Prices are rising, disposable incomes are falling and the government is taxing us every which way it can.

We’ve all heard about income tax, stamp duty, fuel duty and VAT. But how many of us are aware of the new form of tax slowly creeping into our businesses?

It’s level is not set by the government and it’s existence is not enshrined in law.

“What is this new tax?” I hear you cry.

Ladies and gentlemen, may present to you, ‘The Muppet Tax.’

The what?

The Muppet Tax.

Not heard of it? Let me explain…

In the 70’s and 80’s, the Muppet Show was the one of the coolest programmes on TV.

For those not lucky enough to experience it, the Muppet Show was a hugely successful puppet filled extravaganza. A sublime sketch show.

It’s jokes, songs and parodies were legendary as were it’s characters, including Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and Gonzo. The Muppets were loved the world over.

Every hip and happening star worth their salt wanted to be on the show. The Muppets were cool.

If you made it onto the Muppet Show, you’d made it.

Now skip forward a few decades to Noughties.

In the UK of 2008, the word “Muppet” or the phrase “You Muppet,” has become a term of derision.

It’s a way of saying someone is stupid, idiotic, foolish or troublesome.

This is where the Muppet Tax comes in.

In concept (if not name), the Muppet Tax has existed for decades (and some would argue, centuries).  In certain trades the tax has been rife. This is particularly true in Construction, Plumbing or any industry where the service provider sets his/her own rate.

When a service provider predicts that a potential client will be troublesome or stupid, (ie: a Muppet), they’re likely to be hit with ‘The Muppet Tax’. The extra levy aimed at the client justifies the extra hassle the client is bound to give.

Are you sure this exists?

Oh yes.

I’ve seen other service providers inflate their prices when faced with a foolish client. I’ve even used this technique myself to price myself out of the market. It’s easier than telling a client you don’t want their business.

But this is terrible. What ever happened to ‘The client is always right?’

Having worked in client facing roles for almost 15 years, I can tell you with complete conviction, the client is NOT ALWAYS RIGHT.

Clients are human (well most are) and are subject to same frustrations and foibles as the rest of us.

Some customers are a joy to work with, others              not.

A close friend and colleague told me about an I.T. professional who bases his hourly rate on how difficult the client is going to be. Even when the client is extraordinarily difficult, the service provider is happy. He can revel in huge cash payments he’ll receive at the end of the job.

But why have I never heard about this tax?

Usually, leviers of the Muppet Tax apply it discretely. They’re unlikely to advertise it’s use.

However, having said that, some sellers actually tell their clients.

This week, a colleague told me about a service provider he knows. The provider had experienced significant problems, not with the client directly, but with the client’s account’s department.

When the client booked the provider a second time, the provider doubled his rates.

When asked why he’d done this, the provider educated his client about the Muppet Tax, and why it had been charged.

Impressively, the client understood, agreed and paid twice the going rate.

I see. How can I avoid this frightening levy?

1) Be a nice customer. Remember, the service provider has emotions too!

2) Understand that just because you’re paying for the provider’s time, you don’t own them. Start-up companies are notorious for this. Understandably, firms short on cash will want to squeeze every last bit of value out of a service. That’s fine. Just don’t squeeze the fairness out of the relationship.

3) Value your provider’s time. Understand it is as precious as yours.

A troublesome client, who had agreed to meet me, didn’t bother to turn up. Nor did he bother to ring to apologize. Three hours later he rang to inform me that he was far too busy to see me. No apology was offered.

Mistakes happen and sometimes life gets in the way, but arrogance is never justified. Your service provider is likely to be as busy as you are.

4) Know what you want. By all means, get the advice from the provider. They’re the expert. Ask all the right questions, be honest and listen. If      you need to change your mind, tell the provider as soon as possible and be reasonable.

5) Don’t play mind games. Some business pundits will tell you that business is war. It isn’t.

In the long run, ‘getting one over’ stakeholders will only cause resentment. Treat others with decency and the favour is usually returned.

If however, you’d rather play mind games, expect Kermit and Miss Piggy to come a knockin.’

You have been warned.

Entertainment, and educational purposes

John McCain has gone missing. The so-called "maverick" that has worked throughout his career trying to create an image of non-partisan collaborations for the good of the country is completely AWOL. In his place, we have the New John McCain. This new McCain seems to be a bastardization of George Bush, echoing Republican talking points, and yet using his speech on Thursday night and his VP pick of Sarah Palin as his idea of "change" in Washington. Is it me, or did someone else already promise change in this election?

McCain has gone back on everything he once believed in. He spoke out against Bush's tax cuts before, but now he wants to keep them in place. He is a former prisoner of war (in case you somehow forgot), and yet he has been indifferent at best to the activities going on in Guantanamo Bay.

Don't get me wrong; Barack Obama is not a saint either. He failed to take a strong stand on the FISA issue a few months back. Then just this week in an interview with Bill O'Reilly, he claimed that the very surge in Iraq he fought against had been successful beyond anyone's wildest dreams. Apparently no one has dreams any more, because it seems fairly imaginable for it to have gone better.

But the fact is, John McCain needs to get his story straight. Some of his flip-flopping can be outdone only by the astonishingly terrible campaign of Sen. John Kerry in 2004. Full disclosure (something I'm sure no one is used to): I support Barack Obama for president. That said, I think both candidates would be an improvement after eight years under the Bush administration.

Just where is the "straight talk"?

On May 21, 2008, I was an observer at a Town Board work session.

At this meeting, a letter from the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) to the Town of Orchard Park was presented by Supervisor Murphy.

Apparently the NFTA sent this letter because it was planning to add Quaker Crossing to its list of stops this fall and was asking the Town for some input as to the best location for the pick up and discharge of passengers. The Authority was hoping the Town could provide a pad that it could use as a foundation for a bus shelter.

I fully support Metro buses coming to Quaker Crossing. It only makes sense.

Buses already service Bryant and Straton College in The Orchard Park Commerce Center off Milestrip Road.

The NFTA also has stops along Abbott Road at Milestrip Road and at Lake Avenue. All of these are within walking distance of Quaker Crossing, but the path from them to Quaker Crossing is along very busy roads with no sidewalks. It would be much safer if the bus riders could be dropped off right at the shopping center.

Furthermore, many people working at entry level jobs in retail do not have cars. They really need bus service. The unpredictable nature of current gasoline prices as well as the desire by some to live "green" also point to the need for a good bus system.

However, I am becoming concerned because I do not see any preparation for bus service in Quaker Crossing. It would be unconscionable for the Town to ignore the request of the NFTA for a pad and force the buses to drop their passengers at the curb or on the grass without a path to the commerce areas. This is especially troubling because most buses can now handle wheel chairs. How does the Americans with Disabilities Act apply to bus stops? Are they supposed to be handicapped accessible too?

A number of years ago a young woman was killed as she crossed Walden Avenue after being dropped of by a bus. Granted, Amelia Drive is not Walden Avenue, but it is busy, at least four lanes wide and should have some accommodation for those who must walk along it or across it.

I would encourage the Town to build sidewalks on Amanda Lane and Amelia Drive as well as provide crosswalks as appropriate and a handicapped accessible pad upon which the NFTA can place a bus shelter.

Finally, people arriving by bus will shop and work on both sides of the street, no matter where they are dropped off. Therefore, if Wal-Mart locates across from Quaker Crossing, people will be walking across Milestrip Road. In order to assure their safety, the signal at Amelia and Milestrip should have a pedestrian phase and the intersection should also have crosswalks.

With its theaters, shops, and restaurants, Quaker Crossing should be accessible to everyone, even those without a car.

When I originally posted the story below, on a different site, a few years ago, I received a number of comments challeging whether the story was fabricated for the post - this post script isn't being offered in a defense of those allegations, even though they are incorrect -it is offered because typing this post provides me the opportunity to speak about my Grandfather - a man I loved very much.

We all know the world was a different place when the events I describe below took place, how different it was might be hard for some to fathom today. My Grandfather never learned to drive a car, he never owned a color TV or flew in a plane. He never owned an air conditioner. Today, Grandfathers have "Guitar Hero" and "Rock Band" to share with their Grandchildren. I shared listening to Tiger baseball games on the radio with my Grandfather.

My Grandfather lived in the upper half of a duplex. His front porch was elevated above the 1st floor porch below. It provided a small sitting area under the branches of a decades old oak tree. There we would sit on the summer evenings and play "rummy" while we listened to the ball games over the radio. He would tell stories. When he finished with one story, I often asked him to retell one of my old favorites.

The story I relay below was first told to me following one of my cherished outings with my Grandfather. Once, or if I was really lucky, twice a year my Grandfather would plan an outing to Tiger Stadium where we would watch the game from the bleachers. As my Grandfather never owned a car or learned to drive, a trip to a ballgame meant a bus trip down to the stadium - three bus transfers were required. A cab was out of the question. Cabs were extravagant luxuries for the well to do. In my circles, no one took a cab.

I always looked forward to our stop several blocks from the stadium. We would depart the bus and walk two blocks to what must have been my Grandfather's favorite "watering hole" from an earlier time in his life. When my Grandfather first arrived in this Country he lived in Detroit's "Cork Town", an Irish community not far from Tiger Stadium. "Mac" as they called my Grandfather, was well liked and well remembered. As I grew up I thought all Grandfather's were asked to "sing one of the old tunes" when they stopped on an outing. My Grandfather was always asked and he always complied with the request. I loved listening to his baritone voice fill the bar while I sat on the stool, drinking my ice cold root beer from a mug. The root beer was "on the house" for Mac's Grandson. My Grandfather had to pay for his "wee drops" and the hot dogs. The genesis of the story below is related to the fact that every year the "wee drops" and hot dogs got more expensive - not so different than today. As my Grandfather would count out the money to pay his bill he would mutter something about "the King taking his due". I wondered what he meant. He was, in many ways, a man of contradictions. As a catholic growing up in Britain he overcame all kinds of discrimination - yet he was proud to be British. He loved America deeply, but the Queen was still his Queen.  Quite a contradiction for a man who taught me the lyrics to "Kevin Barry" before I was 8 years old. For the uninitiated, "Kevin Barry" is a ballad about a young IRA hero who "fell for the cause".

My Grandfather shared the story below after I asked him what "giving the King his due" meant. Truth be known, I have no idea if the annual increase in the cost of the hot dogs and "wee drops" had anything to do with taxes - but I certainly loved my Grandfather's stories.

 TAXES AND THE WORKING CLASS / PROMISES KEPT AND PROMISES BROKEN      

You might notice from earlier blogs that this writer was a kid in the 1950's and grew to adulthood in the late 60's and early 70's.

I learned a lot about life from my Grandfather. He came from the "old country" where socialism, class systems and bigotry stifled an individuals chances for advancement, for making a better life for oneself and ones family.

My Grandfather did not bring his family to this country until after World War II. My Mother had stories of growing up at time when nights were spent in air raid shelters or secretly peeking out her small bedroom window, her sister at her side, keeping watch for Nazi parachutes through the blackout curtains. Those were tough times; bread lines, food lines, coal lines. As they say a "que" for everything and anything. Every penny counted. People of the time had a sharper edge than we might have now. Grandfather had his reasons for being frugal. He was wary of politicians, from any party.

What does this have to do with taxes? Well here it is - my Grandfather taught me that the people, not businesses, pay the taxes - any politician that tells you differently is after your wallet!  

I believe he was right - this, to the best of my recollection, was his story:

The King needs to raise money so he makes a new tax - not for his subjects - just for the rich shopkeepers and farmers. The King will charge them just a penny a piece.

The farmer who grows the grain takes his grain to the dairy owner and adds the penny to his price. The dairy owner feeds the grain to his cows and when the milk is bottled, he takes the milk to the butter maker - of course he has to add his penny too. The butter maker takes the butter to the bread baker and adds his price to the mix. The bread baker gives the loafs to the wagon owner adding his penny along the way. The wagon owner delivers the bread to the shop owner who adds yet another penny. A mother goes to the shop to buy bread for her family and asks, "how am I ever going to feed my children". When the King hears this, he says, "What an ungrateful subject - I didn't raise her taxes".

My Grandfather's point - businesses just collect tax money from the people and pass it on to the Government. When the Government says "Oh, I'm not going to tax you - just the other guy", ask yourself where the other guy gets his tax money from. The woman trying to buy the bread knows where the money comes from.

My Grandfather first told me this story when I asked him to explain the saying, "Giving the King his due". I had over heard him use the line as he was paying for our lunch - the tavern keeper who collected "the due" was clearly my Grandfather's friend, but no matter how small, my Grandfather had a grudge against paying any tax.

Like Senator Fred Thompson, I don't trust anyone who claims they can take water out of one side of the bucket while leaving the other side untouched. I wonder if Senator Thompson learned the bucket story from his Grandfather?

