The current mayor of Southport, Indiana, a smaller community of around 3500 residents, puts in about 12 to 15 hours a week in that capacity. The gist of this is, let's not make too much out of one's having been the mayor of a small town. In most cases, it's just not that big a whup.
Palin's quick rise to the Alaska governorship is impressive, and her actions and approval rating are, likewise, not to be sniffed at. I would suggest however, that taking on the power structure in Alaska is not quite the same thing as bringing about significant change inside the Beltway. She, along with fellow "maverick" John McCain might shake things up in D.C., but I wouldn't hold my breath. Even if they succeed to some extent in that regard, one must consider whether that is necessarily a good thing. After all, what things do they intend to shake up, and just how do they intend to shake them? What will be the end result? Will any changes they manage to make result in a more efficient, more responsive federal government? Or will it simply create more entanglements, more red tape and more political wrangling?
It has been repeatedly noted that Palin flip-flopped on the 'bridge to nowhere', but not much notice has been paid to the fact that as mayor of Wasilla, largely through the efforts of paid lobbyists, she managed to obtain over 25 million dollars in federal "earmarks" for the town; just the kind of thing that is supposedly anathema to McCain.
Also as governor, she championed a deal which now brings in a payment of $3200 for each and every citizen of Alaska from the oil companies' profits. This arrangement was originally set up in 1982, but Palin formed a coalition with Democrats and some apparently reluctant Republicans in the Alaska legislature to up the ante to the oil companies.
Alaskans pay no state income tax and no sales tax, largely due to the revenue the state gets from big oil. Hmmm. How is that fundamentally different from Obama's campaign promise to tax the oil companies' "windfall" profits? It's okay for Alaska, but not the rest of us? Am I reading that correctly, comrade?
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - zac
Hey, I found your blog through google. Yours was one of only 4 they recomended! Cool eh?
Um... why no comments yet?
Must be all those personal attacks you won't allow...
lol, you suck.
whoops, only you will see this you cry baby.
2 - Clavos
I believe the payment to the citizens of Alaska is $1200, not $3200, B-tone.
3 - Baritone
Zac,
I have to admit that I don't have the slightest fucking idea what you're talking about. Just as a note to you though, this article was published about an hour ago. That there were no comments as yet is not unusual.
But, no. We don't need personal attacks. We do quite well without them. A number of commenters have been banned for writing them. If you'd like, give it a try. See how long you last. But if you have anything to say, anything meaningful, then say it. We welcome it.
Oh, by the way, "cry baby" my ass!
B
4 - bill
after dealing with five days of the worst slime, sarah palin came out and creamed the dems tonight. thanks, sarah, i've died and gone to heaven.
5 - Matthew T. Sussman
Hey, BT, put it this way. So layeth our fears to sleep that Google was screwing us in the search results.
6 - nascr
she's a whore it will prove in her backround... watch... sorry not a whore a sucker
7 - Cannonshop
Beautiful job, Baritone, material that can be confirmed or debunked by ordinary scholarship without access to secret insights, Mostly-solid criticism, and no Bristol, babies, or theocratic accusations.
small quibble though- Your example of Beech Indiana, do they have problems with large wildlife entering town, like, say, thousand-pound predatory mammals that have no fear of man and no resistance to eating people, um, issues of cabin fever, or the very real potential of being isolated from outside assistance by weather for weeks at a time? would mid-winter brown-outs kill most of the population in a matter of hours, and are such weather events common on a yearly basis?
I consider these to be somewhat important, because, generally, a suburb or small town in the lower forty-eight generally doesn't have a climate and environment capable of killing the residents On a regular basis, combined with the very real probability that outside help is a long, long, way out in terms of time and/or distance. I would rather suspect the job of Mayor, Constable, or even Fireman is a bit more...complex in such an environment than in, say, central Indiana? Just at a guess, I'd suspect Wasilla probably doesn't have cheap food in the winter, either. it's that whole short-growing-season thing, you know, along with having to ship lots of stuff in over long distances in a climate that eats highways and doesn't allow much in the way of stable structural foundations.
