The truth about Sarah Palin Here are some quotes from Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention, and how they measure up after a little fact checking:
SARAH PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere."
FACTS: When she was mayor of the small town of Wasilla, Alaska, Sarah Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington to push for earmarks for Wasilla (population: 9,000) that totaled over $27 MILLION. In the 2 years she has been governor, Alaska has requested nearly $750 MILLION in special federal funding, by far the largest per-capita request IN THE ENTIRE COUNTRY. And she didn't reject the plans to build the $398 MILLION bridge from Ketchikan to an island of 50 residents and an aiport until after it became nationally ridiculed as the "bridge to nowhere."
SARAH PALIN: "There is much to like and admire about our opponent. 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."
FACTS: Obama has worked with Republicans to pass legislation that expanded efforts to intercept illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction and to help destroy conventional weapons stockpiles. The legislation became law last year. To demean that accomplishment would be to also demean the work of Republican Sen. Richard Lugar of Indiana, a respected foreign policy voice in the Senate. In Illinois, Obama was the leader on two big, contentious measures in Illinois: studying racial profiling by police and requiring recordings of interrogations in potential death penalty cases. He also successfully co-sponsored major ethics reform legislation.
SARAH 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." FACTS: A comparison of McCain and Obama's tax plans: Under Obama's plan, the only earners who will see a tax increase are those making over $603,403/year. Also, those making up to $66,354/year will see a much larger tax break than they would under McCain's plan. Obama will provide $80 billion in tax breaks to working families who need them the most. He will raise income taxes, capital gains and dividend taxes only on the wealthiest Americans.
JOHN MCCAIN (talking about Sarah Palin): "She's been governor of our largest state, in charge of 20 percent of America's energy supply ... She's responsible for 20 percent of the nation's energy supply. I'm entertained by the comparison and I hope we can keep making that comparison that running a political campaign is somehow comparable to being the executive of the largest state in America."
FACTS: Palin is governor of a state that ranks second nationally in crude oil production, but she's no more "responsible" for that resource than President Bush was when he was governor of Texas, another oil-producing state. In fact, her primary power is the ability to tax oil, which she did in concert with the Alaska Legislature. And where Alaska is the largest state in America, area-wise, McCain could as easily have called it the 47th largest state - by population.
JOHN MCCAIN: "She's the commander of the Alaska National Guard. ... She has been in charge, and she has had national security as one of her primary responsibilities."
FACTS: Governors are NOT the commanders of their National Guard units, they fall under the command of the Defense Department. The only time a governor is in charge of the National Guard in their own state is if the units are deployed as a result of a state of emergency being declared, such as in the event of some sort of natural disaster. So, Sarah Palin was never commander of any National Guard units working in a national security capacity. Additionally, Alaska's National Guard has a total of about 4,200 personnel, making it one of the smallest.
FORMER ARKANSAS GOV. MIKE HUCKABEE (talking about Sarah Palin): She "got more votes running for mayor of Wasilla, Alaska than Joe Biden got running for president of the United States."
FACTS: Palin got 616 votes in the 1996 mayor's election, and got 909 in her 1999 re-election race, for a total of 1,525. Biden dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, but he still got 76,165 votes in 23 states and the District of Columbia where he was on the ballot during the 2008 presidential primaries.
