Frankly, that's not really true.
The country that governs the most competently governs the best.
I wouldn't mind "big government" if it were competently run.
I think we've already seen that businesses without regulation will go bankrupt - Bush wanted to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac but was not allowed to, eh?
The problem is when the regulators are allowed to be in bed with the people they are regulating, corruption occurs.
Corruption seems to be an endemic human condition. And that's what government should be protecting us against.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Aug 29, 2010, Sunday. Lancaster Online
Lancaster Online: Sarah Palin's speech was a hit in Hershey
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin urged conservatives to continue fighting for a "culture of life, a pro-family agenda that will strengthen our country" and a drastically limited government in Washington.
She called the growing national debt a burden on families and "the greatest national security threat we face."
"We need to demand that Washington start putting our kids first and stop racking up the debt and mortgaging our futures," Palin told a sold-out crowd of some 1,100 people Friday night at Pennsylvania Family Institute's annual fundraiser at the Hershey Lodge.
Sarah Palin speaks at Hershey Lodge
"This debt is immoral because we're stealing opportunities. It's so unfair what we're going to hand to our children and our grandchildren," Palin said. "To me, it's generational theft."
Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee and potential 2012 presidential candidate, spoke on the eve of her scheduled appearance at today's Restoring Honor rally, being held by radio and TV talk-show host Glenn Beck at the Lincoln Memorial.
That event is expected to draw 300,000 people.
"The country that governs the least governs best," Palin said.
In a 42-minute speech that ranged from folksy to wonky — she described camping in the Alaska wilderness and gaining 10 pounds this summer by eating Hershey chocolate — Palin said she felt at home in Pennsylvania, a state she and running mate John McCain lost in 2008.
"You're not afraid to cling to your guns and religions and your Constitution," Palin said, referring derisively to Barack Obama's controversial remarks about conservative voters here on the campaign trail two years ago.
Palin also took several shots at reporters and bloggers who have written about her family's travails in recent months.
"We are a big, loving family. We certainly aren't perfect. We're not the Waltons," Palin said. "We may be as big as the Waltons, but we're not the Waltons."
The Pennsylvania Family Institute, led by Elizabethtown resident Michael Geer, describes itself as a nonpartisan research and education organization that analyzes public policies and cultural trends for their impact on families.
The banquet and a VIP reception with Palin were closed to the media.
Reporters were permitted to cover only Palin's speech.
She did not make herself available to reporters before or after the event, though she did respond to a few questions that had been submitted beforehand dealing with who her role models were and how attendees could pray for her.
Palin was personable and made jokes during her speech but became serious when describing her discovery, when she was 12 weeks pregnant, that her son, Trig, would be born with Down syndrome.
"All through that pregnancy I was wondering, 'How in the world am I going to handle this?' " she said.
"The minute Trig was born, it was such evidence of God answering prayers. … Trig truly is the greatest blessing that ever happened to us. He puts things into perspective."
Palin went on to describe how she managed to keep the pregnancy a secret from the public for seven months at a time when she was the new governor of Alaska.
She said that because the winters are so cold there, she was able to conceal her pregnancy by piling on heavy coats and scarves — drawing laughter from the audience.
Palin also encouraged attendees to fight for a more public role for religion.
"Faith must be welcomed in the public square and be given room to flourish," she said. "Only then can we become the society that we aspire to and that we are destined to be."
The Family Institute has declined to say whether Palin was paid a speaker's fee for the event, but she has collected as much as $75,000 from similar events, including one at California State University earlier this summer.
tmurse@lnpnews.com
Read more:
Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin urged conservatives to continue fighting for a "culture of life, a pro-family agenda that will strengthen our country" and a drastically limited government in Washington.
She called the growing national debt a burden on families and "the greatest national security threat we face."
"We need to demand that Washington start putting our kids first and stop racking up the debt and mortgaging our futures," Palin told a sold-out crowd of some 1,100 people Friday night at Pennsylvania Family Institute's annual fundraiser at the Hershey Lodge.
Sarah Palin speaks at Hershey Lodge
"This debt is immoral because we're stealing opportunities. It's so unfair what we're going to hand to our children and our grandchildren," Palin said. "To me, it's generational theft."
Palin, the 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee and potential 2012 presidential candidate, spoke on the eve of her scheduled appearance at today's Restoring Honor rally, being held by radio and TV talk-show host Glenn Beck at the Lincoln Memorial.
