OK Sarah, We need to talk (voters, Congress, interview, generations)

[Barkingowl]

WOTANGING IKCHE - Lakota - Common News VOLUME 16, ISSUE 038

- ABOUREZK:

Sarah Palin's Record on
Alaska Native and Tribal Issues

1. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Fishing
Perhaps no issue is of greater importance to Alaska Native peoples as
the right to hunt and fish according to ancient customary and traditional
practices, and to carry on the subsistence way of life for future
generations.
Governor Sarah Palin has consistently opposed those rights.
Once in office, Governor Palin decided to continue litigation that seeks
to overturn every subsistence fishing determination the federal government
has ever made in Alaska. (State of Alaska v. Norton, 3:05-cv-0158-HRH (D.
Ak).) In pressing this case, Palin decided against using the Attorney
General (which usually handles State litigation) and instead continued
contracting with Senator Ted Stevens' brother-in-law's law firm (Birch,
Horton, Bittner & Cherot).
The goal of Palin's law suit is to invalidate all the subsistence
fishing regulations the federal government has issued to date to protect
Native fishing, and to force the courts instead to take over the roll of
setting subsistence regulations. Palin's law suit seeks to diminish
subsistence fishing rights in order to expand sport and commercial fishing.
In May 2007, the federal court rejected the State's main challenge,
holding that Congress in 1980 had expressly granted the U.S. Interior and
Agriculture Departments the authority to regulate and protect Native and
rural subsistence fishing activities in Alaska.
(Decision entered May 15, 2007 (Dkt. No. 110).)
Notwithstanding this ruling, Palin continues to argue in the litigation
that the federal subsistence protections are too broad, and should be
narrowed to exclude vast areas from subsistence fishing, in favor of sport
and commercial fishing. Palin opposes subsistence protections in marine
waters, on many of the lands that Natives selected under their 1971 land
claims settlement with the state and federal governments, and in many of
the rivers where Alaska Natives customarily fish. (Alaska Complaint at 15-
18.) Palin also opposes subsistence fishing protections on Alaska Native
federal allotments that were deeded to individuals purposely to foster
Native subsistence activities. All these issues are now pending before the
federal district court.

2. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Subsistence Hunting
Palin has also sought to invalidate critical determinations the Federal
Subsistence Board has made regarding customary and traditional uses of
game, specifically to take hunting opportunities away from Native
subsistence villagers and thereby enhance sport hunting.
Palin's attack here on subsistence has focused on the Ahtna Indian
people in Chistochina.
Although the federal district court has rejected Palin's challenge, she
has carried on an appeal that was argued in August 2008.
(State of Alaska v. Fleagle, No. 07-35723 (9th Cir.).)
In both hunting and fishing matters, Palin has continued uninterrupted
the policies initiated by the former Governor Frank Murkowski
Administration, challenging hunting and fishing protections that Native
people depend upon for their subsistence way of life in order to enhance
sport fishing and hunting opportunities. Palin's lawsuits are a direct
attack on the core way of life of Native Tribes in rural Alaska.

3. Palin has attacked Alaska Tribal Sovereignty
Governor Palin opposes Alaska tribal sovereignty.
Given past court rulings affirming the federally recognized tribal
status of Alaska Native villages, Palin does not technically challenge
that status. But Palin argues that Alaska Tribes have no authority to act
as sovereigns, despite their recognition.
So extreme is Palin on tribal sovereignty issues that she has sought to
block tribes from exercising any authority whatsoever even over the
welfare of Native children, adhering to a 2004 legal opinion issued by the
former Murkowski Administration that no such jurisdiction exists (except
when a state court transfers a matter to a tribal court).
Both the state courts and the federal courts have struck down Palin's
policy of refusing to recognize the sovereign authority of Alaska Tribes
to address issues involving Alaska Native children. Native Village of
Tanana v. State of Alaska, 3AN-04-12194 CI (judgment entered Aug. 26,
2008) (Ak. Super. Ct.); Native Kaltag Tribal Council v. DHHS, No. 3:06-cv-
00211-TMB (D. Ak.), pending on appeal No 08-35343 (9th Cir.)).
Nonetheless, Palin's policy of refusing to recognize Alaska tribal
sovereignty remains unchanged.

