« BACK  |  PRINT

RS

MEMBER DIARY

Governor Palin Cites Alaska Constitution in Stimulus Veto

By: Lisa Graas (Diary)  |  May 24th, 2009 at 12:56 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

Governor Sarah Palin has vetoed $28.6 million in stimulus funds, the portion of the stimulus package that included a mandate for local governments to adopt federally defined building codes. If she had accepted this funding, it would have been an unconstitutional usurpation of power from local government. Governor Palin’s position is that as Governor she does not have the authority, from a Constitutional standpoint, to infringe upon the power of the people and their local governments in community planning.

From Governor Palin’s press release:

“Alaskans and our communities have a long history of independence and opposing many mandates from Washington, D.C.,” Governor Palin said. “This principle of maximum self-government for local communities is also set out in our constitution. There isn’t a lot of support for the federal government to coerce Alaska communities to adopt building codes, but lawmakers can always exercise checks and balances by overriding my veto.

“Our 18 boroughs and unified home-rule municipalities, 145 incorporated cities, and individual Alaskans will continue to be free to fully exercise their discretion regarding local building codes. I do not support coercing our local communities to adopt building codes, which then act as a mandatory tax on Alaskans building or renovating homes or businesses.”

I do believe she’s citing Article 10, there, of the Alaska Constitution which provides for “maximum local self-government with a minimum of local government units”.

Ya gotta love a woman who loves her Constitution, particularly when she is the primary agent in charge of defending it.

Some have criticized Governor Palin’s reasoning. “My disappointment is that Sarah Palin hasn’t paid attention or looked closely enough to the Missouri model,” Senator Lesil McGuire said referring to the Department of Energy’s decision to allow local governments in Missouri to retain their building codes.

Governor Palin did consult the Department of Energy on the matter and had this to say about their assurances:

“While I was encouraged by that acknowledgment, I cannot in good conscience agree to use the full authority of state government to ‘promote’ and advocate on behalf of Washington, D.C., that our communities adopt the building codes or their equivalent.”

It has to do with power. Does the power come down from D.C to the people of Alaska? If Palin had not vetoed it, the ultimate decision would have belonged to the feds. Despite their assurances, it was a risk she refused to take. With this veto, Palin has not made as strong a statement about spending as she has about freedom. Freedom is priceless. Is your freedom worth $28.6 million? Well?

Sometimes it’s tough to do the right thing. Palin is going to get hammered for this in the liberal blogosphere and from the proponents of big government in Alaska. They’re going to be writing about the economic impact, but this is a critical step she has taken to preserve the right of the people to self-rule that has been afforded them by their state constitution. They’ll talk about Missouri until you’re sick of hearing about it, but we know we can’t leave our freedom up to agents of the federal government promising us they’ll honor it. It’s far better to have a governor willing to sign her name to guarantee it — to leave no doubt — because her constitution demands it.

Folks, this is why I support Sarah Palin. She is going to get hammered for this and it will be twisted nine different ways, if not ninety. How many people are going to really “get this”? People are hurting economically in Alaska and she knows it, but her job is to protect their freedom no matter how tough things get economically. I don’t know about you, but I value my freedom so highly that I appreciate leadership like this, particularly in these troubled times when so many are willing to sell it for dollars.

The Alaska Department of Commerce, Community and Economic Development has a boatload of information on the operations of communities in Alaska including this document on Home Rule. Before you all go whacko on the meaning of this veto, please, do some homework on it, will you?

Incidentally, Governor Palin also used her line-item veto power to cut $80 million from appropriations bills. I have no opinion on this because I haven’t done any research on it, but since 80 is always bigger than 28.6, I’ll be awfully curious if there is way more talk about the stimulus veto than there is about the appropriations veto, won’t you?

UPDATE: Governor Palin has an Op-Ed in today’s NEWSMINER regarding energy

Tags: , , ,

COMMENTS

POSTING RULES  |  LOGIN TO COMMENT  |  REGISTER TODAY
  • ColdWarrior

    Wonderful news.
    No wonder the “mainstream media” tries to destroy her. She leads by example.

  • Achance

    http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/052209/loc_442793379.shtml

    You might wonder why such a large proportion of the line item vetoes are in one REPUBLICAN senator’s district, and Charisse Millet is a rock-solid Republican whose word you can take to the bank.

    • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

      which, of course, paint the governor in a bad light. Note that her statement reads:

      There isn

      • Achance

        the whole thing is a contrivance for her “national” aspirations. She’ll go brag about refusing stimulus money but the “corrupt old boys” in the REPUBLICAN controlled Legislature overrode her veto. And, they will override her veto, probably in the first hour after they next convene. And she’ll go out and brag about how she deftly wielded that budget cutting veto pen and what a conservative budget cutter she is. Well, actually that is $80 Million out of an almost $9 Billion budget and almost entirely in districts that don’t support her anyway. The State’s Comprehensive Annual Financial Report is here: http://fin.admin.state.ak.us/dof/financial_reports/resource/08cafr.pdf

        The graph on page xi will give you a pretty good indication of what has actually happened to spending during her tenure.

        I know Forgey, and I can’t imagine his not trying to contact her for a quote. Now, I swore I wasn’t go to do this, so that’s it for me, but I couldn’t resist some response to the OP’s hagiography.

        • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

          if you say so

          • Achance

            that your writing or mine is unbiased; we all have our point of view. The most you can do is point out that there may be other points of view. Basically, there is no love for Sarah Palin in Southeast Alaska generally and in Juneau specifically, so no reporter here is going out of his/her way to make her look good.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            journalists today are trained to recognize and use weasel words to convey their bias, while maintaining the facade of impartiality.

            he “claimed” sounds more defensive than he “said”

            modifiers like “defensively” or “defiantly” are added to convey…well defensiveness or defiance.

            I simply want people to learn to RECOGNIZE those weasel words when they read them, and to understand that it is subtle bias added to news.

            Do we do much the same thing in our reporting on President Obama? “You betcha!”

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            what in H*** are you doing up at 5:30 am on a Sunday morning?

          • Achance

            then when I finally woke up and trundled off to bed, I couldn’t get back to sleep. My schedule is all messed up from travelling and keeping a different schedule the last few days.

            I need to work on a report but I’m avoiding it, so I wound up here. Looks like it’s going to be a nice day so I’m thinking of taking my life into my hands and trying to wake up SWMBO and see if she wants to go fishing for awhile – like for the next two or three days.

        • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

          It was a civics lesson. I’ve followed Governor Palin’s press releases and press conferences for a while now and have learned that she knows quite well what the attacks are going to be every time she does something. She gives her argument against them in advance. I’m sure she knew this would be characterized as her being a bully, so that is why she offered the civics lesson that the Legislature has the power to override her veto.

          What’s interesting to me is that it is usually males who go after her as being a “bully” or question her intelligence on her dealings with the Legislature. The female attackers generally go after her on “ethics”. Since more than 25% of babies are aborted now, there are a lot of women out there who have had abortions. It’s understandable why most of the people going after her on “ethics” are women. There are still some males who have a problem with women in authority, too, and that makes it understandable that it is usually men who go after her on things like “bullying” and her intelligence.

          David Hinz masterfully pointed out in his comment that the criticisms in the article Achance linked to are baseless given Governor Palin’s actual words.

          When a governor offers a lesson from civics and people attack her for being a bully, there has to be some uncanny, off-the-wall explanation for the attack, doesn’t there?

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            damn, now I will need some ice to reduce the swelling. ;-)

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            file on those non-reported ALPO profits?

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            was up today at 5:30 doing contrast and physical therapy on said Dawg’s surgery…

            now HE is back to sleep resting comfortably while I am awake for the rest of the day. :-)

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I dislike crucifixion very much.

          • Achance

            from Sarah Palin. She’s flipped and flopped all over the place about stimulus money, first saying she wasn’t going to take any of it and all the Palinbots made her into some big hero. Soon as she said it she started waffling about really meaning only a dialog with the Legislature would settle how much Alaska took. Now, she’s got this $26 million, which by the way is within the rounding error in the Alaska budget, and she’s making her big stand on it knowing full well that she’s run out her string with the Legislature and they’ll override her in a heartbeat and may well override the the veto in Stedman’s district just because they can.

            Palinbots are just like Obamaniacs; if you criticise him, you’re a racist, if you criticize her, you’re a man with trouble with women in authority or you’re a baby killer. One day, maybe, some Palinbots might actually learn something about Alaska politics from some sources other than Palin press releases and the fantasies of other Palinbots.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            ……I think you are confusing the Palin-bashers claims about the Palinbots with the actual words of the Palinbots.

            She hasn’t “flipped and flopped” on the stimulus. This is all a matter of public record and I urge everyone to watch her press conferences on this for the facts.

          • jeffreywturner

            The state legislators in Alaska, much like the US Congress and state legislators in orther states, could use a civics lesson from time to time.

            We need leaders like Sarah Palin and Mark Sanford to teach it to them, because they certainly don’t listen to the voters.

  • bk

    The article includes this. If there are such strings (which would not surprise me at all given the way Obama seems to run things) it should be easy to prove. Has Palin demonstrated that there is something on paper that backs her claim, or at least puts it in a gray area that could make one suspicious? Or does she just appear to be making it up as far as anyone can tell?

    Palin said that accepting the money would require Alaska to adopt a statewide energy efficiency code. Top legislators disagreed, but Palin on Thursday reiterated that claim.
    …
    “This issue has been researched thoroughly by legislative staff and we couldn’t find one string attached to those funds,” said Rep. Charisse Millett, R-Anchorage, co-chair of the House Special Committee on Energy.

    And there is also this. Did Palin use the line-item veto without saying why (which would seem kind of weird but who knows) or had there just not been time yet for her to say why?

    Palin also vetoed four projects funded by cruise ship head tax in Southeast, two projects improving cruise ship berths in Ketchikan, and two projects in Sitka improving Crescent Harbor and Swan Lake.

    Palin provided no reasons for those vetoes, and [Sen. Bert] Stedman [R-Sitka] said there likely were no reasons.

    “I think there is no sound policy reason,” he said.

