Sarah--Part 2

Honesty, integrity and forthrightness should be the mark of a born-again Christian. Anything else belies that belief and negates the testimony of proclaiming Christ as Savior. And this is why I am opposed to the candidacy of Ms. Palin. In her life, ambition appears to have triumphed over faith and virtue.

MAYORAL FACTS

• Wasilla had zero debt when Sarah became mayor. It had a $22 million debt when she left office 6 years later.
• During her tenure, government spending increased by 33%.
• She reduced the progressive property tax and increased the regressive sales tax, including tax on food. This effectively lowered taxes for businesses and increasing taxes for residents.
  
• The property tax cuts benefited large corporate property owners to a greater degree than they benefited residents.
• Tax increases were used to build a sports complex rather than being applied to infrastructure needs such as a sewage treatment plant or a storm drainage system.
• She attempted to fire the city librarian who had not supported her in the election after the librarian would not agree to book censorship in the library. Note: The list that is circulating claiming to be the titles she attempted to ban is not true.
  
• She fired the police chief who had not supported her in the election. She claimed he "intimidated" her.
• She brought "big box" stores to Wasilla in opposition to environmental, ecological concerns and concern for the demise of "mom and pop" stores.
• Contrary to her current decrying of the evil of lobbyist, she hired a private lobbying firm to secure earmarks for Wasilla, bringing in millions of dollars to this small town.

GUBERNATORIAL FACTS

• Rather than applying the windfall from the high price of oil to investment in technologies leading to energy independence, etc, Sarah gave each Alaskan resident a several hundred dollar bonus check for being Alaskan--sort of using monies gleaned from the other 49 to enrich pockets of her constituency rather than the cause of alternative energies or to protect the environment and lands of her state.
  
• She opposed the "Bridge to Nowhere" only after it had already become a dead issue. Before that she had supported it. She kept the federal pork money allocated for the project.
• She favors and advocates drilling in the ANWR--Artic National Wildlife Refuge.
  
• She is part of the lawsuit against the Department of Interior's inclusion of polar bears on the threatened species list. Protecting the bears would interfere with oil drilling.
  
• She is pro off-shore drilling.
• She has sought and obtained more per person earmark funds (pork) than any other state in the union. This year what she has asked for equals a little under $300 per person. The average for the other states in $34 per person. More

GENERAL INFORMATION

• She is an NRA supporater--opposed to gun control.
• She has demonstrated no pro-labor, pro-union sympathies in spite of the smoke screen about the "first dude's" union membership.
• She is opposed to sex education other than abstinence.
• She is opposed to environmental protection measures.
• She has sacrificed her 17 year old daughter's privacy and exposed her to the world.
• She is forcing a marriage between children. Seventeen and eighteen year olds are not of an age to define their lives by a mistake. Statistics are profoundly poor for teen age marriage survival.
• She would require a child victim of incestuous rape to carry the baby to term, inured to the physical and mental damage this would cause the girl. The girl would be twice a victim.
• Sarah claims to be a born-again Christian which implicitly requires an ethics and moral code demanding truth and honesty as well as honorable values. Her denigrating remarks insulting the value of community service and volunteer efforts to respond to needs of people are not honorable. We, as a nation, value and promote this type of service--witness the Peace Corps, AmeriCorps and the fact that community service is often a requirement for high school graduation. I know of no one else, regardless of political affiliation, that finds the desire to serve and change lives something to make fun of or to be laughable. Personally, I found this to be the lowest point of her speech and the point that defined her character.
  
• The blatant disrespect shown to her party's opponents misrepresents Christianity. Her twisting of truths and the selling of herself and her values for the sake of garnering a laugh bring into question her priorities--ambition or faith? This particularly upsets me as, I, too, am a born-again Christian.

I am certain that more and more will surface to indicate that Sarah is not what McCain would like us to believe. But, then, that won't be a surprise. He did not take the time to find out for himself before placing her a heartbeat away from the post of president of the United States of America. McCain's ambition has overtaken his honor.

Links to other posts: Diana Diana Again

Post Script: I do not mean to or knowingly present inaccuracies. If there is proof that anything said here is wrong, please say so and it will be corrected. If you are interested, this is a good link for checking out rumors on all sides Fact Check