Exploring Sarah Palin's Alaska

CBS Evening News: It's Known As The Last Frontier, But Many Alaskans Think The Government's Hold Is Too Strong

(CBS)  For many Alaskans, the vast grandeur of their state represents riches held hostage.

"The people down in America won't allow us to drill our oil," said Mark Chryson, a computer repairman who is a member of the Alaska Independence Party - a group with some radical ideas.

CBS News correspondent John Blackstone asked, "Would Alaska be better off if it was not part of the United States?"

"Probably," Chryson said.

On the last frontier it's a common complaint that too much of the state is controlled by the federal government.

Alaska sprawls across more than 420 million acres, but some 273 million of those acres are federally owned - about 65 percent of the state.

On that land, the federal government can make rules about everything from oil drilling and mining to who gets to fish and hunt, says Republican State Sen. Lyda Green.

"Is that one of the things that drives Alaskans crazy, that people in the rest of America keep telling them what they can do with the land up here?" Blackstone asked.

"Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely, and what you shouldn't be doing, and what you can't be doing," Green said.

Alaskans by their very nature don't like rules, says Anchorage pollster Ivan Moore.

"We want government out of our lives," Moore said. "We want as little government as possible."

Moore, like some 70 percent of Alaskans, came here from somewhere else.

"We like our privacy," Moore said. "We like being at the end of the road."

But now Sarah Palin has put Alaska in the spotlight. There may be fewer than 700,000 people in Alaska's wide open spaces, but the state budget is more than $12 billion, and there are nearly 25,000 state employees. Many Alaskans don't want to hear that being their governor is no big deal.

"We got big issues up here," Moore said. "Gas pipeline is huge, of national importance."

Spending most of her life in Wasilla, Palin has been surrounded by Alaska's natural beauty. But as governor, she has made it clear the state's natural resources are not just to be admired - they are to be used.

And with Palin as McCain's No. 2, many Alaskans hope the state may finally get a chance to cash in on more of its natural riches.

[mnguyen4]

As stated in the article, 70 percent of Alaskans come from somewhere else. Hence, they are nothing more than a bunch of carpetbaggers who seek quick fortune in a cold, windy, and the most desolate place in the Union. Sarah Palin is just one of them, and is therefore not a reformer.

Sarah Palin and Alaskans benefitted a lot from big oil, defense money, and generous federal money through the all powerful Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska. There is always a link between oil, power, and corruption throughout history. Sarah Palin is no different; the only difference is she is very new in the political scene and away from Washington.
Linking Sarah Palin as a reformer in the Nation capital is like having Al Capone proposal to reduce organized crime in Chicago.

[wastedbandwidth]

with an 18% approval rating in Washington - I think every state in the union (except new york and vermont) would be better off severed from that looney bin.

[armydog2]

d

[csp66]

I''m not sure I want a VP who has attended a Doomsday cult most of her life that is obsessed with starting Holy Wars and "End Times". Since McCain ain''t no Spring Chicken, chances are pretty good that this thoroughly inexperienced woman with an extreme evangelical agenda might one day be holding "the button". Kind of makes all the other issues against her pale in comparison. Check this out. It''s one of quite a few rather disturbing articles from various news sources:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/02/palins-church-may-have-sh_n_123205.html

He preaches repeatedly about the "end times" or "last days," an apocalyptic prophesy held by a small but vocal group of Christian leaders. During his appearance with Palin in June, he declared, "I believe Alaska is one of the refuge states in the last days, and hundreds of thousands of people are going to come to the state to seek refuge and the church has to be ready to minister to them."

DON''T THINK IT WOULD BE WISE TO VOTE FOR THIS.

[armydog2]

You guys know that the residents of alaska are given an extra 5000 dollar deduction on their income tax because they reside in what is considered a frontier state.

[seafang]

Well jmmalone2; time to do some reading, and you would find out that the baby is hers, so you can stop wondering about something that isn''t any of your d.a.m.n business. I''ve seen lots of babies that weren''t being held; sometimes they just want to sleep.

And the Alaska story above points out what is wrong with the Federal Government. They are just sticking their noses into too much of State''s business, instead of concentrating on the list of 17 things the Constitution tells them to do. That''s why the have an Alaska Independence party; they''d like to enjoy some of those rights that are guaranteed to them by Article 10 of the Bill of Rights. And so would many of the rest of us.
We don''t need your Communist nanny cradle to grave welfare state.

[jmmalone2]

No one is cashing in on anything that''s McCain or Palin. Why doesn''t she hold her baby? Even when they were at the airport meeting McCain on 09/3/08. It''s like the baby is not her''s?????
Judy
Los Angeles