FOLLOW THE MONEY

NOTE: This article was originally published on a different site. Both the article and the writer have been removed from that site involuntarily. I do, however, understand the reasons for it, and I expected it.

I think it is important for the writing to be read; therefore, I am posting it here.


On August 29, 2008, when Senator and presumptive Republican Nominee for President of the United States made the announcement of his choice to serve as his Vice President should he be elected, many people, including this writer, said, “Who did he say? Who is she?” The Alaska Democratic Party must have immediately reached for their phones to call the DNC headquarters to say, “Watch out for this one! She could steal this whole show!”

Why would they feel that way? Simple; they knew that she would shake up “politics as usual” in the campaign and could feasibly garner enough support to place Senator John McCain in the White House and herself as President of the Senate.

The wheels inside the heads of the Democratic Party leaders were spinning out of control. They had to stop this woman; but how? The normal “look at the record” wouldn’t hold water with this successful and highly popular Governor because she had been successful as a small-tow mayor and in her first year as Governor of Alaska.

She took office on December 4, 2006, the youngest and first woman Governor in Alaska’s history of Statehood beginning on January 3, 1959, when President of the United State, Dwight D. Eisenhower, signed the official declaration.

She got to work right away doing what she has done since her inauguration; working to insure that Alaskans were receiving the best possible representation at all levels of Alaskan government. She replaced 2 last minute board appointments her predecessor had made to the ANGDA (Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority) with Alaskans who she said would provide “objectivity and new energy” to the board.

Calling the purchase impractical and unwise (for reasons including the requirement of long, paved runways), the Governor ordered the Department of Public Safety Commissioner, Walt Monegan, to place the jet purchased by former Governor Murkowski for sale on eBay.

She directed the Department of Transportation and Public Facilities to terminate the construction contract for an 11-mile stretch of one-lane road to begin the Lynn Canal Highway stating that this one-lane road would not serve the best interest of Alaska and Alaskans.


In December of 2007, Governor Palin petitioned the U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protections to reconsider its interpretation of a maritime law (written in 1886) which could damage the Alaskan tourism industry by requiring cruise ships between the U.S. West Coast and Hawaii to spend at least half as much time in foreign ports as they did in all U.S. ports of call. This, in Governor Palin’s view would force cruise lines to significantly reduce the amount of time they were allowed to spend in Alaska ports with the end result being that hundred of millions of dollars a year would be removed from the Alaska economy.

Governor Palin released her budget for fiscal year 2008 with the following budget priorities:
• Fully funded K-12 education foundation formula including $35 million appropriated by the past year’s Legislature and adding an additional $200 million to cover increased retirement costs.

• Reinstated the longevity bonus for seniors who had been prematurely cut from the program.

• Funding to assist local governments and provided full funding for Power Cost Equalization

• Increased Alaska Public Office Commission (APOC) enabling an investigator to be hired.

• Repeal of the studded tire tax

• Saved money toward Alaska’s future.

• Proposed to deposit Fiscal Year 2007 and 2008 surplus into the constitutional Budget Reserve.

• Proposed to deposit $1.3 billion from the Permanent Fund Earnings Reserve into the overall Permanent Fund.

Although she may have disagreed personally, Governor Palin followed the dictates of the Alaska Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court by signing HB4002 providing for same-sex benefits.

The governor vetoed HB4001 which would have been unconstitutional in light of HB4002.

Then she prepared for her second month in office.

This is the candidate the Democratic Party feared in the election of 2008. It appears from accomplishments merely in her first month in office that they were justified in feeling this way.

The Democrat National Committee (DNC) found a way to oppose her by providing money donated by Democratic supporters to the Alaska Democratic Party to be used to promote Democratic candidates for office in Alaska as well as mount an unprecedented campaign of negativity towards Governor Palin, including Obama’s Mythbusters discussed previously by this author. (See OBAMA’S MYTHBUSTERS,posted elsewhere on this site.

As mentioned in the previous article, from the time period from February 7, 2007 – December 19, 2007, $49,784.00 was added to the Alaska Democratic Party coffers by the DNC. From January 3, 2008 – December 23, 2008, the amount increased substantially to $2,443,633.00 with almost half that amount, $1,075,252.00, coming from August 29, 2008 – November 30, 2008.

I selected four states randomly, Montana, Ohio, California and Texas, for comparison purposes.


Montana Democrats received the following amounts:
February 6, 2007 – November 5, 2007 - $ 41,361.00
January 3, 2008 – December 20, 2008 - $1,290,986.00
August 29, 2008 – October 25, 2008 - $ 921,585.00

Ohio received increases for approximately the same time periods as Montana:
January 25, 2007 – December 29, 2007 - $ 275,549.00
January 3, 2008 – December 23, 2008 - $10,078,446.00
August 29, 2008 – December 23, 2008 - $ 7,407,882.00

California, a typically Democrat state, tallied this way:
February 26, 2007 – November 5, 2007 - $180,852.00
January 3, 2008 – December 20, 2008 - $354,422.00
August 29, 2008 – December 20, 2008 - $271,692.00

Texas, normally a Republican stronghold, records these amounts:
February 7, 2007 – December 4, 2007 - $149,887.00
February 5, 2008 – December 9, 2008 - $897,124.00
August 29, 2008 – December 9, 2008- $743,867.00

Once again, let’s view Alaska’s DNC participation:
February 7, 2007 – December 19, 2007 - $ 49,784.00
January 3, 2008 – December 23, 2008 - $2,443,633.00
August 29, 2008 – November 30, 2008 - $1,075.252.00

In conclusion, we must ask if an expected increase in funding for the Presidential election will account for the percentage of the yearly amounts for 2008 being provided by the DNC to these five states alone being as large as they are for the time period following Governor Palin’s selection. (Montana – 71%; Ohio – 73%; California – 76%; Texas – 82%; Alaska – 44%)

During the Congressional Election of 2008, Alaska had only two viable Democrat candidates seeking office. One was Mark Begich, seeking (and successful) in vying for the U.S. Senate seat held by Senator Ted Stevens; the other was the unsuccessful campaign of Democrat Ethan Berkowitz opposing Republican Don Young (incumbent) for Alaska’s District 01 seat.

Are we expected to believe that all of the $1,075,252.00 that Alaska accounts for from the DNC went to these two candidates alone? Each of the two candidates seemed to have done just fine raising money on their own. That returns us to the question that continues to remain unanswered: How much of this money has been paid to Democratic operatives for continued and unceasing attacks including the 16 ethics charges which have been brought against Governor Sarah Palin since her introduction as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate?