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<<< Governor Sarah Palin waving to Alaskan voters.
ALASKA CITIZENS ARE NO LONGER AS IMPRESSED WITH THEIR NOW FAMOUS GOP VEEP CANDIDATE
When Palin was chosen to run with Senator John McCain as the Vice Presidential nominee, her approval ratings with citizens of Alaska were regularly stated as being above 80%. She was even touted by the national media as being "the countryīs most popular US Governor".
Unfortunately for the GOP campaign, the more she talks, and as more and more information has become available about Governor Palin and her past history, the residents of her own state are having some second thoughts about their new governor of only 22 months. Thus, the severe drop in Palinīs Alaska approval ratings.
But even though Palinīs performance in the Vice Presidential Debate showed an individual that can only talk in massive generalities, and we saw someone that chose to not answer some of the moderatorīs questions, she probably did well enough that her approval ratings will level off for a while.
Now, aside from some of her asinine answers to her recent TV interviewers, the real question of "why" her US ratings have also plummeted in such a short period, one only needs to look as far as her campaign partner, Senator John McCain.
I had personally, really been getting tired of having to "Fact Check" Senator McCain, every time he opened his mouth. But now that Ms. Palin has assumed the same false talking points of the McCain campaign, we are all forced to continually "Fact Check" both McCain and his running mate as well.
This week McCain was shown being very belligerent in an interview when someone in the media questioned his honesty in his ad that falsely claimed that "Barack Obama voted to increase taxes on people earning $42,000 per year". They also questioned the ad where his campaign lied and said Obama "sponsored a bill to teach kindergartners sex education". Even though these were both "untrue" ads, McCain had the nerve to say in the interview that he and his ads; "Only speak 100% of the truth at all times."
When we have two important politicians running on a record of outright lies, "we the people" have a serious problem.
Going forward, each and every one of their statements has to now be "fact-checked" to death. This is because the "untruths" they are spouting are not the usual political lies, exaggerations or spins. They are factual, checkable, indisputable stated "lies".
Letīs take a look at a few of Governor Palinīs "untruths & irregularities" that are starting to show up on the Internet.
( Many are not that relevant, but they do show a disturbing trend.)
>>>Palin could not have asked her children for permission to accept McCain's veep offer if she also says she accepted the offer unblinkingly and on the spot.
>>>Palin did fire the Wasilla police chief even as she insisted to reporters she hadn't.
>>>Palin and her sister did violate the confidential medical records of her ex-brother-in-law Mike Wooten.
>>>Palin hasn't met with any trade missions from Russia as she claims.
>>>Palin does not have any gay friends as she claims. (At least, none that anyone can find, and she refuses to give out any names.)
>>> She did not oppose the "Bridge to Nowhere" until after she got the money and when it became a big PR problem.
>>>She did put the plane on eBay, but she did not sell that plane on eBay. In fact, she lost money for Alaska on the sale of the plane.
>>>Her "Teleprompter" did not fail in her convention speech.
>>>Alaska's state scientists did not conclude that polar bears were in "no danger".
>>>She did deny publicly that humans had anything to do with climate change.
>>>Alaska does not provide "nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy," as she has claimed. (Itīs closer to 4.8%)
>>>The gas pipeline she touts as her major "Mission Accomplished" has "not yet broken ground" and may never do so.
>>>She did not take a pay-cut as Mayor of Wasilla.
>>>Palin: "To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House." Please note: Palin actually slashed funding for Alaskan schools for special needs kids by 62%.
>>> On Obama, Palin said: "But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate."
Obamaīs accomplishments include: The Lugar-Obama Bill on nonproliferation, and an ethics reform package that the Washington Post called "the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet."
Dr. Ruth Marcus summarizes: "[Obama] helped pass a far-reaching ethics and campaign finance bill in the Illinois state Senate and made the issue a priority on arriving in Washington. Much to the displeasure of his colleagues, Obama promoted an outside commission to handle Senate ethics complaints. He co-authored the lobbying reform bill awaiting President Bush's signature and pushed -- again to the dismay of some colleagues -- to include a provision requiring lawmakers to report the names of their lobbyist-bundlers. He has co-sponsored bills to overhaul the presidential public financing system and public financing of Senate campaigns."
(And this does not include the major Bills Obama sponsored while in the Illinois State Senate.)
>>>On Energy: Palin: "America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it."
Response: No, Obama plans to develop much more energy than John McCainīs plan does. It's just that it will be mostly "renewable" energy, not carbon-based. Moreover, Obama, when compared to McCain, hasn't skipped the last eight Senate votes on renewable energy.
