Sarah Palin: Lame Duck President

“2012 can’t come soon enough.”
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Published just minutes ago by Governor Palin on her Facebook Notes page:

Lame Duck President

After listening to the President’s press conference today, let’s keep in mind the following:

This is the same president who proposed an absurdly irresponsible budget that would increase our debt by trillions of dollars, and whose party failed to even put forward a budget in over 800 days! This is the same president who is pushing our country to the brink because of his reckless spending on things like the nearly trillion dollar “stimulus” boondoggle. This is the same president who ignored his own debt commission’s recommendations and demonized the voices of fiscal sanity who proposed responsible plans to reform our entitlement programs and rein in our dangerous debt trajectory. This is the same president who wanted to push through an increase in the debt ceiling that didn’t include any cuts in government spending! This is the same president who wants to slam Americans with tax hikes to cover his reckless spending, but has threatened to veto a bill proposing a balanced budget amendment. This is the same president who hasn’t put forward a responsible plan himself, but has rejected reasonable proposals that would tackle our debt. This is the same president who still refuses to understand that the American electorate rejected his big government agenda last November. As I said in Madison, Wisconsin, at the Tax Day Tea Party rally, “We don’t want it. We can’t afford it. And we are unwilling to pay for it.”

Now the President is outraged because the GOP House leadership called his bluff and ended discussions with him because they deemed him an obstruction to any real solution to the debt crisis.

He has been deemed a lame duck president. And he is angry now because he is being treated as such.

His foreign policy strategy has been described as “leading from behind.” Well, that’s his domestic policy strategy as well. Why should he be surprised that he’s been left behind in the negotiations when he’s been leading from behind on this debt crisis?

Thank you, GOP House leaders. Please don’t get wobbly on us now.

2012 can’t come soon enough.

- Sarah Palin

Gov. Palin stands apart from the pack on negotiations

Tells GOP "Don't Retreat"
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As the clock counted down to the deadline to avoid a government shutdown Friday night, Sarah Palin, via Twitter, encouraged Republican Congressional leaders to stand firm, while at least two of her potential rivals for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination seemed to argue for caving on conservative principles to cut a quick deal. Michael Falcone of ABC News has the story:

"GOP: don't retreat! The country is going broke. We can't AFFORD cowboy poetry & subsidizing abortion," Palin tweeted [here and here]. "If we can't fight to defund this nonsense now when we have the chance, do you think we'll win the big fight on entitlement reform later on?"

Palin referred to an issue that both sides involved in the ongoing negotiations on Capitol Hill agree has been a major sticking point -- the debate over providing federal funding to the family planning group, Planned Parenthood.

[...]

Earlier today Palin posted a more than 800-word Facebook message, critizing President Obama for threatening to veto a one-week continuing resolution proposal that would have funded the Department of Defense for the rest of the fiscal year.

"Why would the Commander in Chief declare that he will veto this?" Palin wrote. "Why would he play politics at the expense of our troops who are putting everything on the line to protect us?"

Notably, some of Palin’s fellow possible 2012 presidential contenders appeared to be at odds with her Friday evening tweet, counseling GOP leaders on Capitol Hill that it’s time to cut a deal.

“I am ready for a big fight that will change the arc of history,” Rep. Michelle Bachmann, R-Minn., wrote on Twitter this afternoon. “The current fight in Washington is not that fight.”

Gov. Mike Huckabee, in an interview on Fox Business Network, recommended that Republicans make a deal and "live to fight another day." But talk show host Mark Levin sided with the 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, tweeting his approval:

"Gov. Sarah Palin: Right on! http://fb.me/WCllXsIf"

- JP

Sarah Palin: Commander in Chief’s Appalling Action with Our Troops

"Funding NPR is not a constitutional duty. Funding our military at a time of war is!"
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Gov. Palin took to Facebook Friday to admonish the president for his continued lack of leadership. Obama's latest outrage is his threat to veto a continuing budget resolution which would guarantee funding for our troops:

Commander in Chief’s Appalling Action with Our Troops

Yesterday the House passed H.R. 1363, which funds our Department of Defense and our military for the rest of the year at their current levels. It allows for the continuation of current military operations, which is pretty important when you’re fighting three wars. It also funds the government for another week and cuts $12 billion in wasteful spending. So why would the Commander in Chief declare that he will veto this? Why would he play politics at the expense of our troops who are putting everything on the line to protect us? Memo to the President: I doubt the insurgents will stop and wait for a government shutdown to end before resuming actions. You need to fund our troops, sir.

