"Who Is John Galt" Anybody who supports capitalism

     So, here we are.  2% growth in our economy.  The slowest growth in our republics history, post recession.  The work participation rate at its lowest in modern times.  Wages not advancing.  Wall Street getting richer at the expense of the tax payer and the Fed lending us into bankruptcy.  The Cuba deal who cares.  The Iran deal, everybody should care.  Iran the worlds most prolific state sponsor of terror and, come to find out, a special relationship with Isis.  Further, the deal does allow for a nuclear weapon in 10 years.  Are you kidding me.  Race relations being directed by Al  Sharpton the  Sharleton.  The trampled constitution, IRS, Obamacare, the nationalization of General Motors, Keeping Buffit wealthy with more train transport of oil,  Executive overreach, immigration, "remember I have a pen" who needs congress.  Remember co equal branches of government.  Journalists more interested in money and celebrity and picking winners than doing the special job they had Intrusted to them by the first congress.
                                                        WHO IS JOHN GALT

     If I re read my last blog from last year I would see that nothing has changed it is just worse.  Therefore what is the solution.  We all need to find out what has happened to our society.  As Ayn Rand suggests in her 1950's book Atlas Shrugged,  which was a predictive novel based on her concerns about government growth, control, overreach and what she saw happening in our future.  She was a philosopher, "Objectivism" was the name of her new philosophy.  She also wrote novels ,   essays and was an economist. She was a Jew from pre Second World War Europe.  She believed, that America was special in the way it had come into existence and was special because of the constitution and the constitutions value in our national decision making.  That is to say:  Keeping government out of our individual, day to day lives.  She saw the beginnings of government over reach in the 50's just as it had happened in Fascist Europe.  The tensions between government the individual and industry ends with big government wining the power struggle, both in her book and in Europe.  How ever the unintended consequence of the governments win is the complete destruction of our economy which then destroys our social structure which then leads to civil breakdown.  When you are dependent on government to feed, provide clothing, provide housing, daycare, education, and and the rest of our basic needs to include a job then we have become the government of Atlas Shrugged.

Government has in fact, demonized the very engine of the American dream.  Capitalism has saved more lives in the USA and around the world,  more than any other system in the history of the world.  Capitalism has brought more people out of poverty than any other economic system in the world.  Capitalism has given life to a multigenerational  chase for the American Dream.  That chase is fueled by innovation and implemented based on individual liberty.

So , if you want  a country that limits individual liberties based on the notion of individual entitlement then we are on our way.  So, if you want a society that uses class warfare, the demonized  the engine of the American dream,  and uses the above as a reason to re distribute wealth  we are well on our way.  So, if the American Dream is just a myth, then innovation is dead, if innovation is dead, the rise of capitalism is dead, if the capitalism is dead then we are dependent on some other system to take care of us.  There are lots of systems that would promise us everything we need.  They have all failed in the past (kings, cults socialism, communism, dictators, emperors.  The only economic system that has been successful, has decreased world poverty, has given us unbelievable growth in all sectors of living, medicine, technology, education, industry.  It gave us the moon.  Capitalism has only been around since the  beginnings  of this great land.  What unbelievable progress for mankind in such a short time.  Civilizations have all come and gone over the last 6000 years, with very little change in the way real power is consolidate with a few.  Capitalism has changed that unless we allow a few to steal we the people's liberty and personal power given to us by the constitution.

Very Difficult to See the Forest for the Trees: Keep the scandals coming so we can not see the fundamental change to our way of life.

The Trees: This is massive misdirection:

The IRS scandal:

Lost emails:

Lois Lerner did it all on her own: However all the emails to the White House have been lost.

Benghazi: The President of the United States Lied to the American People as a means to be reelected to the presidency. 4 dead Americans.

Fast and Furious: Does anybody even remember this. The Dept of Justice lied to congress and the American People in order to avoid be in prosecuted. 1 dead American.

