A Lesson from Sarah Palin: Do as I Say, Not as I Do

“Do as I say, not as I do.”

In every book and class on parenting we learned that with kids, we teach by example. Our children recognize immediately if we live our lives contrary to what we tell them to do. The most powerful lessons come from observation. A parent can tell their teenager not to speed while driving a car, but attending the funeral of a 17 year old girl, tragically killed in an automobile accident, teaches a lesson that words alone could never convey. Sarah Palin evidently never attended one of those parenting classes.  Even though she reads “all of them,”  she must have missed those parenting books.

In her personal life, she promotes abstinence, but she was pregnant when she married. She talks about family values, but regularly abandons her family. In her professional life she speaks about fighting corruption, but her attorney has the Anchorage Police Chief on his speed dial.  She explains that she loves Alaska, but she resigned as Governor after serving only half of her term. She has bought a home in Arizona, and is away from Alaska as much, or more, than she is there. The Empress speaks from the right side of her mouth about having a “Servant’s Heart,” and out of the left side she attacks others, calling them child molesters, limp, impotent, corrupt bastards.

Sarah is no longer a politician, but a celebrity. As a celebrity she has spent thousands of dollars on private planes and chauffer driven limos. Her attire is inconsistent with a woman who is concerned with her level of spending. Most women wear the same suit to work every week or two. Not Sarah. Most women only visit the beauty salon every month or two. Not Sarah. It’s probably good for the economy that Sarah Palin is spending so much money on her clothes, make-up, hair, and transportation. She is probably responsible for the employment of many people who wash her underwear and care for Trig. The fact that she spends a lot of money is not the problem. It is the fact that she describes herself as a “fiscal conservative” while spending outrageous amounts of money that is so offensive.

The phrases “common sense,” “conservative values,” and “fiscal conservative” are the hallmarks of every Republican. Palin has advertised herself as a “hard-core fiscal conservative” whose “agenda was to stop wasteful spending. Yet while Mayor of Wasilla, Palin was responsible for increasing the long term debt of Wasilla to almost $20,000,000.00. That percentage increase in debt would be consistent with the fiscal irresponsibility of the Bush Administration which caused the largest deficit in 25 years.

The Republican Party joins Sarah Palin in another example of the hypocrisy and political gamesmanship. For over two years we have listened as the GOP has attacked Obama as if he was solely responsible for the national debt. Yet when Obama advocated raising taxes in an effort to reduce the debt, the Republicans were totally unwilling to act responsibly. Sarah Palin has repeatedly complained that the Federal Government, of which she is not a part, should “tighten its belt”. However her own political party seems unable to do the same.  In January of this year the RNC Chairman announced that this fiscally conservative party was $23,000,000 in debt. This debt was 50% higher than the committee’s last report from Mid-November. Reince Priebus, the chairman, explained that the GOP spent too much on high-cost, low-return direct mail.

In July the Washington Times broke a story alleging that the GOP had failed to report more than $7 Million in debt. They reported:

“The Republican National Committee failed to report more than $7 million in debt to the Federal Election Commission in recent months – a move that made its bottom line appear healthier than it is heading into the midterm elections and that also raises the prospect of a hefty fine.

In a memo to RNC budget committee members, RNC Treasurer Randy Pullen on Tuesday accused Chairman Michael S. Steele and his chief of staff, Michael Leavitt, of trying to conceal the information from him by ordering staff not to communicate with the treasurer – a charge RNC officials deny.

Even though the GOP has worked for the first 7 months of this year to reduce its debt, the party is still reported to be at least 17 Million Dollars in debt.

At that rate, $6,000,000.00 in 7 months, if the GOP didn’t spend at a higher rate during the 2012 election cycle, they could reduce their debt to about $5,000,000.00 by November of 2012. That assumes that the donors of the Republican Party continue to use their “common sense” in giving money to this “hard core fiscal conservative” party.