Like me, you might be asking yourself: Why on earth would he threaten to veto funding for the troops? What is his game plan? Basically, he’ll veto military funding because he wants the rest of the government funded too. And by the rest of the government, he means things like Harry Reid’s “Cowboy Poetry.” Essentially, he’s holding military funding hostage to NPR funding. This is a perfect analogy for what is wrong with this entire budget showdown. Our federal government has strayed so far from what is constitutionally mandated that they are blind to the fact that NPR funding is not a constitutional duty. Funding our military at a time of war is!

The House GOP does not want a shut down. They just want legitimate cuts (and I would argue not even enough!). If we can’t agree to cut a billion here and a billion there, we’ll never close this $1.5 trillion deficit.

Let’s look at the numbers. We have a $1.5 trillion deficit this year. We’re paying $200 billion a year on our interest alone. That’s half a billion dollars per day on interest. And our $1.5 trillion deficit means that we’re borrowing $4 billion per day just to keep afloat. So, we pat ourselves on the back if we cut a billion dollars here or a billion there in discretionary spending, as we borrow $4 billion a day and pay half a billion a day in interest. The deficit for the month of February alone was the highest in our history at $223 billion. That’s more than the entire deficit for the year 2007. And there’s no end in sight. We’re not heading towards the iceberg. We’ve already hit it. Now we’re taking on water. We must find a way to get back to harbor to repair our ship of state before it’s too late.

Where is President Obama in all of this? He just doesn’t get it. His 2012 budget was a signal of that. The President’s proposed budget offered higher taxes and higher spending. A budget is supposed to be more than just numbers crunched on a spreadsheet. It’s supposed to be a credible blueprint of a nation’s priorities and direction. The President’s budget was a political document. It was designed not to ruffle any feathers or take any decisive moves to deal with the deficit problem. Instead of cutting spending, he’s moving us in the opposite direction. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office reported that the White House was not telling the truth when they claimed that their 2012 budget reduces the deficit. It actually increases it. Instead of dealing with the hard realities we face, he just kicked the can down the road. That’s not leadership. That’s politics.

Real leadership means leading by example. It means showing an “all-in” commitment to tackling complex issues and putting in the time and effort to educate the American public. Right now the American people have not been educated about this major challenge we face. Keep in mind that perception often becomes reality, and the perception President Obama has repeatedly given off is that he can’t be bothered to deal with our debt crisis.

This is profoundly unfair to the American people. Throughout our history, we have proven again and again that we are strong enough and wise enough to do the right thing when we are properly informed. We can judge and make the tough choices when we are not spun by the media or the financial class or the political class. We the People can decide – if our leaders level with us honestly.

It’s about time the President step up to the plate and lead responsibly. Our troops who are putting themselves in harm’s way deserve a Commander in Chief who is not AWOL from the debt debate. The American people deserve a president who will take on the tough challenges and understand that funding “Car Talk” is not as crucial as funding our troops at a time of three wars.

2008 seems like such a long time ago, but 2012 is just around the corner. There is a leadership vacuum in the White House right now, but that’s nothing that another good old-fashioned election can’t fix.

- Sarah Palin

- JP

Gov. Palin on 'Justice with Judge Jeanine' Saturday

She will weigh in on the budget battle in DC
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From Fox News Insider:

What’s really going on behind closed doors? Rep. Ron Paul and former Governor Sarah Palin share insight on the budget battle with Judge Jeanine.

8 PM Texas Time

- JP

Sarah Palin: 'Leaderless govt bickers over cutting peanuts'

"...peanuts we don't even have."
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Gov. Palin via Twitter this afternoon:

"Presidential nonsense. MT"@ShannonBream: BREAKING! Pres will veto 1-week spending bill to avoid govt shutdown if Congress passes" So, now...$4T later, leaderless govt digs further debt, bickers over cutting peanuts - peanuts we don't even have. It's unsustainable! Let him shut it"

The two consecutive tweets combined above are here and here.

- JP

Gov. Palin offers praise for Rep. Paul Ryan's budget

"Serious & necessary"
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At The Hill's Blog Briefing Room, Jordan Fabian observes that via Twitter, Sarah Palin has expressed her support for House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan's budget proposal:

There is hope! Serious & necessary leadership rolls out serious & necessary reform proposal. Good start (from Dec. http://on.wsj.com/eP0Kwo)

[...]