Obama and McCain Tax Proposals

According to a new analysis by the Tax Policy Center, a joint project of the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are both proposing tax plans that would result in cuts for most American families. Obama's plan gives the biggest cuts to those who make the least, while McCain would give the largest cuts to the very wealthy. For the approximately 147,000 families that make up the top 0.1 percent of the income scale, the difference between the two plans is stark. While McCain offers a $269,364 tax cut, Obama would raise their taxes, on average, by $701,885 - a difference of nearly $1 million.

In roughly two months Americans will go to the polls and vote.  They will be hammered with messages and images crafted by gifted (and not so gifted) professionals in marketing, advertising, alleged election specialists and the candidates themselves. But what is really at stake?

Where we are now

DEBT

We are in debt up to our eyeballs and sinking further.  We have less world prestige but not due to the popular notion that George W. Bush's "go it alone" or "cowboy diplomacy" is the cause.  It is the devaluation of our own currency by the Federal Government by continually spending much more than it takes in.  New debt is much easier for politicians than to increase your tax rates.  Instead, they simply print more money (figuratively) and devalue every dollar in your pocket, bank account, IRA, etc.

This must stop and very soon.

Can we pull our military presence out of every corner of the world and stop all foreign aid?  I don't think so. The effects would put us in harm's way in a world economy that is very interdependent.  But we can and should put the world on notice that the US is no longer going to be the bank account for the nanny-state handout crowd any longer. 

We should no longer be subsidising behaviors because it is "cheaper" than going to war.  That is a very short term view.  Liberals have focusedon "diplomacy" to settle international crisees.  Unfortunately, all too often this leads to a cash payout to some tin-plated dictator in return for his agreement to stop doing whatever it was he was doing. 

Don't beleive me?  Ask Kim Jong Il about nuclear reactors.  He wanted one on one talks with the US to ring money out of us.  When we finally gave in and had our little talks and new agreement - it came down to a payment in exchange for the dismantling of his program.  Today, the North Korean government is making a U turn claiming that the US still considers it to be a "terrorist state" and has unfairly attempted to pressure their country into accepting verifications anywhere and anytime. 

Don't believe any of that.  It is simply because we have not paid him off quickly enough (through payments equal to the production of the alleged electrical power facilities and the losses sustained when you are on a terrorist state black list), he is threatening to rebuild his reactors.  Besides, since the 1980s "trust but verify" has proved to be sound policy, especially when dealing with an aggressor.

National Security

The war on terror (al Quaeda) is ongoing.  Troops will be drawn down in Iraq and increased in Afghanistan.  Neither candidate can do much but continue our presence in both countries for the next few years at the very least.  Our hands are tied with respect to other 'hot spots" not because we can't stretch our military any more, but because we can't afford to finance another adventure.  If we produced the bulk of our energy needs it might be possible, but at 25% self sufficiency at best, we are at the mercy of others to fuel our endeavors, and they won't extend our tab indefinitely.

Our borders are like Swiss cheese and no one is doing much to change that.  Political correctness has hamstrung the process.  Protection of the nation should be a #1 priority when it comes to the borders, otherwise, why have them at all? I feel for the downtrodden and would like to help more, but we don't have anything left - we already gave at the office.  Just check out your pay stub and look at what was removed if you are not yet convinced.

Economy

Government is the problem.  By spending and interfering too much, the government is the root cause of most of our current ills.  The federal debt along with rising energy costs have deflated our currency, causing higher inflation and rising unemployment.

Government regulations make drilling for oil a decade long farce with a trail of hungry lawsuit-filing lawyers gobbling up dollars along the way. Governmental nit-wittery helped to usher in the era of easy money when they thought that banks were not lending enough to black Americans (sorry - I meant to say that they didn't supply enough loans for "affordable housing" and failed to promote "diversity"). 

So banks were no longer forced to vigorously check into people's ability to pay.  Easy money policy means there will be more bad ones.  Because the economy was miraculously good and real estate values were soaring in many markets, the problem got worse before anyone noticed.  Now it is deemed a crisis even though more than 97% of us are not directly affected.

Please stop with the "tax cuts" for the rich rhetoric.  Tax rates are what the candidates discuss.  Generally, most people would prefer the government to be run like the grocery store.  Low prices and high volume.  Keep rates low and let the economic activity drive revenue.  There are 300+ million of us to conduct trade.  A few percent every time we buy or sell something should add up to some righteous bucks, no?

A TIME FOR CHOOSING

So who do you choose?

Senators Obama and Biden have an all too Marxist view from my economic standpoint. 

Note: I don't weigh social issues like Roe V Wade high on my agenda for selecting Presidents as issues of life and abortion should be dealt with by legislatures at the Federal and state levels.  The President is bound to enforce those laws.  If RVW gets overturned, who cares?  Enough angry women will have Congress acting fast to make sure new laws are in place.  Democrats will be in charge of Congress for awhile.  Why haven't Pro-Choice folks gotten off their asses to lobby these folks is a question you need to ask them.  The same goes for the "no abortion/no way" crowd. If you think you have the merits, take it to Congress and let them write it into law. That is where debate should happen. Government is here to protect the innocent and I personally do believe that the unborn are to be protected.  To what extent is a more difficult answer.  If I ever run, I will tell you what I think then.

Wealth transfer is a deal breaker for me.  Too much of the talk from both sides is on the "what I will do/fight for you".  STOP IT - BOTH OF YOU.

The world is an imperfect place (screws fall out all the time) and I can't help it if there are poor people and rich people.  It is not a static state.  Poor people strike it rich (win the lottery or find success in business).  Rich people bomb out in business and bad investments or just blow it all like some idiot rock stars. 

Not my problem. 

Shouldn't be government's either.  We pay for all of their promises and fights.  We need to put our spend-thrifty government on a budget. 

Which candidate will do better on this?  That is a critical question.  Both have far too much faith in what government can do with the "right" people running the show.  McCain talked a good game but may only be somewhat less inclined to promote government than Obama.

Obama is just too Marxist in his philosophy for comfort.  He may talk tax cuts for the "middle class" as Clinton did in 1992 (by the way, we never got those cuts as promised).  Third party candidates are not going to be a factor in the election and won't be a factor in ongoing government.  The only choice left is McCain.

McCain has one or two ideas that promote good and fair policy. 

It is ironic that I am most behind one of his proposals that will tax us more.  His taxing of health care benefits and giving a tax deduction for those who pay for coverage is awesome.  It puts the responsibility for health care where it belongs - with you and me.  It doesn't belong nor should it ever have been made a responsibility of your employer.  Right now, employers have the choices and the employees can take it or leave it.

