1. CLAIM: Sarah Palin has ties to the Alaska Independence Party, a group which seeks Alaskan secession from the United States.
FACT: She has ties, in this case, through her husband who was a registered member of the party until 2002.
She also addressed the AIP convention in Wasilla, telling them "keep up the good work".
What many people don't realize about Alaska is that it remains fiercely independent, despite state government's reliance on Federal monies for support (we'll get to that in a bit). Alaska's own Constitution has two attention-getting clauses, if read in this light:
Article 12-2 states
The State and its political subdivisions may cooperate with the United States and its territories, and with other states and their political subdivisions on matters of common interest. The respective legislative bodies may make appropriations for this purpose.and Article 12-14 states
A federal statute or proposed federal statute that affects an interest of this State under the Act admitting Alaska to the Union is ineffective as against the State interest unless approved by a two-thirds vote of each house of the legislature or approved by the people of the State. The legislature may, by a resolution passed by a majority vote of each house, place the question of approval of the federal statute on the ballot for the next general election unless in the resolution placing the question of approval, the legislature requires the question to be placed before the voters at a special election. The approval of the federal statute by the people of the State is not effective unless the federal statute described in the resolution is ratified by a majority of the qualified voters of the State who vote on the question. Unless a summary of the question is provided in the resolution passed by the legislature, the lieutenant governor shall prepare an impartial summary of the question. The lieutenant governor shall present the question to the voters so that a "yes" vote on the question is a vote to approve the federal statute.
Thus, when Palin acknowledges the role the AIP plays in Alaskan politics and she encourages them to "keep up the good work" and "uphold the state Constitution", it can easily be read that she agrees at least in part with the views of the party, a party the person she slept next to every night for decades registered as a member.
2. CLAIM: Sarah Palin and her supporters have stated numerous times that she opposed the Bridge to No Where in Alaska, telling Congress "thank, but no thanks" for the money earmarked for the project.
FACT: Palin was for it, before she was against it. In fact, she wasn't even against it. She just admitted that Congress was losing interest and so the state should start investigating alternatives.
http://www.adn.com/sarahpalin/story/511471.html
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-31-palin-bridge_N.htm
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/09/palin.earmarks/index.html
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ici5RhMkh6-9V07yckpLBEEjzf6QD932MU100
3. CLAIM: When Palin was mayor of Wasilla, sexual assault victims were billed for the cost of the forensic collection and analysis tools used by hospital staff and law enforcement, commonly known as "rape kits", and costing between $300 and $1200.
FACT: In 2000, the governor of Alaska at that time signed a bill into a law which forbade towns from billing sexual assault victims for rape kits. State representatives stated the law was aimed squarely at Wasilla, where the practice was commonplace.
When the law was passed, Wasilla's police chief, Charlie Fannon, expressed displeasure with it. Palin's supporters pointed to his statement and suggested Palin had nothing to do with charging victims for forensic kits. However, an examination of the budget documents showed Palin clearly signed off on the slash to funds used to cover these kits and had full knowledge of that cost being passed on to victims.
More to come...
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