    • Achance

      but I know Charisse pretty well, worked with her for awhile, and she’s a Anchorage area resident just like Palin, so you aren’t getting any Southeast or Rural bias when she speaks. Actually, all the urban areas of the State have pretty stiff building codes especially on energy issues and have had them since the ’80s. Once you get into the truly rural Native areas, most of the housing is HUD/BIA, so the Fed can set any standard it wants. Where there is private housing in the Bush, the energy costs out there are so great that houses are built to extremely high energy conservation standards as a practical necessity.

      It’s pretty common that Governors don’t announce why they are vetoing a certain item but they usually will explain it, sometimes even truthfully. I betcha if those cruise ship docks had been in Wasilla that veto pen wouldn’t have come near them (not that there’s anything anyone would want to see there). The cruise ship tax goes to the general fund so it is available for statewide use, but most of the cruise ship traffic is in Southeast Alaska, Ketchikan being the first port of call usually. Clinton Administration policies destroyed the Southeast Alaska timber industry and dramatically damaged Ketchikan’s economy. They need tourism infrastructure or they become practically a ghost town. Just seems strange that her line item vetoes fall disproportionately in Southeast Alaska where she has never had much electoral support.

    • bk

      I finally found the back and forth with DOE here. The claim that they “couldn’t find one string attached” seems pretty specious to me. It certainly seems there is a “string” though one could fairly argue as to whether or not it’s a cause for possible concern.

      There is a very brief summary of vetoes here and she makes very brief remarks about some of them in the letters to the legislative heads here and here. Is that all she does in terms of describing these vetoes? Some she explained, some were just reductions, and some she said to put off to the next session for consideration again. Not sure that translates into giving no reasons at all, except on the few she pushed out completely.

      I should add that I’m sick of the Obama/Democrat approach of painting the opponent as being 100% on one side – “party of no” if the GOP has different ideas, “anything goes” when it comes to Gitmo, etc. The folks opposed to Palin in this article, even though they are also Republicans, sound kind of like that to me. That makes me suspicious – are they lying like Obama?

      • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

        You have to remember that Palin took on her own party in Alaska on ethics. After that, she was elected as Governor and was able to work well with the Democrats in the Legislature, ostensibly because she had taken on her own party. Then she ran against Obama, so now both GOP and Democratic legislators after her. It’s completely unfair, then, to assume that a Republican legislator in Alaska is going to be automatically fair to Palin. The opposite is often the case.

        • Achance

          It is easier for a Republican to pass through the eye of a needle than to govern the State without Sarah Palin’s inspiration. Sarah’s “salvation” of Alaska is largely in her own mind and in the minds of people who unquestionably accept everything she says.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            lol funny, but harsh…

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            You really hate her, don’t you? Alaska has yet to see “salvation”, my friend, when it comes to what government is capable of doing and, frankly, never will see “salvation” from any government official. In case you haven’t noticed, conservatives don’t see “salvation” in politicians and government policies at all.

            Get over your Palin Derangement Syndrome, already, will ya?

          • mbecker908

            Art’s just seen her work up close. Note that he has always said that if she were the Republican candidate in any general election he’d vote for her.

            And, when all is said and done, I would guess that, line by line, Art is probably significantly more conservative than you are. And he can base his bonafides on actions and accomplishments not just commentary, like most of the rest of us.

            I find your commentary on finding salvation in politicians and government policies quite interesting. Please take a look at the growth of the AK state budget under Palin and get back to us on True Conservatism and all that crap.

          • mbecker908

            topline numbers only, expenditures in AK in billions were as follows…

            02 – 9.4B
            03 – 9.7B
            04 – 10.0B
            05 – 10.0B
            06 – 10.8B – Sarah Palin elected governor.
            07 – 11.6
            08 – 12.5B
            09 – 13.4B (numbers not finalized until end of fiscal year)

            Gov. Palins predecessor raised expenditures by 1.4B (10.8B v 9.4B) in four budget cycles. That is an overall increase in State spending of 14.9% or 3.7% per year.

            Starting with the 07 expenditures (the first one Gov Palin was responsible for) her spending has increased by 2.6B (13.4B v 10.8B) in three budget cycles. That is an overall increase of 24.1% or 8.0% per year.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            are there any outside factors that would help to account for that? Any increases in expenses from 2007 forward? I don’t know, and that is why I am asking.

            I know that President Obama has, for instance, made much of his ‘stimulus’ spending happen down the road — and the paybacks to come after he leaves office. just wondering if the previous administration left her any time bombs…

          • mbecker908

            And for which I have exactly no answers.

            I would guess that were there “spending time bombs” they would have been talked about by Gov. Palin and I don’t recall hearing any discussion about that, but I haven’t followed it and haven’t looked. I also don’t recall Art saying anything about that.

            The one theme that I do recall from Art’s comments is that she’s been generally spending like a drunk Native American in the parts of the state that support her and squeezing the parts that don’t. I don’t know what that means in terms of budget growth, however.

            Just to be clear, I looked that up and posted it because during the primaries I talked about Mike Huckabee’s increases in AR spending during his term in office. I thought it was only fair. 8)

            I’d pursue this, but frankly right now I don’t care. I’m not opposed to Gov Palin, I just don’t think she’s anywhere near the “hope” that lots of folks seem to projecting. She’s a great stump speaker, a good pro-life role model and we have no clue if she’s even a decent governor, let alone a “good” one. As far as I’m concerned, crap like this little veto are insignificant today given the war for the soul of the Nation going on in DC. This doesn’t even qualify as a slingshot in that war, it’s nothing but a meaningless distraction by people looking for a straw to grasp so they don’t have to deal with real war.

            Talk to me about Gov. Palin in 2011. Then the subject will be meaningful and hopefully we’ll have some real accomplishments to discuss instead of a lengthy commentary on mental masturbation.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            for the congressional Democrats through their unbridled arrogance.

            A sudden shift in power in Congress — well, the House really, and suddenly the 2012 race becomes truly interesting…

          • Achance

            We left some labor agreements with outyear increments in the three to four percent range. Alaska had pretty much run out of good will with the Congress on Medicare/Medicaid rates, so there were increases there. The rest is just plain spending increases, some her administration’s, some the Legislature’s.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            With all due respect, I have no idea who “Art” is and you have no idea who I am, either. I do keep close tabs on what is going on in Alaska even far more so than in my own state because I see leadership there for the future of our country. I’m also someone who appreciates constitutional law and social conservatism.

            I used to be a “fiscal moderate” until the country went socialist and now, although my ideas on what money should be spent on this or that have not changed, I am now a “fiscal conservative” since we generally grade on the political “Bell Curve”. I haven’t changed. The country has, so I have a different label now although I am the same person with the same standards.

            Most Republicans now would tell you with some degree of sincerity that Bill Clinton is, compared to Obama, a conservative! I worked my rear end off to make sure he wouldn’t get elected and then re-elected, but now I am tempted to get one of those “I miss Bill” bumper stickers.

            This isn’t the same America anymore, friend. We have to take the issues individually now and judge each one on its own merits and use common sense.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            while I admire your passion, and while I must agree that Art can be a pain in the nether regions at times, he IS the resident expert on Alaska politics.

            While he “might” hold certain personal grudges against the gov, he is still the go-to guy on the inside scoop.

            In FACT, he recently promised not to do what he has been doing all morning because he now is a spokesperson for an Alaskan politician and while it is a free country, it ain’t THAT free — just ask Soren Dayton.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            [another inside story] I have been trying to find out “who” you are — and again, while I admire your passion, Kentucky is a long way from Alaska — geographically and otherwise.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            smile art

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            LOL! Cracker!

          • mbecker908

            AK is a “long way” from the other 49. It’s really closer to being it’s own country. No other state has a revenue stream like AK’s, they have population issues that are pretty radically different to anywhere else, and the land mass/amount of govt owned or controlled land/population density make it really unique.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            of her policies, given the fact of the revenue sharing reverse tax, public ownership of oil revenues situation. Of course, I think we ought to give governors in general more leeway on tax and otehr policies given federalism and the lack of a printing press I’m thinking Huck here and other southern govs, but still recognize Huck’s problems but am impressed with his initial and continuing wisdom on bailouts. Also like Romney on this)

          • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

            Unfortunately I don’t have the handy, but I have in the past gone on about how the States of HI and AK deserve some breaks (get exceptions/leeway) that I would NOT afford to the 48 contiguous States…. The unique/remote locations away from the other 48 and that they (as many tend to forget) only being States since following WWII (though certainly long enough to get their Constitutions and Laws/practices in line with the U.S. Constitution, etc)…..

            The point, is that their economies, resources, etc, are unique and have to be allowed flexibility we would not allow the other 48 States.

            NOTE: I have NOT read this thread so my comment is strictly based upon support for the comment this is in immediate response to and/or as a general “point” for any/all to consider in regard to ANY discussion regarding either AK or HI.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            and really weren’t brought out of the Third World until FDR, also deserve some leeway too…although much less so now that 30 yrs ago and before

            BUT

            I guess my main underlying point is that states in general have to do some “liberal” things that the federal govt should not and actually is not constitutionally allowed to do….but does.

            more later

          • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

            but first, I’d like to add to previous comments (sorry for missed words, didn’t proof read it lol, so embarrassing – “link” not handy)…. I scrolled up and say that mbecker expressed the same thoughts about AK/HI exceptions, so I applaud him for that too.

            This is an aside (OFF-TOPIC) so I’ll only briefly mention it as I don’t want to turn this into a Thread-Jack – the author can decide if she wants to continue to pursue these sub-subjects further….

            1- States’ Rights – PERIOD….. things should be left in the States
            2- as part of that — I don’t support Tax Changes other than general reductions… but what I’d really like to see is return to States’ Rights…. Having the ZERO Taxation power (other than Import/Export authority granted by Constitution) and have each State tax its own people and send up whatever required amounts to the Federal Govt. to perform the Federal duties CONSTITUTIONALLY ALLOWED rather than the other way around where-as now the Federal Govt. extorts Taxes, collects it, plays with it, then sends SOME of it back to States – that should absolutely be completely ENDED!!!!
            3- each State would decide on their OWN MIX of Taxes to balance and compete with fellow States – mixing Property tax, Sales tax, Income tax, etc….

