Wolf Blitzer tried to do an analysis of Palin's speech in New Hampshire today. His complaint was that she was very general and didn't give specifics. This was a Tea Party speech designed for a rally, not a white paper or in depth policy speech in front of a think tank. She did in fact give a substantive speech in Iowa just a couple of days ago. Apparently, Blitzer missed that along with the numerous Facebook notes that Sarah Palin has posted since 2008.
Twitter also lights up with the geniuses of the political science class - naysayers parroting the same old meme that she is not specific as well. It's evident that the brains of those who lazily believe what they hear from lamestream media pundits easily turn to mush.
Let's make this as simple as we can. I'll try to type slowly so none of you miss it.
Sarah Palin's specific plan for entitlement reform is made clear by her statements that we need to keep the promises we have made to existing benefit recipients and look at ways of enhancing the system so that it doesn't go broke for future recipients. "Governor Palin made a guest appearance on Bill O'Reilly's show on Fox News" March 4, 2011, according to Iowans4Palin (click here for link and video). "She discussed cutting the budget, reforming some entitlement programs, and once again endorsed Paul Ryan’s Roadmap for America’s Future."
Sarah Palin has been speaking out on numerous occasions regarding national security. You can find her policy positions here and here. She believes in peace through strength and not using the military unless our interests are at stake and that the mission can be accomplished quickly.
Sarah Palin has the definitive economic plan. This plan is similar to Reagan's "reawakening the industrial giant" strategy. The staple of this plan is to reawaken energy exploration and development. Palin also calls for the elimination of the corporate income tax and the loopholes that come with them in the tax code. She calls for an end to bailouts and lobbyist influence of the entrenched political class in order to end crony capitalism.
In Iowa, she said:
My plan is about empowerment: empowerment of our states, empowerment of our entrepreneurs, most importantly empowerment of you – our hardworking individuals – because I have faith, I have trust, I have respect for you.She also wrote this in Facebook note Conquering the Storm:
The way forward is no more politics as usual. We must stop expanding an out-of-control and out-of-touch federal government. This is first: All power not specifically delegated to the federal government by our Constitution is reserved for the states and for we the people. So, let’s enforce the 10th Amendment and devolve powers back locally where the Founders intended them to be.
Second, what happened to all those promises about staying committed to repealing the mother of all big government unfunded mandates? We must repeal Obamacare! And rein in burdensome regulations that are a boot on our neck. Get government out of the way. Let the private sector breathe and grow. This will allow the confidence that businesses need in order to expand and hire more people.
Third, no more run away debt. We must prioritize and cut. Cancel unused stimulus funds, and have that come to Jesus moment where we own up to the debt challenge that is entitlement reform. See, the reality is we will have entitlement reform; it’s just a matter of how we’re going to get there. We either do it ourselves or the world’s capital markets are going to shove it down our throats, and we’ll have no choice but to reform our entitlement programs. The status quo is no longer an option. Entitlement reform is our duty now, and it must be done in a way that honors our commitment to our esteemed elders today, while keeping faith with future generations. I don’t think anything has irked me more than this nonsense coming from the White House about maybe not sending our seniors their checks. It’s their money! They have paid into Social Security all of their working lives; and for the President to say, “ah, we may not be able to cut their checks,” ah, well, where did all their money go, politicians? It’s like the Commander-in-Chief being willing to throw our military under the bus by threatening that their paychecks may not arrive. But the politicians will still get their checks and their secure retirements, and he’ll still get his posh vacations. Aren’t you just sick to death of those skewed priorities? It’s all backwards. Our seniors and our brave men and women in uniform being used as pawns – I say it’s shameful, and enough is enough. No more.
Fourth, it is time for America to become the energy superpower. The real stimulus that we’ve been waiting for is robust and responsible domestic energy production. We have the resources. Affordable and secure energy is the key to any thriving economy, and it must be our foundation. So, I would do the opposite of Obama’s manipulation of U.S. supplies of energy. Drill here, drill now. Let the refineries and the pipelines be built. Stop kowtowing to foreign countries and dictators asking them to ramp up production and industry for us, promising them that we’ll be their greatest customer. No, not when we have the resources here. We need to move on tapping our own God-given natural resources. I promise you that this will bring real job growth, not the politicians’ phony “green jobs” fairy dust sprinkled with wishes and glitter… No, a hardcore all-of-the-above energy policy that builds this indestructible link between made-in-America energy and our prosperity and our security. You know, there are enough large conventional natural resource development projects waiting for government approval that could potentially create more than a million high-paying jobs all across the country. And this is true stimulus. It wouldn’t cost government a dime to allow the private sector to do these. In fact, these projects will generate billions of dollars in revenue. Can you imagine that: a stimulus project that actually helps dig us out of debt instead of digging us further into it! And these are good-paying jobs, and I know that from experience. For years my own family was supported (as Todd worked up on the North Slope) by a good energy sector job. America’s economic revival starts with America’s energy revival.