VA. What can I say about this. It is just simply wrong and needs to get fixed even if the Administration and Democrats have to undo the largest Public single payer program run by the government. 40+ plus dead veterans due to neglect.

AP: The Justice Department spied on the Associated Press reporters’ phone records.
Obama Care: We should have read it before we passed it. The President has changed the law with out congressional approval on at least 30 times. He is a law unto himself.
The Fed. Nobody really knows what they do but they spend Trillions of dollars that we will someday have to pay back. It is kind of like taxation with out representation.

Terrorists for POW. The issue is not what Sgt Bergdauls status is. It is that we have a President that will do anything to get his way. He may have the authority to do what he did. 

Boarders: A crises on our southern boarder. OH apparently we have no boarders, at least no boarder enforcement. Hundreds of thousands with access to all the benefits the us can offer and we can not even treat our Veterans well.

Nationalized Private US companies. GM. Bailed out the Unions and not the Bond Holders.

12 rebukes to the President from the Supreme Ct. More to come.

The Forest:

Economic:

Nationalized 1/6 th of the total US Economy with out reading the bill. Passed by a democratic congress, a democratic senate with not one Republican vote. Can not keep your Doc. Etc.

4 trillion in Stimulus and the last qtr the overall economy shrank at the rate of 3% per year.

  Unemployment at 12% after 6 years and 4 trillion dollars. The labor participation rate at a 50 year low. Most new jobs are part time.

Weak dollar internationally. Canadian dollar is now worth more than the US dollar. 8 years ago the US dollar was worth 2 times the Canadian dollar.

National debt up to 17,000.000,000. That is trillion

Gas has doubled. Food is expensive. Local Taxes have risen, State taxes have risen, Federal Taxes has risen.

Social:

50 Million on food stamps

Abortion is still the law of the land, no civil rights for the unborn. 70,000,000 plus babies aborted. 40% African American. That is a whole generation of Americans.

A massive cultural change

Have gone from the best in education to competing with 3^rd world countries.

Shipped millions of jobs overseas.

Have gone from a producing society to a consuming society.

50% divorce rates. The norm is single parenting.

Massive increases in Mental Health issues with youth.

Cities grow bigger and have no sustainable plans. All the largest cities are broke. The legacy cost cannot be paid. Witness Detroit. Others are next

A permanent Political class aligned with the press, and educators with a progressive philosophy have transformed American society to a focus on the collective (government dependence) from individuals and individual freedom. Increasing central planning and consolidating power in the White House. The notion that the government can spend its way out of the hole with increasing taxes, and borrowed money is antithetical to a moral society.

The military industrial complex was the societal wart of the 50's . The progressive cabal of the press, education, labor and democrats is the scourge of the 60 70 80 90 and current social, and political life. In 2014 the progressives stole 1/6^th of the entire US economy that they had nothing to do with creating but had gained the power to control it. I should have known, they tried with ATT, IBM, Microsoft and the past with big oil, big transportation, telecom and others. Remember that the cabinet is nothing more than institutionalized lobbyist with access to the highest levels of government.

Remember this. We know have a Government that is using Saul Alinsky style political actions to govern. Alinsky style political action is designed to bring down government. And that is what is happening right now.

Obama is up to his neck in Scandals and Counting; There will be a price to pay for this form of Governing

President Obama claims that Republicans are busy probing “phony scandals.” You should decide for yourself.
Here is a list some of the administration’s most public scandals. There may be more but lets not muddy the water with speculation lets stick to the facts. I know Progressives never let a fact get in the way of spin but some of us continue to try and shed light in the dark.
Domestic: The depths of Political Corruption: 