>>> On Taxes: Palin: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes ... raise payroll taxes ... raise investment income taxes ... raise the death tax ... raise business taxes ... and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. My sister Heather and her husband have just built a service station that's now opened for business - like millions of others who run small businesses. How are they going to be any better off if taxes go up?"
Response: I guess it all depends on whose taxes go up. If a married couple make less than $250,000, their taxes will not go up. Most Americans under $150,000 per year will pay less in taxes under Obama's plan than under McCain's. I would say "Heather and her husband" would be better off with Obamaīs plan.
>>>On Sex Education: Palin: "Sex-education programs will not find my support," Palin wrote in a 2006 questionnaire distributed among gubernatorial candidates. Palin only favors "abstinence-based sex education programs".
>>>On Government Earmarks: McCain is totally against "earmarks". Itīs a very big part of all of his campaigns, past and present.
As a mayor and as governor, Palin has relentlessly "pursued", not fought federal "earmark" spending. She has even hired a crony of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R), who is currently under federal indictment for corruption charges.
This year, Palin defended earmarking as a vital part of the legislative system. "The federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship," she wrote in a newspaper column. Her previous town of Wasilla received $11.9 million in earmarks from 2000 to 2003. The results of this spending are very apparent today. (The town also benefited from $15 million in federal funds to promote regional rail transportation.)
>>>On Alaska Expense Spending: Per The Anchorage News: "Since Gov. Sarah Palin took office nearly two years ago, the state of Alaska has routinely bought commercial airline tickets for Palinīs daughters when they travel with her, a practice that raises questions about the governor's claim to being a fiscal conservative. Travel records from the governor's office show that the state has spent at least $31,800 on dozens of airline tickets for the family, and more for meals and hotels."
>>> On Per Diem: A Democrat and a previous Governor of Alaska, Tony Knowles, questioned why the state is paying for Palin's children's travel and for Palin's collecting the state daily per diem while still living in her Wasilla home. "When you're living at home, you don't pay yourself for living at home," Knowles said in an interview. "And if you use a technicality to get around that rule so you can get paid for it, it's just not right."
Authorīs Note:
Unfortunately, Iīm afraid we will be "Fact Checking" regularly until after election day.
(Well, hopefully November 4th will be the last day we will need to "Fact Check" the McCain / Palin team.)
Copyright G.Ater 2008
ALASKA CITIZENS ARE NO LONGER AS IMPRESSED WITH THEIR NOW FAMOUS GOP VEEP CANDIDATE
When Palin was chosen to run with Senator John McCain as the Vice Presidential nominee, her approval ratings with citizens of Alaska were regularly stated as being above 80%. She was even touted by the national media as being "the countryīs most popular US Governor".
Unfortunately for the GOP campaign, the more she talks, and as more and more information has become available about Governor Palin and her past history, the residents of her own state are having some second thoughts about their new governor of only 22 months. Thus, the severe drop in Palinīs Alaska approval ratings.
But even though Palinīs performance in the Vice Presidential Debate showed an individual that can only talk in massive generalities, and we saw someone that chose to not answer some of the moderatorīs questions, she probably did well enough that her approval ratings will level off for a while.
Now, aside from some of her asinine answers to her recent TV interviewers, the real question of "why" her US ratings have also plummeted in such a short period, one only needs to look as far as her campaign partner, Senator John McCain.
I had personally, really been getting tired of having to "Fact Check" Senator McCain, every time he opened his mouth. But now that Ms. Palin has assumed the same false talking points of the McCain campaign, we are all forced to continually "Fact Check" both McCain and his running mate as well.
This week McCain was shown being very belligerent in an interview when someone in the media questioned his honesty in his ad that falsely claimed that "Barack Obama voted to increase taxes on people earning $42,000 per year". They also questioned the ad where his campaign lied and said Obama "sponsored a bill to teach kindergartners sex education". Even though these were both "untrue" ads, McCain had the nerve to say in the interview that he and his ads; "Only speak 100% of the truth at all times."
When we have two important politicians running on a record of outright lies, "we the people" have a serious problem.
Going forward, each and every one of their statements has to now be "fact-checked" to death. This is because the "untruths" they are spouting are not the usual political lies, exaggerations or spins. They are factual, checkable, indisputable stated "lies".
Letīs take a look at a few of Governor Palinīs "untruths & irregularities" that are starting to show up on the Internet.
( Many are not that relevant, but they do show a disturbing trend.)
>>>Palin could not have asked her children for permission to accept McCain's veep offer if she also says she accepted the offer unblinkingly and on the spot.
>>>Palin did fire the Wasilla police chief even as she insisted to reporters she hadn't.
>>>Palin and her sister did violate the confidential medical records of her ex-brother-in-law Mike Wooten.
>>>Palin hasn't met with any trade missions from Russia as she claims.