McCain seems to be a decent man and an honorable man.  That doesn't mean he is getting a ringing endorsement here.  He is just the only viable option.  We have to hope that his use of bipartisanship doesn't include socialist/Marxist policies.  We have to hope that he hires someone to teach him sound economic policy with respect to taxation and spending.  We have to hope that he is willing to abandon his long time friendships in exchange for tough stances as President.

We also have to hope that he is in very good health.

Well, with the price of gasoline hovering around $4.00 per gallon, the practicality of that old jingle would seem to have more relevance and popularity than ever.

A year-long culmination of efforts by our Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) to enhance the availability of public Metro Bus transportation service to a well-known "state of the art" and meticulously-planned shopping and entertainment venue in the Town of Orchard Park has, in response, apparently brought forth some absolutely amazing admissions into the "sunshine."

In a startling reaction to the addition of regular scheduled service and stops for Metro Bus Route 14 (Abbott Road) and Route 72 (Lackawanna), it appears that we have been officially advised, from the most credible of sources no less, that "it's a very bad idea, and it's creating a liability."

The reason: The "Quaker Crossing Strip Mall" on Milestrip Road is unsafe for pedestrians.

What? Unsafe for pedestrians? Where people may have to walk? 

Surely you jest.

Isn't this a bit contrary to what we've been told (and sold) regarding development of this unique, architecturally superb, upscale, state-of-the-art, meticulously-planned and landscaped, low-impact retail and entertainment destination?

Well, take note of these startling revelations:

"Lacking sidewalks to connect the long distances between its stores, the plaza is designed for cars, not pedestrians."

"It's not a walking delight. In a mall, buildings are clumped together - this is a spread-out strip mall."

"Town requirements have shaped the plaza's car-oriented design."

"Requirements for green space and extra-wide parking slots leave little room for pedestrian amenities like crosswalks."

These amazing statements are not the historical observations of a few "noisy citizens from the north side of Town."

According to the Buffalo News, they came from the developer himself.

Here's a link to the excellent Buffalo News article from Friday, September 5, 2008, written by Fred O. Williams entitled "Orchard Park's Quaker Crossing Bus Route Starts Under Protest (Plaza Owner Bars Service From Private Roads on Interior Part of Lot as Safety Measure)." http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/southernsuburbs/story/431368.html

Here's a .pdf version of the article for you as well: orchard-parks-quaker-crossing-bus-route-starts-under-protest-9-5-08.pdf

It appears that the developer may have thrown his own creation "under the bus" - along with a few certain past and present Town officials who, since 1996, have worked tirelessly to fast-track approvals for rezonings, landscape plans, and site plans for this development, to include numerous subsequent "phases" and out-parcels.

For some additional perspective of interest, here's a bit of background on the initial approval of Quaker Crossing, published here back on July 14, 2008, entitled "A Look Back at Our Town's Approval of Quaker Crossing": http://opfrontdoor.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/a-look-back-at-our-towns-approval-of-quaker-crossing/

At the very least, we have now been forewarned to be extra careful when "on foot", and can take that into consideration the next time we park our car in front of Target, or have the infrequent need to walk from store to store, or when we drop our kids off at Regal or Red Robin.

Perhaps one might have some curiosity as to whether the official Town Board proponent of and "liaison" to the Quaker Crossing "strip mall" agrees with any of these startling revelations.

Perhaps someone will ask.

Finally, as discussed in the News article, it's comforting to know that these same startling revelations are offered solely to advise us of a serious pedestrian public safety issue at the Quaker Crossing strip mall, and have nothing to do with bringing in "outsiders" via Metro Bus.

Oh - and one minor related item of note....

You may recall that there happens to be a proposed Wal-Mart Supercenter in the Town's development approval pipeline, planned for a 19-acre parcel of undeveloped land on Milestrip Road directly across the street (sold by a certain developer for $4.62 M), and which has often been referred to as "Quaker Crossing Phase III" or "Quaker Crossing South."

Reportedly, the project sponsor is (or perhaps was) close to completion and subsequent submittal of their Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) to the Town Board. Here's a link to the entire Wal-Mart DEIS Scoping document: http://www.orchardparkny.org/town/planning/docs/pdf/WalMart_Final_Scope_Document_2008.pdf

The scope of the DEIS' "Potentially Significant Impacts to be Addressed" includes the following:

"8. Public Transit and Pedestrian Access. Proposed project does not currently address its relationship to public transit and pedestrian access."

The DEIS scope recommends the following when addressing the impact:

"Project Sponsor should address concerns raised during the scoping session regarding pedestrian access and role of public transit to project site, with an analysis of pedestrian foot traffic and possible NFTA use of site as a bus stop."

Hmmm...

For your continued consideration.

En el año 2000 la Argentina fue informada por la Organización Mundial del Comercio que  la prohibición de facto a la exportación que venia aplicando sobre los cueros bovinos crudos y semiacabados (wet blue) desde 1996 era incoherente con sus obligaciones bajo el Artículo X:3(a) del GATT 1994, con el Artículo III:2, primera sentencia, del GATT 1994, no reunía los requisitos del paraguas de Artículo XX y no se justificaba, por consiguiente, en conjunto bajo el Artículo XX. 583

Esta decisión no tuvo en su momento la difusión que merece y tampoco resulta que haya sido objeto de traducción oficial.

El documento al que se accede a través del link es una traducción libre y resumen del documento oficial de la WTO redactado en ingles.  Se recomienda consultarlo en el idioma original descargándolo del sitio www.wto.org.

Texto

And the McCain campaign makes more baseless attacks and tells more lies

You decide: Who has substance?

hat tip: Daily Dish

And here is Anne Kilkenny's letter in full:

I am a resident of Wasilla, Alaska. I have known Sarah since 1992.
Everyone here knows Sarah, so it is nothing special to say we are on a
first-name basis. Our children have attended the same schools. Her
father was my child’s favorite substitute teacher. I also am on a
first name basis with her parents and mother-in-law. I attended more
City Council meetings during her administration than about 99% of the
residents of the city.

She is enormously popular; in every way she’s like the most popular
girl in middle school. Even men who think she is a poor choice and
won’t vote for her can’t quit smiling when talking about her because
she is a “babe”.

It is astonishing and almost scary how well she can keep a secret. She
kept her most recent pregnancy a secret from her children and parents
for seven months.

She is “pro-life”. She recently gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby.
There is no cover-up involved, here; Trig is her baby.

