The Classic Liberal Blog

You can review Round 1 of the Conservative Blogger Debate on Sarah Palin here.

Don tackled the first question about Sarah Palin directly, saying in part:

As Governor, Sarah Palin continued her platform of smaller government and less taxation. She eliminated a personal chef position at the Governor’s Mansion, turned down $100 a day per diem checks for each First Family member – children included. Instead she accepted a $60 per diem for meals for her entire family. She slashed the state budget each year in office, eventually winning over the state congress and enlisting their aid in doing so. By eliminating the waste and pork in the state budget, she was able to increase education funding by one billion dollars, setting up “forward funding” so that local school districts knew how many state dollars there were for them to count on each year.

I would like to add too, that Palin showed a better grasp of economics than just about any other Republicann when she attacked the Federal Reserve and its role in our current economic debacle.

Maybe Palin's showing up alongside Michele Bachmann at Ron Paul's economics classes ... and yes, that would be good news!

T. Christopher, however, brings up a good point concerning Sarah Palin:

The body of evidence is simply too small folks, and that is why without further explanation from Governor Palin, I cannot allow myself to drink the Kool-Aid and believe she has any role to play greater than what is already behind us.

Anyone who reads this blog on a regular basis knows I like Sarah Palin. I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But I'm also not going to pretend she's perfect.

Today, our country faces an enemy more dangerous than we've ever known ... a declining economy with a debt bomb about to explode! Because of this, every other issue pretty much takes a distant back seat (IMHO). A nuclear Iran couldn't impose as big a threat as the federal governments current insolvency.

So while she has a pretty good fiscal record and has shown intellectual integrity by attacking the Fed, she still ran for office with Mavericky "Bailout" McCain and has stumped for his re-election in Arizona. You can't have it both ways.

The reality of the different economic approaches of the Keynesians and Austrians, can be boiled down to communism vs. freedom. In other words, you can't be sort of Keynesian, anymore than you can be sort of a virgin.

In scoring the debate, the clear winner is Don. He answered the question directly and provided specific examples. But T. Christopher offered a valid rebuttal.

Get ready for Round 2!