Sarah Palin left her town of 5,400 with $20 million in debt!

[NewJeffCT]

Wow, more Bushian economics at play here. $20 million for 5,400 people is $3,700 per person.

>>>
— Mayoral performance. Palin, who portrays herself as a fiscal conservative, racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla — that amounts to $3,000 per resident. She argues that the debt was needed to fund improvements.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12987.html

[kwolf68]

1. Didnt she also

Take over private land to build a sports complex? Seems kinda big gub-ment to me.

[RC]

12. Just like gwbu$h

[argyl]

47. Like Bush how? Using public money for a sports facility or leaving constituents saddled with debt?

Well,Hell's bells,our boy Bush did both when he left Austin for DC, snickering about it as he hauled ass.

Who says this woman isn't qualified to take over as president if necessary? She's learned well the tactics of the current Squatter in Chief at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

[antisoros]

84. How To Approach Palin

Obama would admire her for her family values. However, the fact that she is campaigning while having to care for a disabled infant, wouldn't satisfy experts in parent-child bonding.

I think the Dems will raise the inexperience barrier, and let the media, et al go after her on corruption (Trooper-gate), reckless spending, self-absorption (loves being dubbed, "Princess").

BTW: GOP mouthpieces are trumpeting the "pretty librarian" line, re Palin's looks. In fact, talk show host, Craig Ferguson, said she looked like a "naughty librarian" earlier this year. Stealing humor isn't funny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yh-lW2opLyQ

Wow! that post had only a few thousand views when I posted in on Kos yesterday. Now its approaching 200,000

Frankly, I don't dislike the woman; I despise McCain.

[K Gardner]

2. Yesterday we were shocked. Today, now, we're having fun !

[libnnc]

45. they've made it so easy!

[adamuu]

88. POLITICO: 6 things the Palin pick says about McCain

6 things the Palin pick says about McCain
http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20080830/pl_politico/12997

There is no plausible way that McCain could say that he picked Palin, who was only elected governor in 2006 and whose most extended public service was as mayor of Wasilla, Alaska (population 8,471), because she was ready to be president on Day One.

[MrScorpio]

3. She sounds like a winner

:sarcasm:

I can imagine how she'll do nationally

[trueblue2007]

4. read the whole article

Other nuggets Democrats hope reporters will mine over the next two
months:

— Palin didn't back McCain in the primary. She stayed neutral in
Alaska's January primary — perhaps on account of McCain's opposition
to drilling in ANWR. "A lot of us are sitting back and waiting to see
if there will be new players in there," she said in 2007. "That's
probably why that box that says `none of the above' is so popular
right now."

— Mayoral performance. Palin, who portrays herself as a fiscal
conservative, racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt as mayor
of the tiny town of Wasilla — that amounts to $3,000 per resident.
She argues that the debt was needed to fund improvements.

— Stevens and Young, redux. Palin has distanced herself from the
state's two most popular politicians, but both appeared at Palin
fundraisers during her 2006 gubernatorial bid.

— The environment. As governor, Palin vetoed wind power and clean
coal projects, including a 50-megawatt wind farm on Fire Island and a
clean coal facility in Healy that had been mired in a dispute between
local and state governments.

— And, maybe, censorship. According to the Frontiersman newspaper,
Wasilla's library director, Mary Ellen Emmons, said that Palin asked
her outright if she "could live with censorship of library books."
Palin later dismissed the conversation as a "rhetorical" exercise.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12987.html

[apnu]

5. More of the same! More of the same!

Hit this Obama camp! She's no different than Bush or the Neocons! Fiscal irresponsibility. More of the same.

[Quixote1818]

6. This is the perfect line of attack! It shows her to be incompotent and poor with money. nt

[Stern21]

7. Either the fix is in or McCain is a bigger idiot than Bush.

From Politico:

"Palin said Monegan was let go for failing to fill trooper vacancies and invited a close examination of her role in the matter. The Alaska state legislature obliged, allocating $100,000 to investigate. The results of the probe are expected on Oct. 31, less than a week before the general election."

The results of the probe to be released in the week before the General Election???? And he nominates her anyway?????? WTF???