She is energetic and hardworking. She regularly worked out at the gym.

She is savvy. She doesn’t take positions; she just “puts things out
there” and if they prove to be popular, then she takes credit.

Her husband works a union job on the North Slope for BP and is a
champion snowmobile racer. Todd Palin’s kind of job is highly
sought-after because of the schedule and high pay. He arranges his
work schedule so he can fish for salmon in Bristol Bay for a month or
so in summer, but by no stretch of the imagination is fishing their
major source of income. Nor has her life-style ever been anything
like that of native Alaskans.

Sarah and her whole family are avid hunters.

She’s smart.

Her experience is as mayor of a city with a population of about 5,000
(at the time), and less than 2 years as governor of a state with about
670,000 residents.

During her mayoral administration most of the actual work of running
this small city was turned over to an administrator. She had been
pushed to hire this administrator by party power-brokers after she had
gotten herself into some trouble over precipitous firings which had
given rise to a recall campaign.

Sarah campaigned in Wasilla as a “fiscal conservative”. During her 6
years as Mayor, she increased general government expenditures by over
33%. During those same 6 years the amount of taxes collected by the
City increased by 38%. This was during a period of low inflation
(1996-2002).

She reduced progressive property taxes and increased a
regressive sales tax which taxed even food. The tax cuts that she
promoted benefited large corporate property owners way more than they
benefited residents.

The huge increases in tax revenues during her mayoral administration
weren’t enough to fund everything on her wish list though, borrowed
money was needed, too. She inherited a city with zero debt, but left it
with indebtedness of over $22 million. What did Mayor Palin encourage
the voters to borrow money for? Was it the infrastructure that she said
she supported? The sewage treatment plant that the city lacked? or a
new library?

No. $1m for a park. $15m-plus for construction of a
multi-use sports complex which she rushed through to build on a piece
of property that the City didn’t even have clear title to, that was
still in litigation 7 yrs later–to the delight of the lawyers
involved! The sports complex itself is a nice addition to the
community but a huge money pit, not the profit-generator she claimed it
would be. She also supported bonds for $5.5m for road projects that
could have been done in 5-7 yrs without any borrowing.

While Mayor, City Hall was extensively remodeled and her office
redecorated more than once.

These are small numbers, but Wasilla is a very small city.

As an oil producer, the high price of oil has created a budget surplus
in Alaska. Rather than invest this surplus in technology that will
make us energy independent and increase efficiency, as Governor she
proposed distribution of this surplus to every individual in the state.

In this time of record state revenues and budget surpluses, she
recommended that the state borrow/bond for road projects, even while
she proposed distribution of surplus state revenues: spend today’s
surplus, borrow for needs.

She’s not very tolerant of divergent opinions or open to outside ideas
or compromise. As Mayor, she fought ideas that weren’t generated by
her or her staff. Ideas weren’t evaluated on their merits, but on the
basis of who proposed them.

While Sarah was Mayor of Wasilla she tried to fire our highly respected
City Librarian because the Librarian refused to consider removing from
the library some books that Sarah wanted removed. City residents
rallied to the defense of the City Librarian and against Palin’s
attempt at out-and-out censorship, so Palin backed down and withdrew
her termination letter. People who fought her attempt to oust the
Librarian are on her enemies list to this day.

Sarah complained about the “old boy’s club” when she first ran for
Mayor, so what did she bring Wasilla? A new set of “old boys”. Palin
fired most of the experienced staff she inherited. At the City and as
Governor she hired or elevated new, inexperienced, obscure people,
creating a staff totally dependent on her for their jobs and eternally
grateful and fiercely loyal–loyal to the point of abusing their power
to further her personal agenda, as she has acknowledged happened in the
case of pressuring the State’s top cop (see below).

As Mayor, Sarah fired Wasilla’s Police Chief because he “intimidated”
her, she told the press. As Governor, her recent firing of Alaska’s top
cop has the ring of familiarity about it. He served at her pleasure
and she had every legal right to fire him, but it’s pretty clear that
an important factor in her decision to fire him was because he wouldn’t
fire her sister’s ex-husband, a State Trooper. Under investigation
for abuse of power, she has had to admit that more than 2 dozen
contacts were made between her staff and family to the person that she
later fired, pressuring him to fire her ex-brother-in-law. She tried to
replace the man she fired with a man who she knew had been reprimanded
for sexual harassment; when this caused a public furor, she withdrew
her support.

She has bitten the hand of every person who extended theirs to her in
help. The City Council person who personally escorted her around town
introducing her to voters when she first ran for Wasilla City Council
became one of her first targets when she was later elected Mayor. She
abruptly fired her loyal City Administrator; even people who didn’t
like the guy were stunned by this ruthlessness.

Fear of retribution has kept all of these people from saying anything
publicly about her.

When then-Governor Murkowski was handing out political plums, Sarah got
the best, Chair of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission: one
of the few jobs not in Juneau and one of the best paid. She had no
background in oil & gas issues. Within months of scoring this great
job which paid $122,400/yr, she was complaining in the press about the
high salary. I was told that she hated that job: the commute, the
structured hours, the work. Sarah became aware that a member of this
Commission (who was also the State Chair of the Republican Party)
engaged in unethical behavior on the job. In a gutsy move which some
undoubtedly cautioned her could be political suicide, Sarah solved all
her problems in one fell swoop: got out of the job she hated and
garnered gobs of media attention as the patron saint of ethics and as a
gutsy fighter against the “old boys’ club” when she dramatically quit,
exposing this man’s ethics violations (for which he was fined).

As Mayor, she had her hand stuck out as far as anyone for pork from
Senator Ted Stevens. Lately, she has castigated his pork-barrel
politics and publicly humiliated him. She only opposed the “bridge to
nowhere” after it became clear that it would be unwise not to.

As Governor, she gave the Legislature no direction and budget
guidelines, then made a big grandstand display of line-item vetoing
projects, calling them pork. Public outcry and further legislative
action restored most of these projects–which had been vetoed simply
because she was not aware of their importance–but with the unobservant
she had gained a reputation as “anti-pork”.

She is solidly Republican: no political maverick. The State party
leaders hate her because she has bit them in the back and humiliated
them. Other members of the party object to her self-description as a
fiscal conservative.

Around Wasilla there are people who went to high school with Sarah.
They call her “Sarah Barracuda” because of her unbridled ambition and
predatory ruthlessness. Before she became so powerful, very ugly
stories circulated around town about shenanigans she pulled to be made
point guard on the high school basketball team. When Sarah’s
mother-in-law, a highly respected member of the community and
experienced manager, ran for Mayor, Sarah refused to endorse her.

