T D Williams's blog

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics employment report for June:

“Only North Dakota (+1.6 percent) reported an over-the-year percentage increase, while Alaska remained unchanged.”

Every other state saw an over the year rise in unemployment.

Again Republican Governors John Hoeven and Sarah Palin have proven best at leading their states in the right employment direction.

In May Alaska led the nation with a .9% monthly employment increase.

In April Alaska’s was one of two states posting an employment gain coming in behind North Dakota. (The District of Columbia also saw an employment gain).

In March Alaska had the best over-the-year employment increase (.7%) among the states. (The District of Columbia beat all the states with a .8% increase.)

In February Alaska had the smallest decrease in employment (-100) with only Louisiana posting an increase, and was third (with a .9% increase) among four states and the District of Columbia which all saw an over-the-year increase in employment.

Meanwhile, Oregon is also in the top 2–though on the negative side:

“Michigan reported the largest jobless rate increase from a year earlier (+7.1 percentage points), followed by Oregon (+6.3 points).”

The one speck of good news is that Oregon has lost its position as having the second worst jobless rate in the nation. Oregon is now number 3 with 12.2% unemployment. Rhode Island beat Oregon by 2/10ths of a percent coming in with 12.4%. Michigan is hands down worst with 15.2% unemployment.

From Governor Palin’s op ed in today’s Washington Post:

There is no shortage of threats to our economy. America's unemployment rate recently hit its highest mark in more than 25 years and is expected to continue climbing. Worries are widespread that even when the economy finally rebounds, the recovery won't bring jobs. Our nation's debt is unsustainable, and the federal government's reach into the private sector is unprecedented.

. . .

Job losses are so certain under this new cap-and-tax plan that it includes a provision accommodating newly unemployed workers from the resulting dried-up energy sector, to the tune of $4.2 billion over eight years. So much for creating jobs.

. . .

In addition to immediately increasing unemployment in the energy sector, even more American jobs will be threatened by the rising cost of doing business under the cap-and-tax plan. For example, the cost of farming will certainly increase, driving down farm incomes while driving up grocery prices. The costs of manufacturing, warehousing and transportation will also increase.

The ironic beauty in this plan? Soon, even the most ardent liberal will understand supply-side economics.

The Americans hit hardest will be those already struggling to make ends meet. As the president eloquently puts it, their electricity bills will "necessarily skyrocket." So much for not raising taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year.

Even Warren Buffett, an ardent Obama supporter, admitted that under the cap-and-tax scheme, "poor people are going to pay a lot more for electricity."

. . .

We must move in a new direction. We are ripe for economic growth and energy independence if we responsibly tap the resources that God created right underfoot on American soil. Just as important, we have more desire and ability to protect the environment than any foreign nation from which we purchase energy today.

. . .

Of course, Alaska is not the sole source of American energy. Many states have abundant coal, whose technology is continuously making it into a cleaner energy source. Westerners literally sit on mountains of oil and gas, and every state can consider the possibility of nuclear energy.

We have an important choice to make. Do we want to control our energy supply and its environmental impact? Or, do we want to outsource it to China, Russia and Saudi Arabia? Make no mistake: President Obama's plan will result in the latter.

For so many reasons, we can't afford to kill responsible domestic energy production or clobber every American consumer with higher prices.

Can America produce more of its own energy through strategic investments that protect the environment, revive our economy and secure our nation?

Yes, we can. Just not with Barack Obama's energy cap-and-tax plan.

The latest Rasmussen poll, taken after Palin's announcement of resignation, shows she is still viewed favorably by 3/4ths of Republicans. Palin leads among Republicans in the very favorable category (45%), and is only beaten out by Mike Huckabee when "very favorable" and "somewhat favorable" categories are combined (78% Huckabee and 76% Palin). Only 21% have an unfavorable opinion of Palin.

Considering that 66% of Republicans identify themselves as conservatives (and 27% moderates and 5% liberals), Palin seems to have won almost all the conservatives with liberals and most of the moderates being those unhappy with her.