[Doremus]

25. 10 to 1 that date gets moved to after the election. eom

[BrklynLiberal]

89. You betcha!

[awoke_in_2003]

51. My opinion

is the GOP is purposely throwing this election. They know the next president is going to be hit with a shitstorm, and if it happens to be a democrat they can blame it all on them.

[harmonicon]

70. I think you may be partly right

I wonder if this isn't to drum-up republican turnout in Alaska, which faces a tight Senate race. Perhaps they figure that the presidential election will be close no matter what, so they might as well see what they can do to keep one more "R" in the Senate.

[awoke_in_2003]

76. Well, they definately want to retain the seats...

but the economy has to tank sometime soon, it can't keep up at this pace. And if a dem is in office, all the better, because they will get the blame. I have heard people here (in Texas, not DU) claiming that the economy is bad because the dems control congress- they think it was peachy keen 1 1/2 years ago (short memories). They fault the democrats for the high gas prices, forgetting that from 2000 to 2006 gas went from $1.39 a gallon to $3.30 or so, while in two years it has gone up about 30 cents, and is now coming back down because the elections are coming up (of course, the dems don't get credit for it coming down). The democrats will get all the blame for Bush's failed policies.

[Boo Boo]

115. That date is too late to be of any use. /nt

[tanyev]

8. She's obviously mastered GOP economics.

She must be ready for the big time!

[Tesla]

13. We need to make a big noise

Why in the world would this woman accept the nomination, she must be a narcissist.
The whole fundie thing scares the hell outa me!

[NewJeffCT]

23. I think pols of both parties

when they reach a certain level are all pretty narcissistic.

[Patiod]

32. Here's what's frustrating to me: Folks in the NE don't get it

The women in my book club DID NOT BELIEVE that ANYONE in America (much less Bush) believes in the Rapture.

These upper-middle-class, college educated women don't understand creationism (6000 yo earth, fossils as the Devil's attempt to confuse us) - they think it means God created the world, which they believe too (not that they think about it much).

If their daughters got pregnant, they would speak with their Main Line physicians, and a surgical procedure would be arranged, but they don't support abortion rights.

The public schools here are very good (although half of them send their kids to private school), and none of them know the fundies have an anti-public school agenda

They'll hear she started out as a PTA mom who wanted to cut taxes, and they'll think she's super.

[NewJeffCT]

33. Unfortunately, you're probably right

I'm in the northeast as well... I can certainly see some of that where I live, though the public schools here in my town are good enough that people often pull their kids out of prestigious private schools (Miss Porter's, Avon Old Farms, Kingswood-Oxford are all nearby) and send them to the public schools - heck, I even heard one RWer bragging about how people in town do that here.

[bethling]

80. I used to be one of them

Grew up outside of Boston, I didn't think anyone really believed creationism - if they did it was a handful of people that weren't really educated.

Then I had to move to the south for work, and was shocked and how different it is culturally. My next door neighbor had a masters degree and believed that the earth is 6000 years old. The North East is very different than most of the country. Even if you try to explain to them the mind set - they're going to think you're exaggerating.

[Jackpine Radical]

102. That change among "educated" people seems recent--at least in the Midwest.

30 or 40 years ago, a belief in creationism was a marker for a lack of a college education. The society at large was very secular. Nobody gave a shit about any politician's religion (with maybe exceptions for Catholics, who were always suspected of planning to turn the country over to the Pope).

[hay rick]

104. ditto in the Northeast

Agreed. 30 or 40 years ago Creationism drew a stifled snicker from most folks, especially the educated. You wondered if the person got held back in Sunday school...

Ostentatious display of religiosity by politicians is a symptom of the declining capability of our society. McCain's obvious discomfort with public professions of faith is about the only thing I like about him.

[Enthusiast]

117. Plenty of Ohio inhabitants

think likewise. My mother for one. "She looks nice." I would pull my hair out but it's nearly gone already.

[ingac70]

9. Well, she is a repuke isn't she?

They all want to be like Reagan, and his spending habits are their favorite thing about him.

[WinkyDink]

10. And? She still made it to the governor's house. Nobody will care.

[NewJeffCT]

Alaska is a heavily Republican state

so, Reaganism sells pretty well, I'd imagine.