            /SOAPBOX /THREAD_JACK

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            so we can pick on you for a while and dissect the idea.

            Off the top of my head — I like it — but then, the top of my head is round…

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I don’t get AT ALL the claim that only Alaskans can know what is going on with Alaska. The criticism about my being from Kentucky makes as much sense as Joe Klein’s assertion that Charles Krauthammer should not opine on the war effort because he is in a wheelchair and can’t therefore” see” what is going on in Afghanistan. Are we all to stop talking about Afghanistan now because we don’t live there? Hello?

            And if we want to listen to only people from Afghanistan, is it really wise to listen to the ones with “personal grudges”??

            That is a proper analogy to this “only Alaskans can possibly know” argument. Give me a break. You people make no sense.

          • JadedByPolitics

            now SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP because you know Art knows so much more than you and there is NOTHING about the spin he puts on his arguments that involves his distaste for Sarah…nothing…why young lady its “all in your head” :-)

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            sit down and shut up! LOL

            YOU KNOW that even though Art is an a$$ you can usually get good information out of him if you read between the lines. ;-)

          • JadedByPolitics

            neither I or Lisa are going to SIT DOWN AND SHUT UP and I know you know that is NOT going to happen…..i would say Art’s take on Sarah is akin to his promise to leave….ie: you can take both with a grain of salt!

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            YOU know darn well I was kidding — because I HAD to tweak you! You wouldn’t have it any other way! :-) You wouldn’t be you and I wouldn’t be me if we couldn’t have fun with each other.

            Lisa, on the other hand, is talking beyond her competence. She is passionate and, AS YOU WELL KNOW, I like Palin a lot myself.

            But seriously, don’t you find it just a little bit humorous to have LISA lecturing ART on Alaska politics.

            Like I said, I don’t agree with Art all the time –well much of the time…
            but he is knowledgeable about the state…

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            you will note that I began the day — what 8 hours ago, giving Art a hard time about the biased reporting in that news article HE was using as a cite.

          • JadedByPolitics

            OBTW of course I knew you were tweaking me….heck man I think we know each other better than that without either of us having to say so!

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            comparing me to SteveLA — we are DONE lady, just DONE!

          • JadedByPolitics
          • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth

            …and I’d be more than pleased to read you insights about Kentucky politics.

            When I read your article last night, my reaction was that the line-item vetoes were intramural politics. Unfortunately throwing that last paragraph in was red meat to our AK experts.

            As far as the rest of your article about the veto of the Federal stimulus bill, I appreciate your bringing that to our attention and posting the governor’s explanation in which she was expressing general support for local government over federal intervention.

            And it’s certainly true with the current administration that they want a pound of flesh of control for an ounce of federal dollars. Look at the way they’re trying to push around California regarding a state wage issue, not to mention their thug actions towards private firms.

            Thus, from a national view, Palin’s veto sends a good message – which is her strong suit.

            What you probably don’t have a handle on (nor I) is the inside state politics around this issue, here past interactions with the legislature – some of which Art has outlined in the past. Nor do we know the constitutional interpretations and past court actions and decisions in interpreting the constitution. All know is that quoting one section of a legal text like a constitution is a beginning point for argument, not the end point.

            The result is that in terms of governorship, there’s a lot going on that may not necessarily burnish Sarah resume as a skillful governor.

            But in terms of sending a message to the nation about government interference, it’s a great statement to get out there. And I really loved what she brought into the 2008 campaign. But in 2009 it’s a new ballgame.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            …………for defending a governor for defending his Constitution.

            My thinking, see, is that “inside state politics” is the PROBLEM that should be trampled on with the Constitutions of various states, not vice versa.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            and also played in to the leftist false narrative today on MTP that it is conservatives and esp so-cons that are shrinking the GOP tent. Newt was just so off on some many levels with this gem:

            “Powell also found a less likely ally in former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who said on “Meet the Press” that “I don’t want to pick a fight with Dick Cheney, but the fact is, the Republican party has to be a broad party that appeals across the country,” adding, “To be a national party, you have to have a big enough tent that you inevitably have fights inside the tent.”

            Ok, so big tent parties inevitably have fights inside the tent. We are having an inside the tent fight but he makes a gratuitous reference to Dick Cheney on a non sequitur when all Cheney said was that Powell voting for the most liberal democrat in history is pretty good evidence that he already left the tent.

            Newt is just not consistent.

          • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

            he is sometimes brilliant, and sometimes pedantic, and sometimes you just scratch your head. But we will miss him when he is gone, I don’t see any other “idea” man stepping up to the plate. Look at who we have lost already, Friedman, Buckley, Kemp.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            kidding, just kidding…

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            is due to being inside the beltway, talking so much and that he is an ideas guy, but his flaws also show how uniquely brilliant and talented and consistent is

            Rush

            who speaks 15 hrs a day, 5 days a week for 21 yrs and has less very few inconsistencies, if any and really, very few faux pas

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            we certainly seem to have a bruhaha going on inside THIS tent right now — and you don’t know WHO is going to take cheap shots at you.

            [SteveLA -- she called me SteveLA]

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            doesn’t stay in Vegas.

            [don't you just love it when I take mixed metaphors to the fourth power...]

          • mbecker908

            Especially those who whine because he points out that Gov Palin may well have a couple of pairs of clay shoes in her closet.

            And as far as anything being “all in your head” with regard to Lisa, that’s really questionable. It’s not for sure that there’s anything there. And that comment doesn’t even pass for a good metaphor let alone an argument.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I’ve been called worse, but I’ve also been called by powerful people for insight on tough topics. Your remark about my intelligence is nothing more than a cheap shot. Ridicule is often resorted to by those who have nothing of substance to say.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            who knows nobody — knows nobodies expertise — knows nothing about the history or dynamics of anything.

            Sorry, I was giving you the benefit of the doubt for good intentions…

            OH, and before you get into a Huff [1948 2-door Huff] I think Sarah Palin Rocks! and will probably campaign for her if she runs in 2012…

            but that is besides the point…the question at hand here is knowledge.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            no one has taken issue with the actual point of my article.

            Did anyone actually read it or was this just an opportunity to bash people on unrelated issues? Please advise.

          • mbecker908

            It’s your ignorance that’s the problem.

            If you want to be a one-trick-Palin-pony have at it.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Gee, did you miss that whole argument about the superiority of wisdom among Alaskans??

            I noted in the article that I had not researched the budget issue at all, yet I am being bashed for my ignorance on the budget issue and the actual topic of the article is ignored outright.

            Methinks I won’t be posting at Red State anymore. Too many children here trying to pass themselves off as unbiased pundits.

          • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

            this has been going on for a while now, You happened to stumble into an area where we have someone who has been in Alaska politics for a long time and who is not a big Palin supporter to say the least, And over time people have taken sides. That is why I just ignore this area on Redstate.

            The rest of the discussions are pretty good though.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Truly. That’s pathetic.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            Do you understand the dynamics of what is going on right now with Mayor Dave Bing, and city counsel members Monica Conyers and Sheila Cockrell? How about the discussion to move GM out of the Ren Cen and into their Technical Center in the suburbs?

            How about the dynamic between Oakland county Republicans and Grand Rapids Republicans — and why GR holding too much power in selecting candidates cost us a senate seat and governorship?

            Is it all Greek to you? My guess is that Joe Lenert could give a dissertation of each and every point — why? He follows politics closely and lives in the state of Michigan.

            What do you know about politics in Frankfurt or Lexington that I wouldn’t have a clue about? I would not presume to tell you the inside information of Sen Jim Bunning [other than ERA and W/L] so why do you presume to know more about Alaskan politics than Art Chance?

            Give it a rest. You have state your opinion — and it IS your opinion.

            “Because I say” still doesn’t cut it around here.

          • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

            Yep, don’t get me started on Detroit and Michigan ;-) lol

            NOTE: NOT taking any position in regard to this FUED ;-) just responding to Dave on his Michigan point(s) lol

            Regards to all from NoMoTown (Liberals/Progressives/Democrats, looking to do FOR? America what they’ve DONE TO Detroit and the last decade all of Michigan)

            PS: My ex-wife, something else that shouldn’t have been exported from GR…. oops, did I say that out loud?!?!? ;-) :P lol – j/k – she’s back there making them suffer again…. drats, another one snuck out… lol

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            that was as long as I could stand it…of course that was 1978 and I went from there to A2…

            yeah, i know…

          • Achance

            You don’t have to be from Alaska, Hell a goodly percentage of Alaskans are blissfully ignorant of everything about Alaska except the amount of this year’s Permanent Fund Dividend. You DO have to know something about Alaska and Alaska politics that you didn’t read on the Governor’s website, in her press releases, and on the sites dedicated to furthering the Sarah Palin – Conservative Messiah myth.

            I don’t have a personal grudge against Sarah Palin, I was out of government months before she was elected and never had the slightest interest in working for her Administration. I have deep political differences with her and hers and I don’t believe her self-created mythical story of what she’s done and how she did it. In fact, I’ll state categorically that much of the reformer legend is pure BS.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            ……..that you aren’t nearly as up on things as you claim to be. You have been on here totally stating falsehoods. I know this to be true. It was another commenter, one who also defended you at one point, who claims to have personal knowledge about you and said you have a personal grudge. Why people listen to you, I have no idea.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            notions — they lash out and deny that other reality.

            Sorry, I didn’t mean to threadjack, but that thought just came to mind for some reason.

            ###

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            I also don’t like for Art to interject facts about Palin that hurt the narrative!

            But seriously, I actually trust Art’s points on Palin in state govt, but to me her positives outweigh what I consider the negatives that are more acceptable at the state level.

            more later on this

          • mbecker908

            I have no idea who you are, and when it comes to inside baseball in AK politics, I don’t much care. And I know exactly who Art is, as does every Redstate poster who’s been here more than a few days. Frankly, the idea that you’ve been here a month and can say you don’t know who Art is speaks volumes on your ignorance.

            If you’re a fiscal conservative and have no problem with 8% annual increases in expenditures, you have no clue what “conservative” means. We do not grade the concept of “fiscal conservatism” on a bell curve. You either support the expansion of government and increases in the spending of the government or you don’t.