Fifth, we can and we will make America the most attractive country on earth to do business in. Here’s how we’re going to do this. Right now, we have the highest federal corporate income tax rate in the industrialized world. Did you know our rates are higher than China and communist Cuba? This doesn’t generate as much revenue as you would think, though, because many big corporations skirt federal taxes because they have the friends in D.C. who right the rules for the rest of us. This makes us less competitive and restrains our engine of prosperity. Heck, some businesses spend more time trying to figure out how to hide their profits than they do in generating more profits so that they can expand and hire more of us. So, to make America the most attractive and competitive place to do business, to set up shop here and hire people here, to attract capital from all over the globe that will lead to an explosion of growth, instead of chasing industry offshore, I propose to eliminate all federal corporate income tax. And hear me out on this. This is how we create millions of high-paying jobs. This is how we increase opportunity and prosperity for all.
But here’s the best part: To balance out any loss of federal revenue from this tax cut, we eliminate corporate welfare and all the loopholes and we eliminate bailouts. This is how we break the back of crony capitalism because it feeds off corporate welfare, which is just socialism for the very rich. We can change all of that. The message then to job-creating corporations is: We’ll unshackle you from the world’s highest federal corporate income tax rate, but you will stand or fall on your own, just like all the rest of us out on main street.
See, when we empower the job-creators, our economy will soar; Americans will get back to work.
We need to get this economy moving again, and the real stimulus we’ve been waiting for is domestic energy development. We must reduce our dangerous dependence on foreign oil by responsibly developing natural resources here. This will provide good paying jobs, reduce our trade deficit, increase federal and state revenue, ensure environmental standards, and actually stimulate our economy without incurring any debt. That’s real stimulus! Affordable, plentiful, and secure energy is the foundation of every thriving economy. Let’s make it the foundation of ours. Let’s do the opposite of President Obama’s manipulation of U.S. energy supplies. Let’s drill here, build refineries, and stop kowtowing to foreign countries in asking them to ramp up energy production which makes us even more beholden to them as we rely on their foreign product. Let’s move on tapping our massive domestic natural gas reserves. Natural gas is the perfect “bridge fuel” to a future when more renewable sources are available. It’s clean, it’s green, and we’ve got a lot of it. Let’s drill. Let’s build an infrastructure for natural gas cars and power plants. Energy development can help kick start our economic engine.Those who say Palin is not specific in her positions are either lazy (and don't want to do the research), have a liberal media agenda or they simply don't want to hear it. It is the vapidity of her detractors that is without substance. They cannot, with logic and reason, back up their position that Palin is too general and that she's not specific on the issues.
In addition to energy security, I embrace a pro-growth agenda that can make American corporations far more competitive on the global stage. (I will be writing more about this in the coming days.) We need to tell the world, “America is open for business again!” And let’s welcome industry by reducing burdensome regulations. The Obama administration keeps strangling businesses in red tape. From the EPA’s rulings to that nightmare known as Obamacare, the Obama administration is hanging one regulatory albatross after another around the private sector’s neck. Let’s get government out of the way and give the private sector room to breathe, grow, and thrive. We can provide businesses confidence to expand and hire Americans in a stable environment.
Be wary of the efforts President Obama makes to “fix” the debt problem. The more he tries to “fix” things, the worse they get because his “solutions” always involve spending more, taxing more, growing government, and increasing debt. This debt problem is the greatest challenge facing our country today. Obviously, President Obama doesn’t have a plan or even a notion of how to deal with it.
Learning about "Palin's specifics" is not something the lazy will want to undertake. It will require hours of research. That's why I wrote this post to give you the cliff notes version. For those are interested in learning more about Palin's policy positions, I recommend reading all 330 of her Facebook notes, these articles at Conservatives4Palin, Issues at Organize4Palin or simply do some Google searches (but beware of liberal media bias).
If I come across too harsh in this post, it's because I don't like intellectual dishonesty. If you are saying Palin is short on specifics or too general, it's code for you don't like Sarah Palin. If you disagree with Palin on any issues, then debate it. I understand it will be difficult to debate her positions on the issues because they are defensible with fact, historical analysis and logic. I understand it's easier to say she's too general than it is to take her on directly. But if liberalism or your disagreement with Palin is so much so that it causes you to foam at the mouth at the mere mention of her name, please tell us why and what it is specifically that you disagree with.
Listen to Patrick's World USA on Blogtalk Radio Wednesday Night at 11pm ET 8pm PT. Sarah Palin rocked the Iowa Tea Party. Hear about it from my guests Stacy Drake of Conservatives4Palin and Camille Friend of The Design Conservative who were there.
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