[TheCowsCameHome]

11. Another perfect republican - pass the debt on to others

[Frisbee]

71. while claiming to be fiscally conservative. n/t

[mod mom]

14. and wanted to CENSOR their reading:

from the politico article:

"According to the Frontiersman newspaper, Wasilla’s library director, Mary Ellen Emmons, said that Palin asked her outright if she "could live with censorship of library books.” Palin later dismissed the conversation as a “rhetorical” exercise."

[TheFarseer]

15. OMG

I saw an article praising Palin for improving the town, but if I could put $20 mil on a credit card I could make a small town look pretty damn nice too. Republicans aren't geniouses. Any idiot can look good if they don't have to have a budget. The true miracle is how bush can manage to have such a bad economy while borrowing such massive sums. Of course now it's catching up a bit. When you spend $400 bil on interest every year - $400 bil in expendatures that you have literally nothing to show for - then you have to borrow that much just to break even.

[NewJeffCT]

16. Saw a diary on Kos about her

that said the town she was mayor of is used to be nice, but is now the picture of exurban sprawl.

Today, under Sarah Palin's leadership, Wasilla has become the picture of exurban sprawl: an explosion in the housing stock, tons of new highway expansion, tons of new big box stores and fast food franchises, and absolutely 0 sustainability. Combined with a lack of zoning, and a predilection for building open-pit gravel mines all over the place, and Wasilla could be the poster-town for bad municipal leadership.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/19534/4063/266/579434

[bigwillq]

17. I'm liking her more and more!

:bounce:

[Motown_Johnny]

18. Uh, Ohs.... another female candidate with 20 million in debt. Maybe we shouldn't talk about this

[NewJeffCT]

21. Big difference, though

Hillary got her debt by getting 30 times the number of votes as Alaska has citizens,

[Zynx]

24. Also her debt isn't on the back of government.

[dbmk]

97. And 2000 times the number of citizens in the town where she was mayor.

[vaberella]

19. She's as inept in economics as McCain---Hell No!! n/t

[FarCenter]

20. It appears to be a remote suburb boom town

Like some of the CA towns with high foreclosure rates.

Data is somewhat hard to come by, but a third of the wage earners commute to Anchorage, about an hour away. And much, much longer in the winter. Gas is $5 up there, since fuel is imported from refineries in the lower 48.

Population has gone up maybe 70% since 2000 census.

Over 40% of the houses are rented.

Couldn't find foreclosure rate or subprime mortgage data for Alaska.

But I'd think that they would be in a world of hurt with high fuel prices and any downturn in the Alaskan economy -- which explains the urgency of drilling more on the North Slope to keep that gravy train going.

[dontforgetpoland]

22. Can someone tell me what was the $20 million dollars for?

Improvements? What improvement cost that much for such a small town?

[NewJeffCT]

26. tax breaks for the top 1%

would amount to 50-60 people!

[Meshuga]

27. But I heard pundits everywhere

Claiming she was a fiscal conservative! Are you saying they are lying to me? How dare you?

[NewJeffCT]

29. Since Reagan took office

Fiscal conservative = borrow & spend.

[AzDar]

28. Typical Repube.

:puke:


NOT THIS TIME.

[Overseas]

30. Her big claim is that I CUT PROPERTY TAXES!! So she is a Republican.

Borrow and spend on a huge scale. Cut taxes and leave the debts for the next guy. Maybe the Rapture will come before that anyway.

[PA Democrat]

31. Check out the details, it's even worse.

The biggest problem, however, was the process of how the land was acquired. The whole thing was handled with exceptional incompetence and arrogance, ultimately costing the city an extra $1.7 million in settlement and court cost for a piece of land that would have costed only $125k if they had handled it right from the beginning in 1998.

This involved a developer by the name of Gary Lundgren. Here is the whole scoop:

Lundgren negotiated with the national office of The Nature Conservancy to buy the land. Meanwhile, Wasilla city officials decided they wanted the land too, and began negotiating with the Alaska office of The Nature Conservancy. Offers were extended to both parties. Lundgren closed the deal.