8 - Baritone
Clav,
According to an article in the Seattle Times the current payout will in fact be around $3200. The original amount of the yearly payout at the outset of the agreement was around $1200. per person. The amount has generally risen each year in irregular increments depending, I suppose, upon the total oil company revenues for the preceding year. The yearly payout set for this year is $2000. However, Gov. Palin, in an effort to help Alaskans in paying for higher fuel prices, allocated an additional $1200 payout which will also come either directly or indirectly from the oil company revenues.
I do find it curious that despite the large amount of crude oil that Alaska has, fuel prices there are as high or higher than most of the rest of the country.
B
9 - Baritone
Cannon,
Since I have never lived or even visited Alaska, I can't answer you directly. No doubt that the weather, the terrain and the presence of man eating animals pose problems not generally found in Indiana. As far as I know, Indiana's largest predators are Coyotes.
However, we do have a significant amount of violent crime - at least relative to what most Alaskans deal with. Weatherwise, we have floods, we have tornados, we even have drought and the occasional blizzard.
The problems facing Alaskans may be unique, but don't necessarily cause a heavier work load for elected officials than the problems faced in less severe climates.
In the case of Beech Grove, it is actually totally surrounded by the city of Indianapolis. However, the town maintains its own police and fire departments, runs its own schools, has its own library, and a nice one at that, has its own parks, maintains most of its own infrastructure - streets, sewers, utilities and the like, picks up its own trash, etc. The BG government must work in concert with the Indianapolis/Marion County government in many ways. Yet, given that, the management of the town is not a full time job. Other than police and fire personnel, teachers and school administrators, and a relatively few other individuals in certain capacities, the only person who works full time at the BG town hall is the little old lady who answers the phone to tell you that nobody is there.
B
10 - Cannonshop
Well, see? Beech Grove is more like a neighbourhood with some autonomy, than a separate political entity that must fend for itself.
11 - Joanne Huspek
"The BG government must work in concert with the Indianapolis/Marion County government in many ways." Gee, ya think that's how it was back in the olden days?
The amazing coincidence is that just a couple of weeks ago, before Palin was announced, I was actually considering a move to Alaska, for the economic reasons listed above, plus I'm thinking being far removed from the rest of the country is a good thing.
Perhaps I'm just getting curmudgeonly in my old age.
12 - Baritone
Cannon,
Sorry if I'm being dense, but what, exactly, is your point? Do you believe that the factors you mentioned automatically indicate that Sarah Palin had to work her butt off 24/7 as mayor of Wasilla? Was she manning outposts on the edge of town packing heat at 2AM watching for bears?
Do you speak from first hand experience?
Does it occur to any of you that two or more governments attempting to work together could be a rather involved affair? That matters not involving Moose invasions might also require time and attention?
B
13 - Cannonshop
Baritone,It's okay if you're a little dense, you write well and defend your side with class.
Let me try and explain though...
We've got communities like Beech Grove up here in Washington State, the post of "Mayor" is largely ceremonial in such places, because the serious hard lifting is done by the larger political entity upon which they rely for economic support (Bellevue, for instance, or Renton with Seattle.)
Places like Wasilla don't Have such entities to draw from. It's a matter of having to do more, with fewer resources and consequences that can't be, and won't be, soaked by someone else. When the mayor of, say, Lake Stevens screws up something, it doesn't even make a ripple, because most of the people who live there work in Marysville and Everett, or even Seattle.
I suspect conditions like that are common in Beech Grove Indiana, as well. If there's an emergency that the Fire Dept. can't handle in Beech Grove, Indianapolis is there to take the load off (or the county, or the state) and within minutes to hours at that.
