Republicans like John McCain and Sarah Palin love to rail against taxes and government spending. It's the standard Republican script, and we saw from Palin's heroes, big spenders George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. But it's all b.s. All branding.
"Lies" would be the most accurate word, really. Because when it comes down to themselves and their cronies, boy howdy, do these Republicans love to grab taxpayer $$$.
No one demonstrates this disgusting hypocrisy more than the Welfare Queen Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin.
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Sarah Palin is the perfect soulmate to George W. Bush: talks a good game about taxes and spending, but just can't wait to get her paws on your money.
In her very short time in public office as mayor of Wasilla and then -- for a virtual heartbeat --- governor of Alaska -- she has proven more than eager to grab as much taxpayer money as she can, both for her political career and her own personal enrichment.
As we see in the Washington Post today, she thinks that the taxpayers should foot the bill for just about every aspect of her and her family's life, even if it has nothing to do with her job:
She wrote some form of "Lodging -- own residence" or "Lodging -- Wasilla residence" more than 30 times at the same time she took a per diem, according to the reports. In two dozen undated amendments to the reports, the governor deleted the reference to staying in her home but still charged the per diem.
Palin charged the state a per diem for working on Nov. 22, 2007 -- Thanksgiving Day. The reason given, according to the expense report, was the Great Alaska Shootout, an annual NCAA college basketball tournament held in Anchorage. In separate filings, the state was billed about $25,000 for Palin's daughters' expenses and $19,000 for her husband's.
Flights topped the list for the most expensive items, and the daughter whose bill was the highest was Piper, 7, whose flights cost nearly $11,000, while Willow, 14, claimed about $6,000 and Bristol, 17, accounted for about $3,400.
One event was in New York City in October 2007, when Bristol accompanied the governor to Newsweek's third annual Women and Leadership Conference, toured the New York Stock Exchange and met local officials and business executives. The state paid for three nights in a $707-a-day hotel room. Garnero said the governor's office has the authority to approve hotel stays above $300.
Asked Monday about the official policy on charging for children's travel expenses, Garnero said: "We cover the expenses of anyone who's conducting state business. I can't imagine kids could be doing that."
She's the Welfare Queen Governor, ladies and gentleman. The woman just can't keep her hands off your tax dollars.
And yes, YOUR tax dollars, even if you live in the other 49 states. Alaska mostly TAKES from the national Treasury. That is to say -- Alaska gets far more money from your tax dollars then it gives back. It's been like that for years, but Palin only tried to make it worse. She was determined to get ever more of your tax money.
From the very conservative Wall Street Journal:
The Bridge to Nowhere argument isn't going much of anywhere.
Despite significant evidence to the contrary, the McCain campaign continues to assert that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin told the federal government "thanks but no thanks" to the now-famous bridge to an island in her home state.
But Gov. Palin's claim comes with a serious caveat. She endorsed the multimillion dollar project during her gubernatorial race in 2006. And while she did take part in stopping the project after it became a national scandal, she did not return the federal money. She just allocated it elsewhere.
"We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge," Gov. Palin said in August 2006, according to the local newspaper, "and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that's so negative." The bridge would have linked Ketchikan to the airport on Gravina Island. Travelers from Ketchikan (pop. 7,500) now rely on ferries.
A year ago, the governor issued a press release that the money for the project was being "redirected."
"Ketchikan desires a better way to reach the airport, but the $398 million bridge is not the answer," she said. "Despite the work of our congressional delegation, we are about $329 million short of full funding for the bridge project, and it's clear that Congress has little interest in spending any more money on a bridge between Ketchikan and Gravina Island. Much of the public's attitude toward Alaska bridges is based on inaccurate portrayals of the projects here. But we need to focus on what we can do, rather than fight over what has happened."
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Gov. Palin has requested $750 million in her two years as governor -- which the AP says is the largest per-capita request in the nation.
That's right. She wants more money for each Alaskan from you, the U.S. taxpayer, than any other governor in the country.
Why? Because it's a classic political benefit for a politician to spend $$$$ building stuff and spreading it around to her consitutents, and then brag about it afterwards. "Look at how much I got done! Look what I did for YOU!"
But Palin goes way beyond even the classic political game here. Even as mayor of tiny Wasilla, she was determined to grab as much money as she could from U.S. taxpayers, and spread it like a Mafia kingpin... with all the power and political benefits that come with such largesse. From the L.A. Times:
Wasilla had received few if any earmarks before Palin became mayor. She actively sought federal funds -- a campaign that began to pay off only after she hired a lobbyist with close ties to Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), who long controlled federal spending as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He made funneling money to Alaska his hallmark.
Steven Silver was a former chief of staff for Stevens. After he was hired, Wasilla obtained funding for several projects in 2002, including an additional $600,000 in transportation funding.
That year, a local water and sewer project received $1.5 million, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, which combs federal spending measures to identify projects inserted by congressional members.
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This year she submitted to Congress a list of Alaska projects worth $197.8 million, including $2 million to research crab productivity in the Bering Sea and $7.4 million to improve runway lighting at eight Alaska airports. A spokesman said she cut the original list of 54 projects to 31.
"So while Sen. McCain was going after cutting earmarks in Washington," said Steve Ellis of Taxpayers for Common Sense, "Gov. Palin was going after getting earmarks."
Yup. All that, PLUS she expects the taxpayers to pick up her regular living expenses even when she's not working for them.
She's the Welfare Queen Governor, all right.
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Here's what it comes down to:
Sarah Palin is exactly the opposite of what she's claiming to be.
John McCain is full of it when he claims to be so concerned about taxpayer money, too. He's supported the Bush administration's descent into fiscal Hell every step of the way, and his campaign is lousy with lobbyists who do nothing but try to make the U.S. taxpayer try to pony up money for their own businesses.
And John McCain has actively supported the lie -- the absolute, unquestionable lie -- that Sarah Palin is fiscally responsible, when the FACTS show that he's much more eager than most politicians to grab taxpayer money for herself and her
That's why I dub her the Welfare Queen Governor. It cuts right to the heart of their b.s. branding.
Sarah Palin loves to tax, spend, and take your money. If you live in Alaska, you've already been paying for her lifestyle, big time.
And if you don't live in Alaska, you REALLY lose with this woman. She'll pick your pocket and bring it back home to her cronies up there, and then tell you she didn't. Oh, and she'll keep some for herself, too... after all, why shouldn't she use your hard-earned money for herslef and her political career? She's more important than you.
Sarah Palin: Governor Welfare Queen.