Bravado, As Usual

Bold, decisive, and a maverick. That's how Sarah Palin views herself, as she made clear, yet again, in her statement on July 3 announcing her resignation as governor:

Even those debt-ridden stimulus dollars that would force the heavy hand of federal government into our communities with an “all-knowing attitude” – I have taken the slings and arrows with that unpopular move to veto because I know being right is better than being popular. Some of those dollars would harm Alaska and harm America – I resisted those dollars because of the obscene national debt we’re forcing our children to pay, because of today’s Big Government spending; it’s immoral and doesn’t even make economic sense!

sure, Governor Palin initially threatened to reject all of the federal stimulus money. But after finding that the public, as well as the state legislature, wanted to accept the funding, Palin did an about-face and will accept all but $29 million of the $930 million offered. That's right- this self-styled fiscal conservative, bane of socialists everywhere (just ask her), will be taking approximately 97% of the money the federal government is doling out to her state. She could have vetoed (perhaps successfully) the package of bills the legislature passed to accept the funding or she could have refused the money, but she didn't.

And believe it or not, this courageous, stalwart opponent of "Big Government" wanted some of the money, intended to stimulate job creation for her fellow Alaskans, instead to go to Medicaid reimbursement and child support enforcement in the state's operating budget, required (as in most states) to be balanced. She could have cut spending or dipped into the state surplus. Instead, she wanted to go the easy route- apply federal money to meet state responsibilities. The legislature, more committed to increasing job opportunities for Alaskans, refused to go along.

Sarah Palin's credo: it's immoral! It's obscene! Let's do it!