FACTCHECK.ORG on Gov. Palin

[jriosdds_IHB]

<span style="font-size: 13px;">Sliming Palin</span>



September 8, 2008



False Internet claims and rumors fly about McCain's running mate.



Summary



We?ve been flooded for the past few days with queries about dubious Internet postings and mass e-mail messages making claims about McCain?s running mate, Gov. Palin. We find that many are completely false, or misleading.



Palin did not cut funding for special needs education in Alaska by 62 percent. She didn?t cut it at all. In fact, she tripled per-pupil funding over just three years.

She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a "What if?" question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin's first term.



She was never a member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group that wants Alaskans to vote on whether they wish to secede from the United States. She?s been registered as a Republican since May 1982.





Palin never endorsed or supported Pat Buchanan for president. She once wore a Buchanan button as a "courtesty" when he visited Wasilla, but shortly afterward she was appointed to co-chair of the campaign of Steve Forbes in the state.





Palin has not pushed for teaching creationism in Alaska's schools. She has said that students should be allowed to "debate both sides" of the evolution question, but she also said creationism "doesn't have to be part of the curriculum."



A few of these claims were included in a chain e-mail by a woman named Anne Kilkenny. We'll be looking into other charges in that e-mail for a future story. For more explanation of the bullet points above, please read the Analysis.



See the whole article for a detailed analysis:



<a href="http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/sliming_palin.html">FACTCHECK.ORG ANALYSIS</a>

 

[FairEconomist_IHB]

<blockquote>She did not demand that books be banned from the Wasilla library. Some of the books on a widely circulated list were not even in print at the time. The librarian has said Palin asked a ?What if?? question, but the librarian continued in her job through most of Palin?s first term.</blockquote>Oh, absolutely! Palin asked about banning books <b>purely</b> for academic reasons and any day now we anticipate her publication <i>Effect of book-banning on sixth-grade literacy rates: Results from a preliminary survey of librarians I was going to try to fire in a few months anyway, purely coincidentally and with no consideration for her responses any of the three times I asked the same question, which I kept asking only because I needed a statististically significant number of responses and I only had one librarian to harass, I mean ask</i>.

 

[green_cactus_IHB]

# Palin may have said ?Thanks, but no thanks? on the Bridge to Nowhere, though not until Congress had pretty much killed it already. But that was a sharp turnaround from the position she took during her gubernatorial campaign, and the town where she was mayor received lots of earmarks during her tenure.



# Palin?s accusation that Obama hasn?t authored ?a single major law or even a reform? in the U.S. Senate or the Illinois Senate is simply not a fair assessment. Obama has helped push through major ethics reforms in both bodies, for example.



# McCain claimed that Obama?s health care plan would "force small businesses to cut jobs" and would put "a bureaucrat ... between you and your doctor." In fact, the plan exempts small businesses, and those who have insurance now could keep the coverage they have.



# McCain attacked Obama for voting for "corporate welfare" for oil companies. In fact, the bill Obama voted for raised taxes on oil companies by $300 million over 11 years while providing $5.8 billion in subsidies for renewable energy, energy efficiency and alternative fuels.



# McCain said oil imports send "$700 billion a year to countries that don't like us very much." But the U.S. is on track to import a total of only $536 billion worth of oil at current prices, and close to a third of that comes from Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.



# McCain promised to increase use of "wind, tide [and] solar" energy, though his actual energy plan contains no new money for renewable energy. He has said elsewhere that renewable sources won?t produce as much as people think.



# McCain called for "reducing government spending and getting rid of failed programs," but as in the past failed to cite a single program that he would eliminate or reduce.



# McCain said Obama would "close" markets to trade. In fact, Obama, though he once said he wanted to "renegotiate" the North American Free Trade Agreement, now says he simply wants to try to strengthen environmental and labor provisions in it.

 

[no_vaseline_IHB]

Rather than provide competing redacted versions, we would all do well to go read the complete articles. Annenburg is as straight up and down as you get.



When does my absentee ballot get here?