Posted below is a Youtube of the full statement by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as she turned down approximately half of the so-called "stimulus" funds being offered by Washington. While perhaps you might think she should turn it ALL down (like me), she does explain herself well, and poses the questions we should all be asking. The video lasts a little over 8 minutes, but should be watched in full to get the context of both what she says, and how she says it.
I do like the simplicity of her approach, and the deciding criteria she used as to whether to take the federal largesse or not:
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What is in the best interests of Alaskans, and, will we chart our own course or will Washington engineer it for us?
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Do all the federal dollars in this package really create new jobs now and in the future, or do they just spend us into a massive trillion dollar deficit and add to the Nation’s eleven trillion dollar debt by growing more government here at the state level? Government that we know Alaska’s kids and grandkids are going to be paying for long into the future.
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[Is it] Timely, targeted, and temporary and focused on jobs and infrastructure or will Alaska permit unprecedented interference in our independent self-management and quash our opportunities for development?
And I really dig her promise to
Review the federal options with private sector jobs in mind.
Noting that I DO appreciate the work of public sector employees, we spend far too much time gnashing and wailing over saving their jobs while taking tax and regulatory steps that systematically destroy whole industries with nary a whimper in protest. Good job Sarah Palin! And she sings my song:
We say NO to funds for more positions in government.
And then she frames the debate as it should be recognized:
Do we need government doing MORE of the same thing via this stimulus package? That’s the discussion.
Amen! If the government caused much of the chaos we presently find in the current economy– and I believe it did– why would we throw away good money after bad for more of it… or to preserve it? Much like we should not be propping up failed business models deserving to go bankrupt.
Sayeth Sarah Barracuda on the "most critical economic issues of our time":
"We can’t accept the bait."