            Now then, before you make a complete idiot of yourself, take a hard look at state spending in AK, go back and read some of Art’s commentary on that spending and get a clue. Travel down the path you’re going and you’d better budget for body armor.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Hello???? My article was on her view of the Constitution’s provision on maximum local government, not spending and not the budget. Spending is not the topic of my article.

            As I stated in the article, I have no position on the budget. My article was about her view of power as outlined in the state Constitution.

            I made the point that if there is more talk about stimulus veto than the appropriations veto, I would be curious about that. For me, the whole point of the article is how she views the flow of power as provided in the constitution.

            FREEDOM is a bigger issue than money.

          • mbecker908

            No it isn’t. And now you’re actually flaunting your ignorance.

            See property rights.

            As for your commentary on the AK constitution, I missed it. Because you didn’t provide it. You made a “sorta/kinda” reference with no citations. We call that “an opinion”, you just didn’t have the courtesy to note it as such.

            As far as spending not being the topic of your article, what was the 26MM? Chopped liver?

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            That’s all for me. No more Red State for this writer. Adios! And, hey, I know I’ve never been to Mexico, but I do know what that word means.

          • mbecker908
          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            use for the bunny…

            not the one I shot… the other one…

          • mbecker908

            humor in a new poster who decides to show up with a stick and thinks she can hold her own in an artillery battle and then gets huffy.

          • mbecker908

            think giving her a new stick is a good idea.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I’ve posted four or five articles here before. Never seen banter like this before. Don’t think anyone even read what I wrote until they’d commented twenty times.

          • Achance

            as she did. She seems to beleive that if she wraps saying the sky is green in the Constitution, that makes it so. Her energy stimulus gambit is simply a self-serving contrivance readily apparent to anyone with a brain who watches AK politics closely. But, it worked for her; you and the other ‘Bots just started slobbering. But you don’t have to leave RedState. I’m kinda on a leave of absence that I shouldn’t have violated except for the fact that I simply couldn’t bear your slobbering. Maybe others will be kinder; maybe not.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            that a letter from the Dept of Energy saying “no we won’t” is more important than the Alaska Constitution.

          • Achance

            just what?

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            in a magazine…

            …once

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            oh wait! Have I been to Spain? Come to think of it, I can’t stand the music.

            never mind

          • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

            I love that spanish guitar stuff.

            I saw a documentary on the Amazon one time and the had the diary of an early French explorer. He discussed the noise on the Amazon at night as “louder than a Spanish hotel with all their infernal guitar playing”. I lol’ed.

          • Achance

            Oscar Liebart, Lopez, that kind of stuff; warm music! Liebart is sorta my stock hot tub and boat music, well Jimmy Buffet is #1 boat music, but a lot of that “Spanish” music is pretty good stuff.

          • panchita

            I enjoyed your article very much. Ignore the haters who crawl out from under their rocks whenever Sarahs name is mentioned. Their only purpose is to denigrate Sarah and those that support her. Its only then that their ilk attain even a modicum of self worth.

            Truth is on our side. Let them have the crumbs.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            The only person who addressed the topic of the article obviously either didn’t read it or didn’t absorb it. Can you not Google the Alaska Constitution and read Article 10? Can you not debate my actual point? It’s really frustrating. I’ve just been sitting here with my mouth agape listening to all this banter about things totally irrelevant to what I actually said and even saying I”m totally without credibility because I don’t live there. Why bother? I just don’t know where this stuff comes from. It’s insane. I’ve been in politics for sixteen years. I have lobbied my state government, served on the board of a state PAC (even co-chaired it for a while) have endorsed both Republicans and Democrats. I mean, I’m not some “wet behind the ears” person here. I’ve never in my life seen this kind of discourse among adults who purport to be “in the know”. Shaking head. Really wanting to just walk away.

          • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

            dont let it color your view of the rest of the site.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Really???? Why????

          • JadedByPolitics
          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I am a mother of four. I write to have discourse with ADULTS. If I want this level of discourse, I go offline and play with my children. Understand? Yes, I will walk away if this is what it’s truly going to be like. I have posted other articles and haven’t seen this sort of thing. I will wait it out but, truly, if the level of discourse doesn’t get a little more mature, I’m off to be with children who have the right to be children.

          • JadedByPolitics

            It was correct of you to call them out for not reading what you had to say and kneejerk reacting to a Palin diary and it was correct of them to go back and have that civil discussion with you on the FACTS of your diary however it is NOT correct nor RIGHT of you to continue to play the “victim” card here. I can guarantee you as a Conservative woman I do not suffer fools gladly nor should you post around threatening to leave only to have a few regulars here ask you to reconsider to have you act like a CHILD with your continued threats.

            If you want people to act as grownups perhaps you should look in the mirror first! I think if you take a hard look at yourself you will find these childish rants to leave to be immature on your part.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I think you should look at the time listed on each comment.

          • JadedByPolitics

            and said it at least 6 times ending with me at 3:50 and the bottom line is you said it at least 6 times!….that is very childish especially when you had support asking you to reconsider and yet you continued on. You are a big girl and can do as you please however on this site we have a wonderful bunny with a ball who is taking his ball to go home and you are certainly welcome to that bunny.

            I would personally get beat up alot but I don’t threaten to leave and I don’t leave WE will not all agree all of the time but we agree more than we disagree….in the world of Conservatism there is NO VICTIMHOOD!! It is your diary ignore the haters and engage the others.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I have no idea what you are referring to. If you want to paste the comments in an email and send them to me at wmiar@yahoo.com along with whatever it is your charge is, I would be glad to address it.

            Responding to accusations is not “playing the victim card”.

          • Vegas_Rick

            Try not to take it personal. People on this site want facts. Many times, with Governor Palin, the facts are not in line with what we (Palin supporters) would like to hear. Most contributors, diarists and commenters on this site are only interested in furthering the conservative movement. Some are only concerned with furthering the Republican Party.

            In order to achieve those goals, and in an attempt to show a little more regard for integrity than other forms of media seem inclined to do, we challenge. Facts AND opinions.

            Some commenters may throw out ad hominem attacks, but most of the challenges will be thoughtful and fact based.

            Analyze your writing, research and your approach, if they need tweaking, tweak them.

            But don’t quit the fight. We need you. Even if we disagree with you at times.

            We need you because you care enough to get involved. You care enough to sit down and write a thoughtful diary in support of Sarah Palin. She deserves your support.

            Don’t quit the fight! :)

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            ……..for the umpteenth time, my article was factual and no one has yet addressed it on an intellectual and mature level.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine
          • mbecker908

            Fact: Gov. Palin rejected $26MM.

            Press release, from Gov. Palin, that cites no legal authority and a comment on “building codes” isn’t a legal cite.

            Opinion: I do believe she

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            There’s actually an ADULT HERE!! Finally!

            Article 10 says what it says. She quoted it. You can Google Article 10 and look for yourself.

            Second, I didn’t say it is a “legal opinion” in the sense that you seem to be referring to. It is not an opinion on what the Constitution says. It is VERBATIM what the Constitution says. On your point about “overriding issues”, the United States Consitution doesn’t give the federal government power to usurp the Alaska Constitution and you’d be hard pressed to find a Constitutional “right to stimulus funds” in any state’s Constitution.

            Third, the article doesn’t even address “what happens” if and when the Legislature overrides her veto other than what Palin herself says in her comment that they have the power to do that if they choose. It is only about her position on whether or not her office has the right to use provocation or endorsement of federal policy that would usurp local governments’ right of self-rule.

            Thank you for you mature view of my article and intellectual discourse.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I let you slide on the immature stuff and focused on the mature argument.

          • bk

            for the way you let him slide on the childish stuff.

            heh heh

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I’m actually giddy that someone is actually challenging me on the TOPIC of my article. Thank you. I appreciate it.

          • mbecker908

            You want to talk about constitutional issues, bring constitutional cites or fess up that it’s nothing more than your opinion.

            I can guarantee you that there will be action in the AK legislature on this – the Republican legislature – and that there will be debate over the legal issues. If the AG has said nothing there is no legal basis, just your personal axe grinding away.

            You admit that the AK legislature “has the power” to override her veto. Where does that come from? Maybe the same constitution that you’re flogging about?

            This is an issue that may well end up in court. And you’re little treatise is nothing more than an exercise in opinion and foot stomping.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Since you’re apparently too busy to go look it up…….this is a direct quote from Article 10 of the Alaska Constitution which the governor herself quoted.

            “The purpose of this article is to provide for maximum local self-government with a minimum of local government units”

            How hard is that? And you thought Alaskans’ love for self-rule was just a cultural thing, I bet. Nope, it’s mandated to occur at maximum level at the LOCAL level.

            Community planning is a local government issue and if the state or federal government steps in on a local government issue and mandates something or, as the Dept or Energy is expecting her to do as a mandate of the energy stimulus funds, actively promote or “advocate” against local rule, that is an affront to the provision for maximum local self-government.

            The Legislature can override her veto if they choose. If they do that, however, there would be grounds for a lawsuit from the communities who opposed the federal codes. The governor’s veto would give such a suit credibility in and of itself. It would be up to the communities as to whether or not they would want to sue based on Article 10 of their Constitution in the event of an override by the Legislature.

            This is a process and Governor Palin has clearly shown where she stands as far as what the governor’s role is in light of Article 10.

            Questions? Comments? Snide remarks?

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            “

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            And it is not vague. Read more about it. This isn’t a law library. It’s one article.

          • Achance

            First, the vast bulk of Alaska has NO local government. Even where there is an organized city or borough government, the most it does is raise a little sales tax to pay a few people a salary to answer a phone to say, “City of Muktuk” or some such. Outside the major towns and cities, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka, Kenai, and Seward, it is pretty much all State government or federal programs for Indians. There are rural education districts that have local boards but they rely entirely on State funding.

            The State government is the engine of Alaska’s economy and it pays for EVERYTHING. That local control stuff is a sop to make the locals be able to say they’re actually governing themselves.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Of course, I admit they have the “power” to override it as a political process — a turn of events in the process. I don’t think they have the AUTHORITY to override it, though.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine
          • Vegas_Rick

            Achance (Art) questioned Palin’s motivations + you challenged Art’s bonafides = RS regulars come to Art’s defense.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            “RS regulars come to Art’s defense…”

            you make it all so unseemly… now I feel dirty…

          • Vegas_Rick
          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Okay, I’m a “PalinBOT” and Hinz is a “loyal friend”.

