On Sarah Palin and big government

When Sarah Palin quit her job over the weekend, she gave a final, farewell speech as Governor of the state of Alaska.

In her address — trumpeted on conservative and mainstream media across the U.S. — Palin warned Americans “be wary of accepting government largess. It doesn’t come free.”

That small government approach is a perfectly legitimate political philosophy, but there’s no evidence, beyond her finger-wagging rhetoric, that Palin believes it.

In 2008, with Palin in charge, USA Today and Taxpayers for Common Sense reported that Alaska was the number one state in the country in terms of total Federal spending per capita.

Alaska received more than $500 in Federal money for every man, woman and child.

The vast majority of that money came from taxpayers in other states, from California to New York.

Here’s the irony: Conservatives prefer Palin over her former presidential running mate, Sen. John McCain, by overwhelming margins.

But McCain has been the true opponent of pork, refusing to sign up for wasteful earmarks and fighting to kill unneeded defense projects like the F-22 stealth raptor.

Unlike Alaska, Arizona a “net donor” state, which means that Arizonans contribute more in Federal income taxes to the national treasury than they receive back in Federal spending.

How much Federal money did Arizona receive per capita in 2008?

$18.70.

Americans are leery of Republican hypocrisy, whether it’s “family-values” sermonizers sneaking off to Argentina or deficit hawks hoovering up pork.

For Palin to emerge as a true leader of the conservative movement — more than a right-wing “Joe the Plumber” icon or a budding author and talk show host– she’ll have to put this question to rest.

How do you get from $18.70 to $500 a head and still call yourself an enemy of big government?