Experience

[Federal Farmer]

Far and away ahead of Obama? Lets define the parameters of executive experience.

Ok, that would be GREAT!

Because he has run a Presidential campaign very successfully for the last 18 months.

Uh, no Bunz, he hasn't. He's running for POTUS, his CAMPAIGN MANAGER has been running his campaign.

His working staff is far and away larger than Palins.

He has a TOTAL staff of 2,500 (+/-), there are 24,500 State employees in Alaska, ALL of which she is responsible for, and that's not to mention the $9 Bn budget and $13 Bn in State revenue, that SHE was PERSONALLY responsible for.

Her time on the city council? Speaking from someone who is serving in my second term on the local city counil, of a town with a similar system but about half the size, I can tell you this bit of local experience is being blown way out of proportion. There are Presidents of of home owners associations in the lower 48 that wield far more power than the Mayor of Wasilla.

Really, that's odd, because I just got finished reviewing the Wasilla Municiple Code (Title 2, chapter 2.16), which states:

2.16.020 Power and duties of mayor.
A. The mayor is the chief administrator of the city, has the same powers and duties as those of a manager under AS 29.20.005, and shall:

1. Preside at council meetings. The mayor may take part in the discussion of matters before the council, but may not vote, except that the mayor may vote in the case of a tie;

2. Act as ceremonial head of the city;

3. Sign documents on behalf of the city;

4. Appoint, suspend or remove city employees and administrative officials, except as provided otherwise in AS Title 29 and the Wasilla Municipal Code;

5. Supervise the enforcement of city law and carry out the directives of the city council;

6. Prepare and submit an annual budget and capital improvement program for consideration by the council, and execute the budget and capital program as adopted;

7. Make monthly financial reports and other reports on city finances and operations as required by the council;

8. Exercise legal custody over all real and personal property of the city;

9. Perform other duties required by law or by the council; and

10. Serve as personnel officer, unless the council authorizes the mayor to appoint a personnel officer.

B. The mayor may appoint a person to the position of administrative assistant and deputy administrator. If appointed, the positions may not be eliminated during the mayor’s term of office without prior consent of the mayor. (Prior code § 2.16.010)

<snip>

2.16.080 Veto by mayor.
The mayor may veto an ordinance, resolution, motion, or other action of the council and may strike or reduce appropriation items. A veto must be exercised before the next regular council meeting and must be accompanied by written explanation of the reasons for the veto. A veto may by overridden by a vote of two-thirds of the council within twenty-one (21) calendar days following the veto, or at the next regular meeting, whichever is later. The veto does not extend to the adoption or repeal of a manager plan of city government. (Prior code 2.16.070)

That sounds suspiciously like the exact same duties and responsibilities as the President of the United States!!! That's hardly any silly assed "Homeowners Association President" anywhere in America, and that's not even counting the $12 million Cities budget (that she doesn't get to increase by running around begging for hand-outs,...er...contributions)!

You simply dont get it. With the exception of our long serving and now likely leaving office Congressional delegation, Alaska politics is bush league compared to elsewhere. Even putting her in the same zip code as Obama in terms of being prepared to serve in the White House is laughable. Comparing her to Biden is a howler.

Really? That's odd, so perhaps you can tell us exactly what Obama has done since he got elected to Congress, I mean besides running for President? What legislation has he personally sponsored that got to the President's desk, much less got signed into law? What has he done besides secure $300 Million is pure pork-barrel earmarks for Illinois in 2007 ALONE? What are his accomplishments? I don't give a DAMN what he "says" he wants to do IF he get's elected, I want to know what he's DONE.

Governor Palin VETOED $500 million in legislation in Alaska, while Obama is spending it on totally BS pet projects. You know, you're right about one thing, there IS no comparison, Obama got punked by a GIRL!!!

Oh, and BTW, that "bush league" lady got more votes in her run for Mayor of Wasilla than Biden did in his run for PRESIDENT, so I guess you're right, it IS a howler, because it's pretty damned funny when a small town Mayor get's more support that a decades long sitting US Senator!! To paraphrase Larry the Cable Guy, "that right there's funny! I don't care WHO you are, that's funny, GET 'ER DONE!!!"

You know the funny thing about your statement, that the right will just love...
When they look at the accomplishments of Palin they will find someone who raised taxes,

That statement is extremely misleading Bunz, so allow me to clarify it for you; the ONLY taxes she raised was on the OIL COMPANIES, who have been getting off easy for DECADES because your legislature was in their pockets, and let them off easy hoping that they'd stay up there.

and is supporting socialistic policies. She is moving to spend $500m of public money to have a Canadian company "study" the feasibility of building an Alaska gasline, in the mean time, BP and Conaco Phillips are wanting to build a privately funded gas pipeline and she is still pushing forward her project.

