Wasillia bio of Palin

> ABOUT SARAH PALIN
>
> 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.
>
> Anne K.

That was amazing. That was way more than anyone has been able to put out there on her. I have a much clearer picture. Everyday I wonder more about the decision making process to have her as VP. I don't hate or fear McCain. I just don't agree with his plan or think he will be any different than what we have. But she scares me. And embarrasses me as a mother with a full time career. She is dangerous. I want the best person to win. I think she messes up the equation of a good race between two very different sides.

I am still here.

What's the source for this? Most of the facts are well known (at least now) and the vague "Anne K." signature smacks of chain e-mail.

It's not as outrageous and just flat out bullshit as the republican chain letters I see, but it just makes me suspicious.

Mars23 said:

> Dear friends,
>
> So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in the
> last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .
>
> Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in
> common: their gender and their good looks.
>
> You have my permission to forward this to your friends/email contacts
> with my name and email address attached, but please do not post it on
> any websites, as there are too many kooks out there . . .
>
> Thanks,
> Anne

I've done some of my own research, especially reading many stories on the local news from the time she was mayor. This bio above matches much of what I read.

Of all the astute multi-dimensional women in the Republican party, THIS is what he comes up with to convince swing voters and women supporters from the Hillary camp???

This is an insult to me. Palin can kiss my female, pro-choice ass.

SUPRMAN said:

Mars23 said:

What's the source for this? Most of the facts are well known (at least now) and the vague "Anne K." signature smacks of chain e-mail.

It's not as outrageous and just flat out bullshit as the republican chain letters I see, but it just makes me suspicious.

I deleted the full name. It was sent to someone who forwarded it to me from the author. The author didn't mind it being forwarded but had reservations about it being posted. So I deleted her name and her identifying email address.


> Dear friends,
>
> So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in the
> last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .
>
> Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in
> common: their gender and their good looks.
>
> You have my permission to forward this to your friends/email contacts
> with my name and email address attached, but please do not post it on
> any websites, as there are too many kooks out there . . .
>
> Thanks,
> Anne

Ottensen said:

Her full name is still in the article. I Googled it, just as she suggested, and this is what I found:

RodeoSchro said:

SUPRMAN said:

Mars23 said:

What's the source for this? Most of the facts are well known (at least now) and the vague "Anne K." signature smacks of chain e-mail.

It's not as outrageous and just flat out bullshit as the republican chain letters I see, but it just makes me suspicious.

I deleted the full name. It was sent to someone who forwarded it to me from the author. The author didn't mind it being forwarded but had reservations about it being posted. So I deleted her name and her identifying email address.


> Dear friends,
>
> So many people have asked me about what I know about Sarah Palin in the
> last 2 days that I decided to write something up . . .
>
> Basically, Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton have only 2 things in
> common: their gender and their good looks.
>
> You have my permission to forward this to your friends/email contacts
> with my name and email address attached, but please do not post it on
> any websites, as there are too many kooks out there . . .
>
> Thanks,
> Anne