When Sarah Palin quit her job over the weekend, she gave a final, farewell speech as Governor of the state of Alaska.<\/p>\n
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.”<\/p>\n
That small government approach is a perfectly legitimate political philosophy, but there’s no evidence, beyond her finger-wagging rhetoric, that Palin believes it.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Alaska received more than $500 in Federal money for every man, woman and child. <\/p>\n
The vast majority of that money came from taxpayers in other states, from California to New York. <\/p>\n
Here’s the irony: Conservatives prefer Palin over her former presidential running mate, Sen. John McCain, by overwhelming margins.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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. <\/p>\n
How much Federal money did Arizona receive per capita in 2008? <\/p>\n
$18.70.<\/p>\n
Americans are leery of Republican hypocrisy, whether it’s “family-values” sermonizers sneaking off to Argentina or deficit hawks hoovering up pork.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
How do you get from $18.70 to $500 a head and still call yourself an enemy of big government?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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