Sarah Palin and her dirt....it's finally showing. Quite a bit for only 2 years in office, eh?

[Taylorcofan]

Let’s talk about gas first.

Alaskans are anxious to develop resources in the State, and to that
end there have been various proposals to build a gas pipeline that
would link the extremely remote North Slope to the rest of the world.

You would think in a time of historically high petroleum prices that
this sort of project would be a self-supporting business...but the
Republican, theoretically free-market supporting, Governor Palin (and
the majority Republican Alaska Legislature) convinced Alaskans to pay
$500 million in subsidies to TransCanada Corporation, not for an
actual pipeline, but to allow TransCanada to find partners and
additional financing...and beyond that, there’s tax relief for those
who use the pipeline. (Just a guess...but you wanna bet this will not
be the last subsidy to Big Gas/Big Oil before this Big Deal is done?)

Subsidies to the builders, subsidies for the customers...and a
commitment to the Free Market that “Uncle” Ted Stevens would
love...that seems to be energy plan Vice Cheney nominee Palin
endorses.

John McCain is famous for his pledge to eschew “pork-barrel” spending
in Arizona...and in what seems to be an effort to get back to
“average” he has chosen as a running mate the Governor of the State
that’s Number One in earmarks...and as much Federal spending within
its borders annually as it has private payroll.

Palin ran on a platform of “open and transparent government”...but
those days are now, apparently, over.