½ Term Quitter Gov’s Ghost Written Book V. Actual Facts
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PALIN: Says Ronald Reagan faced an even worse recession than the one that appears to be ending now, and ‘‘showed us how to get out of one. If you want real job growth, cut capital gains taxes and slay the death tax once and for all.’‘
THE FACTS: The estate tax, which some call the death tax, was not repealed under Reagan and capital gains taxes are lower now than when Reagan was president.
Economists overwhelmingly say the current recession is far worse. The recession Reagan faced lasted for 16 months; this one is in its 23rd month. The recession of the early 1980s did not have a financial meltdown. Unemployment peaked at 10.8 percent, worse than the October 2009 high of 10.2 percent, but the jobless rate is still expected to climb.
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PALIN: Welcomes last year’s Supreme Court decision deciding punitive damages for victims of the nation’s largest oil spill tragedy, the Exxon Valdez disaster, stating it had taken 20 years to achieve victory. As governor, she says, she’d had the state argue in favor of the victims, and she says the court’s ruling went ‘‘in favor of the people.’’ Finally, she writes, Alaskans could recover some of their losses.
THE FACTS: That response is at odds with her reaction at the time to the ruling, which resolved the long-running case by reducing punitive damages for victims to $500 million from $2.5 billion. Environmentalists and plaintiffs’ lawyers decried the ruling as a slap at the victims and Palin herself said she was ‘‘extremely disappointed.’’ She said the justices had gutted a jury decision favoring higher damage awards, the Anchorage Daily News reported. ‘‘It’s tragic that so many Alaska fishermen and their families have had their lives put on hold waiting for this decision,’’ she said, noting many had died ‘‘while waiting for justice.’‘
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PALIN: Describing her resistance to federal stimulus money, Palin describes Alaska as a practical, libertarian haven of independent Americans who don’t want ‘‘help’’ from government busybodies.
THE FACTS: Alaska is also one of the states most dependent on federal subsidies, receiving much more assistance from Washington than it pays in federal taxes. A study for the nonpartisan Tax Foundation found that in 2005, the state received $1.84 for every dollar it sent to Washington.
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