Without the title in their hands, the city went ahead with the sales tax increase and started the construction. Then in typical Bush fashion, as Palin was leaving office in 2002, Wasilla sued both Lundgren and The Nature Conservancy for title to the land. The case went to a federal appeals court, where Lundgren won rights to the property.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/29/1223/87119/35/578632

[NewJeffCT]

34. Interesting - thanks for posting that

that's a piece of the $20 million right there.

[libnnc]

43. she's the gift that keeps on giving

what a train wreck...Atta boy, John!

[Bette Noir]

95. She's taking land from the Nature Conservancy!!!!???

That's the cleanest environmental charity in the world. It's uber-popular with conservatives, as it doesn't challenge property rights, but honestly buys the land it considers critical habitat. Some of its biggest donors are politically conservative hunters and fisherman who want to leave pieces of nature intact for the future.

Honest, folks, we have to get the word out on this. Suing the Nature Conservancy is the last word in conservative hypocrisy.

Unbefreakinglievable.

[Joanne98]

35. She gave the people tax cuts then ran up the credit card. SAME AS BUSH!

[NewJeffCT]

36. yes, it's the Republican M.O. - trickle down economics

borrow & spend to benefit the rich in the false hope it trickles down to the peons.

[savistocate]

110. not false hope -false dope, their con. they don't hope

or care others benefit. And what in any would entitle them ? some capital amassed on
gougeing consumers under paying labor

[seabeyond]

37. but she says "it is simple. 6 million dollars and 53 employees"

real simple if there is not the effort to balance

[Ichingcarpenter]

39. 3 PIZZA Huts in California might have that many employees

and make that amount of money.

[writes3000]

38. Ca-Ching!!! This, we can use. Score! nt

[TeamJordan23]

40. This will be a great talking point for us. nm

[WCGreen]

41. No wonder the Bush cadre likes her....

[NewJeffCT]

44. yes, easy to see why

borrow & spend, borrow & spend and you can pretty much drown the government in a bath tub.

[senseandsensibility]

42. k and r

eom

[Hope And Change]

46. I think she deserves the nobel prize in economics.

[hasssan1]

48. DNC and Obama's camp MUST be in twin city and expose here everyday 10 Hours a day

They have so much ammunition that they can sink her real quick.

[hasssan1]

49. Honest to god, with this lady's resume and background, if obama looses this election ...

There is something very wrong with his camp and after that this country.

They can pound on her record , experience and judgment every day from today till Nov 4th

[Pacifist Patriot]

50. If Obama "loses" this election it will be proof positive to me the elections are rigged.

[Frisbee]

72. or that the average ameican citizen is an idiot...

don't rule that out. They elected * TWICE. Well, maybe not, but it was close enough that they could claim we did.

[chatnoir]

120. Ditto that.

[jazzjunkysue]

52. $20mill in debt-That's a real fiscal conservative for ya!

[bronxiteforever]

53. Perfect GOP economics

[Roland99]

54. She INCREASED TAXES to pay for an indoor ice skating venue.

[redqueen]

56. She brags about cutting property taxes (for those well-off enough to own property).

Who did she raise taxes on?

[redqueen]

55. So she cuts taxes, then spends anyway... and now they have what kind of interest payments?

Idiots. They are idiots.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

57. She's a big reformer - she re-formed the village's surplus into a deficit

[Overseas]

58. Kicking again because this is one more glaring example of Palin's incompetence.

Needs to be added to the heap.

[adamuu]

67. You mean McCain's incompetence

for picking her.

[greguganus]

59. I can't help myself, but she's got something in common with Hillary now. (ducks) n/t

[tabasco]

62. Apparently, you don't know the difference betwwen private debt and govt. debt.

You just made yourself look stupid.

Either that, or you are stupid.

[greguganus]

63. Aw, tabasco you're so saucy. n/t

[ClarkUSA]

60. Team Obama need to be sending media info re: this so MSM can report it

I have been waiting to hear about it but so far, not a word, not even from KO.

[jakem]

61. so lets see.... x 305 million...

add another $1,128,500,000,000 to the national debt for each 18 months of Palin in charge of the US?


NO THANKS!!!!!