As Governor, she stepped outside of the box and put together of package
of legislation known as “AGIA” that forced the oil companies to march
to the beat of her drum.

Like most Alaskans, she favors drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife
Refuge. She has questioned if the loss of sea ice is linked to
global warming. She campaigned “as a private citizen” against a state
initiaitive that would have either a) protected salmon streams from
pollution from mines, or b) tied up in the courts all mining in the
state (depending on who you listen to). She has pushed the State’s
lawsuit against the Dept. of the Interior’s decision to list polar
bears as threatened species.

McCain is the oldest person to ever run for President; Sarah will be a
heartbeat away from being President.

There has to be literally millions of Americans who are more
knowledgeable and experienced than she.

However, there’s a lot of people who have underestimated her and are
regretting it.

CLAIM VS FACT
•“Hockey mom”: true for a few years
•“PTA mom”: true years ago when her first-born was in elementary
school, not since
•“NRA supporter”: absolutely true
•social conservative: mixed. Opposes gay marriage, BUT vetoed a bill
that would have denied benefits to employees in same-sex relationships
(said she did this because it was unconsitutional).
•pro-creationism: mixed. Supports it, BUT did nothing as Governor to
promote it.
•“Pro-life”: mixed. Knowingly gave birth to a Down’s syndrome baby
BUT declined to call a special legislative session on some pro-life
legislation
•“Experienced”: Some high schools have more students than Wasilla has
residents. Many cities have more residents than the state of Alaska.
No legislative experience other than City Council. Little hands-on
supervisory or managerial experience; needed help of a city
administrator to run town of about 5,000.
•political maverick: not at all
•gutsy: absolutely!
•open & transparent: ??? Good at keeping secrets. Not good at
explaining actions.
•has a developed philosophy of public policy: no
•”a Greenie”: no. Turned Wasilla into a wasteland of big box stores
and disconnected parking lots. Is pro-drilling off-shore and in ANWR.
•fiscal conservative: not by my definition!
•pro-infrastructure: No. Promoted a sports complex and park in a city
without a sewage treatment plant or storm drainage system. Built
streets to early 20th century standards.
•pro-tax relief: Lowered taxes for businesses, increased tax burden on
residents
•pro-small government: No. Oversaw greatest expansion of city
government in Wasilla’s history.
•pro-labor/pro-union. No. Just because her husband works union
doesn’t make her pro-labor. I have seen nothing to support any claim
that she is pro-labor/pro-union.

WHY AM I WRITING THIS?

First, I have long believed in the importance of being an informed
voter. I am a voter registrar. For 10 years I put on student voting
programs in the schools. If you google my name (Anne Kilkenny +
Alaska), you will find references to my participation in local
government, education, and PTA/parent organizations.

Secondly, I’ve always operated in the belief that “Bad things happen
when good people stay silent”. Few people know as much as I do because
few have gone to as many City Council meetings.

Third, I am just a housewife. I don’t have a job she can bump me out
of. I don’t belong to any organization that she can hurt. But, I am no
fool; she is immensely popular here, and it is likely that this will
cost me somehow in the future: that’s life.

Fourth, she has hated me since back in 1996, when I was one of the 100
or so people who rallied to support the City Librarian against Sarah’s
attempt at censorship.

Fifth, I looked around and realized that everybody else was afraid to
say anything because they were somehow vulnerable.

CAVEATS
I am not a statistician. I developed the numbers for the increase in
spending & taxation 2 years ago (when Palin was running for Governor)
from information supplied to me by the Finance Director of the City of
Wasilla, and I can’t recall exactly what I adjusted for: did I adjust
for inflation? for population increases? Right now, it is impossible
for a private person to get any info out of City Hall–they are
swamped. So I can’t verify my numbers.

You may have noticed that there are various numbers circulating for the
population of Wasilla, ranging from my “about 5,000″, up to 9,000. The
day Palin’s selection was announced a city official told me that the
current population is about 7,000. The official 2000 census count was
5,460. I have used about 5,000 because Palin was Mayor from 1996 to
2002, and the city was growing rapidly in the mid-90’s.

August 31, 2008

Here's how it works.  By taking the wretched, windblown, depressing, grey, and utterly dismal last week of December to create our new month, Funtober, we will help the world in ways you and I cannot yet imagine.  It would require an act of Congress, to be sure, but it could well be the smartest thing they've done in 10 years; sorry, make that 50 years.

• First, we get to play with all the cool stuff we got from Christmas,
• Second, there'll be no need to rush back to the stores on December 26th.  Hey, you now have an entire month before New Years to return those useless Christmas gifts.  Voila! 
• Third, suicides will plummet because there won't be any depressing week after Christmas in which to get depressed.  (Are you beginning to feel the magic here?)
• Fourth, it'll take the heat off my poor friends who don't celebrate Christmas.  During the Christmas Celebrations they'll be shopping for the upcoming Funtober Celebrations, celebrated all across the world. 
• And who, then, could overlook the financial impact of these added shoppers on the American Economy, eh?

Frequently Asked Questions About Funtober:

1. "How will you pay for Funtober, Congresswoman?"  Congressional Answer: "I give you my word that Congress will generate a wonderful tax rebate stimulus every Funtober, not just for this generation of Americans but for our children and our children's children." 
2. "Who will do all the hard work during Funtober, Congressman?"  Congressional Answer:  "Well, nobody, duh..." 
3. "Won't people be let down at the end of Funtober, Madame Speaker?"  Congressional Answer: "When we celebrate the end of Funtober on New Year's Eve, nobody will even notice.  Trust me." 

So, there you have it.  Even Congress will approve of Funtober.  I mean, when you consider all the Bills that pass through Congress now, how much crazier is this one?  I hope you have a happy Funtober this year.

Second reaction: If you live in Cranford, it's better to walk since the alternative is parking at Verizon and waiting for the Runnells handicapped shuttle buses (I wonder what the dialysis patients are doing today) and sitting in one of the tethered wheelchairs.

So we got there when Pat DiNizio was playing and he seemed annoyed (and understandably so) since there was another act paying on the main stage at high volume (not to mention something coming out by the BMX area) and made it even more distracting - maybe the WalMart Stage wasn't the brightest idea.

So I did what every responsible parent should do (and many, many did so DYFS can't lay a glove on me) and took my little one to hear Cracker. (I also brought hearing protection for the little one just in case, so there.)

