Sarah Palin: Alaska State of the State Address - Part 3 (2007)

January 17, 2007

Palin describes herself as a fiscal conservative. At the Republican National Convention, Palin stated "I came to office promising to control spending by request if possible and by veto if necessary... I suspended the state fuel tax, and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress."

Shortly after becoming governor, Palin canceled a contract for the construction of an 11-mile (18 km) gravel road outside Juneau to a mine and sold the state's Westwind II jet, which had been purchased by the Frank Murkowski administration against the wishes of the Legislature. While governor, she slashed the state budget by $231 million for FY2008. The vetoes which covered 36 spreadsheet pages drew praise from those who believed the budget originally reflected too much spending, but anger from those who thought Palin went too far.[56] The $231 million in cuts represented over 300 local projects including an expansion of the Port of Anchorage and the Fire Island wind energy project.

In a September 18, 2008 speech at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Palin said, "Our opponents, they have some strange ideas about raising taxes. To them, raising taxes and Joe Biden said it again today raising taxes is about patriotism. To the rest of America, that's not patriotism. Raising taxes is about killing jobs and hurting small businesses and making things worse. This isn't about anyone's patriotism it's about Barack Obama's poor judgement."

As mayor, using income generated by a two percent sales tax that was enacted prior to her election, Palin cut property taxes by 75 percent and eliminated personal property and business inventory taxes. Palin also supported a voter-approved city sales tax increase of 0.5 percent to pay for a new sports complex. As governor, Palin helped pass a tax increase on oil company profits, although she opposed the Windfall Profits Tax proposed by Senator Barack Obama.

Lisa Ann Murkowski (born May 22, 1957) is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of Alaska. Murkowski, a Republican, is the only woman ever elected to Congress from her state, in addition to being the first Senator born in Alaska.

Murkowski is a moderate Republican. She is generally pro-choice on abortion and supports stem cell research. She is also a member of the Republican Majority For Choice, Republicans For Choice, and The Wish List (Women in the Senate and House), a group of pro-choice women Republicans.

The Alaska Public Safety Commissioner dismissal, also known as Troopergate, involves the July 2008 dismissal of the Public Safety Commissioner for the State of Alaska by Governor Sarah Palin.

On October 10, 2008, the Alaska Legislative Council voted unanimously to release the Branchflower investigative report, which implicated Palin in violating the public trust through abuse of power. On November 3, 2008, the day before Election Day, the gubernatorially appointed Alaska State Personnel Board released the findings of its own probe, which contradicted the Legislature's.

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