Unfortunately National Review's editor Rich Lowry has decided to lead conservatives by slamming Palin for being disingenuous and self-interested. Here’s Lowry on Palin’s resignation:

"It’s just too absurd. Palin mentioned Alaska or Alaskans 34 times in a 17-minute statement that must be a new record in the history of protesting too much. Palin says she hates politics as usual, and true to her word, on July 3 she staged a spectacle in politics as unusual. But she still proved adept at the traditional political art of extreme disingenuousness." [How many times did Reagan refer to California or Californians in his gubernatorial speeches or to America or Americans in his presidential speeches?–Protested too much?]

"She didn’t want to put Alaska through the hell of a lame-duck governor who would “hit the road, draw the paycheck, and ‘milk it.’” Never mind that if she feared becoming a lame duck, she could run for re-election — especially if “serving [Alaska’s] people is the greatest honor I could imagine.” Or that she could endeavor to work her hardest at her job until her last day in office. That may sound outlandish, but it’s been done before." [If serving the people of California was such a great honor for Ronald Reagan, why didn’t he run for senator or representative from California after being governor?]

"Sarah Palin’s words served only to throw a tissue of rationalization over a calculated choice made in her personal self-interest. In all likelihood, Palin is going to embrace her political celebrity with gusto, freed from the burdens of the geographic isolation of the Alaska governorship and its (relative to national politics) petty distractions. Her decision wasn’t particularly public-spirited, but neither was it crazy. She has seen her opportunities, and she’s going to take them." [Just as Reagan’s words only threw a “tissue of rationalization over a calculated choice” made in his personal self-interest. Reagan embraced political celebrity with gusto, freed from the burdens of the California governorship and its petty distractions. Reagan’s decision wasn’t particularly public-spirited, but neither was it crazy. He had seen his opportunities, and he took them.]

This may be Lowry's honest venting, but it’s not too smart either in political terms of getting a conservative elected president–-or for National Review. When you rely on conservative readers and spit in the eye of 76% of the party that is mostly made up of conservatives, that's like spitting into the wind. Good luck on that.

Poor National Review seems less and less to be leading conservatives than defying them.

Pretty good interview Time did with Governor Palin. She’s articulate and to the point, as usual.

Why the resignation?

“It is meaningful to be able to say, 'Look, there needs to be freedom all the way around here to progress. Alaska, we're going to continue to waste resources and time if this political game continues, and it will only continue, because it's a game of political, personal destruction is what the attempt is. But for me personally, it doesn't affect me like the way some people would assume, personally. Anybody growing up in Alaska is pretty tough and rugged. And, you know, I've been in politics since 1992. Local politics is really tough, too, so on a local level, on the state, jumping on an international stage, I've got those years under my belt and I expect and even invite the constructive criticism and those things that hold a public servant accountable, and I invite that. But, the circumstances have changed, where we have seen this allowance of critics who lie, who stymie progress and who try to paralyze an administration. That hurts a state. That's not fair to the people of the state. And that's why I said circumstances — my choice is to react to the circumstances, maybe unconventionally, but wisely and fairly to Alaskans.”

Future plans:

“I will work extremely hard for Alaska, continuing to work for Alaska, but helping other people who can effect this change, whether they're in office or out of office. . . . But I'd like to work for other people who'd like to effect change, and Alaska's going to play a big part in the effectiveness of America.”

The Problem with Obamanomics:

“President Obama is growing government outrageously, and it's immoral and it's uneconomic, his plan that he tries to sell America. His plan to "put America on the right track" economically, incurring the debt that our nation is incurring, trillions of dollars that we're passing on to our kids, expecting them to pay off for us, is immoral and doesn't even make economic sense. So, his growth of government agenda needs to be ratcheted back, and it's going to take good people who have the guts to stand up to him, stand up to him and debate policy, not personalities, not partisan politics, but policy to effect the change that we need there.

One curious sidelight was the extensive “color” commentary leading up to the print out of the interview. There were references to Palin’s inlaws and their orange garage doors and two octagonal house windows. But, Time wasn’t interested in exploring anything about the impact on the first native Alaskan family in American history to be involved in high level national politics. Like having a chance to interview Abraham Lincoln’s family, but focusing on their kitchen curtains instead. A little bizarre.