That event is expected to draw 300,000 people.
"The country that governs the least governs best," Palin said.
In a 42-minute speech that ranged from folksy to wonky — she described camping in the Alaska wilderness and gaining 10 pounds this summer by eating Hershey chocolate — Palin said she felt at home in Pennsylvania, a state she and running mate John McCain lost in 2008.
"You're not afraid to cling to your guns and religions and your Constitution," Palin said, referring derisively to Barack Obama's controversial remarks about conservative voters here on the campaign trail two years ago.
Palin also took several shots at reporters and bloggers who have written about her family's travails in recent months.
"We are a big, loving family. We certainly aren't perfect. We're not the Waltons," Palin said. "We may be as big as the Waltons, but we're not the Waltons."
The Pennsylvania Family Institute, led by Elizabethtown resident Michael Geer, describes itself as a nonpartisan research and education organization that analyzes public policies and cultural trends for their impact on families.
The banquet and a VIP reception with Palin were closed to the media.
Reporters were permitted to cover only Palin's speech.
She did not make herself available to reporters before or after the event, though she did respond to a few questions that had been submitted beforehand dealing with who her role models were and how attendees could pray for her.
Palin was personable and made jokes during her speech but became serious when describing her discovery, when she was 12 weeks pregnant, that her son, Trig, would be born with Down syndrome.
"All through that pregnancy I was wondering, 'How in the world am I going to handle this?' " she said.
"The minute Trig was born, it was such evidence of God answering prayers. … Trig truly is the greatest blessing that ever happened to us. He puts things into perspective."
Palin went on to describe how she managed to keep the pregnancy a secret from the public for seven months at a time when she was the new governor of Alaska.
She said that because the winters are so cold there, she was able to conceal her pregnancy by piling on heavy coats and scarves — drawing laughter from the audience.
Palin also encouraged attendees to fight for a more public role for religion.
"Faith must be welcomed in the public square and be given room to flourish," she said. "Only then can we become the society that we aspire to and that we are destined to be."
The Family Institute has declined to say whether Palin was paid a speaker's fee for the event, but she has collected as much as $75,000 from similar events, including one at California State University earlier this summer.
tmurse@lnpnews.com
Read more:
Aug 29, 2010, Yahoo News, re Beck rallyl on Aug 28
Palin: Reject calls to 'fundamentally' change U.S.
WASHINGTON – Sarah Palin says the way to honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy is to honor those men and women in the military who protect the United States.
The potential 2012 presidential candidate says those who fought at Bunker Hill and Gettysburg protected the freedoms that allowed thousands of people gather on the National Mall in Washington on the 47th anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream" speech.
While broadcaster Glenn Beck's rally isn't billed as a political event, Palin says voters must reject calls to "fundamentally transform America." Instead, she says "we must restore America."
Palin, whose son served in Iraq, says the country is at a perilous moment.
WASHINGTON – Sarah Palin says the way to honor Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy is to honor those men and women in the military who protect the United States.
The potential 2012 presidential candidate says those who fought at Bunker Hill and Gettysburg protected the freedoms that allowed thousands of people gather on the National Mall in Washington on the 47th anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream" speech.
While broadcaster Glenn Beck's rally isn't billed as a political event, Palin says voters must reject calls to "fundamentally transform America." Instead, she says "we must restore America."
Palin, whose son served in Iraq, says the country is at a perilous moment.
Aug 29, 2010: Yahoo News: Glenn Beck rally, on Aug 28
Beck rally signals election trouble for Dems
WASHINGTON – If Democrats had doubts about the voter unrest that threatens to rob them of their majority in Congress, they needed only look from the Capitol this weekend to the opposite end of the National Mall.
It's where Ken Ratliff joined tens of thousands of other anti-government activists at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial for conservative commentator Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally.
"There's gotta' be a change, man," said Ratliff, a 55-year-old Marine veteran from Rochester, N.Y.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans can afford to ignore the antiestablishment fervor displayed Saturday during Beck's rally that took on the tone of an evangelical revival.
Billed as a nonpolitical event, it nevertheless was a clarifying moment for those curious as to what clout an anti-Washington sentiment could have on midterm congressional elections in November. The gathering was advertised as an opportunity to honor American troops. But it also illustrated voters' exasperation — and provided additional evidence that Democrats in power — as well as some incumbent Republicans — may pay the price when voters go to the polls.
