If you don't like excessive government spending, then you should love the idea of Sarah Palin as your next Vice President. Why do I say this? Well, on Friday, she used her line-item veto pen to shave nearly a quarter of a billion dollars off of the $1.8 billion capital budget passed by the state legislature. (Click here for a video report from KTUU.)
Yes, you read that correctly...a grand total $231,000,000 of big government spending was sent swirling down the proverbial toilet. If you want to know exactly what that looks like, here's a PDF detailing the cuts...it's 19 pages long! The part I like is the "veto reason" column, where a large number of the cuts are marked "not a state responsibility". If you are a fiscal conservative or libertarian, that way of looking at spending should excite you (as it does me).
Now, I know there there are a decent number of Alaskan politicians (notably Democrat Anchorage mayor Mark Begich) who are vocally bashing these cuts. However, an online poll by KTUU TV showed that 78% of respondents thought that the governor either vetoed the correct amount (35%) or didn't veto enough (43%). While this poll is obviously not scientific, I think it shows that Alaskans don't like big-spending government, and that Palin quite frankly let the legislature off easy by vetoing ONLY a quarter-billion (as a plurality of her constituents wanted her to cut more!).
If you haven't already figured it out, one of the primary reasons I like Sarah Palin is that she is willing to take bold and drastic action when she thinks that it is in the best interest of the state - regardless of how many feathers it ruffles. Leaders like that, in the tradition of Ronald Reagan and Teddy Roosevelt, are rare in today's America - and that's why I'm pushing so hard to get Sarah Palin elevated to national politics as quickly as possible.
Tags: Sarah Palin, AGIA, Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, Alaska Gasline, Vice-President , 2008 Election, President 2008, Running Mate, VPOTUS, Veep , Palin, Rudy Giuliani , VP 2008, Alaska, Mitt Romney , Tommy Thompson , John McCain, Fred Thompson , Republicans, GOP, Duncan Hunter , Mike Huckabee, Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, Tom Tancredo
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1 comment:
Not even close.
She failed to deliver her promised 'bare bones budget'. While most of her cuts were well justified, she spared programs in her home district.
You may as well start getting used to it now, but as time goes on, your pet project is going to look even more idiotic and foolish than it already does. Queen P is NOT ready for prime time or the national stage.
Here's one interesting take
"This week, Governor Palin capped a six month budget process of adopting an operating and capital budget for fiscal year 2008. And although most of the press focused on the $231 million she vetoed from the capital budget, the fact is both the operating and the capital budgets came in at a combined $450 million higher than what she promised."
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