            Um……okay.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            protest too much

            but yes, VR ( a subject of de lawd vegas) is right. Its not dirty to be loyal.

            But let’s keep it in context.

            Red Wings rule but can they beat a penguin?

          • Mike gamecock DeVine
          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            …..only if people PROMISE to challenge me on my actual arguments. All this flying off on tangents and saying I don’t know what I’m talking about because I don’t live there is not reasonable.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            except of course

            a certain rooster I know

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Yup.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine
          • mbecker908

            you’ll get challenged on it. And I’m guessing you won’t do any better with that than you have with this little piece of silly putty.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            if someone doesn’t expect to ever be challenged for their opinions,, never expect to have to defend what they write -defend it with facts — heck they might as well become Democrats.

            Maybe as a mother of four she is accustomed to saying, “Because I say,” and having it suffice — not around here.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Please advise.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            If she had accepted this funding, it would have been an unconstitutional usurpation of power from local government.

            That is your opinion. That is also Gov Palin’s opinion. You state it as fact. PROVE it by providing a citation for the exact wording of that statute that you believe proves your position. You might be right, but apparently Art, who is involved in Alaskan government has some doubts. PROVE him wrong, don’t just say, because I say!

            And, I might add

          • mbecker908
          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            If that’s “on target” he’s not allowed to use the bathroom in my home.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            There are a lot of comments on here but so far I don’t think Art has once commented on the topic of my article. He commented on the budget vetoes and my article is not about the budget vetoes. In fact, I SAID in the article that I don’t know anything about the budget vetoes………….which is why I’m a bit perplexed by the responses.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            ………..see this? He’s totally mixing the issues up into one hodge-podge. This is your “Alaska expert”?

            http://www.redstate.com/wmiar/2009/05/24/governor-palin-cites-alaska-constitution-in-stimulus-veto/#comment-124

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            As a faithful Catholic, I can ASSURE YOU she is not anywhere close to being Joan of Arc………but she might be the closest thing we’ve got in this mixed up world.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I wonder if it occurred to you to read my article?

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            damental

          • Achance

            She wraps herself in the State of US Constitution for everything. To your attempted point, if that really were what her actions on the energy stimulus money were about, it simply makes not sense. Everytime Alaska or any other State takes federal highway money, the deal is you build to at least federal minimum standards. If you give street money to a city by grant or contract, you set performance standards for the city if for no other reason that assuring that you don’t wind up with dirt trails to reach millionaire’s houses.

            The whole thing, including wrapping herself in the Constitution, was just to get people like you slobbering over her. First, the $26 MM is chump change. Second, she knows the Leg will override her, so her meme is set and silly people like you will slobber over her some more.

          • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth

            The question is whether this benefit will be worth the cost in terms of her relationship with the legislature, which she needs to patch up relations with (especially her fellow-Republicans) if she wants any kind of resume as a successful governor.

            And a poor resume will hurt her national credentials in the longer-run, when it counts more.

            So I guess it depends on what her ambitions are. And what kind of advice she’s listening too – which at the moment seems not to be very good.

            So much natural talent and tenacity – if only she could properly direct it.

          • Achance

            to “bigger and better things” now. Her legend can’t afford anything less than a a landslide re-election and that is by no means a certainty. It’s pretty much a certainty that she’d win, but her high-flying poll numbers are a thing of the past. There’s a reason she’s not disclosing her book deal until next March when her next Ethics Act report is due. Come next March she can be a very rich and very famous Republican celebrity and loose the surly bonds of Alaska and be a gift to the Nation. I can hardly wait!

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            It’s not a given that she’s going to run for President. Truly, I don’t expect her to. I hope she does, but I think those who expect it are not being reasonable. She’s expressed no intention on the matter. It probably will depend on how much money she has raised with the PAC and those numbers haven’t come out yet. I think they come out in June, but not sure.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            It doesn’t address my argument, but the points may be valid politically speaking. Still, I am impressed that she is standing by the Constitution in keeping these decisions at the local level and not allowing her office to be used to put pressure on people through “advocacy” as the Energy Dept said she must if she took the funds.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            …..the fact that this is federal building codes is a relevant difference.

            Also, are your county highways to be compared to interstates? If so, I’d like to visit your state.

          • Achance

            about Alaska, you’d know that. Second, much of the funding for even your county haighways is federal pass-through and it does have strings among which are the standards to which the road will be built.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            ………………the governor is not now being forced in an unprecedented way to “advocate” from her office the use of federal codes where it has never occurred before.

            Yes, I know Alaska doesn’t have counties but I forgot for a moment that you are from Alaska. It’s hard to remember that you are the “Alaska” person here when you seem to be so out of the loop on what the governor’s position on the stimulus was. It was a mistake on my part in forgetting you are an Alaska resident, not that I didn’t know Alaska doesn’t have counties.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            This proves you are operating on assumptions about me that are erroneous. You used my forgetting that you are an Alaska resident as an excuse to make me look stupid about the issue. You don’t give the benefit of the doubt and you don’t operate fairly as adults are expected to operate in discussions like this.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            maybe you SHOULD visit his state — then you might have some insight into what you are pontificating upon.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            He’s either lying about what the governor has said or he hasn’t listened to her or something, but he certainly is stating falsehoods on here, whether intentionally or not. I’ll take honesty over residency any day.

          • mbecker908

            You’re an idiot.

            I’m taking door #2.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            …

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Okay, where did you learn that in a debate, when someone makes an argument, the thing to do to win the argument is to call them an idiot and leave?

            This is not how to win arguments.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I am Catholic. How many Catholics do you know who are as fiscally conservative as you are?

            My point about the bell curve is valid. Compared to Obama, even Bill Clinton is a fiscal conservative.

            Never in my sixteen years in politics have I ever claimed to be a fiscal conservative …but in relation to Barack Obama I definitely am. Compared to Obama, George Bush was a fiscal conservative and we all know that in the reality that exists absent Obama, that is laughable.

            What Palin spends is not a big deal to me. Where you or anyone on this board got that idea, I have no idea. My article was not about dollars. It was about freedom.

          • http://www.fredsnews.com Fred Maidment

            …dollars and freedom are inexorably linked… One cannot be free if government is stealing and wasting one’s dollars…

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            .

          • mbecker908

            How many…

            Actually, I know lots and lots of Catholics who are every bit as fiscally conservative and I am. What I don’t know is any who would torture an argument like you have.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Studied the commandments much??? I highly recommend them! Yes, there are fiscally conservative Catholics, but we are definitely not known for that, to be sure. Faithful Catholics are mostly known for social conservatism which is what I am.

            I will admit that I do know my catechism far better than I know the Alaska Constitution. ;-) Hope that makes Art feel better somehow. He seems kinda antsy.

    • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

      My understanding on the energy stimulus funds veto is that the Department of Energy said that she would be required to use her office to advocate for the adoption of the federally defined codes. She did not want to use the power of her office to promote an agenda against local control, hence the veto on Constitutional grounds.

      I’m not familiar with the other vetoes you mentioned so cannot address that.

      • investedinterest

        If I am not mistaken.

        At the press conference where she announced that she was rejecting a significant amount of stimulus, she stated that she would be willing to listen to the legislators/departments heads, if they could assure her that the programs created by the stimulus package funds can be sustained after they run out without the stimulus package or they have to be cut eventually…

        She said this at the same time she announced that she was rejecting a huge amount of the stimulus package..

        So i don’t buy this flip flopping stuff… It’s what she said from the beginning. I assume she spoke with department heads and they assured her enough that she accepted it.

        • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

          ……….for paying attention to what she actually says instead of doing what most people do and attributing a bunch of junk to it that she never said.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            ………….that’s exactly what happened to me here today. I got hammered for stuff I never actually said.

            PDS by proxy?

          • Achance

            Look no further than RedState back in February and March when people were singing her praises for her valiant stand against accepting stimulus funds and how she was going to “slash” the Alaska Budget. She has flipped and flopped endlessly over both the stimulus funds and the State budget but all the ‘Bots remember is her brave press releases and they don’t want her actions to interfere with their blind faith.

            Now, I’m going back to my withdrawal from this stuff like I said I was a week ago; I got better things to do and I long ago learned that trying to talk sense to a Palinbot or an Obamaniac was like trying to teach a pig to sing; it frustrates me and it irritates the pig.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            This is so laughable that I can’t decide if you really aren’t paying attention or if you are intentionally misleading people or what your deal is. Truly, this is laughable. She gave her opinion and called for PUBLIC DEBATE, something Washington FAILED to do when they passed the stimulus bill which was, what?, over 1000 pages, and no one read it??? Sure, she gave her opinion but called for PUBLIC DEBATE. The call for PUBLIC DEBATE was the hallmark of her public comments about the stimulus. Please.

            You might want to read my post on this back on March 26. Please. Don’t insult my intelligence.

            http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com/2009/03/parnell-explains-public-debate-concept.html

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            you must read her previous post so that you can acquaint yourself with Alaskan politics.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            ………………that I was saying back in March what he still doesn’t understand or is lying about.

          • Achance

            Now, I’ve resisted calling you the idiot that you obviously are out of courtesy, but I’ve run out of courtesy. You are STUPID, you are uninformed, you have concocted a myth that you desperately want to believe. You are a lot like the useful idiots that gave us Comrade Obama.

            That’s the unfortunate part; we Republicans have our own group who have reached the same medieval level of ignorance and superstition as the Obamaniacs.

            And BTW, that was Parnell, who actually does have a brain, going out to cover her butt after she told the world that she was going to be a hero and not take any of it.

            Now, I tire of you.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Parnell repeated the same thing she had said in the press conference which is linked there.

            I know now you are not lying. You just don’t listen. You just don’t “hear” what she says, like so many others. Parnell was just repeating what she had said herself. You hear it when he says it. Why is that?

            Very strange indeed. No, I do not think you are a liar, at least not consciously. I think it’s something else. I think there really is such a thing as PDS and you have it.

