Al Jazeera English - What Alaskans think of Sarah Palin for US presidency

[Amerigo Vespucci]

Run time: 02:37 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZe5Plxg7bY   Posted on YouTube: November 26, 2010 By YouTube Member: AlJazeeraEnglish Views on YouTube: 2440   Posted on DU: November 27, 2010 By DU Member: Amerigo Vespucci Views on DU: 1119

 

[otohara]

1. Stop The Liberalism

....can't watch, I tried.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

2. That was pretty much the first half of the clip...

...in the second half, some people...a few reluctantly...expressed their displeasure with her status as a quitter.

[rsmith6621]

4. You Did Not Listen..

...THE QUITTER

[Cartoonist]

3. Alaska was free

I like the comment about how tired we are about government spending. It was government spending that bought us Alaska. Russia didn't give it to us.

These teabaggers always make me want to smack them for being so stupid even though I know nothing Will help them.

[WhoIsNumberNone]

5. Government spending is OK when you are buying new territory

It's when you spend money on sick people or poor people or education that it's bad.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

11. Or when your senator brings in tons of federal funds

Senator-for-Life Ted Stevens was known for his ability to direct federal tax dollars to Alaskan projects, all while appearing to be against "earmarks." There is a huge difference between what Alaskans pay in federal taxes and what they get back from the government that they hate so much.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

6. it is still government spending that pays every man, women & child annually to live in Alaska

in 2008 the Palin household alone was paid $34,000.... thats pretty a nice gift to get each years eh?

the amount varies year to year but not by much...hey 7 x's $3,269.00 free money ain't to shabby eh?

[Goldstein1984]

7. Actually, the Permanent Fund Dividend isn't "government money"

It's money (revenue) taken from the oil industry and invested on behalf of the people of Alaska. Part of the earnings go into a savings account for the future, and part is distributed to all Alaskans. It's fundamental principle is the Alaska Constitution's requirement that resources be developed for the benefit of all Alaskans. That is, it's the people's share of the oil revenue, and it's a perfectly sound socialist program.

I live here. You can see Wasilla from my front porch. I don't like Palin, and I've never watched any of her program. I don't know any Alaskan who has, but I live in Eagle River, not Wasilla. My wife, an Inuit, calls Wasilla "a town full of pissed-off white people." Of course Wasillites support Palin.

It isn't "free money." The oil companies are extracting a resource that can only be extracted once. Those resources belong to Alaskans, and we deserve compensation for them. Those Permanent Fund checks are probably the only benefit my grandchildren will ever enjoy from the oil being pumped.

Palin was actually a halfway decent governor who stood up to the oil industry on some key issues. That's more than I can say to two previous Democratic Alaska governors. Palin just turned to shit when she tasted national celebrity. She's a joke here. I wish I could say she was seen that way South of Sixty.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

8. Thank you for enlightening me about the Permanent Fund Dividend .

[Goldstein1984]

10. Lot's of people misunderstand Alaska

For example, they like to point out that Alaska receives about twice back from the federal government than its citizens pay in federal taxes. But we also have four major military bases in Alaska, and more than half the state is "federal property." And "the Feds" are very intrusive and abusive. For example, they enforce federal laws against marijuana use and possession in a state with a constitution that allows possession and use of several ounces.

I've been harrassed on BLM land while collecting insects by a BLM land manager carrying a .40 S&W demanding to know what I was collecting and why. I told him the truth, which was, "I don't have to answer your questions." (I was collecting wasps for a research project I'm doing, and I would have told anybody with better manners and a better attitude.) He went away, probably only because I was carrying a .44 magnum and we were a long way from his support system.

Most real Alaskans (the ones staying, not the ones just passing through for a paycheck) would be happy to trade away the federal dollars in exchange for more self-determination.

When you watch the Olympics, you can always tell the Alaskan's in the crowd. They're the ones waving Alaska flags instead of American flags.

It's annoying to be viewed as a parasite when you think of yourself as a colony.

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

12. And someone always wants to break the Permanent Fund up and divide it

"Screw future generations -- we want ours now!" Fortunately cooler heads (no pun intended) have prevailed.

[Turborama]

9. K&R I thought it was a good report

It exposed the mindset behind her original success.