So who's going to buy/read Palin's book (Houston: payments, grocery)

[Grannysroost]

Originally Posted by starlite9

NOOOOO.... Not more Palin photos!!!!

For sure, all that drool from the other side could cause a tidal wave...

[Metlakatla]

I think we need to start a thread where we can all post our Christmas lists for CC. Otherwise he'll just forget....

[Grannysroost]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

I think we need to start a thread where we can all post our Christmas lists for CC. Otherwise he'll just forget....

Is the forgetfulness like selective hearing with children, or more on the line of Alzheimers, dementia...getting on up there?

PS. Crunchie poo...I do not want a SP book.., but then you could convince Met to make some of her famous truffles you rave about, purchase them for a nice profit for her and send some

[Metlakatla]

OK I will start a thread so that there is no question about what we all want for Christmas from CC.

And hopefully that thread will be made into a sticky.

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Ray, I think you know that I'm basically pro-life. But it also seems to me that a lot of conservatives also don't want to pay for a child born to a single mother (welfare, if you will, which is really only a small part of the federal budget), as well as not wanting federal funding to go to abortion preventatives.

That's true, too. But I remember living in the inner city (Big Apple), and some welfare mothers having abortions all the time, specially young mothers, so it's a 2-edge sword. Also a lot of working people would have abortions because a child would have been an inconvenience.

In my view it would be nicer for a lot of the women mentioned above to allow for adoptions instead of Abortions, but as you may already know, there is an abortion market in the US, and adoptions have been made expensive and sometimes troublesome for some people. A lot of Americans prefer to adopt overseas because of the adoption hurdles in the US.

[Marty Van Diest]

Originally Posted by Metlakatla

Ray, I think you know that I'm basically pro-life. But it also seems to me that a lot of conservatives also don't want to pay for a child born to a single mother (welfare, if you will, which is really only a small part of the federal budget), as well as not wanting federal funding to go to abortion preventatives.

This troubles me as well. I'm conflicted on this issue. I think a single mother should be able to stay home and raise their kids rather than send them to a day care to raise them while she works as a cashier at the local grocery.

But we have messed up a little by so easily letting the Dad off the hook and accepting as a society the responsibility for supporting that child. I think their should be a lien against the Dad for the total amount of welfare payments to the mother for that child.

We get on the "welfare moms" but let the dead beat dads off the hook.

[oneyear]

Originally Posted by Marty Van Diest

This troubles me as well. I'm conflicted on this issue. I think a single mother should be able to stay home and raise their kids rather than send them to a day care to raise them while she works as a cashier at the local grocery.

But we have messed up a little by so easily letting the Dad off the hook and accepting as a society the responsibility for supporting that child. I think their should be a lien against the Dad for the total amount of welfare payments to the mother for that child.

We get on the "welfare moms" but let the dead beat dads off the hook.

That makes good sense, about the same as most people expect.

[oneyear]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

You are correct. Not too many Americas like her, for she has only sold 700K books in one week.

You think that is good? Have you actually sat down with your wife and familty and discussed the conscectiones of your thoughts? No of course you didn't

[Pressing-On]

In reading Sarah's book, Going Rogue, I found a part that especially expresses how I view her. Incidentally, Rush is right, it's a great policy book!

I have a few more quotes that I want to share after I locate them. I'm really enjoying this book!

The two sides of Sarah Palin:

Sarah Palin - the executive:

My feeling was that not only did PPT (Petroleum Profits Tax) need the absolute attention of the legislators, Alaskans needed to know the details weren't buried in the politics and lifestyle of a normal legislative session.

Throughout the summer, the revenue and natural resources team discussed the clearest way to put a value on our resources. We poured over options. One idea was to scrap PPT entirely and create a more transparent valuation system based on a formula that was clearly understandable and would increase public confidence. We needed to improve the state's audit function, enabling us to obtain forward-looking cost data from producers. We also felt it was critical to introduce economic information sharing between the departments of revenue and natural resources and the Alaska public, something that was sorely lacking under PPT.

After my astute team of experts put their heads together, we arrived at an entirely new way of calculating Alaska's share of revenue derived from resource development: a hybrid system that included a minimum tax on gross receipts for the North Slope's oil fields, plus part of a net profits tax to encourage new development and reinvestment in existing infrastructure via incentives we'd provide entrepreneurs keen on new exploration. It allowed for tax credits on future work, restricted captial expense deductions to scheduled maintenance, and implemented strong audit and information-sharing provisions. The new formula would incentivize the industry to produce more, while protecting the public.

Just Sarah - down to earth:

If that kind of explanation makes your eyes cross, it's because we didn't yet have a catchy name for our proposal. Everything in government attracts an obligatory acronym, it seems, so we figured the one assigned to this plan might as well be memorable and positive. Political terms are meant to paint a picture. For example, liberals prefer the term "social justice" over "welfare" and why conservatives prefer "marriage protection" amendment over "gay marriage ban".

Thought this was funny.

Women have raced too, and someday they'll win. "I really want to run the Iron Dog," I cockily told Todd one night as he settled down for a few hours rest between 120-mph training rides by himself in the middle of the night.

"Can you wrench your own machine?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Can you get the back end of a six-hundred-pound machine unstuck by yourself with open water up to your thighs, then change out an engine at forty below in the pitch black on a frozen river and replace thrashed shocks and jury-rig a suspension using tree limbs along the trail?"

"Nope."

"Then go back to sleep, Sarah."

Some honesty:

The truth was, I had let the heat of politics get in the way of family. Faye would never have done that to me. In fact, even though we disagree on some issues, when I later ran for VP, she worked incredibly hard for John McCain and me, traveling around the nation to campaign for us. She and Jim helped lead successful efforts in some of the western states. But that's what politics can do to you if you don't catch yourself: the heat of battle causes a little core of self-centeredness to harden in your heart, so subtly that you're not even aware of it.