The tea party is essentially a loosely organized band of anti-tax, libertarian-leaning political newcomers who are fed up with Washington and take some of their cues from Beck. While the movement drew early skepticism from establishment Republicans, these same GOP powerbrokers now watch it with a wary eye as activists have mounted successful primary campaigns against incumbents.
Click image to see photos of Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' rally
AP/Jacquelyn Martin
The Beck rally further demonstrated the tea party activists' growing political clout.
If the GOP is able to contain and cooperate with the tea party, and recharge its evangelical wing with Beck-style talk of faith, it spells the kind of change Ratliff and others like him are searching for.
The promise of change helped President Barack Obama win the White House in 2008, but could turn against his fellow Democrats this year. Americans' dim view of the economy has grown even more pessimistic this summer as the nation's unemployment rate stubbornly hovered near 10 percent and other troubling economic statistics have emerged on everything from housing to the economy's growth.
That's been a drag on both congressional Democrats and the president. While Obama has shelved his soaring campaign rhetoric on change, Beck has adopted it.
At Saturday's rally, the Fox News Channel personality borrowed Obama's rhetoric of individual empowerment from one of the then-candidate's favorite themes on the 2008 campaign trail.
"One man can change the world," Beck told the crowd. "That man or woman is you. You make the difference."
Or change Washington. And while Beck didn't say so, that means change the party in power.
His followers got the message.
"A lot of people want our country back," said Janice Cantor. She was raised a Massachusetts Democrat and is now a North Carolina tea party activist.
Beck's religion-laden message was a departure from most tea party events, which tend to focus on economic issues.
Beck, who speaks openly about his Christian faith on his radio and cable news shows, relied heavily on religion during his speech, perhaps offering up a playbook for tea party activists and Republicans this November.
Earlier, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin urged the gathering to change the course of the nation, although she said "sometimes our challenges seem insurmountable."
"Look around you," she told the crowd. "You're not alone."
WASHINGTON – If Democrats had doubts about the voter unrest that threatens to rob them of their majority in Congress, they needed only look from the Capitol this weekend to the opposite end of the National Mall.
It's where Ken Ratliff joined tens of thousands of other anti-government activists at the foot of the Lincoln Memorial for conservative commentator Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally.
"There's gotta' be a change, man," said Ratliff, a 55-year-old Marine veteran from Rochester, N.Y.
Neither Democrats nor Republicans can afford to ignore the antiestablishment fervor displayed Saturday during Beck's rally that took on the tone of an evangelical revival.
Billed as a nonpolitical event, it nevertheless was a clarifying moment for those curious as to what clout an anti-Washington sentiment could have on midterm congressional elections in November. The gathering was advertised as an opportunity to honor American troops. But it also illustrated voters' exasperation — and provided additional evidence that Democrats in power — as well as some incumbent Republicans — may pay the price when voters go to the polls.
The tea party is essentially a loosely organized band of anti-tax, libertarian-leaning political newcomers who are fed up with Washington and take some of their cues from Beck. While the movement drew early skepticism from establishment Republicans, these same GOP powerbrokers now watch it with a wary eye as activists have mounted successful primary campaigns against incumbents.
Click image to see photos of Glenn Beck's 'Restoring Honor' rally
AP/Jacquelyn Martin
The Beck rally further demonstrated the tea party activists' growing political clout.
If the GOP is able to contain and cooperate with the tea party, and recharge its evangelical wing with Beck-style talk of faith, it spells the kind of change Ratliff and others like him are searching for.
The promise of change helped President Barack Obama win the White House in 2008, but could turn against his fellow Democrats this year. Americans' dim view of the economy has grown even more pessimistic this summer as the nation's unemployment rate stubbornly hovered near 10 percent and other troubling economic statistics have emerged on everything from housing to the economy's growth.
That's been a drag on both congressional Democrats and the president. While Obama has shelved his soaring campaign rhetoric on change, Beck has adopted it.
At Saturday's rally, the Fox News Channel personality borrowed Obama's rhetoric of individual empowerment from one of the then-candidate's favorite themes on the 2008 campaign trail.
"One man can change the world," Beck told the crowd. "That man or woman is you. You make the difference."
Or change Washington. And while Beck didn't say so, that means change the party in power.