Your statement doesn't exactly square with the public record Bunz. She killed a "sweetheart deal" for BP, requested and received, one vote short of a unanamous vote, the AGIA, and the ONLY company that met the minimum bid requirements of the AGIA was TransCanada. Now, if BP and Conoco were seriously interested in competing, they would have MET those requirements, which only serves to demonstrate that they really weren't interested. You also neglected to mention that BP drug it's feet so badly that she had to bring in an independent company to build the pipeling, with State subsidies, just to get it finished!

She flipflopped on the Bridge to Nowhere. Which that statement alone is idiotic and the fact she used it is simply an insult to the residents of the 5th largest city in the state. The Bridge to Nowhere was a bridge that would connect Ketchikan with the island its airport is on. Before she won the GOP primary she was all for it.

Again, your interpretation of events is somewhat different than the public record. While she did originally favor the bridge, when the earmark was killed, and the infrastructure grant was passed in it's stead, it was over $300 million short of the cost of the bridge. Now, if she had pushed forward on the bridge project, that shortfall would have cost the citizens of the State of Alaska $500.00 for every man, woman, and child in the State in HIGHER TAXES! That's an additional $2000.00 for a family of 4, in a State with a median annual income of $54,000.00. Could YOU afford an additional $500.00 for everyone in your household to build a bridge to serve a community that you have no ties to?

Socialized energy: With the price of oil high, the state coffers are overflowing. Which certainly adds to the ease of her job. With Alaskans paying the highest fuel costs in the nation she has managed a massive re-distrubution of wealth. After raising the taxes on big oil, she has managed to distribute $1200 for most Alaskan men women and children from the state general fund as an energy rebate, a half a billion dollars of government entitlement taken from one entity to the people who generally had nothing to do with producing it. Why didnt she refund the surplus back to the oil companies actually paying the tax instead of paying everyone's electricity bill.

OK, wait just ONE MINUTE HERE! Aren't you a Liberal? Aren't you one of the ones that's been screaming at the top of your lungs for the past 8 years about the "evil oil companies" and their "evil profits"? In fact, aren't YOU the very one who was screaming like a little girl about Exxon getting off easy over the Valdez incident, and calling for them to have to pay $6 BILLION dollars??? Aren't YOU the one who conveniently forgot the fact that ExxonMobil had already spent over $2 Billion in the clean up efforts in Valdez, and STILL screamed for more money to be extricated from Exxon in THIS thread? And now you're complaining because she killed even more "sweetheart deals" that let the oil companies off lower on their taxes to the State of Alaska than ANY other business or industry operating in the State?

 

[Pandora]

She hit a home run tonight!

I dont even like Guliani (spelling) but he hit one too!

 

[Pandora]

Well the lax standards goes both ways it seems. But I think your perception of the accomplishment and necessary leadership it takes to have gotten where Obama has, is light years away from the JV politics Palin is used to. She has managed to be a big fish in a small pond. Putting her in the ocean with the sharks is an entirely different game. It might be worth while to note that there is roughly the same amount of members of Obama's old church to the poppulation of Wasilla. Chicago alone has 4x as many residents as the entire state of Alaska.



Well I am not sure of the role McCain will lay out for her, but her constitutional role is to be the President of the Senate. I am sure she will need to study her tail off to just learn the parlimentary senate rules.
On top of the daily briefings on issues she knows zero about, and until this point had shown little interest.

Bunz would you like her better if she were not running against Obama? I really can not see what you could dislike about her, except she is running against the ticket you want to win.

 

[Federal Farmer]

She hit a home run tonight!

I dont even like Guliani (spelling) but he hit one too!

No doubt. She hit that thing so hard that it's STILL in the air, and showing no signs of landing any time soon.

I especially liked the line about "not going to DC to please the pundits and media, but to serve the American people"

 

[Pandora]

No doubt. She hit that thing so hard that it's STILL in the air, and showing no signs of landing any time soon.

I especially liked the line about "not going to DC to please the pundits and media, but to serve the American people"

Yes I liked that also

all her cute little cuts to obama were good, all with a smile on her face.

they say that is bidens best quality, there should be some great knife throwing and big grins in that vp debate


on a side note,

her husband is really cute

 

[Pandora]

The speech is over, and I am listening to the talking heads. the talking head for the Obama campaign said it was a good thing the bar was set so low for her to do well. I think and I heard from many pundants that the bar was set really really high.

every one even the obama spokesperson said she did well. I think she did really well. I have not had a speech get me so excited to be a part of something since I dont know when.

I supose Obama people could relate

 

[BigRob]

The speech is over, and I am listening to the talking heads. the talking head for the Obama campaign said it was a good thing the bar was set so low for her to do well. I think and I heard from many pundants that the bar was set really really high.

every one even the obama spokesperson said she did well. I think she did really well. I have not had a speech get me so excited to be a part of something since I dont know when.

I supose Obama people could relate

The Obama camp will be polite about the speech but harp on her attacks on Obama and try to deny them right away.

 

[Pandora]

The Obama camp will be polite about the speech but harp on her attacks on Obama and try to deny them right away.

Can you think of anything she said about obama that is untrue?