Just over a month ago, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin announced that she was:
... refusing to accept over 30 percent of the federal economic stimulus money being offered to Alaska, including dollars for schools, energy assistance and social services. [...]
"To me it's a bribe," Palin said.
And yesterday, she decided to accept that "bribe."
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has directed state agencies to begin applying for federal stimulus funds after indicating she wouldn't veto legislative approval of more than $900 million available to the state.
And while her political posturing over the past couple of months may have given her faithful followers reason to swoon (and donate to her legal defense fund), the outcome was never really in doubt. After all, the Alaska state legislature wasn't going to pay for Governor Pitbull's personal ambition and give up $288 million in state funding. And those legislators, Republicans and Democrats alike, haven't been shy about pushing back, even to the point where the state's Republican Senate President publicly called Palin a liar. Looking forward, to Palin's bid for reelection next year, one has to wonder how much political capital she has burned through in Alaska by pandering to the extreme wing of the national party.
Of course Palin is trying to maintain her fiscal creds by rejecting nearly $29 million for home weatherization and other projects to improve energy efficiency, because why bother to help people spend less on heating oil when you can just chant, "drill, baby, drill."
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