VA. What can I say about this. It is just simply wrong and needs to get fixed even if the Administration and Democrats have to undo the largest Public single payer program run by the government. A lot of people need to be fired.
IRS. Nixon had an enemies list and so did Clinton. Political enemies are a reality. The use of the IRS to influence elections is just wrong. Using the IRS to benefit a party (Rep or Dem) is just wrong and it has to stop. A lot of people need to be fired.
 Benghazi:
The failure of the administration to protect the Benghazi mission and the changes made to the talking points in order make a political gain right before an election was simply wrong. America as a whole paid the price for the coverup. 4 dead paid the price for the lack of action by those who should have acted. I know “what difference does it make”. A lot. If your goal was to reelect the president then it did make a difference. It help him to be elected. If your goal was to lie to the American people then it worked. We need to fire a lot of people who failed the 4 dead.
AP: The Justice Department spied on the Associated Press reporters’ phone records as part of a leak investigation. They also spied on Jame Rosen of Fox News. We do not know who else but this is a violation of the constitution and the government can not do this. It is wrong and people need to be fired.
ATF “Fast and Furious” W e allowed weapons from the U.S. to “walk” across the border into the hands of Mexican drug dealers. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed with one of these weapons.
Obama Care: We should have read it before we passed it. This is socialized medicine and everybody knows it. It will work as good as Indian Health Service and the Veterans Service. Government delivered medicine can not work. Ask England, Canada, Germany and others. Oh it does work in China, and Russia. If you can get to see a Dr. after the political elite jump ahead of you in line.
The Fed. Nobody really knows what they do but they spend Trillions of dollars that we will someday have to pay back. It is kind of like taxation with out representation. It needs to stop. We need to have a say in this spending.

Terrorists for POW. The issue is not what Sgt Bergdaul's status is. It is that we have a President that will do anything to get his way. He may have the authority to do what he did. Just as others have used the law to their short term advantage. Gaining a short term political advantage is what is wrong with what he did. He got a short term political gain at the expense of the US character. That was simply wrong of him to do.  He knew if he talked to congress they would have a fit.  So he lied to the
Congress, to the American People as a whole just to gain political support from his liberal base. 


The price for such wrong actions may have begun to be paid: I hope so:.
This is from Palin's Facebook Page: I could not have said it better:

Palin said;
“Congratulations to Dave Brat in Virginia on such an encouraging victory tonight! You shocked the political world and reminded D.C. that power lies with We the People and not any conventional party establishment. Dave Brat was massively outspent (more than 10 to 1) and laughed off by most, but he won the trust of voters the old fashioned way – one by one. Tonight’s victory showed the power of the local grassroots – the ones with boots on the ground who put up the campaign signs and go door to door to provide needed support for great candidates. Appreciation also goes to those with powerful microphones like Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, Ann Coulter and others who recognized Dave’s strengths and had the guts to provide him a megaphone to reach concerned citizens.

Grassroots commonsense conservatives can use this momentum to push good candidates like Chris McDaniel, T.W. Shannon, and Rob Maness to victory for America. These candidates are also being massively outspent by establishment candidates and they need our help and energy.”

 Dave Brat GOP Congressional Nomination

Now if they would only do to Senator Reid as they did to Cantor.


This is the best form of term limits in the US and it is constitutional. I have some hope again.

GFF Government Funded Families

50 years of Social, Political, and Economic Change

and the

Unintended Consequence of

GFF, Government Funded Families

This summer I will be going to my 50^th high school reunion at, Lincoln High, Des Moines Ia. This trip has got me thinking about where I came from, the values, experiences, and just life in general that I have been a participant in and a witness to.

Values: Behavior: What comes to mind is the word change. We have seen, since the 60's, a major change in American society and I am not sure the changes, (the solutions) to our perceived social, personal, political, economic or religious problems have produced as advertised. From a macro view I see we have gone from Social forces governing our general behavior, relationships, and private and public actions to a law and regulations ruled society enforced and interpreted by government. For example; If my dad did not work we did not eat, have a home, car etc. Today we have government programs that will take care of those basics. We also have multi generation welfare families (GFF).