[mwb970]

64. This lady was a really, really bad choice.

She sounds exactly like bush to me. Wow.

[adamuu]

65. And The McCain campaign calls her a "tough executive who has demonstrated" readiness to be president

Yeah, right. Spin, much?

Look at the slogans McCain is trying to put out there... look at the sign
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/08/29/palin.bio/index.html
"Country First"


Hmm. McCain.. .why so defensive? At the time this photo was taken, was anyone accusing you of, say, putting your campaign first, rather than putting the country first? You lousy dog.

Did you ANTICIPATE people MIGHT question your motives, after such a politically-motivated pick? "Country First" LMAO.

[THale2]

74. Opportunist.... that needs to be the new slogan

slams Hillary then picks up her gauntlet

[adamuu]

77. "..as the Los Angeles Times wonders, isn’t McCain supposed to be the guy putting country first?..."

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/30/1310137.aspx

*** The case against Palin. The biggest negative about the pick is that on its face, it looks like a political gimmick, a political calculation. And McCain's supposed to be anything but a calculating or gimmicky pol. Indeed, as the Los Angeles Times wonders, isn’t McCain supposed to be the guy putting “country first” and not playing politics? The fact that McCain doesn't know Palin and spent all but a couple of hours getting to know her before making his pick is going to invite A LOT of judgment criticism. The perception is going to be that McCain panicked and wanted to do something radical to shake up the race. Well, he may have shaken up the race, but at the cost of undermining his best asset: that he was ready to lead. This decision doesn't look like it was well thought out, even as Palin has made a tremendous first impression.

[liberal_rxstudent]

66. I guess the repubs will see that as...

a reflection of her abundant "experience". Wasting away millions of dollars in order to do what was "necessary". Kinda like what McCain intends to do...no, I mean CONTINUE (priorities include making the rich richer by stomping on the middle-class/ working poor and continuing to throw away OUR resources in order to occupy a country that doesn't want us there) :eyes: She is a typical republican...no surprise she claims she wants to cut wasteful spending {{so that she can spend more}}. This ticket is too much for me...:eyes:

[Disturbed]

69. Gov. Palin is Anti-Choice & Anti-birth Control.

She wants to outlaw Abortion, even in the cases of Rape &/or Incest.

She wants to outlaw any form of Contraception.

How many Hilllbots are going to vote for McNasty/Palin?

[liberal_rxstudent]

90. True Hillary supporters wouldn't....

If those who truly supported Hillary and what she stood for, then there would be no way in hell any would even entertain the thought of voting for McCreep/Palin. Yeah...typical republican...strong desire to impose their idiotic beliefs onto others. And speaking of contraception, she's right in line with McCrazy...who doesn't even know whether contraception decreases risk of STD transmission (or what his position is on providing contraceptives to combat the spread of HIV). Ick. Birds of a feather definitely flock together. Obama/ Biden MUST win!

[Phred42]

68. Wasilla FACTS - Apparently POLITICO didn't bother to research this

She still screwed them - but the politico numbers don't match
Hey - someone had to point it out
:shrug:


About Wasilla - from the City website
http://www.cityofwasilla.com/index.aspx?page=49


Population 6,715

Total Local City Annual Revenue $12,695,563

Median Family Income $53,792 (2000 Census)

No. of Business Licenses 1,249

City Sales Tax 2.5 percent

Annual Sales Tax Revenue $8,876,374

Property Tax City: 0.0 mills; MSB 9.64 mills;

Fire Service Area: 1.42 mills

[donco6]

73. No No No

This doesn't state the total bonded debt of the city. This just lists the operating costs versus operating revenue.

The Politico article is correct - she passed the bond levy to pay for city improvements, leaving the city with a lot of voter-approved debt. But that's pretty typical for a city.

[Chovexani]

75. You know, I have a better record than that in SimCity.

:wtf:

[antisoros]

78. Great Logic

Praise free enterprise while wasting public money on personal legacy building. Egyptians would have hated her in the pyramid age.

[depakid]

79. How about a BUNCH of campaign ads on that

aired repeatedly in key states.

Nope?

