By William Browning - When Sarah Palin spoke to the Young America's Foundation on Feb. 4, she was speaking at the Reagan Ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif. Palin tried to invoke the spirit of late President Ronald Reagan but instead used the centennial celebration to blast her political opposites.
The Los Angeles Times reports Palin spoke about how conservative Americans should fight for Reagan's principles of small government. She said, "They have all kinds of half-baked ideas of what to spend -- I mean, invest -- our hard-earned money on for their idea of national greatness."
It's ironic how Palin jokes about Barack Obama's plan for "national greatness" when Reagan's ideals were the same. Reagan's national greatness came in backing down the Soviets and signing nuclear arms treaties. Obama wants the same thing, only in a domestic sense as opposed to foreign policy victories.
Reagan, despite calling for smaller government in debates against Jimmy Carter in 1980, actually increased the size and spending of the federal government by more initiatives in the Department of Defense. When Reagan got Marines involved in Grenada, and then set aside projects for Nicaragua and Iran, it was clear he was more focused on foreign policy than any domestic agenda.
Palin tries to be a Reagan crusader when she said the "era of big government is here to stay" when speaking at the centennial gala.
Palin herself brought the era of big government to her hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, and then to the Frontier State itself when she was governor. Politifact reports Wasilla had a long-term debt of only $1.12 million when Palin first took office in 1996. When she left in 2002, Wasilla's long-term debt $22 million. The population increased 13 percent in the same time frame, but spending far outgrew the population trend.
Alaska also suffered under Palin. In terms of the state's debt as a percentage of GDP, Alaska is now one of the worst in the country at around 20 percent, according to a chart from the American Enterprise Institute. Future shortfalls balloon the debt to around 26 percent thanks to pension fund obligations. Those figures came out in March 2010, less than a year after Palin resigned the governorship.
The debt Reagan incurred in the federal government was equally appalling. When he won the election in 1980, Reagan inherited a budget deficit of around $75 billion. By 1983 it was over $200 billion before settling to $155 billion in 1988, Reagan's last year in office, according to the Washington Post.
Palin isn't exactly being Reagan-like when she said the government should spend less money.
To top it off, Reagan's own children are aghast Palin is using their father's image to further her own agenda. ABC News reports Ron Reagan Jr. called the Palin show "a soap opera." Patti Davis, Reagan's daughter, said "you're kidding me" when she was told the former Alaska governor would speak at her father's ranch.
Palin even told Joe Biden "There you go again" in a blatant reference to Reagan's offhand comment to Jimmy Carter in a televised debate.
The similarities between the two conservatives go beyond speeches and rhetoric. Reagan, after retiring from being California's governor, maintained a newspaper column and radio show to stay in the national spotlight without actually holding a government job when he ran for president. Palin is the same way -- she's using her celebrity status to make speeches, sell books and be on the front page of American headlines without actually being in office.
Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery but the copy this time is far from perfect.
The difference now from 30 years ago is that Americans will hopefully read their history before making the mistake of repeating it. We don't need another national celebrity who says government debt is a hindrance when their behavior while in office denotes otherwise.
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Posted By: anita moore
Tuesday, February 8th 2011 at 2:41PM
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