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PALIN ON THE ISSUES….Tyler Cowen believes that liberals are making a mistake if they harp too much on Sarah Palin’s lack of experience on the public stage. Presumably, we should instead be targeting her on the issues. I don’t think I agree with this, but there’s certainly no harm in also targeting her on the issues. So here are Sarah Palin’s stands on seven issues:

  1. Joe Klein on taxes: Palin exploded her state’s coffers by imposing a windfall profits tax on the oil companies…sort of — no, exactly — like the proposal Barack Obama has made and John McCain has attacked. Apparently, she also supported the Bridge to Nowhere, despite her disclaimer at today’s event. So how does McCain explain putting a tax-raising porker on his ticket?

  2. Alaska native Charles Wohlforth on the Troopergate scandal: In July, Palin fired the beloved commissioner of Public Safety, Walt Monegan, without meaningful explanation. Monegan said he had resisted administration pressure to fire a State Trooper who was in a bitter child custody battle with Palin’s sister. Palin first denied the pressure, then released evidence, including a recorded phone call, that backed up Monegan’s story. The legislature, which isn’t exactly Palin-friendly, hired an ex-prosecutor to investigate. More here.

  3. Sarah Palin on creationism vs. evolution in public schools: I am a proponent of teaching both. And, you know, I say this, too, as the daughter of a science teacher. Growing up with being so privileged and blessed to be given a lot of information on, on both sides of the subject — creationism and evolution. It’s been a healthy foundation for me. But don’t be afraid of information and let kids debate both sides.

  4. Anchorage Daily News reporter Tom Kizzia on social issues: A significant part of Palin’s base of support lies among social and Christian conservatives. Her positions on social issues emerged slowly during the campaign: on abortion (should be banned for anything other than saving the life of the mother), stem cell research (opposed), physician-assisted suicide (opposed), creationism (should be discussed in schools), state health benefits for same-sex partners (opposed, and supports a constitutional amendment to bar them).

  5. Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope on big oil: Palin herself told Roll Call earlier this week, “When I look every day, the big oil company’s building is right out there next to me, and it’s quite a reminder that we should have mutually beneficial relationships with the oil industry.” No one is closer to the the oil industry than Governor Palin. Along with her support for drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge and off our coasts, she also opposes a windfall profit tax on the richest oil companies. Under her leadership, Alaska has sued the federal governent for considering listing the Polar Bear as a threatened species even though global warming threatens its very existence.

  6. Sarah Palin on global warming: A changing environment will affect Alaska more than any other state, because of our location. I’m not one though who would attribute it to being man-made.

  7. Politico’s Glenn Thrush on spending: Palin, who portrays herself as a fiscal conservative, racked up nearly $20 million in long-term debt as mayor of the tiny town of Wasilla — that amounts to $3,000 per resident. She argues that the debt was needed to fund improvements.

Palin’s lack of public experience means that her views on most issues are actually unknown, which makes this exercise sort of difficult. But I’m sure we’ll be finding out much, much more about Palin in the days and weeks to come. Stay tuned.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We can’t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

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