governor Paterson Palin Power: Former Vice Presidential Candidate Attracts Most Attention At The Governors’ Meeting The most exciting politician at the National Governors Association (NGA) conference was not President-elect Barack Obama, D, nor was it the former movie action star, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, R-Calif. The politician everyone wanted was Alaska’s Gov. Sarah Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate. “I still have great concerns, when much of the economic problem that we are facing today perhaps was caused by too much debt that solving those problems will not come from incurring more debt”, said Palin. Paste this link to watch video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Due4f4YsQ

Watch full video from Governor Palin's visit on Monday for Senator Chambliss

1 December 2008

By www.wjbf.com channel 6

Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin stopped in Augusta, Monday morning, stumping for Senator Saxby Chambliss in Tuesday’s runoff with Democrat Jim Martin. Click here to watch full video: (paste link below) http://www.wjbf.com/jbf/news/state_regional/state_govtpolitics/article/live_streaming_sarah_palin_visits_augusta_to_rally_for_chambliss/9092/

Chattanooga: Huckabee presses GOP values during visit here

Monday, December 1,

By Elizabeth Ryan

Monday, December 1, 2008 Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee has not yet decided to make another run for the presidency but said he’s not sure he or any other Republican candidate could overcome the popularity of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. “Sarah Palin is, first of all, an effective governor,” he said. “The reason people like her is because they feel she’s authentic and that they can relate to her.” Speaking at a Sunday event at Hamilton Place to promote his new book, “Do the Right Thing,” Mr. Huckabee declined to name Gov. Palin as the presumptive 2012 GOP nominee. He did outline a vision for the future of the Republican Party that included leaders who share many of Ms. Palin’s social values. “What I’d be looking for in 2012 is the candidate that best represented our views and a consistency and authenticity about being pro-life, pro-family, strong for the Second Amendment, strong for lower taxes, more parental control, not government,” he said. Mr. Huckabee attributed the widespread Republican losses in November to the party’s failure to stem corruption, balance budgets and control spending. The $700 billion Wall Street economic rescue plan was an example of the recent betrayal of Republican values, he said. “The bailout was unfortunate,” he said. “There are so many small-business operators here in Chattanooga and all over this region, and every month they wonder if they can stay in business, and they know they can’t call Washington and say, ‘You all send me a check.’” He also stressed the importance of Tuesday’s runoff in Georgia between Democrat Jim Martin and incumbent Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss. “The Georgia race really should determine the future of the U.S. Senate,” he said. “If there’s a filibusterproof Senate, it means that things can just ram through, like liberalized abortion laws, restrictions on our Second Amendment rights. It could mean higher taxes with no back stop, no way to stop it.” Spokesman for the Martin campaign Matt Canter argued, however, that what Mr. Huckabee called a “balance of power” others might call “gridlock.” “The election here is about whether or not Georgia has a leader that is working with America’s new president to turn this economy around,” he said. “Saxby Chambliss and his allies are running around this state promising to block, to obstruct Barack Obama’s economic recovery plan. They’re running on gridlock. More gridlock in Washington.” Elizabeth Ryan www.timesfreepress.com

Bring Palin back in 2012, poll says

November 29, 2008 7:

By Alex Leary

Bring Palin back in 2012, poll says By Alex Leary, Times staff writer Published Saturday, November 29, 2008 7:19 PM ============================================= No sooner had Barack Obama won the presidential election than pundits started looking to 2012 and possible Republican challengers. A Gallup Poll asked people to rank the top 10 candidates they would like to run. Topping the list: Sarah Palin (67 percent), Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. Second to last: Gov. Charlie Crist (23 percent), one below former Gov. Jeb Bush (31 percent). The telephone poll was taken Nov. 5-16 and included 799 Republicans and GOP-leaning independents, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points. http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/state/article920456.ece ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Palin will bein Savannah Monday to back Chambliss

Sunday, Nov. 30, 200

By From: www.thestate.com

(The (Hilton Head) Island Packet) Former GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin will be in Savannah on Monday to support incumbent U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss in his runoff election, a contest that could determine the balance of power in Washington. Chambliss, who squares off Tuesday against Democratic challenger Jim Martin, holds one of two Senate seats still up for grabs in this election season. If Martin wins and the Democrats pick up the Georgia seat, they will be one vote away from gaining a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. In this Nov. 4, 2008 file photo, Gov. Sarah Palin, R-Alaska, acknowledges the crowd during an election night rally in Phoenix. Oprah wants her, and so do Letterman and Leno. Fresh from her political defeat, Sarah Palin is juggling offers to write books, appear in films and sit on dozens of interview couches at a rate astonishing for any first-term governor, let alone a Hollywood star. - Elise Amendola, File /AP Photo That means a Republican minority would have a much harder time stopping Democrats from pushing bills through the Senate, and the incoming administration of President-elect Barack Obama would have the numbers in Congress to get legislation passed more easily. The rally, along with three other events Monday in Georgia, are advertised at the top of Chambliss’ Web site. Palin, a GOP superstar who returned to her job as Alaska’s governor after the election, already is being mentioned as a possible 2012 GOP presidential candidate. Palin is scheduled to speak at 11 a.m. in the Savannah Civic Center. Obama has done a radio ad for Martin, and he’s also recorded a mass phone call urging voters to come out Tuesday for the Democratic candidate. So far, Obama has not indicated that he will come to the Peach State on behalf of Martin.