His followers got the message.
"A lot of people want our country back," said Janice Cantor. She was raised a Massachusetts Democrat and is now a North Carolina tea party activist.
Beck's religion-laden message was a departure from most tea party events, which tend to focus on economic issues.
Beck, who speaks openly about his Christian faith on his radio and cable news shows, relied heavily on religion during his speech, perhaps offering up a playbook for tea party activists and Republicans this November.
Earlier, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin urged the gathering to change the course of the nation, although she said "sometimes our challenges seem insurmountable."
"Look around you," she told the crowd. "You're not alone."
Friday, August 27, 2010
Aug 27, 2010, Friday, SF Gate
Cal State Stanislaus releases Palin contract
(08-26) 21:45 PDT TURLOCK -- The contract authorizing a $75,000 payment to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for a speaking engagement at Cal State Stanislaus was made public Thursday after a judge ordered the college to produce the document.
The contract, which details everything from the type of vehicle Palin should be chauffeured in to the type of straws to place at the lectern, became a big deal when the CSU Stanislaus Foundation refused to release it or reveal how much Palin was paid to speak at the June 25 fundraiser.
<< Read the contract for Palin's speech (PDF) >>
State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, who has been trying to change a state law that shields campus foundations from public scrutiny, claimed the college administration and foundation board were virtually the same and were therefore illegally hiding important information from the public. He said Thursday the entire college administration should be fired for hiding the information.
"It was never about Sarah Palin," Yee said. "It was about how foundations do business and the cozy relationships they have with public university administrations."
The released contract revealed little that wasn't already known. The college had previously released Palin's pay after it became known that university officials had played a role in managing the foundation's money.
The contract also confirmed that Palin expected to be flown first class to her destination, be put up in a "deluxe" hotel - in this case the Doubletree Hotel in Modesto - and be driven around in an SUV or, if that was unavailable, a black town car. The contract also specified that she was to have two bottled waters and bendable straws placed on a well-lit wooden lectern where she was to speak.
Most of this was first revealed after students discovered discarded pieces of the secret contract in a trash container on university grounds. That was after university officials told Yee and CalAware, an open-government group, that they didn't have any Palin-related documents.
The ensuing lawsuit by CalAware forced the release of hundreds of pages of Palin-related paperwork from the university - but not the contract. Among them were e-mails showing that Charles Reed, chancellor of the 23-campus California State University system, favored suppressing the contract to avoid news stories about its contents.
That e-mail, and the finding that the university did possess Palin documents, led Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne on Monday to order the Turlock campus to release Palin's contract.
Critics have long complained that university foundations have been used like secret checking accounts, allowing officials to spend lavishly and escape public scrutiny. That point was driven home, Yee said, by the fact that the Palin contract was signed by Susana Gajic-Bruyea, who is both the vice president for university advancement at Cal State Stanislaus and the executive officer of the CSU Stanislaus Foundation board.
"The contract just gives more ammunition and more evidence to the general perception that we initially had - that the foundation and administration are literally one and the same," Yee said.
This article appeared on page C - 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle
(08-26) 21:45 PDT TURLOCK -- The contract authorizing a $75,000 payment to former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for a speaking engagement at Cal State Stanislaus was made public Thursday after a judge ordered the college to produce the document.
The contract, which details everything from the type of vehicle Palin should be chauffeured in to the type of straws to place at the lectern, became a big deal when the CSU Stanislaus Foundation refused to release it or reveal how much Palin was paid to speak at the June 25 fundraiser.
<< Read the contract for Palin's speech (PDF) >>
State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco, who has been trying to change a state law that shields campus foundations from public scrutiny, claimed the college administration and foundation board were virtually the same and were therefore illegally hiding important information from the public. He said Thursday the entire college administration should be fired for hiding the information.
"It was never about Sarah Palin," Yee said. "It was about how foundations do business and the cozy relationships they have with public university administrations."
The released contract revealed little that wasn't already known. The college had previously released Palin's pay after it became known that university officials had played a role in managing the foundation's money.
The contract also confirmed that Palin expected to be flown first class to her destination, be put up in a "deluxe" hotel - in this case the Doubletree Hotel in Modesto - and be driven around in an SUV or, if that was unavailable, a black town car. The contract also specified that she was to have two bottled waters and bendable straws placed on a well-lit wooden lectern where she was to speak.