I guess we'd do better to be polite and let Republicans have their wonderful convention. We should probably praise them some- and congratulate McCain for picking "such a fine VP choice."

Best not to offend anyone over the next week, because if we do, the media will "attack us."

[liberal N proud]

81. She must be qualified by the republicons standards

Imagine what she can do with the federal budget then

[nam78_two]

82. K&R.nt

[Beartracks]

83. A Mayor can't just "leave a town in debt"....

Government entities don't just whip out the credit card and initiate infrastructure projects and just "hope" they can pay it off in the future. Cities have to identify funding sources for projects, due diligence must be completed (to determine the viability of the funding sources, usually with fairly conservative estimates), and voters have to approve everything... Yes, a city can have debt -- current expenditures that must be paid off with future revenue -- but the revenue streams to be used for repayment are a known quantity.

Most every city is at any time in debt such as this, usually through bond issues. It's folly to think a town of any size can cash-fund its infrastructure improvements.

[bhikkhu]

86. Bonds are public debt, payable by future tax revenues

To the extent that the mayor of a town is entirely capable of pushing bond measures through the approval process, yes, a mayor can be the cause of a town's debt.

[onethatcares]

94. hmm, we must be missing something here in the other end of the country

where a city council votes on a newly placed item on an agenda to give a few million tax breaks to an "unnamed entity" .. Or, to have the same mayor and council try to give away publicly owned waterfront land for a baseball stadium that will only cost 1/2 Billion to move a team 16 blocks before someone leaked the details.(that went undercover until the economy improves and they get serious figures on redeveloping a hazardous waste site the present stadium is built on). btw, this is a republican administration with the mayor just chomping the bit to try for a governorship.

Google: St. Petersburg Florida/ city council/tampabayrays/stadium.

[fascisthunter]

85. Hack for the Wealthy Business Interests.. another GOP Whore for Hire

pay to play indeed

[santamargarita]

87. She's the perfect Republican Christian Fascist...

...that should not be allowed to stay in OUR Country!

[high density]

91. I keep hearing that she is a "reformer" but I haven't heard

any examples of such reform.

[ChimpersMcSmirkers]

92. Reformer with Results

[fascisthunter]

93. Way to climb that Ladder!!!!!

into a sewer, that is....

[liberalaska]

96. She changed the town while she was mayor...

It went from a quiet little town about an hour from Anchorage with nothing much in it, to a quiet little strip mall about an hour from Anchorage with much in it, besides fast food restaurants and Wal-Marts.

It was a pretty decent little town a few years back, but when I went there after she was mayor it was awful, I can barely stand driving through it. Everything is new and shiny, but it it's all corporate crap.

[NewJeffCT]

98. Somebody had a similar diary on Daily Kos today as well

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/19534/4063/266/579434

[downindixie]

99. I thought that the residents in Alaska

didn't have to pay taxes.That the state paid them every year.

[FatDave]

100. I guess it was rocket science after all. (nt)

[La Lioness Priyanka]

101. party of personal responsibility and fiscal responsibility

:rofl:

[NewJeffCT]

103. it's amazing

that they still make that claim with a straight face.

[orleans]

105. are you fucking kidding me? k&r n/t

[caseymoz]

106. Crippling government is good for business: that's what repugs think. nt

[bridgit]

107. So What!? So she's the a-typical shit fer brains republican fer cryss sakes...

:rant:

[bridgit]

108. DU a little too sticky, huh?

[bridgit]

109. DU a little too sticky, huh? #2

[libnnc]

111. kick

[GoddessOfGuinness]

112. Only 20 million?

That IS pretty conservative, for a thug.

[NewJeffCT]

119. considering the size of the town

it's a pretty significant amount.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

121. Of course...

I forgot the sarcasm smiley... :hi:

[Douglas Carpenter]

113. thank you now this is an absolutely excellent article that makes a great point!

[grillo7]

114. kick...

What great ad material. The razor-thin experience she does have was a fiscal disaster...

[Wetzelbill]

116. yeah but she's a fiscal conservative

If you say it enough times it magically comes true in Republican world!

[nightrain]

118. she'll fit right in to the Bush/McCain plan then... bankrupt America

for the benefit of the lenders.