I have to mention that Rick Proctor, Debbie Scanlon, and our pal Bette did not come across too well, Why do all three of them have to grab the mic for the intro? My favorite was Bette: "And now, CRACKERRRRRRRRR" like she was kinda liquored up.

I have the first two Cracker CDs...they are often sarcastic and have a sense of fun, which more bands could use (ala Teen Angst and Happy Birthday to Me, both of which they played). The kid spent two thirds of the show on my shoulders and thought they were great. I wouldn't disagree.

So when they finished up, we moved closer to the main stage with Everclear...thinking that even though they are a darker band, she wouldn't understand the lyrics well enough to care. And for the most part I was right.  For example, they played "Father of Mine" which is a bummer tale of abandonment and she thought it was a nice song about daddies.

But after lead singer Art dropped a couple of F bombs, and she started to fade since it was getting late, it was time to go.

Overall: WHERE DID ALL THESE COUNTY COPS COME FROM? There were dozens. The taxpayer in me looked at every light tower, every County Police Segway (WHAT THE HELL IS THAT FOR?), the event security guys, the shuttle bus drivers and shuddered to think what it is costing.

Bottom line is that if they do it, we'll still go, but I still think that this is so not a thing that government should do.

This summer, I successfully worked to build a portfolio of financial stocks that has the potential to be worth $100,000 if all the stocks again reach their 52-week highs.  Some stocks have been higher in recent times than their 52-week highs, but I didn’t want to get too crazy.  I multiplied the number of shares I have of all my stocks by their year-highs and added up all the numbers. 

Thankfully just 50 shares of Freddie Mac were included in this calculation because as of tomorrow, my $225 worth of FRE, which is down 50% from when I bought in anyway, will be worth $0.  Where’s the money going and why now?  Forbes.com cites the timing to “grumblings oversees” from China.  After all, China is funding our war with Iraq so we better keep them happy, right?  And the Asian markets open tomorrow. 

So Freddie and Fannie Mae will be bailed out by the American taxpayers (and shareholders) to keep China happy so that we can still get money from them to stay in Iraq.  Our tax dollars will go to help bail out bad mortgages (hey, the US is already trillions of dollars in debt, what’s another few billion?), to keep China happy, and to fund Iraq’s occupation.  Forget Christmas; Christmas for me has always been tax time.  Penciling in all those numbers into all those little boxes, looking up what a line means in the newspaper print tax book, licking the envelope and sending it to the office that handles the returns, watching my bank account for when the refunds are credited, and knowing that I did it all on my own has always been my kind of fun.  But you can bet this year I’ll be going to H&R Block.   

In afterhours trading on Friday, FRE fell 20% from $5.10 to $4.04, and I’m sure more people would have bailed given the chance.  Freddie Mac’s common share price will be all but entirely wiped out and some people stand to lose a whole lot of money.  One person on the Google message boards claimed to be in 7000 shares at a cost average of $5.51.  That’s a lot of money to lose over a weekend. 

For reasons I don’t yet understand, beside the fact that Freddie Mac often buys mortgages from other smaller banks, almost all of the other financials took a jump in Friday’s afterhours trading.  So I might not feel the loss of my $225 at all.  Still, I’d like to replace the stock with something else, and I’m very thankful that I never decided pick up more shares of Freddie Mac.  It was tempting, especially after the rally the stock has seen in the last week or two, but it would have added to the loss I’ll feel (or slightly feel) Monday morning.       

So now what?  Now I will need to find a stock that can potentially, based on its 52-week high and the number of shares I buy, return the $3,350 that I’ll lose on my 50 shares of FRE.  I’ve had my eye on Deerfield Capital (DFR), Community Bancorp (CBON), and yes, maybe even Triad Guarantee (TGIC) again.  Freddie Mac was a bet I lost, but so goes the game!

As reported today in the Daily Telegraph, if you live in the UK, your neighbours may have been recruited by the local council to report on you. They may be your very young neighbours.

Children as young as eight have been recruited by councils to "snoop" on their neighbours and report petty offences such as littering, the Daily Telegraph can disclose.

The youngsters are among almost 5,000 residents who in some cases are being offered £500 rewards if they provide evidence of minor infractions.

One in six councils contacted by the Telegraph said they had signed up teams of "environment volunteers" who are being encouraged to photograph or video neighbours guilty of dog fouling, littering or "bin crimes".

The "covert human intelligence sources", as some local authorities describe them, are also being asked to pass on the names of neighbours they believe to be responsible, or take down their number-plates.

Ealing Council in West London said: "There are hundreds of Junior Streetwatchers, aged 8-10 years old, who are trained to identify and report enviro-crime issues such as graffiti and fly-tipping."

Hundreds of Junior Streetwatchers. That's just the ones working for one council.

Don't confuse this with a neighborhood crime watch program. This is paying people to look into your garden to see if you have put your rubbish bins in the right place.

This comes at the same time that many councils are only collecting rubbish on a fortnightly basis, because they can not longer afford a weekly service, even though they are still collecting the same amount in council tax. Of course if rubbish has to be stored for twice as long, it is twice as likely that it will result in an infraction of local regulations - more money for the eight-year-old spies climbing over the fence for a peek.

This escalation in Britain's growing surveillance state follows an outcry about the way councils are using powers originally designed to combat terrorism and organised crime to spy on residents. In one case, a family was followed by council staff for almost three weeks after being wrongly accused of breaking rules on school catchment areas.

It also emerged last month that around 1,400 security guards, car park attendants and town hall staff have been given police-style powers including the right to issue on-the-spot fines for littering, cycling on the pavement and other offences.

Big Brother really is watching.

Let's take a look at reality shall we?. Seven years ago, the Republicans had control of the House, the Senate and the White House. They had already controlled the House and Senate for since 1996 and spent the four years between '96 and 2000 ranting about the poor family values of Bill Clinton instead of working on policy. Not before joining forces with Bill Clinton in deregulating the Mortgage industry and setting the stage for the biggest scam on the American people in it's history.

In 2000, they lowered taxes in a giant promotional campaign of elitist propaganda. The details were never really talked about because the biggest gains came primarily for those in the top economic brackets. They then wildly and irresponsibly expanded the deregulation of the financial markets. Oh yes, they gave us working stiffs a couple of "rebates" (always during election years) to keep us from digging any deeper into the con. They kept interest rates at a record low, so that banks would loan money, (and earn a shitload of interest) and then started to borrow an unimaginable amount of money, mainly from countries that really would like to see the American continent wiped off the face of the earth.

