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ORIGINAL: rcjames

Not too suprising, she has accomplished in two years her stated goals for the four years, finially proved herself innocent of all the phoney baloney ethics charges; so maybe she is just ready for a new challenge.

Thanks
RC

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"I cannot stand here as your governor and allow the millions of dollars and all that time go to waste just so I can hold the title of governor," Palin said.

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ORIGINAL: todd_t

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"I cannot stand here as your governor and allow the millions of dollars and all that time go to waste just so I can hold the title of governor," Palin said.

This strikes me as a cop-out.

Lots of governors ride out for their full term despite being a lame duck. It's the nature of the political beast to have to deal with such things.

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Wouldn't she just be replaced by someone new who'd take up the same salary? Or am I reading into the issue incorrectly?

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as the crititcs are already circling trying to figure her out or figure an angle. Imagine that, she can make a personal choice without explaining to the peanut gallery.

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This strikes me funny...as the crititcs are already circling trying to figure her out or figure an angle. Imagine that, she can make a personal choice without explaining to the peanut gallery.

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Unfortunately, she gave a long, rambling speech that never said why she was stepping down (and that made a bunch of veiled, confusing references to what she was going to do)...I just listened to the speech and her reasons totally escape me even though she says she gave them in the speech.

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I gathered she was moving into a private arena where trumped up charges BETTER be real.

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I guess Palin is taking Harry Truman's advice about the relationship between heat and kitchens.

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ORIGINAL: todd_t

During her speech, Palin noted that she and her husband owe $500K in legal bills, so between her upcoming book deal and the prospect of paid speaking events she stands to make up that loss and then some.

So is she leaving office early to cash in on her celebrity?

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"I cannot stand here as your governor and allow the millions of dollars and all that time go to waste just so I can hold the title of governor," Palin said.

This strikes me as a cop-out.

Lots of governors ride out for their full term despite being a lame duck. It's the nature of the political beast to have to deal with such things.

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Some strings attached:
March 15, 2009
Last month, Congress enacted the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, popularly called “the stimulus plan.” It gives billions of dollars to the states, but the gift has strings attached. One of its unique provisions changes state constitutions! That provision is unconstitutional, and its defect raises problems about the whole enterprise.

The aphorism, he who pays the piper calls the tune, is one that Congress understands quite well. If the state accepts funds, it also accepts a host of restrictions. For example, the plan increases, temporarily, the money it sends to states to fund various welfare programs. To receive that money, states have to add thousands of new people to the welfare rolls. In two years, the federal largesse stops, but the new welfare recipients are still there.

Consequently, several governors have said that they might simply refuse the money. Most are Republican, but recently the Democratic governor of Tennessee has joined the chorus. The stimulus bill, for example, gives $7 billion to the states to add to their unemployment trust funds, but to receive this “gift,” a state has to change its formula so that it makes more people eligible for benefits, which leaves a long-term obligation on the system.

Because some governors might not accept the money, Congress added a unique provision, in subsection 1607(b): “If funds provided to any State in any division of this Act are not accepted for use by the Governor, then acceptance by the State legislature, by means of the adoption of a concurrent resolution, shall be sufficient to provide funding to such State.”

If state law does not give the state legislature the right to bypass the governor, how can Congress just change that law? Where does Congress get the power to change a state constitution?

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I think she has "manned up" more

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Think what you want, but my opinion is it has a lot more to do with the stimulus law and strings attached for the states than anything else:

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After all, were Governor Palin truly a "barracuda" then why doesn't she stay in the fight?

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I believe she is; just not the way California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and other Governors are staying in the fight --- yet unable to keep their states from going broke before their own eyes; I believe she has a better way 'to stay in the fight' up her sleeve.

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ORIGINAL: gcsmithjr

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I believe she is; just not the way California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and other Governors are staying in the fight --- yet unable to keep their states from going broke before their own eyes; I believe she has a better way 'to stay in the fight' up her sleeve.

What does the situation in California have to do with the stimulus money? Schwarzenegger went out of his way to support the stimulus package and even said in an interview: "Well, Governor Sanford says that he does not want to take the federal stimulus package money. And I'll say to him, I'll take it, I'm more than happy to take his money or any other governor in this country that doesn't want to take this money. I'll take it, because we in California need it."

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ORIGINAL: stampinlady

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I think she has "manned up" more

If she has truely, "manned up" shouldn't she finish her term?

I'm really curious as to why she's not and hope she explains herself better.

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ORIGINAL: todd_t

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"I cannot stand here as your governor and allow the millions of dollars and all that time go to waste just so I can hold the title of governor," Palin said.

This strikes me as a cop-out.

Lots of governors ride out for their full term despite being a lame duck. It's the nature of the political beast to have to deal with such things.

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THE NEXT PRESIDENT will be elected on Nov. 4, but will not take office until Jan. 20. Normally, this lag time is not an issue. But with the financial system in meltdown, the "real" economy threatening to follow, and a feckless, lame-duck administration unable to lead, this yawning interval is a problem.

...

But there is a way out - if our political leaders are smart, courageous, and public-spirited enough to take it.

Assume that Barack Obama wins the election, as polls show is increasingly likely. The following day, Vice President Cheney should be prevailed upon to resign. Using his powers to designate a successor under the 25th Amendment, President Bush should then appoint, and Congress should confirm, Obama as vice president (just as Richard Nixon appointed Gerald Ford vice president in 1973 when Spiro Agnew resigned). Bush himself should then resign, elevating Obama to the presidency - as Ford became president when Nixon resigned. Obama should then appoint Joe Biden as vice president.

With Congress's confirmation of Biden, the new administration would be in place, on the job, and ready to tackle the economic crisis - in November, not January. (The electoral college's official ratification of the election results in December would merely rubber-stamp the transition.)

Such extraordinary action would be particularly appropriate in the event of an Obama/Biden victory, since that ticket promises the most dramatic change from the current administration's approach and policies.

However, it could be pursued with equal effectiveness if the McCain/Palin ticket is victorious. The goal remains the same: Get the new administration up, running, and dealing with the crisis as quickly as possible. It is simply vital for the government to act in as urgent a fashion as the situation demands.