Primarily these social forces were passed from church and family to the individual and later by society. The formation of guilt and shame was a important part of what kept our society from chaos. I currently believe that the chaos we currently experience is a direct result of unintended consequences of political overreach by government. In fact, I believe the unintended consequences have been worse for our society than the percieved problems they were intended to deal with and we continue to try and solve the new problems, which are the unintended consequences of the original problems, with the same actions, programs, behavior etc. More tax money by the billions, new government programs by the thousands, more power too the government by new laws and regulation , and more government favor to we who take and less for we who pay. 

 

The First Domino:

I remember as a teenager in the 60's I was driven by two competing impulses. Life was simple. Sex, and the reality of pregnancy. The competing impulses were so strong that they could only be managed by the fear of what if she gets pregnant and the prospect of guilt and shame. My fear, and the eventuality of feeling shame, the impact on my family, friends, my own self respect and self esteem shaped my own values, and morals. I was shamed and guilted into being responsible for my actions and if there was a pregnancy then I had taken the risk and deserved the consequence. All that quilt and shame was removed from my adolescents with the pill quickly followed by ROE v Wade. The first lead to the second. The primary social problem, teen pregnancy gave rise to increased sexual activity, that gave rise for the need to avoid consequence and therefore use abortion(an unintended consequence) as a means to fix sex without guilt or consequence.. The rise in STD, HIV, Post Abortion Stress, and oral sex being described by our President as not having sex with that women. All of this is an unintended consequence and we continue to poor billions of dollars, ruined lives and ruined families into attempting to fix that which was not broke. Government can not ever fix this type of social problem. Is all they can do is make laws and spend money and create dependency. The GFF is here and makes up a very large portion of our general population.

.

Social: Teen pregnancy. It was a problem and societies solutions were to shame, socially isolate, non medical abortions, and single motherhood with out welfare or social supports from the Government. With these social actions the notion of shame was the controlling mechanism and the reality of not being able to support, feed, house, cloth a child as a single mother, were the regulating forces that were controlling factors in sexual behavior and child bearing in the 60's.

As can be seen in the above chart, during the 1960's something happened to our society. The change has been consistent and dramatic dramatic. The very fabric of American society which had been based on the Family has dramatically changed. The family, as the central vehicle to moral development and the maintenance of values and mores that are essential to avoiding social chaos, has been dramatically undercut and has been replaced with a utilitarian ethic that is promoted by the left and is supported by Big Government. Today's 50% divorce rate, 50% of children being raised in single mother homes, 1.3 million elective abortions, 50 million on food stamps, 14.5% real unemployment, 2% real economic growth, the nationalization of 1/6^th of the US economy, 17 trillion in debt, 4.5 trillion in bailouts and stimulus and much more. All of the governments expansion since the 1960”s has caused an explosion in number of Government Funded Families(GFF), to include funding for food, clothing, healthcare, childcare, work training, education and many other federal subsidies.

In one generation we have successfully defeated the nature of family, its responsibilities(to have and raise children), its power,(to provide and protect), and its rights(to be free of government intrusion). We have done what the communist, socialists,and fascist could not get done because of the US. And now here we are with no good solutions on the horizon. The notions of personal freedom, freedom from government interference in our life, taxation without representation, the bill of rights, liberty, freedom of political speech, a government that does not have to follow the law, lawmakers that become wealthy at taxpayers expense, a smaller population of we the people who pay and a growing population of we the people who take.

The growth of government has a direct correlation on the growth of the we who take. They put and keep the government in power to pass laws and regulations for those who take. And take taxes and fees at an ever increasing rate from those who pay. Who is the largest employer in the US. GM, Verizon, ATT.,US steel, Ford, DuPont, . Not even close. It is the Federal, State and Local government. Not counting the military. 11 million: 1.8 million civil servants, 870,000 postal workers, 1.4 million military personnel, 4.4 million contractors, and 2.5 million grantees. Plus 3 million actual employees in government