Most of this was first revealed after students discovered discarded pieces of the secret contract in a trash container on university grounds. That was after university officials told Yee and CalAware, an open-government group, that they didn't have any Palin-related documents.
The ensuing lawsuit by CalAware forced the release of hundreds of pages of Palin-related paperwork from the university - but not the contract. Among them were e-mails showing that Charles Reed, chancellor of the 23-campus California State University system, favored suppressing the contract to avoid news stories about its contents.
That e-mail, and the finding that the university did possess Palin documents, led Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Roger Beauchesne on Monday to order the Turlock campus to release Palin's contract.
Critics have long complained that university foundations have been used like secret checking accounts, allowing officials to spend lavishly and escape public scrutiny. That point was driven home, Yee said, by the fact that the Palin contract was signed by Susana Gajic-Bruyea, who is both the vice president for university advancement at Cal State Stanislaus and the executive officer of the CSU Stanislaus Foundation board.
"The contract just gives more ammunition and more evidence to the general perception that we initially had - that the foundation and administration are literally one and the same," Yee said.
This article appeared on page C - 5 of the San Francisco Chronicle
Aug 27, 2010, Friday, The Atlantic
Sarah Palin's Complicated Relationship with the Labor Movement
Richard Trumka gave a scathing speech to the Alaska AFL-CIO Thursday, lambasting Sarah Palin for a good chunk of it.
Palin has a complicated relationship with the labor movement--her husband, Todd, was employed in a union job until last year, and the former governor often takes issue with union "bosses" in the political realm but praises union workers--and those complications were further fleshed out in her response to Trumka, posted Thursday afternoon on her Facebook page.
She leads off with an appeal to union "brothers and sisters"--the language union people like to use:
And after attacking Tumka as a "career union boss who's spent most of his life in DC"--Trumka, a former mine worker, rose quickly through the ranks of the United Mine Workers Association, first heading its safety committee and then serving on its international board--Palin goes on to praise the historical project of the labor movement while attacking present-day union leaders as corrupt:
Palin's relationship with the labor movement is clearly more complex than support/oppose. At its core, her argument is this: union leaders in DC pursue an agenda disconnected from what union workers actually want.
Members of the labor hierarchy in DC will tell you that unions pursue a Democratic agenda because it benefits workers. The government takeover of the auto industry was conducted, in large part, to save the jobs, pensions, and health care plans of auto workers; the stimulus was undertaken to save working-class Americans from slipping into poverty; health care has been one of labor's biggest priorities at the negotiating table for years, because it costs so much, and President Obama's reforms will make it more affordable for many; the mortgage plan was designed to keep working-class people in their homes.
There is power in Palin's argument. A lot of working-class people, union members included, are socially conservative and probably oppose part, or a lot, of Obama's agenda. Trumka made a name for himself, before he became president of the AFL-CIO, by giving a string of firebrand speeches in 2008 about how union members shouldn't oppose Obama because he's black.
Just as the labor movement has tried to win over non-union working-class Americans--Working America, the AFL-CIO's community affiliate, has signed up 3 million members who think the AFL-CIO's basic political agenda is in their best interest--Palin, in her response to Trumka, seeks to peel off union members from labor's political movement by telling them that labor's agenda doesn't fit with their conservative gut leanings.
Palin's spat with Trumka is part of a broader story in working-class politics that's gone on for years: voters torn between basic conservative leanings and liberal tax and spending policies that, on their faces, quite obviously benefit lower income brackets. "White, working-class voters" were touted as the most important bloc of the 2008 elections, and the war over them is still raging.
Richard Trumka gave a scathing speech to the Alaska AFL-CIO Thursday, lambasting Sarah Palin for a good chunk of it.
Palin has a complicated relationship with the labor movement--her husband, Todd, was employed in a union job until last year, and the former governor often takes issue with union "bosses" in the political realm but praises union workers--and those complications were further fleshed out in her response to Trumka, posted Thursday afternoon on her Facebook page.
