Okay, I stand corrected. Thank you Freedom Fan for bringing to my attention that Sarah Palin actually increased funding for Special needs kids, and did not cut funding, as Soledad O'Brien and several mainstream news sources reported.
BUT... PALIN DID SLASH FUNDING FOR TEEN MOMS AND SENIORS. Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin wrote in her line-item veto changes by hand in this copy of a 2008 spending bill obtained by The Washington Post.
ST. PAUL -- Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice-presidential nominee who revealed Monday that her 17-year-old daughter is pregnant, earlier this year used her line-item veto to slash funding for a state program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live. By Paul Kane. see more at WashingtonPost.com
BUT... PALIN should be in hot water for taking the maximum allowed per diem for travel expenses for 300 evenings spent at home, in her own house 45 minutes away from the governor's office.
And It is now thoroughly documented that Sarah Palin supported the $398 million "Bridge to Nowhere" when she ran for Governor in 2006, even though Congress cancelled the earmark in 2005.
She only opposed it in September 2007 after her final efforts to get $329 million more from Congress failed. Yet she kept the partial funding from Congress!
So when Palin repeatedly says "I told Congress, 'Thanks, but no thanks' on that bridge to nowhere," she is repeatedly lying.
PALIN'S LIES OF OMISSION: At a campaign rally, John McCain extolled his running mate's virtue by cheering, "And she sold a plane on ebay! For a profit!" Palin stood by his side and smiled, affirming this was true.
All she had to do was correct McCain on this misinformation. The plane was not sold on ebay, and it was not sold for a profit, but for a $700,000 loss! While it's true she put the plane on ebay initially, there were no buyers. It was sold to a private investor for 2.1 million — a 700,000 drop in the 2.7 million value and asking price.
An honest person — a person who cares about the American people, about integrity and about transparency — especially in these volatile times of mistrust of public officials — would have gone out of her way to correct McCain! I can't believe she just sat there, letting everyone believe this untruth. One incident such as this may not seem so bad. Maybe the details are not as important as the message that she sold a luxury private plane for all the right reasons. But what's suspicious is that there's a pattern here. She failed to correct the false story about the Bridge to Nowhere -- and is using it in a campaign ad. How many other untruths, white lies, outright lies and coverups has she engaged in? The devil is in the details. She can't just gloss over this stuff. And her arrogance in not humbling herself to correct ANY misstatement or untruth — no matter how small — is very telling of her character. My first impression of Sarah Palin was that of an opportunist who will eat her young to get ahead — someone who craves the spotlight.
Palin also claims she fought against the "Bride to Nowhere" when in fact, she campaigned on this issue, for the bridge, and took corporate lobbyist campaign contributions while supporting Ted Stevens, the Senator indicted for corruption in this case.
From Political Animal: THAT'S NOT WAFFLING YOU CAN BELIEVE IN.... One of the more foolish talking points the McCain campaign has come up with in defense of Sarah Palin is the notion that she's clashed with Alaskan Sen. Ted Stevens (R). As the story goes, Stevens is corrupt (he's currently under indictment), and Palin's willingness to stand up to him, despite his power in Alaska, is proof of her strong willed independence.
A week ago, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told CNN, "Gov. Palin took on Ted Stevens. If she can take him on, she can take on the Russians. Heh." McCain made similar comments on Sunday.
It's all very strange. For one thing, Palin hasn't "taken on" Stevens; she actually helped run Stevens' 527 group. For another, far from rebuking Stevens, Palin hasn't ruled out voting for him, despite the felony charges he's facing.