>>>Palin does not have any gay friends as she claims. (At least, none that anyone can find, and she refuses to give out any names.)
>>> She did not oppose the "Bridge to Nowhere" until after she got the money and when it became a big PR problem.
>>>She did put the plane on eBay, but she did not sell that plane on eBay. In fact, she lost money for Alaska on the sale of the plane.
>>>Her "Teleprompter" did not fail in her convention speech.
>>>Alaska's state scientists did not conclude that polar bears were in "no danger".
>>>She did deny publicly that humans had anything to do with climate change.
>>>Alaska does not provide "nearly 20 percent of the U.S. domestic supply of energy," as she has claimed. (Itīs closer to 4.8%)
>>>The gas pipeline she touts as her major "Mission Accomplished" has "not yet broken ground" and may never do so.
>>>She did not take a pay-cut as Mayor of Wasilla.
>>>Palin: "To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House." Please note: Palin actually slashed funding for Alaskan schools for special needs kids by 62%.
>>> On Obama, Palin said: "But listening to him speak, it's easy to forget that this is a man who has authored two memoirs but not a single major law or reform - not even in the state senate."
Obamaīs accomplishments include: The Lugar-Obama Bill on nonproliferation, and an ethics reform package that the Washington Post called "the strongest ethics legislation to emerge from Congress yet."
Dr. Ruth Marcus summarizes: "[Obama] helped pass a far-reaching ethics and campaign finance bill in the Illinois state Senate and made the issue a priority on arriving in Washington. Much to the displeasure of his colleagues, Obama promoted an outside commission to handle Senate ethics complaints. He co-authored the lobbying reform bill awaiting President Bush's signature and pushed -- again to the dismay of some colleagues -- to include a provision requiring lawmakers to report the names of their lobbyist-bundlers. He has co-sponsored bills to overhaul the presidential public financing system and public financing of Senate campaigns."
(And this does not include the major Bills Obama sponsored while in the Illinois State Senate.)
>>>On Energy: Palin: "America needs more energy ... our opponent is against producing it."
Response: No, Obama plans to develop much more energy than John McCainīs plan does. It's just that it will be mostly "renewable" energy, not carbon-based. Moreover, Obama, when compared to McCain, hasn't skipped the last eight Senate votes on renewable energy.
>>> On Taxes: Palin: "The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes ... raise payroll taxes ... raise investment income taxes ... raise the death tax ... raise business taxes ... and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. My sister Heather and her husband have just built a service station that's now opened for business - like millions of others who run small businesses. How are they going to be any better off if taxes go up?"
Response: I guess it all depends on whose taxes go up. If a married couple make less than $250,000, their taxes will not go up. Most Americans under $150,000 per year will pay less in taxes under Obama's plan than under McCain's. I would say "Heather and her husband" would be better off with Obamaīs plan.
>>>On Sex Education: Palin: "Sex-education programs will not find my support," Palin wrote in a 2006 questionnaire distributed among gubernatorial candidates. Palin only favors "abstinence-based sex education programs".
>>>On Government Earmarks: McCain is totally against "earmarks". Itīs a very big part of all of his campaigns, past and present.
As a mayor and as governor, Palin has relentlessly "pursued", not fought federal "earmark" spending. She has even hired a crony of U.S. Senator Ted Stevens (R), who is currently under federal indictment for corruption charges.
This year, Palin defended earmarking as a vital part of the legislative system. "The federal budget, in its various manifestations, is incredibly important to us, and congressional earmarks are one aspect of this relationship," she wrote in a newspaper column. Her previous town of Wasilla received $11.9 million in earmarks from 2000 to 2003. The results of this spending are very apparent today. (The town also benefited from $15 million in federal funds to promote regional rail transportation.)
>>>On Alaska Expense Spending: Per The Anchorage News: "Since Gov. Sarah Palin took office nearly two years ago, the state of Alaska has routinely bought commercial airline tickets for Palinīs daughters when they travel with her, a practice that raises questions about the governor's claim to being a fiscal conservative. Travel records from the governor's office show that the state has spent at least $31,800 on dozens of airline tickets for the family, and more for meals and hotels."
>>> On Per Diem: A Democrat and a previous Governor of Alaska, Tony Knowles, questioned why the state is paying for Palin's children's travel and for Palin's collecting the state daily per diem while still living in her Wasilla home. "When you're living at home, you don't pay yourself for living at home," Knowles said in an interview. "And if you use a technicality to get around that rule so you can get paid for it, it's just not right."
Authorīs Note:
Unfortunately, Iīm afraid we will be "Fact Checking" regularly until after election day.
(Well, hopefully November 4th will be the last day we will need to "Fact Check" the McCain / Palin team.)
Copyright G.Ater 2008
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