“[Palin] supports spending taxpayer cash on initiatives that tickle her fancy,”

[ProSense]

Palin’s tenure in Alaska filled with pet projects.

Politico reports on Gov. Sarah Palin’s prolific spending while governor of Alaska. “She supports spending taxpayer cash on initiatives that tickle her fancy,” Ken Vogel notes. “During her tenures as both mayor and governor, operating budgets ballooned by 55 percent in Wasilla and 25 percent in Alaska.” Some examples of Palin’s pet projects:

– $25,000 for the Juneau Christian Center, after Palin started worshipping there.

– $2 million for an academic conference meant to dispel the idea that climate change is threatening polar bears.

– $630,000 for a kitchen in a hockey arena complex the self-described hockey mom built during her second term as Wasilla’s mayor.

– At least $10,000 to help fund the snowmobile race Todd Palin has won several times.

Ultimately, Palin took Wasilla’s long-term debt from $1 million when she entered office to $25 million when she left.” “Anything she proposed is a good earmark,” said Bob Weinstein, mayor of Ketchikan, Alaska.

[lumpy]

1. Obviously it is all about "what Palin wants, Palin gets".

Apparently she believes in sports and that she is doing her god's work, promoting herself. You would think that the money she has controlled should go to causes that would help the general public not to her 'pet' projects. Will Alaskans wake up and see the that they are being taken for a ride?

[TwilightGardener]

2. I don't understand how she got away with using taxes as her own

personal wish-list fund.

[ProSense]

3. The corrupt GOP establishment gave Palin her rise.

Her ties to an Abramoff lobbyists as Mayor of Wasilla should have been a huge red flag. Yet the MSM tried to sell her as a reformer when McCain selected her as his running mate.

[anonymous171]

4. Wow. Another big government conservative.

[ProSense]

5. Alaska's National Guard- Needs Not Met

Alaska's National Guard- Needs Not Met

Posted by James Lamond

Despite her ticket’s motto of “Country First,” one thing is sure about Sarah Palin: she doesn’t put America’s veterans first.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that:

Alaska Army National Guard troops returning home to rural communities after year-long deployments to war zones face huge obstacles trying to receive standard veterans' health care. . .

That's because about 25 percent of Alaska's Guard members live in villages where no veteran health clinics are available, and they often have to travel long distances by plane to see a doctor. . .

But that's just one of several problems now facing Alaskans who were part of the U.S.-wide call to send Army National Guard troops into battle

Job prospects for troops returning to villages are sometimes grim. And screening for mental health problems is still lacking for the 575 soldiers in the 3rd Battalion, 297th Regiment, who spent a year in northern Kuwait and southern Iraq from 2006 to 2007.

The main problem is that the Alaska guard was designed for defense against threats at home, not for repeated deployments abroad. The Alaska Guard has a deployment rate of 80%. There were never adequate systems put in place to address the needs of thousands of soldiers returning home from war.

This Anchorage Daily News article comes following a report issued by Veteran’s for America, a veteran’s advocacy organization, on the post-deployment challenges facing Alaska’s National Guard. The report finds that “the post-deployment needs of Alaska National Guard members and their families remain largely unmet.” There are rises in divorces, suicides, mental illness, financial difficulties and other post-combat problems. The VFA was even told that the Food Bank of Alaska has seen a 400% increase in military families relying on their services.

Another major problem is access to health care. Over 60% of Alaska Guard members live in rural areas of Alaska, miles from the nearest VA facility. This can result in a very long and expensive trip to the nearest VA facility, just to receive proper medical care. While the VA will reimburse the patient, they do need to put the money upfront. Unfortunately the cost of the trip can be in the thousands, and many of the soldiers just don’t have resources to put the money up front. This has lead to local community groups raising money to help local vets to pay for the trip, but they can only do so much.

more

[lumpy]

6. Yeah that money spent on the kitchen at the ice rink in

Wassila is sure going to help these veterans.