Now we have young blacks roaming the streets beating up white people just for the fun of it. We have the gay activist finding 5 year old political donations by business persons and bringing pressure to fire them because they did not agree with their position. There excuse is they have been oppressed by the white dominate culture, In fact they have been coddle by a nanny state that has given them living basics for the price of self esteem and self control. This is just one of 1000's of examples of unintended consequences. The most glaring is the, Roe, V Wade decision based on a woman right to privacy. What a great decision, women now have abortions in private. We now kill 1.3 million babies a year, in private. Just think if all those babies were here and participated in the work force. What was sold to the public as a woman's right to choose. The right to choose has become a selfish behavior of convenience where the state chooses to not protect the most vulnerable of societies members. All this for a made up right to privacy, not in the constitution. This was the beginning of the lefts willingness to do whatever they needed to do in order to get government to do for them what they could not get done within the society at large. At least not as fast as they wanted it done. In order for the left to accomplish this they needed a much larger government and they got it. Starting with President Johnson's Great Society. This was the enabling legislation for the next 50 years of welfare growth. 

There are literally 1000's of unintended consequences and we could never deal with all the problems they have created.  However,  there is some small hope and that is this experiment in socialism will not work just as the other experiments in government funded families has not worked anywhere in the world.  The original experiment (1776 to 1963) conservative constitutionalism,  was working but maybe to slow for some but we have now been run over by all the helping promised by government.

From an article at Breitbart.com

                                              About Sarah Palin


"I have been wondering how to respond to the  comments that she is not ready for prime time. I finally found an insightful researched editorial with evidence of her readiness not what the Lame Stream Media says. Most will not read this because they have read or heard from ABC, MSNBC, NBC, CBS and most major print media that she is not very bright and she has a not so bright kid. If you have the time and are willing to see what a few facts will do for you read this it will take a few minutes because it is a comprehensive and well researched study. Maybe we can get beyond what the President of MIT recently said. That is “Sarah Palin was right”. He also said “He did not generally agree with Palin but she got this right” that is: that who we elect today is a just a puplic relations event run by the advertisers and major media that we all participate in.

By Whitney Pitcher

Is she “unqualified” or “unprepared”? What is her actual record? The media demanded and got unprecedented access to the emails she wrote as governor. No other national or state politician has been more open and transparent. We can know this woman if we just take the time to investigate.
I did, and I discovered a record of relentless reform and fiscal leadership that goes beyond “drill, baby, drill” and is more complex than selling an expensive state jet.
Today everyone likes to call himself a deficit hawk, but it’s easy to be a budget cutter when you’re broke. Palin was a serious deficit hawk at a time when her state was flush with a massive oil revenue surplus. It takes discipline and strong conservative principles to rein in spending at a time like that. Palin cut spending by nearly 10% during her tenure while reforming government, attracting more energy companies to do business in her state and adding jobs.
In the days of credit downgrades in states across the country and for the country as a whole, Alaska has seen its credit upgraded twice since 2006 due to Palin’s reform of the state employee pensions and Alaska’s oil valuation tax. 
While the nominees for both political parties have implemented health care mandates on some level, Palin proposed repealing bureaucratic mandates for health care facility development and enacted patient-centered, market-driven health care reforms.
Though she is unabashedly a woman of faith, Palin’s message and governing style garnered her approval ratings as high as 93% in the second least religious state in the country. This was no uneducated, geographically-challenged “Bible Spice.” 
By any objective standard, this woman was and is more than qualified to be vice president or president. Her record is arguably better than anyone on the national scene today. The facts bear this out.
I’ve assembled just a brief and partial glimpse of Palin’s record. Much more could be written. Whole films have been made about it (see Steve Bannon’s “The Undefeated”). I’ve chosen to focus primarily on fiscal and energy issues because that’s what Palin focused on.
After reading the following you should ask yourself a few questions:
Why haven’t we heard about all of this before? Why didn’t Steve Schmidt highlight this record during the 2008 campaign? And why is the GOP establishment attacking this woman instead of praising and emulating her leadership?

