Sarah Palin does not have the experience to be vice
president or president. She refuses to speak to the media, because she cannot
answer even the simplest of questions, such as what newspapers or magazines she
reads or naming a Supreme Court ruling that she may disagree with besides Roe
v. Wade.
Sure Palin can whip a crowd up into a frenzy; she excites
the base and McCain rallies now have more people showing up because of her, but
when you actually listen to the her words at the rallies you quickly discover
that she is a pro at saying nothing.
Sarah Palin is the deer caught in the headlights.
Bio
and background
Sarah Louise Heath Palin was born Feb. 11, 1964, in
Sandpoint, Idaho. She is the third of four children of Sarah Heath, a school
secretary, and Charles R. Heath, a science teacher and track coach. She is of
English, German and Irish descent. The family moved to Alaska when she was an
infant. As a child, she would sometimes go moose hunting with her father before
school.
Palin attended Wasilla High School in Wasilla, Alaska,
located 44 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska. She was the head of the Fellowship
of Christian Athletes chapter at the school and the point guard and captain of
the school’s girls’ basketball team. She earned the nickname “Sarah Barracuda”
because of her intense play.
Palin attended several colleges and universities. In
1982, she enrolled at Hawaii Pacific College, but left after her first
semester. She transferred to North Idaho Community College, where she spent two
semesters as a general studies major. From there, she transferred to the
University of Idaho for two semesters. During this time, Palin won the Miss
Wasilla Pageant, then finished third in the 1984 Miss Alaska pageant, at which
she won a college scholarship and the Miss Congeniality award. She then
attended the Matanuska-Susitna Community College in Alaska for one term. The next
year she returned to the University of Idaho, where she spent three semesters
completing her Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism. She
graduated in 1987.
In 1988, she worked as a sports reporter for KTUU-TV and
KTVA-TV in Anchorage, Alaska, and for the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman as a
sports reporter. (Source: Wikipedia)
Elected
offices
Palin was a member of the Wasilla City Council from 1992
to 1996 and mayor from 1996 to 2002. She was elected governor of Alaska in
November 2006.
On Aug. 29, Sen. John McCain announced he had chosen
Sarah Palin as his running mate in this year’s presidential election. She is
the first woman to run on the Republican presidential ticket and the first
Alaskan nominee of either major party.
Legislation
As mayor of Wasilla, Palin cut property taxes and other
small taxes on businesses. But according to the Anchorage Daily Newspaper, the
budget of Wasilla, with a population of 5,469 in 2000, apart from capital
projects and debt, rose from $3.9 million in 1996 to $5.8 million.
Also as mayor of Wasilla, Palin pushed through a new $15
million, all-purpose sports arena that was paid for with her new sales tax
increase.
Part of the land for the sports complex was privately
owned, but that did not stop Palin.
She broke ground on the site without dealing with the land owner, and
the city was sued. The suit cost the city another $1.7 million more than the
original $125,000 that was budgeted. Wasilla still is facing budget shortfalls
from the case today.
When Palin left office in 2002, Wasilla had racked up
close to $20 million in long-term debt, or roughly $3,000 of debt per resident.
As governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin successfully pushed a
windfall tax on oil company profits, a law that raised taxes on oil profits to
25 percent from 22.5, winning passage in the Alaska Legislature in November
2007. The increase amounted to an estimated $1.6 billion more for the state.
Palin also pushed through a new mega-pipeline that will
be built by TransCanada and will bring jobs and more tax dollars to Alaska.
Palin’s dealings with oil corporations have led Sen.
McCain to say, “She knows more about energy than probably anyone else in the
United States of America.”
God help us, if that were true.