With my background, I understood the concerns of all the parties: as a free-market capitalist I understood the bottom line for the oil producers, as the spouse of an oil worker I understood the Slopers and their families' reliance on oil jobs; as a mayor I understood the communities' dependence on oil's economic contributions; as a lover of the land I understood as well the environmentalists' and Alaska Natives' concerns.

Any corporate CEO is tasked with looking out for the bottom line. My business was to look out for Alaskan's bottom line. Our state Constitution stipulates that the citizens actually own our natural resources. Oil companies would partner with Alaskans to develop our resources, and the corporations would make decisions based on the best interests of their shareholders, and that was fine. But in fulfillment of my oath, I would make decisions based on the best interests of our shareholders, the people of Alaska.

As new Governor:

"I won't pretend to have all the answers," I told them, "and I won't micromanage you. You guys are the experts, that's why I want you here."

Other quotes:

My campaign (Alaskan Governor) theme of "change" was palpable and sincere, and we walked the walk every day of the race. While never pretending to have all the answers - which of course is a change in itself - I made it clear to voters that I would gather the information I needed and base my decisions on principle and sound ideas, not cronyism or political expediency. I ran on my record as an executive and told Alaska voters that I would govern according to conservative principles, and if I were to err, it would be on the side of those principles.

I couldn't have disagreed more. For one thing, my opponents had no executive experience. And I didn't think legislative experience constituted any greater preparation, particularly in a state legislature where the trading of favors seemed to run through the ventilation system as a substitute for air.

In local politics, your constituents are your neighbors, family, friends, and sometimes even your enemies. You see them at the grocery store, the post office, and the hockey rink. Often politicians who make it to the state and national office forget that those good people - the gas station mechanic, the local farmer, the scores of mom-and-pop shop owners who form the backbone of our economy- put them into office, and they are the ones who should be at the forefront of our minds.

Therefore, in crafting what would become the landmark Alaska Gasline Inducement Act, or AGIA, we promised to reimburse up to $500 million in matching funds for the exclusive gasline license.

Throughout the process, it was our goal to take one of the state's most historic - and most technical, buzzworded, boring-to-read - bills and boil it down to the common sense level - because that's my world. We had to articulate clearly and simply what we were doing so that Alaskans could trust us to do it right. While our gasline team crunched away on the technical issues and lawyers, economists, scientists, consultants and specialists from around the world provided drafts of potential language, the communications team - Marty, Bruce, Meg and I - would cut to the chase like Ronald Regan used to do and just talk to the people in plain language.

Politically Juneau always had a reputation for being a lot like Animal House: drinking and bowling, drunken brawls, countless affairs, and garden-variety lunchtime trysts. It's been known at times to be like a frat house filled with freshman away from their parents for the very first time. At other times, the capital city's underside was even darker: clandestine political liaisons and secret meetings, unethical deeds and downright illegal acts. When the legislative session begins, the good and decent people who live in Juneau can witness some of these extracurricular pursuits at places like the Red Dog Saloon and the Baranof Hotel. Others around the state read about them in the newspaper gossip columns. During the 2006 gubernatorial race, the FBI handcuffed a number of lawmakers.

In short, it was a lot like Washington, D.C.

One animal rights group recruited a perky, pretty celebrity to attack our scientifically controlled, state-managed wolf-control program. It was ironic that she opposed using guns to kill predators that would cause Native people to starve, but apparently not opposed to taking movie roles in which she'd use guns to kill predatory people.

The national GOP gambled away the progress of the Regan years. Perhaps they meant well, but it looked to me as if they thought they could achieve a permanent majority by compromising their principles. In the end, they lost both.

It was a bit surreal to go from a big state office and all the trappings of power to just a kitchen table. But being out of power can be very liberating.

Take an example: from this tiny apartment, I watched debates unfold in Washington, and I used my Facebook page to call things like I saw them.

These posts had an impact, and it made me think, Isn't Facebook a terrific illustration of the power of American ingenuity?

I can't help but think of Michigan - the state where I "went rogue" trying to reach out to during the campaign. Some of the people of Michigan are hurting the most right now in our economic downturn.

Michigan is a good example of why we must stand up and not give up! We must fight for reform and fight to reclaim these places suffering under the weight of decades of failed big-government policies - the very polities that now threaten to overtake us all. We can't abandon Michigan and places like it. We're Americans. We don't give up on each other......

I've been asked a lot lately, "Where are you going next?" Good question! I'll be heading home to Alaska, of course. Back to that kitchen table......I'm thinking when I get back I'll bake the kids a cake. And I'll pull out a road map - I want to show Piper the way to Michigan.

President Obama has reminded us that our security depends in part on reaching out to other nations. I certainly agree, and I respect his leadership on this. But it is not in our best interests or the interests of the peace-loving nations of the world for America to project weakness to terrorists or tyrants.

That's why I believe that the best way to avoid a fight is to be ready to fight. That sentiment is expressed in the simple yet profound motto on the seal of the USS Ronald Reagan: "Peace through Strength."

The world will not be more peaceful if we retreat behind our borders; it will in fact be more dangerous and violent. We don't go looking for fights, but we're ready to face them if necessary. If we ever lose faith in our ideals, the world will be a darker place for those who love peace.

[blueflames50]

Originally Posted by oneyear

You think that is good? Have you actually sat down with your wife and familty and discussed the conscectiones of your thoughts? No of course you didn't

the what???? conscectiones???!!! ahhh spell check!!