Trashing Palin is Damaging the GOP

November 29, 2008 3

By Kristofer Lorelli at www.race42008.com

Trashing Palin is Damaging the GOP Posted By Kristofer Lorelli Last evening, I read one of the most [1] sensible posts in the last two months on R42012. The 80+ comments that followed have left me depressed. Not because of the subtle sexism and anti-Palin rhetoric, but because of the oblivious attitude many on this site have towards the current functional state of the GOP. I am going to take Adam’s post one step further and accuse some (the minority) elite/east-coast Republicans of unknowingly sabotaging the party and any near-future hopes of regaining control of congress or the White house. Are you offended? Then let me explain the reality of the situation to you. Expect President Obama and the DNC to raise $2 billion dollars over the next four years. Expect the Obama/DNC email distribution list to reach 20 million (from the current 13 million) and their online donors list to grow from the 3 million current supporters. Today, the Republican party is in much poorer shape than it was post-Watergate and we are on the verge of handing the Democrats a filibuster-proof Senate majority. It may take our party 8 years to match the Democrats in terms of fundraising and volunteer lists. IMO, 2006-2008 may not have been rock-bottom for Republicans and we may experience further defeat. Many conservatives believe that the 2010 mid-term elections will be a repeat of 1994, but do not hold your breath. In the eyes of the voting public, the words, ‘Republican’, ‘corruption’ and ’DC’ are virtually indistinguishable. We are just as ill thought of as we were in 2006 and might still be just as negatively perceived in 2010, when there are even more vulnerable Republican seats up for re-election then there were in 2008. Is there any hope for the GOP? What do we have in our arsenal to compete with this Obama/DNC machine and halt the slide in our shrinking memberships lists and volunteer organizations? Answer: Sarah Palin. Let us put aside the 2012 campaign for a moment and review why Sarah Palin is critical to saving the Republican party from further electoral losses. Currently, Governor Sarah Palin is the only Republican politician who is in high demand on the talk show circuit, has galliardising support, is directly or indirectly responsible for developing massive email distribution lists, growing the online presence of conservative chat rooms, networking site and blogs and has the ability to fund-raise at the level of President Bush. Since the Nov. 4th election, most of the new conservative blogs and sites have been created on behalf of Sarah Palin or created by administrators supportive of Palin and/or her conservative positions. The online growth (blogs, youtube, conservative social networking) is Palin motivated and Palin targeted. The three largest national pro-Palin organizations, [2] http://www.draftpalinforpresident.com/, [3] www.teamsarah.org and the [4] http://www.nfrw.org/links.htm have nearly 300,000 members. All three groups have a national organization, a fundraising apparatus and have utilized their membership lists, technology and networking capabilities to work on behalf of Senator Chambliss. DraftPalin and teamsarah only developed their networks in the last 45 days. These three sites, in combination with the other pro-Palin sites/blogs and networks will easily exceed the 1 million membership mark before the end of next year. The online Palin movement is the only conservative network to adopt identical technology and networking platforms as the successful Obama Presidential campaign. The Palin movement will be the critical factor in saving many Senators and House members in 2010, which is why liberals want Palin to become insignificant and shun from the national stage. See a transcript from a recent [5] Limbaugh show for further explanation. Still do not believe me about Palin, then read this [6] from Politico. Three weeks after the Republican ticket suffered a sweeping defeat at the polls, Sarah Palin continues to dominate search engine queries, cable news and online video sites. The only American politician who generates comparable interest is President-elect Barack Obama. No one else is close. Palin was the most popular Lycos search from the week she joined the ticket continuously through last Sunday, The Alaska governor now ranks fourth, just one spot below Obama, on the weekly Lycos 50 list. In September, the Anchorage Daily News reported a 928 percent spike in traffic, according to Nielsen Online. Her mid-October “Saturday Night Live” appearance drove the show’s highest rating in 14 years, and her Oct. 2 debate with Joe Biden was the most watched vice presidential debate ever — drawing more viewers than any of the three presidential debates between McCain and Obama. She ranked as the No. 2 top news search at Ask.com this week and No. 2 (after Obama) among newsmakers on the AOL 2008 year-end hottest searches list, and she occupied two slots on Politico’s list of the site’s 10 most searched terms. Palin also ranked fourth among Yahoo searches she sat for an interview with Greta Van Susteren of Fox News and delivered the show’s largest audience of the year. According to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, Palin was the second-leading newsmaker for the week of Nov. 10-16, trailing only Obama and ranking ahead of President Bush, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and McCain in the number of stories about her. Some web sites and GOP activists/politicians have provided some excellent suggestions to improve the Republican party, election strategy and online and grassroots conservative activism, but without