Executive Authority and Success
Palin was the first female and youngest governor to be elected in Alaska, which is tied for the second most powerful governorship in the United States, according to Thad Beyle, a political scientist at the University of North Carolina.
Palin's approval rating average from the time of her inauguration until John McCain selected her as his running mate was 77.38%. Her consistently high approval ratings reached their zenith in May of 2007, at 93%. Alaska pollster David Dittman said at the time, "Her strength is her independence. She distanced herself from the old boy Republican regime and has been completely non-partisan.” Alaska Democratic Party Chairman Jake Westbrook gave Palin credit for “working across party lines on issues where there is agreement."

Budgeting and Spending
Palin cut state spending between 2007 and 2010 by 9.5% while also reducing federal earmark requests by more than 80% during her tenure. She used her line-item veto to cut more than a quarter billion in superfluous spending in both 2007 and 2008. In 2009, she instituted a temporary hiring freeze, while at the same time reducing spending by more than 33% between FY2009 and FY2010.
But she didn’t just cut spending; she saved, reformed, and prioritized like a good fiscal manager. She invested $5 billion in state savings, overhauled education funding, paid down debt, invested $2.6 billion in an education fund for the future, and funded a Senior Benefits Program to provide support for low-income Alaskan seniors. 
Her recently released emails prove that she did indeed kill the "Bridge to Nowhere." In fact, Palin wanted to redirect the federal funds to Minnesota after the bridge there collapsed in 2007, as she indicated in an email to her staff. Palin also rejected much of President Obama's "stimulus money" in 2009.
Fiscal Management
Long before state pension fund liabilities became a topic of national debate and crisis, Palin reformed Alaska’s pension program by ensuring a successful transition from defined benefits to a defined contribution program to address the $8 billion unfunded liability in the program, making it more solvent and leading to a decrease of 34.6% in state liabilities during her tenure. 
In stark contrast to President Obama and other governors whose fiscal records are dogged by credit downgrades, Palin left Alaska with an improved credit rating during and following her tenure as governor.  Standard & Poor’s raised Alaska’s credit rating from AA to AA+ in April 2008. Then in 2010, both Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s upgraded Alaska to AAA for the first time in the state’s history due to policies enacted by Palin that made the state’s finances more than solvent.  
Palin’s record on outstanding debt is especially impressive compared to the President’s and many prominent Republican governors’:

Governor/President (tenure)	Beginning Debt Outstanding	Ending Debt Outstanding	Cumulative Increase/Decrease	Average Annual Increase/Decrease
Palin (FY07-FY10)	$2.246 billion	$2.531 billion	12.7%	4.2%
Romney (FY03-FY07)	$15.963 billion	$23.026 billion	44.3%	11.1%
Pawlenty (FY03-FY10)	$3.474 billion	$5.768 billion	66.0%	9.4%
Perry (FY01-FY10)	$12.561 billion	$35.692 billion	184.2%	20.5%
Christie  (FY10-present)	$33.878 billion	$65.049 billion	92%	46%
Obama (2009-present)	$10.627 trillion (on 1/20/2009)	$15.624 trillion (as of 4/26/2012)	47%	15.6%

*The Indiana Finance Authority was not formed until Governor Mitch Daniels took office, so I was unable to get a complete picture of his debt overview. 
Jobs
Under Palin’s leadership, Alaska was 2nd in job growth, and 3rd in the change in its unemployment rate, compared to the other states. Alaska also saw a record number of oil jobs in both 2008 and 2009, while natural resource and logging jobs increased 13.7% during Palin’s tenure.
In fact, Palin’s record on jobs compared to the country as a whole was stronger than the President’s and other prominent governors’ during their respective tenures:

		Unemployment Rate						Employment (millions)
		State†	Nation±		Periodic Difference	Annualized Difference		State†	Nation ±	Periodic Difference	Annualized Difference
Palin (AK)	12/06 7/09 Change	6.2% 8.0% 1.8%		4.4% 9.5% 5.1%	-1.8% 1.5% 3.3%		n/a n/a 1.2%	0.329 0.331 0.4%	145.970 139.794 -4.2%	n/a n/a 4.6%		n/a n/a 1.7%
Romney (MA)	1/03 1/07 Change	5.6% 4.6% -1.0%		5.8% 4.6% -1.2%	0.2% 0.0% -0.2%		n/a n/a 0.0%	3.232 3.283 1.6%	137.417 146.407 6.5%	n/a n/a -5.0%		n/a n/a -1.2%
Pawlenty (MN)	1/03 1/11 Change	4.5% 6.7% 2.2%		5.8% 9.0% 3.2%	1.3% 2.3% 1.0%		n/a n/a 0.1%	2.746 2.760 0.5%	137.417 139.323 1.4%	n/a n/a -0.9%		n/a n/a -0.1%
Perry (TX)	12/00 3/12 Change	4.2% 7.0% 2.8%		3.9% 8.2% 4.3%	-0.3% 1.2% 1.5%		n/a n/a 0.12%	9.997 10.496 5.0%	137.614 142.034 3.2%	n/a n/a 1.8%		n/a n/a 0.14%
Daniels (IN)	1/05 3/12 Change	5.4% 8.2% 2.8%		5.2% 8.2% 3.0%	-0.2% 0.0% 0.2%		n/a n/a 0.03%	3.009 2.867 -5.0%	140.241 142.034 1.3%	n/a n/a -6.3%		n/a n/a -0.8%
Christie (NJ)	1/10 3/12 Change	9.9% 9.0% -0.9%		9.7% 8.2% -1.5%	-0.2% -0.8% -0.6%		n/a n/a -0.3%	3.850 3.881 0.8%	138.333 142.034 2.7%	n/a n/a -1.9%		n/a n/a -0.8%
Obama	1/09 3/12 Change	N/A		7.6% 8.2% 0.6%	N/A		n/a n/a 0.2%	N/A	142.099 142.034 0.0%	N/A		n/a n/a 0.0%

† State unemployment rates and employment numbers were retrieved from Local Area Unemployment Statistics program at the Bureau of Labor Statistics
± National Unemployment Rate and Employment numbers were retrieved from the Current Population study at the Bureau of Labor Statistics 
Business Growth
Alaska was an opportunity society under Palin. Alaska moved up from the 4th most business tax-friendly state to the 3rd most business tax-friendly state during her tenure. 
Palin was a firm believer in tax cuts. In addition to lowering unemployment insurance tax rates, she cut business license fees in half, suspended the state motor fuel tax, and signed legislation, allowing Alaska-based businesses the same opportunities as out-of-state businesses. All of this was consistent with her record as Mayor of Wasilla, where she eliminated small business inventory taxes and cut property tax mill levies every year she was in office. Her business-friendly policies and infrastructure projects as mayor made Wasilla the fastest growing city in her state, and her policies as governor allowed Alaska’s exports to grow to a record-high in 2006 and 2007.