          • Achance
          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            They cut off St. John the Baptist’s head. Do you think I care if someone calls me an idiot when I know I’m right?

  • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

    Achance thinks that Palin is an ambitious populist who is not as great as advertised, and others think that she is the hope and salvation of the republican party.

    I don’t know but the truth is probably somewhere between. I do think that those who adore Palin can often forget what she is, She is a POLITICIAN, just never forget that.

    • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

      ……..is the hope and salvation of the Republican party, and Sarah Palin is ONE of its greatest champions.

      • http://impudent.blognation.us/blog kyle8

        we had better sell fiscal conservatism hard (you know the kind we once practiced) because in the upcoming years the economy is all that will be on peoples minds.

    • http://www.fredsnews.com Fred Maidment

      Never forget that they are all politicians, in the end. Every last one…

  • SteveLA

    Agree with you, disagree with you, you’ve done one heck of a job as Palin Bot in this thread. Well Done!

    As a prize, here’s something to wear at Halloween, assuming you celebrate that holiday. Failing that, just print it out and wear it when you reply to Art, he’ll know you’re wearing it and be afraid.

    • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

      I think you’re accusing me of something you are guilty of yourself. Buying someone else’s crap. Sorry. I call ‘em like I see ‘em. Achance said to start with that he doesn’t know anything at all about the energy funds, yet he became your “Alaska expert”. You need an Achance mask, my friend.

      • SteveLA

        You can use the mask to scare small animals and Liberals.

        Scaring Art, probably not so much.

      • panchita

        politics are akin to olbermans comments on the bush administration. You can’t take either seriously. Poor art is now resorting to name calling. Which of course shows that he is losing whatever argument he thought he had. How pathetic.

        Sarah is a simple God fearing woman with a servants heart. The fact that achance and his ilk hate her, makes us love her even more.

        • SteveLA

          pachita

          For putting Art and oberdog in the same sentence, you are award a nice picture of a Sara Palin bobble head doll as our second Palin Bot winner of the night.

          You can set it up as wallpaper on your computer. Shake your monitor to get Sara to agree and validate your postings, up and down is YES.

          • panchita
          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            You got a bobblehead! All I got was a silly mask. :-(

        • Achance

          On second thought, I’ll buy the “simple” part.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Love that ridicule. Keep it comin’, will ya?

        • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

          You betcha! ;-)

  • http://www.fredsnews.com Fred Maidment

    Sarah Palin is neither the “panacea” of Conservative politics nor the bumbling idiot she was made out to be by the MSM.

    She is a politician, just like anyone else in politics. They make deals. They do something to score political points or stick it to somebody and then say it was for ideology. It’s how the game is played.

    I like Sarah Palin, and not just because she’s easy on the eyes. She says and does a lot of the right things. She says and does a few wrong things. Her motives are unknown to me. I just hope they come from a good place.

    Some people have drunk the Palin Kool Aide and will defend her to their dying breath.

    Some people cannot stand her and denounce anything she does, even if they agree.

    Both sicken me.

    I don’t know which one any of you are, but this thread is taking on a major Kowalski tone.

    Everyone should stop the personal attacks and get down to brass tacks.

    Oh, and cite sources. Start linking to the relevant press releases or media stories in question. Might help the rest of us understand what the HELL you’re going on about.

    • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

      …….Achance started out saying he didn’t know anything about the energy funds. I wrote an article about the energy funds.

    • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

      I really like Sarah Palin because in many ways she is one of us. I am totally sick and tired of the Washington elite ruling us like a new aristocracy.

      But Palinbots are every bit as annoying as Huckabots, Romneybots, or Paultards. They all seem to live in an alternative reality — a reality of their own making — and no facts or evidence can disabuse them of their fantasies.

      We don’t need our own Messiah to beat the Obamessiah…

      **sigh**

      • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

        ………that Achance is distorting all of this, don’t you?

        Wish I’d been at Red State when she made the announcement on the stimulus. Then I could have saved you all the trouble of thinking she said something she didn’t say.

        I suggest you read that post that ticked Achance off so much. You might learn something.

        • http://www.fredsnews.com Fred Maidment

          It doesn’t matter! The two of you have degenerated into bickering. Instead of insightful discussion, you’re both trying to “one-up” the other. And it’s useless.

        • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

          and I DID read what you wrote…

          I wrote the same way when I was about 15….

          thank you and good night

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I just got a private email from someone explaining the REAL REASON no one can EVER say ANYTHING good about Sarah Palin at Red State.

            FINALLY, IT MAKES SENSE!!! I won’t be spreading gossip about individuals, though. Suffice it to say, I’m done here.

            Have fun, all!!

          • mbecker908

            The problem isn’t Palin. The problem, as with RonPaul’s supporters, is that some people feel the need to take every little thing she says or does and magnify it so she will appear to have experience. And at the same time, they also feel the need to ignore the stuff that just doesn’t fit into the mold they’ve created for her.

            Sarah Palin is just a politician. She also happens to be the Governor of a State. And a VERY accomplished stump speaker. Whether she’s really ready for “prime time” remains to be seen, and frankly for at least two more years doesn’t matter.

            I have no problem with Gov. Palin being the Republican standard bearer in ’12. But more important than who that individual is, is the idea that we may not have a country to govern by ’12 if we don’t shut down the Obama Express and Governor Palin is in no position to even help do that.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I happen to believe that everyone should get behind his primary pick now and debate them. Any Huckabeebots out there? How about Romneybots? Bring em on!! Let’s party, folks!

            I’m ready for 2012 NOW………just waiting for you guys to get behind your primary picks and catch up with me.

          • Finrod

            We can start talking about 2012 on November 3, 2010– that’ll be plenty of time, trust me. Between now and then there’s another federal election we should be concerning ourselves about. Think of it this way: as many federal officials are going to be elected in 2010 (thanks to Senate resignations) as will be in 2012.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Now my comments are getting deleted. G’bye all.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            …there it is again! Maybe not.

            Whatever. Have fun, everybody.

          • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

            Don’t ever insinuate anything like that ever again about this site.

            You will now say “I’m sorry for insinuating that, Moe. I won’t do that again.” Next post.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I know that I have said good things about Sarah Palin here before and was received warmly. That is a FACT. Do not expect me, however, to sit here and say that people who support Sarah Palin can always be assured of fair and honest treatment at Red State.

          • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

            And I don’t want to see anybody gloating over this, either.

            Are we clear?

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            she doesn’t even know what it is that she did wrong…

          • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

            The more I scroll through this, the unhappier I get. I don’t like feeling like that the site moderators can’t take a day off without people playing with flensing knives in comments. This is ridiculous.

            Fine, she’s turned back on. Just… save it for the freaking Democrats, all of you.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            I feel more than a little responsible for egging her on all day, and so I would have felt terrible if she was banned because of me.

          • Jack_Savage

            …of when I sent my three children to their room, AND my wife.

            Now let’s pause while I google “flensing knives”….

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            what the heck is a “flensing knife”?

            I feel strangely energized by ridicule and by fairness from the moderator. I guess Red State is not so bad, after all.

          • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

            you can say that, and really need to be saying that, about a Million times a day… you need to cut/paste that into several FP Diaries too…. The terminology and tact taken in many lately leaves alot to be desired, IMNSHO ;-)

          • DONTREADONME

            Moe, you do not need to respond to this, but I think she needs to be given a second chance. That is just my opinion, I know how angry one can get around here, I think this is a “teaching moment”. Remember before you “slap me” I am just part of the peanut gallery. [Ducking for cover]

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Didn’t know the protocol. Do now. thanks.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            strikes some individuals at younger ages than others.

            delusions of grandeur are not uncommon among psychotics.

            and as Henry Kissinger once opined, “Even paranoids have enemies.”

          • Achance

            Maybe you didn’t really understand the enter key.

          • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

            NT

          • Achance

            and I just couldn’t resist this, even though I know I should have; it was a moment of weakness. Hopefully, it won’t happen again. And like Hinz says, I didn’t even get out fishing today.

          • Jack_Savage

            Your new deputy of All Things Important has revealed that not only is he unable to sleep at night, but he also plans on killing fish. Do you stand by his callous attitude toward our natural resources? Is there anything that might be going on in your administration that would cause him to lose sleep?

            A colleague of his, a Mr. Jack Savage, also appears to be unable to sleep – is is farfetched to assume that whatever is causing your deputy to lose sleep is also causing Mr. Savage to, inexplicably, lose sleep as well? Is “conspiracy” too strong a word here?

          • Achance
          • $peciallist

            just got a Mancard violation, for using Bingo…everyone can now treat him like a woman for 30 minutes…do you endorse this behavior from your staff?

            And…I can’t sleep either, you’ll be hearing from my lawyer..

          • McKinley

            Lisa is a pretty powerful writer, especially on abortion/pro-life issues. She’s one of the handfull of names I have started scanning for on the recent diaries.

            This isn’t her best piece, but its certainly better than par for the course here on member diaries.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            ………but I have studied Constitutional law and I have drafted legislation.

            I believe that the bottom line is that Sarah Palin really and truly wants local control on this issue, and she made the case using her own Constitution. It’s as simple as that.

            Appreciate the compliment.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            you stayed at last night…

          • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

            You were told to do something. Do it.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            I don’t think she even has control anymore – I think the pod people have taken control and she CAN’T respond…

          • http://moelane.com/ Moe Lane

            People snarling at people who are snarling right back is one thing; but I’m not going to have it insinuated that the site operators and moderators are doing things that we in point of fact didn’t do.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Enjoy this kind of thing, do you?

          • mbecker908

            You think the way to achieve “local control” on ANY issue is by using a STATE constitution? Well, that would be an excellent argument if, for example, it was Maricopa County or the City of Phoenix seeking local control vs the State of Arizona. OTOH, were the State of AZ seeking “local control” on an issue vs the federal government, the state constitution is worth about as much as a Wheaties box.

            It’s nice that you’ve “studied” Constitutional law. Too bad you didn’t learn anything.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I learned that the Constitution of the State of Alaska provides for maximum local control. Do you really want the tenth article of the Alaska Constitution to be ignored the way our federal 10th Amendment is ignored?

          • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth

            I’d hate to lose you here.

            I tremendously admire Gov. Palin for her pro-life advocacy in her life and speech and the way she so naturally connects with her audience. Not to mention her advocacy for special-needs children.

            I’m less sure about her skills as an executive and her ability to do what’s necessary to successfully market “sausages”. Which is why I’m reserving judgment until I see how well she navigates now that the previously benign poltical seas have turn stormy and the winds contrary.

            It may well be that her VP candidacy will not be a springboard to a 2012 campaign, but give her the visibilty to be an advocate for those issues that stir her heart.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Your thoughts on Governor Palin are intelligent, mature and respectful. I appreciate that very much.

            I have some misgivings about her myself, but as I said, I believe we should all go out full force now for our preferred candidates and let the fair debating of these issues begin. The GOP needs intelligent, mature debate and I prefer to do that by candidate analysis, personally. So, I am supporting Palin and hope to talk with others who support their preferences and let’s go from there.

            That’s just my take.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            ….I get what Moe is saying when he said “save it for the Democrats”. It’s not good for Republicans to be going after each other. For me personally, though, it’s important to have a standard bearer. At this point, I think Steele, Palin and Gingrich are the “voices” of the GOP and I don’t put any one of them above the others. I really think Palin will be my pick for 2012, but for the time being those are the three “voices”, in my opinion, that stand out the most.

      • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

        And it’s Parnell restating what Palin had said about the stimulus. Since he is restating what she said, since it is coming from HIS MOUTH, maybe you will understand it.

        http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com/2009/03/parnell-explains-public-debate-concept.html

        PDS is BAAAAAAD at Red State. I doubt I will ever post here again. This day has RUINED me on Red State. It took something like over twenty comments before someone actually began to talk about what my article as actually on. Everyone assumed I’m a fiscal conservative bent on proving Palin is a fiscal conservative. (I’m not a fiscal conservative except in comparison to Obama.) And then I found out many here are of the opinion she said she would veto stimulus funds. It was like a replay of the insanity of Anchorage on the day of her stimulus fund press conference back in March. You all who call me a PalinBOT have a lot of nerve telling me I’m someone who blindly buys a load of crap because of some derangement. Please. What a load o’….

        I appreciate those here who actually pay attention to what others actually SAY instead of listening to PDS. I don’t see much value in the discourse here, though. And that is not playing “the victim”. That is playing “the cop”.

        Here is some background on the stimulus decision of March. The acting mayor of Anchorage and the Superintendent FLIPPED OUT when they heard what the governor had said in her press conference about not wanting to accept certain funds. Guess what the governor had actually said. She said that there would be public debate about those funds. PDS had already kicked in, though. There was panic and a “dueling” press conference. FInally, Parnell was caught by reporters and he told them the same thing Palin had said in the press confererence. There was no veto promise. Never was one, folks. There was panic thinking she was going to veto when, in fact, she had stated her opinion on the funds and called for PUBLIC DEBATE.

        Here’s my post on Parnell’s press conference. Since Parnell is saying it, maybe you will get it.
        http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com/2009/03/parnell-explains-public-debate-concept.html

      • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

        Is this RedState or FREDstate? ;-) lol … now that’ll get the FredHeads going, since you didn’t mention them in your list. lol

        King Rule RS:Help

        • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

          since damn near every one here was a FREDHEAD at one time or another…

          [yep, guilty as charged]

          ….I didn’t want to p*ss EVERYBODY off!

          • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

            “Did NOT want to p— EVERYBODY off”
            —- Since when??
            At what time exactly Today did you change to that policy? :P ;-) lol

            /SARCASM

            Sorry, you know that was just way too good to pass up!!!

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            …damn, ya got me!

            on the other hand, I don’t like to p*ss everyone off ALL AT THE SAME TIME…

            See, that’s different…

            …yeah, that’s the ticket

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            I can never stay mad at anyone for any great length of time…

            ….well, ok…there is the ex, but those are extenuating circumstances…

          • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

            as I say in be respectful I don’t hold/carry grudges….

            …. but for you, I’m considering an exception :P ;-) lol

            …. Sorry, couldn’t resist again

            like I also say in be respectful, I love (and it is good to) interject some levity in these threads that get heated in order to try and break it up and lighten the mood/tone.

            and I hear/feel ya in regard to the ex… same with me… but as I said elsewhere, she is back (yet still not quite far enough) in GR giving them headaches… And, GR, is much better these days – If the ex weren’t there, I’d love to live there.

          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            I thought my Holiday Inn Express comment was a scream..

            …but like I said, tough room…

        • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit
          • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

            but I have had WAY too much fun poking sticks through the bars all day long.

            I know that I will feel guilty in the morning… well, some morning, if not tomorrow…

          • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

            … rather than a Tanker Truck filled with Ethanol (I say Ethanol, of course, cuz we’re all trying to be more “Green” lol) ….

            I am ALL FOR PILING ON TROLLS/MOBIES….. by all means we can/should have some fun with them, but even those should not go on endlessly….

            There is a way that one can POLITELY BE DISMISSIVE OF AN IDEA/CONCEPT without having to PERSONALIZE it to the Person (again, in be respectful) which I have taken up permanent “Pelosi” Diary duty to preempt or answer Trolls/Mobies that insist on going on and on with diverting the point from Pelosi/Democrat LIES to the other sub-topic memes they insist on trying to engage in (I think this EIT’s are NOT torture link is an example of that)….

            Again, with apologies to this Diaries author for going off topic (though relates to some of the discussion that went off the handle).

          • penguin2

            I hit reply to you Jleonard because quite frankly, saying anything to Lisa would only bring more wrath. But I hope she reads this. I have checked this diary off and on all day, and been shocked at the vituperation that has been displayed. For those not knowing, the word means “lengthy, harsh criticism or abuse” per Merriam-Webster.

            My own belief is that the diarist herself started it. What I mean is that nasty, condescending responses to people writing comments is not mannerly, helpful and it is self-defeating. Personal insults abounded.

            The diarist may write wonderful articles, but lose all ground if the discussion cannot be civil. Over reacting to almost every comment is destructive and one loses credibility.
            Furthermore, I am a Palin supporter. I liked her in 2008. Who knows what the future will bring, but many of us are here on this site to learn and that means being open minded and respectful. the very behavior she eschews in others was well demonstrated by her own.

            My thanks to you JDL for your indulgence for me to say this.

          • http://www.ssce.net/Web-Articles/Web-articles-indexed-authors.html#authors-l JLenardDetroit

            rs:help – RS:Help
            respectful – be respectful or be banned (the Diary)

            First, with apologies to Lisa, this will be the last Thread-jack comment I make… but, frankly, this poor Diary has gone off the rails many times…

            Second, now you got ME irked ‘quin…. How dare you misspell my name!?!?! and then, to boot, you go on to screw-up my Initials… WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!?!?
            SARCASM FOLKS Just teasing ‘guin, of course, again peeps need to see: be respectful especially the “Keeping things from getting PERSONAL,” “Thread-jacking,” and “poking fun at another User”

            /THREAD-JACK

            Can people now get back to focusing on the TOPIC/SUBJECT of what is contained in the Diary!?!?

          • penguin2

            Long day. In fact I even feel bad that I criticized Lisa. But, it was disconcerting to read such heated words from all sides, and unnecessary to get the good data out there.

            My apologies JLenard. Thanks again.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            and “idiot”? and many other things besides?

            I disagree. So there.

    • McKinley

      my feelings exactly.

      • http://www.fredsnews.com Fred Maidment

        n/t

  • Achance
    • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

      at some level way down deep inside, don’t you feel like you’ve spent the day pulling the legs off of a defenseless caterpillar?

      never made it out fishing I see…

      • Achance
  • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

    Can you explain this???

    FY 2007 Operating Budget (Murkowski’s Budget): $11,697,400,000

    FY 2008 Operating Budget (Palin’s Budget): $9,813,000,000

    • Achance

      was the ’06. See, if you knew anything about Alaska, you’d know that the FY is 7-1 to 6-30. The last budget Murkowski proposed and controlled the passage of was the SFY 06. The SFY ’07 Budget was Sarah Palin’s “I’ll Pay You to Love Me” budget. Sorry: FAIL.

      • Josh Painter

        The FY is 7/1 to 6/30, but the budgets are first presented by the governor in January of the previous *fiscal* year, which is in the same *calendar* year.

        *

        The FY07 budget is Frank Murkowski’s, not Palin’s:

        “In his FY 2007 budget, Governor Murkowski…”

        That’s from a Murkowski Briefing Paper:

        http://tinyurl.com/qsgg59

        *

        ” I took action based on the REAC report to include full funding for the PCE program in my FY2006 and FY2007 budgets…”

        And that’s Murkowski in his own words from his Administrative Order #230:

        http://gov.state.ak.us/admin-orders/230.html

        *
        Here’s the timeline:

        11/08/06 – Sarah Palin elected Governor of Alaska
        12/04/06 – Sarah Palin sworn in as Governor of Alaska
        01/23/07 – Gov. Palin presents her FY2008 budgets
        03/01/07 – Gov. Palin presents her amended FY2008 budgets

        http://gov.state.ak.us/archive.php?id=159&type=1

        *

        I just *love* it when a name-caller slams someone “stupid” and that same someone turns out to be correct, while the name-caller had it wrong all the time.

        Don’t let the hubris bother you, though.

        To err is human. To forgive is divine.

        - JP

        • Achance

          Alaska, you’d know that the Governor is elected in November and sworn in in early December. In the year of a gubernatorial election, the Legislature doesn’t convene until the third week or so of January, an extra two weeks, for the specific purpose of allowing the new Gov to have more time to find people and review and revise the budget.

          So, Murkowski’s people prepared a Governor’s Budget by September or so, Palin’s transition team was looking at it by early November and had until the last week in December or first in January to make their own changes. Further, had there been anything in it the Palin Administration didn’t want, they had the whole session to do something about it.

          And I forgive you for being wrong.

          • Josh Painter

            Even when Murkowski says “my FY 2007 budget” – to you that means Palin’s FY 2007 budget.

            Spin, spin, spin.