She leads off with an appeal to union "brothers and sisters"--the language union people like to use:
Two years ago almost to the day, I was thrilled to meet with union members at the Alaska AFL-CIO Convention in Anchorage to sign important job-creation legislation related to the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act. As a former card-carrying IBEW sister married to a proud former IBEW and later USW member, it was a great moment for all of us. Our Alaska union brothers and sisters helped build our state! Many of them risked their lives to complete our infrastructure, including the Trans-Alaska Pipeline that stretches over treacherous mountain ranges from the North Slope oil fields to Valdez. By signing that job-creation bill surrounded by union members, I was paying tribute to them and acknowledging that they would be valued partners in the construction of Alaska's long awaited natural gas pipeline. I was honored that day to receive a standing ovation from them for signing a bill that provided a Project Labor Agreement to bring good jobs to these good men and women.
And after attacking Tumka as a "career union boss who's spent most of his life in DC"--Trumka, a former mine worker, rose quickly through the ranks of the United Mine Workers Association, first heading its safety committee and then serving on its international board--Palin goes on to praise the historical project of the labor movement while attacking present-day union leaders as corrupt:
In the past there were many great union leaders who courageously defended the rights of workers. Unions were founded for all the right reasons! They were to give working men and women the clout to negotiate fairly with their employers and to fight for decent pay and working conditions. The unions of old would often end up fighting big government on behalf of the little guy. Today's unions seem to be big government's most enthusiastic supporters. It's turned into some nonsense when union bosses back the government takeover of the car industry, and the mortgage industry, and the entire health care sector. And with the help of big government they aim to push through card check legislation that some characterize as being unfair to workers, and even un-American, because of its insistence on stripping workers of their right to privacy with a secret ballot. And that's not just me voicing concern over card check - ask current union members how comfortable they are with what some of their leaders are saying about the legislation.
To my hardworking, patriotic brothers and sisters in the labor movement: you don't have to put up with the scare tactics and the big government agenda of the union bosses. There is a different home for you: the commonsense conservative movement. It cares about the same things you and I care about: a government that doesn't spend beyond its means, an economy focused on creating good jobs with good wages, and a leadership that is proud of America's achievements and doesn't go around apologizing to everyone for who we are.
Palin's relationship with the labor movement is clearly more complex than support/oppose. At its core, her argument is this: union leaders in DC pursue an agenda disconnected from what union workers actually want.
Members of the labor hierarchy in DC will tell you that unions pursue a Democratic agenda because it benefits workers. The government takeover of the auto industry was conducted, in large part, to save the jobs, pensions, and health care plans of auto workers; the stimulus was undertaken to save working-class Americans from slipping into poverty; health care has been one of labor's biggest priorities at the negotiating table for years, because it costs so much, and President Obama's reforms will make it more affordable for many; the mortgage plan was designed to keep working-class people in their homes.
There is power in Palin's argument. A lot of working-class people, union members included, are socially conservative and probably oppose part, or a lot, of Obama's agenda. Trumka made a name for himself, before he became president of the AFL-CIO, by giving a string of firebrand speeches in 2008 about how union members shouldn't oppose Obama because he's black.
Just as the labor movement has tried to win over non-union working-class Americans--Working America, the AFL-CIO's community affiliate, has signed up 3 million members who think the AFL-CIO's basic political agenda is in their best interest--Palin, in her response to Trumka, seeks to peel off union members from labor's political movement by telling them that labor's agenda doesn't fit with their conservative gut leanings.
Palin's spat with Trumka is part of a broader story in working-class politics that's gone on for years: voters torn between basic conservative leanings and liberal tax and spending policies that, on their faces, quite obviously benefit lower income brackets. "White, working-class voters" were touted as the most important bloc of the 2008 elections, and the war over them is still raging.
Aug 27, 2010, Friday: Boston Herald
Experts: Sarah Palin’s shot won’t damage Scott Brown
This ain’t Alaska, Sarah!
By Hillary Chabot and Jay Fitzgerald
Friday, August 27, 2010 - Updated 3 hours ago
The rogue-vs-rogue ruckus between GOP superstars Sarah Palin and Scott Brown could be a political boon for the Massachusetts senator, according to pundits who say Palin’s jibe that he’s a bust in conservative Alaska can only burnish his upstart image in the blue Bay State.
“Scott Brown is probably doing cartwheels after Palin’s comments - they’re laughable and only bolster his appeal,” said Mike Harrington, a GOP political consultant who worked on Brown’s campaign.
Ed Morrissey, a blogger at the conservative Web site Hot Air, said Palin’s quip that Alaskans “wouldn’t stand” for Brown’s moderate votes will boost the senator’s prospects for reelection come 2012.
