The real world of Sarah Palin
 

What a hoot...

Sarah Palin has long sold herself as a fiscal conservative, arguing
against the Democrats' health overhaul on the grounds that the nation
simply can't afford it.

But when the former vice presidential candidate resigned as governor
of Alaska in the summer of 2009, she left the state with a 70 percent
debt-to-GDP ratio -- the highest state debt burden in the United
States.

That's according to data compiled by the Washington Independent's
Megan Carpentier, who notes that Alaska has a debt burden similar to
"that of Jordan and Palin’s favorite health care resource, Canada,
and a higher ratio than Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, India, the Philippines
or Uruguay."

By comparison, crisis-stricken California has a debt ratio of less
than 40 percent. All the more confounding about Alaska's debt is the
fact that it is an oil-producing region with a small population to
share in that wealth. Oil-rich Alberta, Canada, for example, collects
no sales tax and still managed to retire its debt entirely in 2004.

While Alaska's massive debt burden can't be blamed entirely on Palin's
two-and-a-half-year stint as governor, she did face similar debt
problems while mayor of Wasilla, and those appear to be of her own
making.

Wasilla's municipal debt went from around $1 million when she came in
to office, to around $22 million when she left, mostly as a result of
the construction of a sports arena and public works projects
championed by Palin.

While Alaska's debt load is high by the standards of US states, it's
worth noting some nations have considerably higher debt loads. Japan,
for example, is carrying a debt load of more than 190 percent of GDP;
Greece, recently hit by a debt crisis, has a 108 percent debt-to-GDP
ratio.

The debt load for the US federal government clocked in at around 53
percent in 2009; the debt is expected to increase to 68.5 percent by
2014.



She was famous for sending stipends to the citizens of Alaska, while
the state was sinking further in debt.

She's easily as conservative as GW Bush.