Three days after Governor Palin’s resignation announcement, the news cycle is still transfixed. All sorts of speculation and commentary on Sarah Palin’s political future. The media and pundit interest is so enormous that the news is driven not by facts or new information but by speculation and “commentary”. And not even on the basis of interviews with Palin herself or anyone close to her.

Compare that with the attention paid to Hillary Clinton the most popular and charismatic woman (and second most popular and charismatic person) in the Democratic party. Remember that she won the most populous states in the primaries and came within two-tenths of a percent of beating Obama in the (estimated) popular vote.

In December President Obama announced Clinton as his pick for secretary of state. The most popular, powerful woman in the Democratic party resigned her senate seat in midterm. A senate seat not from a small population state like Alaska, but the third most populous state in the Union. And Clinton is heir to the Clinton political dynasty to boot.

How much coverage was given to Clinton’s political future and what giving up her senate position and becoming secretary of state would mean for her presidential aspirations? Did it drive the news cycle for even one day–let alone three days? There were comments, but they quickly died away in the excitement of Obama and Clinton teaming up to make the Obama administration a success.

Has there been any real political focus on Clinton since she became secretary of state other than the odd story about her breaking her elbow or having to smile through the State Department’s reset button goof? Consider a low key piece in May by CNN’s Jonathan Mann who raises the question of Clinton’s presidential prospects and almost as quickly waves it away with a stunningly unjournalistic view that Obama is president now so there’s not much use in thinking about a presidency after his.

“And Hillary isn't the only Clinton who's gotten quieter. Bill Clinton remains one of the most popular figures in American politics, but these days, he's barely seen. He hasn't ceded the spotlight to Hillary; they have both backed away from it, in favor of Obama.

“Why? For nearly two decades, a Clinton was either running for president or holding the office. Now, neither of them is. Hillary Clinton tells reporters she loves her new job.

“And even if she still wants to be president, Obama has that job for the foreseeable future.”

But Obama’s current presidency doesn’t stop raging interest in and speculation about Sarah Palin’s presidential prospects.

The media is treating Clinton like it treated Nixon after 1960–ignoring her as a presidential prospect. And treating Palin like it treated Reagan after 1976–pooh-poohing and berating her as a presidential prospect. Will history repeat itself with a surprise similar to 1968 or 1980?

McClatchy Watch reports that the Anchorage Daily News and Associated Press reporters arrived late and didn't get to see Sarah Palin’s press conference announcing her coming resignation. Thus, missing the biggest Alaska story of the year.

Associated Press writer Rachel D’Oro, obliquely referred to her lack of attendance as “late-arriving media”:

“The former Republican vice presidential candidate hastily called a news conference Friday morning at her home in suburban Wasilla, giving such short notice that only a few reporters actually made it to the announcement. State troopers blocked late-arriving media outside her home, and her spokesman, Dave Murrow, finally emerged to confirm that Palin will step down July 26. He refused to give details about the governor's future plans.”

Also arriving late was Anchorage Daily News reporter Sean Cockerham. In fact, the Anchorage Daily News was stuck with no photos of their own and had to “borrow” their images as well as what Palin said from KTVA TV news footage–-whose news team managed to make it to the press conference on time. All nine of ADN’s posted photos are not good quality and noted as being “Screengrab from KTVA video”. Apparently the Anchorage Daily News isn’t savvy enough to check out the Alaska Governor’s site which posted two professional quality photos they could have used instead of “screengrabs”.

The official AP photograph of the event was taken by Robert DeBerry of The Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman (a Wasilla semi-weekly newspaper) who, along with Frontiersman reporter Andrew Wellner, managed to be on time too.

Imagine the poor news organization whose White House reporters missed out on a “hastily called” Obama news conference that turned out to be the biggest story of the year because they arrived late. That rates right up there with other great excuses like “The dog ate my homework.”