4. Palin has attacked Alaska Native Languages
Palin has refused to accord proper respect to Alaska Native languages
and voters by refusing to provide language assistance to Yup'ik speaking
Alaska Native voters. As a result,
Palin was just ordered by a special three-judge panel of federal judges
to provide various forms of voter assistance to Yup'ik voters residing in
southwest Alaska. Nick v. Bethel, No. 3:07-cv-0098-TMB (D. Ak.) (Order
entered July 30, 2008). Citing years of State neglect, Palin was ordered
to provide trained poll workers who are bilingual in English and Yup'ik;
sample ballots in written Yup'ik; a written Yup'ik glossary of election
terms; consultation with local Tribes to ensure the accuracy of Yup'ik
translations; a Yup'ik language coordinator; and pre-election and post-
election reports to the court to track the State's efforts.
In sum, measured against some the rights that are most fundamental to
Alaska Native Tribes - the subsistence way of life, tribal sovereignty and
voting rights - Palin's record is a failure.

[shipm8]

Originally Posted by Barkingowl

WOTANGING IKCHE - Lakota - Common News VOLUME 16, ISSUE 038

OUCH !

[domergurl]

Oh shut up you you you you ... weenie whiney indigen .. indigen ... oh what word is it, is my transmitter on Karl? ... indegenous peoples! You guys aren't worth the case of Aquanet I go through every week. Learn English you scumbags, you're in America!!! Watch it, or I'll throw you in my tanning bed! Don't make me sic that guy who is also on the ticket ... what's his face?? Mc .. McPalin .. yea, McPalin!!! He has an Irish temper.

Now you go back to your igloos and be quiet. Or else I'll ship them back to the Hollywood lot like Obama did with his set in Denver.

[walidm]

"This year Alaska has requested 31 earmarks worth $197.8 million for next years federal budget. In fiscal year 2008 Alaska received $379,669,715! That is nearly $100 million more than any other state received.
Many earmarks are viewed as positive for voters, but particularly in Alaska. They are important for some community functions and even some analysts agree that earmarks, in the long run, ending up saving taxpayers money. While there is truth in that one must look closely at what those earmarks really fund and whether is was really necessary at the time.
While Sarah Palin is hoodwinking the nation as a reformer and denier of earmarks - her claims of telling the federal government "thanks but no thanks..." on the money for the bridge to nowhere - the truth tells another story. She took the money earmarked for that bridge and Alaska is now using it to build access ramps to a bridge that doesn't exist and transportation access to Steven's hometown. During her tenure as mayor of small town Wasilla (pop. approximately 6700 during her time as mayor), She managed to secure over $27 million in federal earmarks from 2000 to 2003. That equates to nearly $6.7 million a year for a town that of only 6700 people. Below is an analysis from Taxpayers for Common Sense by Center for American Progress Action Fund Senior Fellow Scott Lilly."

Source (broken link)

*All numbers are for 2008 except Wasilla AK - 2002
Wow.

[akm4]

This is an enlightening thread. Perhaps Miss Katie would like some of this info before her interview. Oh wait, hard news isn't exactly her thing, now is it?

[AksarbeN]

Looks like Sarah is the perfect running mate for John McSame. Both say one thing and do another, shouldn’t be much of an adjustment from Georgie W. Bu$h that we’ve had for 7 ½ years.

[easternerDC]

What I would like answered is why she needed to create a new position and hire someone for deputy Mayor for a town of around 6,000.

[justNancy]

None of the above information is new. I've read it before, but that's what makes this campaign so mind-boggling to me. For example, even though the statistics about the earmarks is factual and has been brought to the public's attention, both McCain and Palin continue to tout her lack of government spending. Even though she cut the Special Olympics budget in half, she continues to talk about her support for disabled children. She shouts "Thanks but no thanks" when she was in support of the Bridge to Nowhere before it was shot down by Congress (and she kept the money for other projects) McCain continues to promote Palin as a reformer. He says the economy is fundamentally sound too. It doesn't matter. They'll keep repeating false claims, because if they say them enough times, many people will think they've got to be true.

[walidm]

Originally Posted by justNancy

None of the above information is new. I've read it before, but that's what makes this campaign so mind-boggling to me. For example, even though the statistics about the earmarks is factual and has been brought to the public's attention, both McCain and Palin continue to tout her lack of government spending. Even though she cut the Special Olympics budget in half, she continues to talk about her support for disabled children. She shouts "Thanks but no thanks" when she was in support of the Bridge to Nowhere before it was shot down by Congress (and she kept the money for other projects) McCain continues to promote Palin as a reformer. He says the economy is fundamentally sound too. It doesn't matter. They'll keep repeating false claims, because if they say them enough times, many people will think they've got to be true.

lol...while she shouts from the front porch, we'll take the rooftops.

[LML]

She's as phony as monopoly money.....which is all we're going to have to spend pretty soon. Good old DeRegulators McCain and Co. have just about Deregulated us into national bankruptcy.