Energy
Energy issues are Palin’s forte, and her record proves it. In 2007, Governor Palin signed ACES—Alaska’s Clear and Equitable Share—a net tax on oil profits that was passed in a bipartisan and transparent manner. ACES replaced the corruption-tainted oil tax plan of the previous administration, which was passed in secret and ultimately lead to the federal indictment of several Alaskan state officials and oil company personnel. Furthermore, ACES provided oil companies with incentives to develop. The progressivity of the tax meant producers were protected when oil prices were low, but the interest of the resource owners—the people of Alaska—were appropriately protected as well to achieve a fair return for their resource. 
Most importantly, ACES led to jobs, increased development, and a huge surplus for Alaska. There were a record number of oil industry jobs in each year from 2007, when ACES was implemented, to 2009. And the number of oil companies filling taxes with the state of Alaska doubled between 2006 and 2009 while natural resources and logging jobs increased 13.7% during Governor Palin’s tenure, according to Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development data. Further, ACES contributed to Alaska’s credit upgrade by Standard and Poor’s and helped the state to put $12 billion into savings.
Perhaps Palin’s biggest energy achievement was spearheading the creation of the Alaska natural gas pipeline. After five decades of unsuccessful attempts by Alaskan administrations to bring a gas pipeline project into existence, Palin and her team introduced the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) in March 2007. AGIA passed the Legislature by a vote of 57-1 in May of that year. 
This groundbreaking legislation established the framework for what will be America’s largest private sector infrastructure project—an 800 mile natural gas pipeline from Alaska’s North Slope to the Lower 48 states. In August 2008, the Alaska Legislature authorized the Palin administration to award the AGIA license to TransCanada Alaska. In June 2009, Exxon Mobil signed an agreement with TransCanada to partner on the project.
Unlike the behind-closed-doors cronyism of past administrations, Palin’s AGIA legislation was conducted out in the open and made use of a genuine free-market competitive bidding process. Palin’s AGIA placed not only Alaska, but also the nation, further on the path toward energy independence.
Palin played hardball with the big oil companies in her state. According to the Alaska state constitution, Alaskans are the resource owners in their state; and it was Palin’s duty as their CEO to get the best deal for Alaskans while at the same time partnering with these oil companies for the mutual benefit of all. One particular bone of contention for Alaskans was the fact that a company was sitting on a lucrative lease instead of developing it. The lease in question was for the Point Thomson field, which contains one of the largest untapped and proven reserves of oil and gas on the continent. Exxon Mobil sat on that lease for more than 25 years while one Alaskan administration after another was either unwilling or unable to get them to move on developing it – even though Exxon was violating their lease agreement by not drilling. Palin told them to develop Point Thomson or else the state would revoke their lease and give it to a company that would drill. She got results. Exxon finally commenced drilling at Point Thomson.
Further buttressing her reformer credentials and her belief in environmentally responsible energy development, Palin also created the Petroleum Systems Integrity Office (PSIO) in April 2007 to ensure the environment compliance of the big oil companies.
Prior to becoming governor, Palin chaired the powerful Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in 2003 and 2004, and was one of three commissioners who oversaw oil and drilling, development, production, and resource management within the state.

Ethics Reform and Transparency
Ethics reform was the hallmark of Palin’s governorship. She was swept into office on a reform message in a state with a serious corruption problem. Alaska at the time was undergoing a federal investigation that culminated in the indictment of various corrupt lawmakers. Palin had made a name for herself as an ethics crusader when she chaired the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservative Commission and blew the whistle on fellow commissioner and state GOP head Randy Ruedrich for doing party business on state time. This resulted in Ruedrich receiving a $12,000 fine—the largest civil fine for ethics in the state’s history. Alaskans respected the fact that Palin was not afraid of taking on the establishment of her own party. 
As governor, Palin fought for and signed sweeping bipartisan ethics legislation, which restricted lobbyists, improved disclosure laws, and improved executive and legislative branch ethics laws. In the face of corruption, she continued to take on her own party when it was necessary. She also increased transparency by releasing her oil tax bill to her constituents 17 days prior to the special legislative session, opening up natural gas pipeline deals to all potential parties, putting the state checkbook online, and not allowing lobbyists in her office.

Education
Palin forward funded education to allow districts greater flexibility, supported increased vocational training and early education funding, opened up opportunity to Alaskan students to participate in regional medical schools, and increased overall funding for special needs education by 175% (before she herself became the mother of son with special needs). Believing that the best reform was close to home, Palin wisely also chose to monitor rather than participate in national standards for education.

Health Care
Palin introduced health care transparency legislation that established an Alaska health care information office to give consumers factual information on quality and cost to help them make better-informed health care decisions. Recognizing that health care must be market-and business-driven, rather than restricted by government, Palin proposed repeal of Certificate of Need—a layer of bureaucracy that prevents medical facility development. She established the Alaska Health Strategies Planning Council, reduced Medicaid assessments by 83%, and expanded Alaska’s SeniorCare benefits program for low-income seniors.