Maybe being able to arrive on time is one of the differences between who gets assigned to the White House and who gets assigned to Alaska.

Jennifer Rubin just can't help herself. She is (mostly) nice to other conservatives though mildly scolds David Brooks from time to time for his starry-eyed support of Barack Obama. But resigning from office is TOO MUCH!!!

"Some are debating whether [Palin's] critics “won” by chasing her off the stage. Well, she chased herself off the stage and chose not to even fulfill her responsibilities to the state that elected her and put her on the stage. (Really, you mean she couldn’t have finished her term and refused national appearances for the balance of her term to lessen the media scrutiny? Hmmm.)"

I don't remember the uproar when Barack Obama resigned in the middle of his term as senator and did not choose to fulfill his responsibilities to the state that elected him and put him on the stage. Or Joe Biden. Or governors Janet Napolitano and Kathleen Sebelius.Flakiness is all around us, but some have only selective flakiness perception.

Governor Sarah Palin announced her resignation today because the media and political frenzy around her was taking up the majority of her time, her staff's time, millions in state funds and half a million of her family funds. All this was not about her policies, but about her personally and her family.

I've been in a somewhat similar position--except for the personal rancor. I left the position of CFO of a company after bringing it out of crippling debt because of internal fighting that was starting to hurt the company and bring undue pressure on employees who needed to be left alone to do their jobs.

Sarah Palin leaves Alaska in good shape. In terms of the state employment trend, in great shape. Alaska has had one of the best state employment trends for the last four months while my state of Oregon has been vying for, capturing and maintaining the second highest unemployment rate in the nation. (Alaska good news: February, March, April, May)

While many other states spent during the good times and are agonizing over budget cuts in the millions and even billions (and the Obama administration is deepening the national debt by the trillions), Alaska actually tripled its savings under Governor Palin. Alaska had about $2 billion in savings when she came into office, and now has about $6.5 billion in savings. Even with that substantial backup, she considered it to be good policy to cut almost $270 million from this year's original budget request.

This is a legacy that the people of Alaska feel every day.

If other governors had paid that kind of attention to their states, double digit unemployment, state IOU's and economic crisis management wouldn't be as common as it is. And if Presidents Bush and Obama had paid that kind of attention to the nation, we wouldn't have trillions in debt piling up and the national unemployment rate lapping at double digit shores.

Sarah Palin keeps showing good judgment not only in stabilizing the economy and employment in Alaska, but in underlining the fact that good political leadership is about the people being served not the leader's political position and perks.

As with choice of school for his daughters, President Obama has ceded the point that public health care would not do for his own family in time of need.

On moving to Washington, D.C., the Obamas chose an exclusive private school ($28,000 - $30,000 tuition per child) rather than the public school system for their daughters. The public schools in D.C. lack quality for even normal family needs, let alone high level family needs.

When asked about public health care, President Obama refused to commit to only using public health care resources for his own family and said he wanted "the very best care" for his family.

"Dr. Orrin Devinsky, a neurologist and researcher at the New York University Langone Medical Center, said that elites often propose health care solutions that limit options for the general public, secure in the knowledge that if they or their loves ones get sick, they will be able to afford the best care available, even if it's not provided by insurance.

"Devinsky asked the president pointedly if he would be willing to promise that he wouldn't seek such extraordinary help for his wife or daughters if they became sick and the public plan he's proposing limited the tests or treatment they can get.

"The president refused to make such a pledge, though he allowed that if 'it's my family member, if it's my wife, if it's my children, if it's my grandmother, I always want them to get the very best care.'"

H/T Drudge Report

If you haven't quit blogging, you are in the top 5%. The New York Times reports:

"According to a 2008 survey by Technorati, which runs a search engine for blogs, only 7.4 million out of the 133 million blogs the company tracks had been updated in the past 120 days. That translates to 95 percent of blogs being essentially abandoned, left to lie fallow on the Web, where they become public remnants of a dream — or at least an ambition — unfulfilled."

So, like the tortoise and the hare, the race goes to those who persevere and just keep plodding (or blogging).

H/T McClatchy Watch