If there's a fire (say, during summertime) in Wasilla, that fire dept. Better be able to handle it-help's not on the way for the long-side of hours, or even days. Economic policy under those conditions has immediate impacts that aren't soaked either. Nobody's commuting from Wasilla to, say, Anchorage or Fairbanks, or even Juneau on a daily basis for work, and bringing the paycheque home to spend it at a big-box store that draws custom from surrounding suburbs.
Is it a full time job? Probably more frequently than Beech Grove, but likely not-you're right about that-there aren't enough resources to keep bloated staffs and hangers-on "Employed" for full forty hour work-weeks... except when there's a crisis, during which the mayor of a place like Wasilla can't have the County or State there to do the job for them.
14 - Dr Dreadful
Nobody's commuting from Wasilla to, say, Anchorage or Fairbanks, or even Juneau on a daily basis for work
According to its Wikipedia entry, Wasilla is 43 miles from Anchorage (about an hour's drive) and about one-third of the townsfolk do indeed make a daily commute to the big city.
In fact, according to Dave, Wasilla's relative proximity to Anchorage makes it a suburb...
15 - Clavos
According to its Wikipedia entry, Wasilla is 43 miles from Anchorage (about an hour's drive) and about one-third of the townsfolk do indeed make a daily commute to the big city.
Including the Killa from Wasilla herself, as governor.
16 - troll
what became of Juneau - ?
17 - Dr Dreadful
troll, you must forgive Clav. He's the resident grammar Nazi, not the geography Nazi.
18 - Clavos
Har de har, Doc. You both know what I meant...
19 - troll
a common error - and in fairness there has been a strong push over the years to move the capital up north where many state offices are already located
20 - Baritone
I had a vision that there must be times in and around Wasilla that all there is to do is sit around and watch the snow, you know, sort of like watching paint dry, only colder. It seems to me that the day to day in that part of the world is, to say the least, more laid back.
Surely as you note, Cannon, there are times of crisis, but otherwise I see life there more like being a fireman - a lot of sitting around interspersed with a relative few moments of chaos. That is actually what I have come to believe is part of the allure of the place - that everything goes slower and the blood pressure remains in check.
B
21 - Dan
I think Palin pretty well laid to rest any qualms about how her (bottom of the ticket) executive experience stacks up to Obama's (top of the ticket) lack there of.
Obama has now had to resort to citing the management of his multi-million dollar campaign budget as an example of his executive experience.
Obama's problem is that Sarah Palin offers a totally transparent, open-book look at her history of experience. People of qualified integrity can vouch for it.
To get a look at Obama's means sifting through a myriad of delusional racist's, unrepentant terrorists, and Syrian National/convicted felon/ slum lords. What Bill Clinton refers to as Chicago thug politics.
"it's likely that one or more self-righteous, Bible wielding, evangelical preachers would have risen up in condemnation of her daughter's licentious behavior."
Now that it's been done to a strong Republican woman, we needn't worry if it is likely or not.
It's also likely that those savage morons who are smashing windows, and assaulting police are Obama supporters, but I haven't seen that question posed.
22 - Jordan Richardson
So the basic message here appears to be that any executive experience is better than nothing. Even if it's bad executive experience, it's still better than nothing.
Are you people fucking serious?
23 - Baritone
Most of the "window smashers" are actually NOT Obama supporters. They are beyond supporting any main stream politicians.
B
24 - Cannonshop
Nobody's commuting from Wasilla to, say, Anchorage or Fairbanks, or even Juneau on a daily basis for work
According to its Wikipedia entry, Wasilla is 43 miles from Anchorage (about an hour's drive) and about one-third of the townsfolk do indeed make a daily commute to the big city.
In fact, according to Dave, Wasilla's relative proximity to Anchorage makes it a suburb...
Ya got me, Doc. A map check shows you're right.
25 - Baritone
So, Wasilla may NOT be so vulnerable to those bear and moose invasions, no?
B