Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Unemployment 20% Higher Under Palin while Big Oil in the State Achieves Record Profits

Unemployment under Republican Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has soared during her tenure as Governor. Alaska's unemployment rate is now 20% higher than the national average. Additionally, Alaska now has one of the top 10 unemployment rates in the nation.

Despite record profits for oil companies drilling in Alaska, unemployment has continued to soar. $7.6 billion of the estimated $8.5 billion in Alaska’s state tax revenue comes from fees paid by oil companies. (source: Artvoice.com). Additionally, Sarah Palin has recently stated that "it’s God’s will that we drill." However, corruption and payoffs by big oil have been rampant in the Alaskan government, with the convicted former chairman of a major oil company having spread $400,000 throughout Alaska's government (including to Sarah Palin's campaign). Palin was previously in charge of Alaska’s Office of Oil Affairs.

The top 3 oil companies stand to profit handsomely from the increase in the price of oil, with cumulative record profits of approximately $70 billion. The U.S. Economy meanwhile is facing its worst recession since the Great Depression, with unemployment soaring as oil profits soar in Palin's home state. Meanwhile, Palin continues to advance the cause of big oil, encouraging additional drilling in her home state.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington, D.C. watchdog group, oil companies and the people who run them give between 75 percent and 80 percent of their campaign money to Republicans like Palin and McCain. (source: Artvoice.com).

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics

Slowest Job Growth Since Statehood for Alaska under Sarah Palin

Alaska's 20 years of job growth is coming to an abrupt end under Sarah Palin. Despite high oil prices - a major economic driver of Alaska's economy - total job growth still has slowed to just 1.0 percent in 2007. This is the lowest job growth since Statehood for Alaska, as higher prices at the pump have not translated into more jobs for Alaskans.

You can read the full economic report by clicking here.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Sarah Palin Member of Party Supporting Violent Secession from America

"Over the years, Palin has actively courted the Alaska Independence Party, or AIP, an organization that supports Alaskan secession from the U.S. To be clear, we're not necessarily talking about friendly secession either: As the AIP's founder, Joe Vogler, told an interviewer in 1991: "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. ... And I won't be buried under their damn flag."....

The McCain campaign denies that Palin ever joined the AIP. But while it is in dispute whether she attended its 1994 convention, she did visit the 2000 one and addressed AIP conventions in 2006 and 2008. Her husband, Todd, was a registered AIP member from 1995 to 2002, and the AIP leadership certainly considers her one of their own."

Read more.

Sarah Palin Lies About Bridge to Nowhere; Supported It

Republican speakers got some facts wrong in Wednesday night’s speeches at the Republican National Convention, according to the nonpartisan FactCheck.org.

The biggest substantive error came from Palin, who claimed that she told Congress “thanks but no thanks” to the infamous Bridge to Nowhere. In fact, she initially favored the bridge when she was a candidate for governor. Congress had already removed the specific earmark for the bridge long before Palin as governor decided to kill the project. FactCheck said her claim to be a crusader against earmarks doesn’t hold water, as she fought for funds for local projects that her running mate, John McCain, had explicitly condemned.

Read more.

Sarah Palin Tried to Fire State Troopers for Family Revenge?

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the running mate for Republican presidential candidate John McCain, wrote emails that harshly criticised Alaska state troopers for failing to fire her former brother-in-law and ridiculed an internal affairs investigation into his conduct.

The emails, never before made public, were shown to The Washington Post by a former public safety commissioner, Walter Monegan, who was fired by Mrs Palin in July.

The bipartisan Joint Legislative Council has called for an investigation into Palin's potential abuse of power and controversial firing.

Read more.

Sarah Palin Member of Anti-America Secession Party

The party has lobbied since the 1970s for the right to hold a referendum on whether Alaska should secede from the United States. Its motto, "Alaska First", contrasts sharply with the John McCain campaign slogan: "Country First."

It seeks "the complete repatriation of the public lands, held by the federal government, to the state and people of Alaska" and aims to be "self-sufficient" by using profits from Alaskan oil and gas resources. It claims that the vote held in 1958 which led to Alaska becoming the 49th state of the US was corrupt and did not offer a proper choice.

Read more.