Ryan's plan will slash $5.8 trillion from current spending levels over 10 years, but would not balance the budget for at least two decades. It also proposed huge reforms to Medicare and Medicaid that he said would save the programs, and that Democrats say would hurt the elderly and poor.

The Ryan proposal is likely to become part of the GOP's platform in 2012, regardless of who is the Republican Party's presidential nominee, according to NY Times columnist David Brooks. All eyes and ears are on Gov. Palin, who has made no secret of her interest in running for president in 2012, but has not yet announced whether she intends to run.

Related: Excellent analysis of Ryan budget plan by James Pethokoukis here.

- JP

Sarah Palin: The Truth Behind the White House’s Budget Spin

The fine print reveals a tax increase of $1.5 trillion over ten years
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Gov. Palin returned to Facebook after a two-week hiatus Monday with a critique of the Obama Administration's proposed budget, which will double the national debt over the next decade :

The Truth Behind the White House’s Budget Spin

Today the White House finally produced its proposal for the 2012 budget. Beware of the left’s attempt to sell this as “getting tough on the deficit,” because as an analysis from Americans for Tax Reform shows, the White House’s plans are more about raising taxes and growing more government than reducing budget shortfalls.

The fine print reveals a White House proposal to increase taxes by at least $1.5 trillion over the next decade. If you want to know how minuscule their proposed $775 million-a-year budget “cuts” really are, please look at this chart. The proposed cuts are so insignificant – less than 1/10 of 1% of this year’s $1.65 trillion budget deficit – that they are essentially invisible on the pie chart. That speaks volumes about today’s budget.

- Sarah Palin

UPDATE: As J.D. Foster of the Heritage Foundation points out: “...the President proposes a budget that keeps the federal government on a thoroughly irresponsible and unsustainable course.” Please read the Heritage Foundation article and understand the $775 million in proposed cuts noted above are what the White House’s budget director Jacob Lew identified as reflecting what they perceive as some “tough calls.” Yet, as noted, they are a drop in the bucket; and the White House’s total proposed cuts for this year are still not at all enough to make us solvent.

- JP

Gov. Palin: 'Signed budget; vetoed excess'

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin signed six appropriations bills today, including the FY2010 Operating Budget, the FY2010 Mental Health Operating and Capital Budget, the FY2009 Supplemental Bill, the Federal Economic Stimulus Bill, the FY2010 capital budget and a special appropriation for low-income energy assistance.

Gov. Palin vetoed $80.3 million in spending from four of the six appropriations bills using her line-item veto. She signed two bills - the mental health operating and capital budget and the energy assistance special appropriation - without applying her veto pen. Also getting the governor's ax was $28.6 million in federal stimulus money for energy projects.

On her Twitter page, Gov. Palin had tweeted, "Signed budget; vetoed excess; consistently confirmed local autonomy vs more control ceded to Fed govt."

"We submitted a responsible, fiscally conservative budget," Governor Palin said. "Given the current revenue outlook and economic conditions, we must focus on providing essential public services, while continuing to invest in communities and resource development that will fuel our economy in the future."

"I am pleased that legislators agreed with us on the importance of slowing the growth of government and focusing on key priority areas of life, safety, transportation, education and infrastructure. The legislature and administration worked hard to minimize the draw from savings at the end of the fiscal year. Our comprehensive review of the budgets confirmed that legislators made a concerted effort to reduce spending. In contrast to prior years, there were very few legislative additions to the budget."

"We have taken significant steps to slow government growth and achieve savings in the current fiscal year," Governor Palin said. "This administration takes fiscal responsibility seriously and reducing expenditures will extend the life of our savings accounts."

The full news release from the governor's office is here.

Media Coverage: The Anchorage Daily News headline reads, "Palin cuts $80 million from budget". The Juneau Empire headlined its story, "Palin vetoes $80.3 million from state budget, including energy funds". The Fairbanks News-Miner reported, "Palin rejects energy stimulus money from feds". KTUU titled its report (with video), "Palin signs budget, cuts $28M in federal stimulus".

Update: Another news release from the governor, in which she explains why she vetoed $28.6 million in federal stimulus funds for energy assistance.

- JP

Gov. Palin 'on message as a fiscal hawk'

Gov. Sarah Palin surprised Alaska lawmakers with her enthusiastically support for a move Thursday by the Senate Finance Committee to her capital projects budget by half a billion dollars. KTUU's Rhonda McBride reported that the governor's willingness to accept the cuts keeps her "on message as a fiscal hawk":



- JP