You and I will be paying the interest on those loans for generations. They turned a blind eye when banks and mortgage companies made loans to people without the resources to pay them back and smilingly touted the "ownership" society, often boasting about how robust the economy was doing and how "more people own homes today than at any time in American history". Have you been to Florida lately? How about Las Vegas, or the Central Valley of California?

This, my friends, is the economic elite version of the three card monty. It's the beautiful shell game of Wall Street and the global uber-wealthy, but instead of losing $5 dollars to a con artist on the street corner, the USA was on the fast track to losing it's footing at the edge of a cliff.

Today, the piper is being paid, again with your tax dollars. Bailouts of investment bankers, mortgage companies and Wall Street scam artists and just tonight, on a Friday of course, the bailout of Fanny Mae and Freddie Mac. The CEO's of these companies have lifetime health benefits (and we're not talking garden variety HMOs) and multi-million dollar retirement benefits. All because they made their company, some politicians and themselves very wealthy, very fast and then drove it into the ground. The secretaries, janitors and low to mid level employees who busted their asses for their so called leaders are now looking for non-existent jobs. The CEO's on the other hand are purchasing the homes that were foreclosed on and renting them out to...well....you.

Beware!!! The Devil Obama is going to raise your taxes!!!!!! Well, that is true...if you happen to make over $250,000. per year.

If you're reading this, you probably don't make over $250,000 per year, and I'd be willing to bet that you know how many homes you own...or that your spouse owns.

Now, the economy is largely based on consumer spending. That means that our trips to the grocery store and the gas station (food and energy were taken out of the inflation index during the Reagan years) and Target drive the economy.

So, what happens when we lose our jobs? We can't spend money, and the economy slows down. What happens when inflation outpaces our cost of living increases? Our standard of living goes down. What happens when the dollar slides against the Euro or the Yen? It means that other countries can buy our products cheaper than they can in their own country. Hallelujah!!!! They buy the stuff we make!!!!...Oh...I forgot, we don't make a heck of a lot of stuff anymore. So what do they buy? They buy our companies, they buy our airports, they buy our freeways, they buy our office and apartment buildings. Hallelujah!!!! This is fantastic if you happen to own a 50 story office tower or 20 50 unit apartment buildings. Not so fantastic if you are like most Americans and own the one home that you live in.

Today unemployment is up above 6 percent, not counting the people who have given up trying to find a job. If you factor that in, you're probably talking in the mid 7 percentage bracket.

The Republicans tell us that if we raise taxes on the top 10 percent, that we won't have job creation.
Well, that's another falsehood. Most of the jobs in this country are in small businesses. I have a small business myself. I don't make over $250,000 a year, so my taxes won't be going up under Obama's plan. Nor will they be going down under McCain's plan. A very small amount of small business owners make $250,000 per year and under McCain's plan, I won't be able to hire more employees. They tell you I will, but the numbers don't even come close to adding up.

They want you to believe that more jobs will be created with his insurance policy. He wants to privatize all insurance and deregulate the labor laws so that large businesses no longer must provide health benefits.

This means that you will be paying your own health benefits. "You'll have CHOICE!!!" they tell you. The talking point goes something like this. Without the expense of having to pay employee insurance benefits, they will hire more people. Yes, in some cases this may be true, but in most cases, it will mean that the CEO will simply be able to purchase that BMW for their kid to drive to a private school (isn't that elitist?). But you will have a VOUCHER!!!! More FREEDOM OF CHOICE!!!!. That voucher won't pay for dick.

So...Promote Home Schooling!!!! It's big on their agenda. Why? Because it's damn cheap...that's why..and THEY don't have to pay for it. You will. Instead of your tax dollars paying for your kids school, it will pay to help Halliburton move to Dubai...where they don't have to pay taxes and can get that cheap Indian labor.

They make you shiver in fear about universal health care. This line of B.S. goes something like this.
"Do you want your health care decided by a bureaucrat in Washington DC?!!!". Well, under privatized insurance, who do you think determines the quality of your health care? A bureaucrat working for a publicly owned company who's mission in life is to save the company money so that it looks better to Wall Street and they can sell more stock to Saudi Arabia. The mission of an insurance company IS to cut cut their costs...that means...your benefits and getting rid of more employees. They could give a damn about your health as long as they make their quarterly earnings statement. Most likely, that cousin of yours who makes a living crunching numbers for the insurance company will be losing their job to a kid in China making $30 per day. Your brother in law who sells insurance? He'll be gone before long...they'll sell you insurance through "the googles" on the "internets".

But, they will tell you..."we'll give you the choice you deserve". What they don't tell you is that the choice is between paying for your ever increasing insurance premiums, or paying for your kid's college tuition, or even more likely, the school you will have to go to since your job was outsourced to China or Dubai...funded by the corporate welfare that you paid for.

This is the trickle down economic policy of the Republicans. You DO realize that we all cannot be CEOs..there DOES have to be someone DOING something at the company.

Or...we can just start another war and instead of asking us to sacrifice for the country...we can "go shopping".
They would LOVE that.

And THAT my friends, is why I am not voting for John McCain and the woman who would be the supreme leader of the great western theocracy.

What kind of change are you looking for?   

[vodpod id=ExternalVideo.682157&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

It's the season for Alaskans to be rewarded just for living here and this year's take is extra sweet: $3,269, a record share of the state's oil wealth combined with a special cash payout to help with stratospheric energy prices.

The one-time energy boost was proposed by Gov. Sarah Palin in May and approved by state lawmakers last month.

"The royalty dollars that flow through the state are the people's wealth," said Parnell. "The $1,200 resource rebate goes to that philosophy."

In addition to the $1,200 payments, the Legislature also approved Palin's proposal to suspend the state's 8-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax for a year.

Past dividend payments ranged from $331 to $1,963 in 2000. Last year's payout was $1,654. People must live in Alaska one calendar year to qualify.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/05/alaskans-to-receive-state-payouts-topping-3200/

And looking at Sarah Palin records they tell you that she will fight for the American people as she has for Alaskans!  Thats what Obama and Joe Biden is afraid of.  People the lower 48 states could be benefiting from off-shore oil drilling now like the Alaskans are if only Bill Clinton had not veto the off-shore drilling bill years ago!  Think about it!  More oil, lower prices and getting money back from the sell of our own oil!  Vote John McCain/ Sarah Palin ticket!  The democrats want to raise your taxes, no off-shore drilling and no nuke power plants!  Obama will force many businesses to close their doors and putting more people on welfare.