            Check this out:

            “The capital budget went from $2.3 billion for fiscal year 2007

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            ……….for pointing this out. “Stupid” has always been a dirty word in my house. Even my eight-year-old refuses to use it.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I just noticed your signature Josh. Should I come to Red State armed?

          • Josh Painter

            without my Ruger LCR. And I’m saving up my pennies for a new SR-556 for the wild places. At home, it’s a Mossberg 500 Persuader. Nothing tells an intruder that he picked the wrong house much better than the sound of a shotgun being pumped.

            http://www.ruger.com/SR556/

            - JP

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I once answered the door with a gun in my hand. The guy looked kinda creepy but I had the gun so I went ahead and opened the door. He needed to use the phone because he had car trouble. Had I not had the gun, I would not have opened the door. As it was, since I had the gun, I opened the door and he was a little surprised but he made his phone call and was on his merry way. Guns can be helpful in more ways than one! :-)

          • kcdude

            I found that a few here don’t read an entire comment or article before forming an opinion – sometimes off track, sometimes not – and going on the attack. There is also a bit of the pack mentality but overall I will take this group and our side over the opposition any day of the week.

          • mbecker908

            but all you’ve shown up with here is broken, rotted stick. And by the way, the only real reason anybody noticed your little exercise in silliness is because it was a long, slow weekend.

          • mbecker908

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            ……..spending your weekend with me. I appreciate your conribution to the discourse. At least you did address the topic of the article (eventually). After a lot of private emails with several people who are familiar with Red State, I have determined that the comments section is for bottom feeders and that this is where the Palin-haters like to hang. I have been told by multiple people that I should opt to continue writing in my diary here, but to steer clear of the comments section because people who operate on this level aren’t going to stop it and the moderators aren’t going to do anything about it. It’s teenage stuff down here in bottom feeder land. I think the people advising me are right about that. I still haven’t heard from Red State on my complaint about the continuous breaking of posting rules here which is why I haven’t considered another diary entry. I don’t know if it’s because they are too busy to moderate the comments as they pledge to do on their page about posting rules or if there is some unfair treatment going on. Whatever the case, I am going to let you all have the comments section. Whether or not I ever share any more diary entries, I still haven’t decided. There seems to be a certain level of demand judging from the emails I get, but considering that I can’t respond to comments on my own entries without being ganged up on, called “stupid”, an “idiot”, that I write “like a fifteen-year-old” and that I’m “dumber than a box of rocks”, well……..you might understand my disgust. At the bottom of my comment box here as I type it says “Be respectful or be banned”. There are reasons for having rules like that. Red State apparently has a reason for putting the promise there but not enough reason to fulfill it. This is my last visit to the comments section. Go ahead and continue to ridicule me. You’re Catholic, you say, so I’m sure you know the story of St. John the Baptist. They cut his head off. Words of ridicule aren’t that big a deal to people like me considering others have suffered so much for far greater things. What is a big deal to me is that Red State doesn’t actually enforce the rule here at the bottom of my comment input box, for whatever reason. Have a nice life. No grudges here. I wish you all the best.

          • Achance

            http://fin.admin.state.ak.us/dof/financial_reports/resource/07cafr.pdf

            Just look at the total budget numbers, don’t get caught up in sophistry about what is operating v. capital. If SHE didn’t want to spend the money, SHE could have used that veto pen.

          • mbecker908

    • mbecker908

      You really need to stop with the plastic shovel. It’s just taking too long. Try one of these. We’ll all have more free time.

      • http://theminorityreportblog.com David Hinz

        she was violating the first rule of holes…

        • Achance

          RedState for awhile; it was a moment of weakness. I have work to do; there are Democrats under every rock and behind every tree!

          • Doc Holliday

            you came back for just one more hit, I understand :) btw, good luck in your endeavors.

          • Mike gamecock DeVine

            I fished for pork bar-be-que this weekend.

        • mbecker908

          I remembered your comment. But I figured it would probably get you in trouble with somebody or another… :-)

      • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

        ………….can be hazardous to your worldview.

        • mbecker908

          dumb as a box of rocks.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            ………that I don’t talk to people that way. So thankful.

          • Josh Painter

            RS commenters are told to be respectful. Name-calling isn’t being repsectful.

            There are two intellectually-honest debate tactics:
            1. revealing errors or omissions in your opponent

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            I’ve also had many apologetics debates as a Catholic attacked by anti-Catholics (many on moderated online forums) and have found debaters of religion to be far more understanding of proper debate tactics than I have seen displayed in the comments here.

          • mbecker908

            Lisa has tried to bend this argument so many ways that I’m surprised somebody hasn’t offered to add her name to the indictment of Cheney for “torture”. The crowning glory was when she suggested that Gov Palin was trying to make a case for local and taking on the Federal Government using a state constitution while crowing about “studying” con law.

            I don’t have an axe to grind about Gov Palin. I don’t happen to think anything I’ve seen of her so far shows me that she could go to DC and be successful. OTOH, she is a fantastic spokesperson for the prolife cause – probably one of the best ever – and she is a great stump speaker. She’s also got issues she’s got to deal with in AK over the next year and we’ll see if she gets reelected. Between now and when it’s time to talk seriously about our next Presidential candidate we’ve got about a thousand things that are more important to do than pump possible Presidential candidates. Gov Palin – or former Gov Romney, or any other candidate – is not in a position to take on the Obama Administration and stop any part of his agenda from becoming law. We need to survive 2010. We need to figure out what the heck the party stands for. We need to gain a seat or two in the Senate and hopefully in the House. We need to focus on the Congressional Leadership. Those things can make a huge difference, $26MM in a trillion dollar stimulus package is a joke, especially when it’s framed by Lisa’s pathetic attempt at an argument.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            Constitutions not only say what a government can do, they say what it cannot do. Constitutions, state and federal, RESTRAIN government from becoming oppressive. Remember the Revolution?

            I said that my article was not about dollars but about freedom which I said is the bigger issue. You took issue with my saying freedom is more important than dollars and you did so to make me look like I know nothing about Constitutional law.

            You are, perhaps, the one person on this comment thread who has attempted to address the point of my article directly and you used as an argument (in a previous comment) that my statement that freedom is the larger issue here is not valid.

            With all due respect, I sincerely doubt any basically educated American citizen would consider someone of that ideology to be in a position to correct me or any other basically educated American on Constitutional law.

          • mbecker908

            A constitution had nothing to do with it. The US Constitution was a product of it. And in questions of law relating to the states and the federal government – such as “local control” in the specific example you’ve cited, it is the US Constitution NOT a state constitution that is the controlling law. You might want to see the argument over term limits a few years back. Several states passed laws term limiting their Congresscritters and Senators and SCOTUS promptly struck those down.

            In addition to not having a clue – regardless of “study” – of the basics of ConLaw, you don’t read well either. Nowhere did I say that “Freedom” wasn’t the larger issue. You noted that freedom and money were essentially mutually exclusive and I noted that you ignored the concept of property rights – which, if you had a clue about the history of the founders and the history of the Constitution – were intertwined. I understand your problem. You can’t be fiscal moderate or a fiscal liberal and understand the fundamental concept of either freedom or liberty. Those positions will, inexorably lead to the continual growth of government which, by it’s very nature, quashes both in favor of “equality” as defined by the rulers.

          • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

            The Constitution was formulated based on the same principles that the Revolution was fought for. Our government is a republic. We are a free nation with a Constitution that guarantees our rights as a free people and constrain government from putting its boot on our necks. State Constitutions are similarly “republican” in that they contain limited guarantees and similar constraints on government.

            Our federal Constitution has never seen so many attacks as it has with this President. The entire spirit of the Revolution from which our Constitution sprung is being abandoned by the people for the sake of “economic impact”. We need leaders who are willing to get back to basics. We need people in government now to follow not only the letter of our basic law at the Constitutional level, state and federal, but the spirit of freedom from which it was born.

            I was impressed that Governor Palin cited the Alaska Constitution’s Article 10 to protect the self-rule of local communities. Sue me.

  • ocleverone

    Total bummer man. :(

    Lisa, I have yet to see responses deleted on the grounds of disagreement. Trolling, yes. Swearing, yes. Disagreement no. The powers that be done operate like that.

    I also read your work and I like it. It is very readable.

    That being said, I was enjoying your responses and thought you were doing a pretty decent job of holding your own until you said you were taking your bat and ball and going home. Then you lost me…that is just drama and unwarranted.

    You need keep your bat and ball here and keep swinging.

    Keep swinging sister, keep swinging.

    • http://genuinegopmom.blogspot.com Lisa Graas

      Thanks but I was getting private emails too, asking me to stay. It was a very confusing thing for me. Also, I was told Art is in charge here. It wasn’t until Moe came in and said he’s in charge that I knew who was in charge. I still have not decided if I will post another article here ever again. I did get comments via email saying I should stay. It was a bad day for me here. Doubt I’ll ever want to go through this again. Still, there are some who think there is a place for me here. I just don’t know. My time is worth more than this……..or is it?? Don’t know.

      Appreciate your honesty very much.

  • americuda

    Achance, why not put your money where your mouth is and run against Gov. Palin? If you are the be-all-end-all in Alaskan politics (as your sychophants on this site think) you should have no trouble gathering enough support to beat the person you describe as a widely despised, know nothing. The truth is you couldn’t beat her with some ‘good ol’ boys version of redneck card check, little alone on a straight vote.
    I hear the ‘Blowhard Do-Nothing’ party still needs a candidate.

    • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth

      So there’s no reason for your sarcasm here coupled with attacks on other RedState members.

  • molybdanthan

    I’ve learned a lot about Alaska because of this diary and all the comments. So that’s great. In fact, that’s exactly what I came to RS for.

    Keep up the lively discussion. Some truths can only be distilled from opinion through the fire of debate.

  • ColdWarrior

    I haven’t read all the posts here. Have been working over this glorious Memorial Day Weekend.

    I’d like to know from those who posted here: which of you are Republican Party precinct committeemen?

    References:

    Here

    • mbecker908

      Please contact me at [my screen name] [at] gmail.com

      Thanks.

  • ocleverone

    I have taken on our membership recruitment for the local committee.