Governor Palin's Seward House Address: Washington, DC Stands In Our Way

From the speech:

We never need to fear that though we're not a perfect nation, that we must apologize for being proud of ourselves.

And this:

Our resources are there, and the time is now, right now, and we're ready to develop. And we already provide about 17% of the U.S. domestic supply of energy, but we could do more. And it's time. But believe it or not, what prohibits our development, what stands in the way, is government in Washington D.C.

Alaska can actually quench America's thirst for hydrocarbons for years, and reduce energy costs, and reduce the dependence on foreign sources of energy if given the opportunities that America was founded upon -- remember that was the exploration, and the innovation, and the production, and the hard work.

[...]

But drilling seems to be such a sensitive issue right now. It’s a political one that many don’t want to take on because it’s not an easy issue even though the choice really is quite clear. You can provide jobs and energy independence and national security by drilling in your sister state. Or you send jobs and you send our money to foreign countries asking them to ramp up production of energy sources so that we can import it – some of these countries not necessarily liking America – that is the choice.

[...]

Now Alaskans get tired of hearing that Washington bureaucrats know what’s best for us. So we push and we fight and we challenge decisions made inside the Beltway when they’re not in the country’s best interest. And we know decisions being made lately, we believe are not in the nation’s best interest, not when they can’t lead us to energy independence. So though it seems that there are some attempts to try to make some from Alaska to sit down and shut up, we’re not going to sit down and shut up, we’re going to spread the message.

We persist because as Alaskans we are independent thinkers, who like Central New Yorkers, we seek to do what is right, not what is just easy. And it seems that when government moves out of the way, that’s when progress can happen.

Here is some more from her speech:

I recently turned down, or vetoed, stimulus dollars that were tied to implementing...some mandates from the federal government trying to take away more control of our local governments, and our families, and our businesses. In this case, implementing universal energy building codes that some claimed after I vetoed the money “oh, she’s just trying to make a political statement.” And, no, I’m actually trying to use some common sense here, and some may be uncomfortable with that, but it is the right thing to do.

You know the response I got when I vetoed these dollars? “Girl, are you crazy, the federal government is handing out free money and if you don’t take it another state’s going to spend it.” Oh this borrowed, debt ridden, government growing money – it is not free money, and taking it takes away anything that is free.

So many in Congress warned the states about the ramifications of accepting the money, and most legislators went around governors who didn’t want to take all the money, and they resolved via resolutions to take the money anyway. But opportunity for development and local control, that is what’s taken away when all of these dollars are accepted without questioning them, because, believe it or not, there are fat strings attached to this borrowed money. See that attitude of free money is wrong.

Finally I have just conceded, I’ve said ok, I just won’t claim that there are strings attached. I won’t use that term anymore. Because the more we dig into these mandates, these connections that the money would have that we would spend coming from the federal government, including the string attached to these dizzying federal debts that we are handing to our kids and to their kids to pay off for us – I can’t say strings attached anymore, now I say they are ropes...They are debt building, binding, controlling ropes and it is bigger government that ultimately will take away our opportunities and our freedoms.

And now precedent says government will bail you out, depending on the decisions that you’ve made if you’re not prudent with your business dollars. Government will buy you out. Anyone need a car? And this is a problem because we cannot afford this government largess and control and unrestrained spending. I don’t think that’s what Seward had in mind. And I do not believe it’s the will of the people.

Now the strings attached to the stimulus dollars [are] really just the tip of the iceberg (attached to the newest federal education standards – before the latest ones have even been fully measured). It means more centralized government and less local ownership.

And now you and I, we own GM – well the U.S. government owns the great stake in it. But who are we becoming more and more indebted to? It’s China. So at this rate you have to ask yourself who may really own the car industry ultimately?

And universal health care – more government control in medicine and its availability and our choices of providers – again, I don’t know if that’s what Seward had in mind.

And then we heard just a few days ago, someone says that the White House may want federal control over Alaska’s proposed natural gas pipeline. Can you imagine turning over a free market project to big government controlled by Washington? That’s not a good option.

And Washington now admits that, well, it looks like the only solution to all of this spending and the control is to take more of your money, which takes away more of our opportunities and our freedoms and more of our control from our villages, and our cities, and our businesses, and our families. See now there’s talk now of a new value added tax... It’s a fancy name for a national sales tax. Now to me there’s nothing value added in any tax, unless another tax is simultaneously reduced.

So here’s the caution, but here’s also the hope. We have to hang on to the hope. Some days it may feel as though we’re almost selling our collective soul to other countries who are so heavily invested in our future now that we stand to be mere puppets on their string, or maybe those are ropes too. And it’s just so tough to just stand by and hear “Don’t worry, shh, just – Washington knows best.”

We’re hearing that about things like Alaska’s missile defense system – missile interceptors stationed in Alaska where we are so strategically located. Our missile defense systems there – they do help secure all of you. And as Seward well knew, Alaska’s neighbors are not New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Ours are foreign countries, and you can see the foreign countries from Alaska. See, Seward knew that we would have these unique challenges, but also that we could provide solutions quite uniquely. We have maritime issues and the Russians test our military air might, and we’re facing oil and gas territorial issues in the Arctic as other countries are scrambling to figure out who owns what, and they’re staking claims under seas – claiming under seas energy resources right now.

Because of our geographic location and proximity to nations such as North Korea, Alaska plays a key role in America’s security. In fact we’re home to the largest ground based mid-course defense shield in all of North America. And yet Washington thinks it’s best now to actually cut the defense spending in Alaska by hundreds of millions of dollars. Now that’s an odd priority there – when North Korea just launched six short range missiles and transported its most advanced long range missile to a test site to launch in, well, their dictator seems to claim, in about a week. The missile can reach Alaska. We can be in a position of strength. Reducing Alaska’s defense readiness in these perilous times is a show of weakness. It’s not a sign of strength.

I will defend my state and maintain its strength for you and argue with every ounce of my being for Washington to pay attention. And that is not always easy, but it’s right. And it’s clear to many that some of our priorities as a nation are kind of reversed, and it’s my imperative, it should be all of our imperative, that we get our government priorities right because if they’re misdirected obviously America is going to turn into something we don’t recognize. We all need to pay attention.

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You know there, like here, in Alaska, we’re a hearty folk and we are independent and we believe the roots of are country – so deep, so strong – they are what we need to cling to, and clinging to them, yeah, that includes our clinging to Second Amendment rights and to our faith in God. Many of us do cling to that strong faith in God, and it is under God, in Him do we still trust.

Click here for a roundup of her activities in NY state, and the reactions to them.

Here is video of Gov. Palin's speech before the Auburn City Hall earlier that day.