Ralph Samuels is a conservative Republican candidate for governor of Alaska. The primary is next Tuesday, and Samuels' new signs are dotting roadsides in Anchorage.
Yes, it's come to this.
Promising not to quit is now a legitimate campaign pledge for Republican candidates in the state of Alaska.
Follow Jeanne Devon ("AKMuckraker") on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Mudflats
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How's it looking up there? It's 12:17 Eastern Time. They say your polls closed at midnight EST. Did Joe lose? Tell me he lost.
Diane
Anishnabe in MI
Watch the Palin's in all their classy glory.
And by the way - this is John McCain's pick for Vice President of the United States in case you've forgotten:
http://www.palingates.blogspot.com/
Alaskan politicians are the ultimate financial hypocrites. While Alaskans collect rebates and add taxes to the price of their exports paid by others, they have the highest debt ratio in the U.S. In reality, those rebates are paid with borrowed money.
"Sarah Palin has sold herself as a fiscal conservative, against the Democrats' health overhaul on the grounds that the nation can't afford it.
But when the former vice presidential candidate resigned as governor of Alaska in the summer of 2009, she left the state with a 70 percent debt-to-GDP ratio, the highest state debt burden in the US.
That's according to data compiled by the Washington Independent's Megan Carpentier, who notes that Alaska has a debt burden similar to "that of Palin’s favorite health care resource, Canada."
By comparison, crisis-stricken California has a debt ratio of less than 40 percent. All the more confounding about Alaska's debt is the fact that it is an oil-producing region with a small population to share in that wealth. Oil-rich Alberta, Canada, collects no sales tax and still managed to retire its debt entirely in 2004.
While Alaska's massive debt burden can't be blamed entirely on Palin's two-and-a-half-year stint as governor, she did face similar debt problems while mayor of Wasilla, and those appear to be of her own making."
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0331/postpalin-alaska-largest-debt-burden/
As a US citizen, I don't favor this. About 70% of AK is owned by the US. AK has more than half the US coastline. The 17million acre Tongass National Forest in the Alexander Archipelago is the largest somewhat healthy wild salmon breeding habitat left in the world. The US is the only government that can protect the habitat of some of the healthiest food on Earth and stop local governments and private corporations from turning the largest carbon-sink left in the National Forest System into biofuel and releasing the carbon stored there into the atmosphere as CO2.
As an Earthling I'd be worried about letting AK go to the Iron Dogs. I wouldn't favor ceding control of this land to Palin's America. If AK isn't going the way you'd like, step up to the plate and get involved in protecting your own interests here. You might be right about withdrawing statehood, but be careful about "shoulding" on your neighbor's statehood, Sufi66, it could come back to bite you.