“To get re-elected in Massachusetts, he will have to make the case he’s not a right-wing ideologue - and she is the leading right-wing ideologue,” said Morrissey. “She’s distancing herself from Brown, and that makes his life a lot easier.”
Palin tore into Brown during a segment on Fox Business Network Wednesday when asked about his voting record. Brown has sided with Democrats during key votes such as the financial reform bill.
“Perhaps they’re not going to look for such a hard-core constitutional conservative there, and they’re going to put up with Scott Brown and some of the antics there,” Palin said of Bay State voters.
“But up here in Alaska, and so many places in the U.S. where we have a pioneering, independent spirit, and we have an expectation that our representatives in D.C. will respect the will of the people and the intelligence of the people. Well, up here, we wouldn’t stand for that.”
Brown’s communications director Gail Gitcho brushed off Palin’s barbs, but avoided confronting her head on.
“Senator Brown’s votes are based on what’s in the best interests of Massachusetts and he has made his priorities job creation, controlling spending, and reducing the deficit,” said Gitcho in a statement. “All Republicans can agree on that.”
Some Bay State Republicans privately called Palin “politically toxic” in Massachusetts - adding that Brown is better off without her. Others who spoke publicly attempted to spin Palin’s comments as proof Brown remains politically independent.
“This validates Scott’s approach,” said House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones (R-North Reading). “He’s voting an awful lot like he said he was going to vote.”
One local Tea Partier, however, thinks Palin was speaking the truth.
“I think her assessment is accurate,” said Christen Varley, president of the Greater Boston Tea Party. A self-described Palin fan, Varley said she still supports Brown but she’s disapproved of some of his votes.
Said Varley: “Sen. Brown might find himself behind the curve of how quickly Massachusetts is tacking right
This ain’t Alaska, Sarah!
By Hillary Chabot and Jay Fitzgerald
Friday, August 27, 2010 - Updated 3 hours ago
The rogue-vs-rogue ruckus between GOP superstars Sarah Palin and Scott Brown could be a political boon for the Massachusetts senator, according to pundits who say Palin’s jibe that he’s a bust in conservative Alaska can only burnish his upstart image in the blue Bay State.
“Scott Brown is probably doing cartwheels after Palin’s comments - they’re laughable and only bolster his appeal,” said Mike Harrington, a GOP political consultant who worked on Brown’s campaign.
Ed Morrissey, a blogger at the conservative Web site Hot Air, said Palin’s quip that Alaskans “wouldn’t stand” for Brown’s moderate votes will boost the senator’s prospects for reelection come 2012.
“To get re-elected in Massachusetts, he will have to make the case he’s not a right-wing ideologue - and she is the leading right-wing ideologue,” said Morrissey. “She’s distancing herself from Brown, and that makes his life a lot easier.”
Palin tore into Brown during a segment on Fox Business Network Wednesday when asked about his voting record. Brown has sided with Democrats during key votes such as the financial reform bill.
“Perhaps they’re not going to look for such a hard-core constitutional conservative there, and they’re going to put up with Scott Brown and some of the antics there,” Palin said of Bay State voters.
“But up here in Alaska, and so many places in the U.S. where we have a pioneering, independent spirit, and we have an expectation that our representatives in D.C. will respect the will of the people and the intelligence of the people. Well, up here, we wouldn’t stand for that.”
Brown’s communications director Gail Gitcho brushed off Palin’s barbs, but avoided confronting her head on.
“Senator Brown’s votes are based on what’s in the best interests of Massachusetts and he has made his priorities job creation, controlling spending, and reducing the deficit,” said Gitcho in a statement. “All Republicans can agree on that.”
Some Bay State Republicans privately called Palin “politically toxic” in Massachusetts - adding that Brown is better off without her. Others who spoke publicly attempted to spin Palin’s comments as proof Brown remains politically independent.
“This validates Scott’s approach,” said House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones (R-North Reading). “He’s voting an awful lot like he said he was going to vote.”
One local Tea Partier, however, thinks Palin was speaking the truth.
“I think her assessment is accurate,” said Christen Varley, president of the Greater Boston Tea Party. A self-described Palin fan, Varley said she still supports Brown but she’s disapproved of some of his votes.
Said Varley: “Sen. Brown might find himself behind the curve of how quickly Massachusetts is tacking right
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)