Republican VP Candidate Lied About Trade Missions; No Reformer, Just More Lies and Distortions
Sarah Palin should change her middle name from Louise to Liar, she tells so many lies. Just the right soulmate for that other inveterate liar, J. Sid McSame.
Remember her awful interview with softball questioner Katie Couric? Palin claimed trade missions with Russia were proof of her foreign policy experience. Guess what? It's a lie.
From Raw Story: "In a Thursday interview with Katie Couric, Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin cited "trade missions" with Russia as her one tangible piece of foreign policy experience.
"What trade missions?
"Research doesn't show a single Alaska-Russia trade mission since former Democratic governor Tony Knowles visited Siberia in 1997, when Palin was running Wasilla, according to Salon.com.
"When the reporter asked gubernatorial spokeswoman Kate Morgan about this issue, she refused to answer. Morgan claimed she couldn't legally discuss the matter because she is a state employee and the reporter had learned about the trade missions through the Couric interview, which stems from her bid for the Oval Office.
"Spokespeople for the McCain/Palin campaign did not respond to requests for comment..."
"What trade missions?
"Research doesn't show a single Alaska-Russia trade mission since former Democratic governor Tony Knowles visited Siberia in 1997, when Palin was running Wasilla, according to Salon.com.
"When the reporter asked gubernatorial spokeswoman Kate Morgan about this issue, she refused to answer. Morgan claimed she couldn't legally discuss the matter because she is a state employee and the reporter had learned about the trade missions through the Couric interview, which stems from her bid for the Oval Office.
"Spokespeople for the McCain/Palin campaign did not respond to requests for comment..."
So the last trade mission between Alaska and Russia occurred during the administration of Democratic governor Tony Knowles while Palin was mayor of Wasilla.
At that time Palin was busy accepting freebie gifts and asking for forgiveness of zoning violations so she could sell her house.
From Huffington Post: "Though Sarah Palin depicts herself as a pit bull fighting good-old-boy politics, in her years as mayor she and her friends received special benefits more typical of small-town politics as usual, an Associated Press investigation shows.
"When Palin needed to sell her house during her last year as Wasilla mayor, she got the city to sign off on a special zoning exception _ and did so without keeping a promise to remove a potential fire hazard.
"She gladly accepted gifts from merchants: A free "awesome facial" she raved about in a thank-you note to a spa. The "absolutely gorgeous flowers" she received from a welding supply store. Even fresh salmon to take home.
"She also stepped in to help friends or neighbors with City Hall dealings. She asked the City Council to add a friend to the list of speakers at a 2002 meeting _ and then the friend got up and asked them to give his radio station advertising business.
"That year, records show, she tried to help a neighbor and political contributor fighting City Hall over his small lakeside development. Palin wanted the city to refund some of the man's fees, but the city attorney told the mayor she didn't have the authority.
"Some of her first actions after being elected mayor in 1996 raised possible ethical red flags: She cast the tie-breaking vote to propose a tax exemption on aircraft when her father-in-law owned one, and backed the city's repeal of all taxes a year later on planes, snow machines and other personal property. She also asked the council to consider looser rules for snow machine races. Palin and her husband, Todd, a champion racer, co-owned a snow machine store at the time."
As governor, Palin accepted more than $25,000 in gifts according to the Washington Post: "Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, who has made a crackdown on gift-giving to state officials a centerpiece of her ethics reform agenda, has accepted gifts valued at $25,367 from industry executives, municipalities and a cultural center whose board includes officials from some of the largest mining interests in the state, a review of state records shows.
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