On what Sarah Palin actually stands for...

There is much that has been said about the VP pick on the Republican side of the aisle, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin. I personally see the pick as a transparent and desperate bid to appeal to women who are on the fence about voting for Obama, as well as a ploy to change just what the election is about.

The scary thing is that Sarah Palin's nomination is roughly equivalent to Clarence Thomas' nomination to the Supreme Court. Her lack of experience and her odd political background (as well as ultra conservative stance on abortion) is obscured by the uniqueness of her as a choice.

Anyhow. We all know that her underage daughter is pregnant out of wedlock (but she'll be married, soon, which will make it ALL BETTER). But what we did not know is that Gov. Palin cut money which funded a state wide program in Alaska which helps teenage mothers get their feet on the ground.

According to the Washtington Post,

... earlier this year [Palin] used her line-item veto to slash funding for a state program benefiting teen mothers in need of a place to live.

After the legislature passed a spending bill in April, Palin went through the measure reducing and eliminating funds for programs she opposed. Inking her initials on the legislation -- "SP" -- Palin reduced funding for Covenant House Alaska by more than 20 percent, cutting funds from $5 million to $3.9 million. Covenant House is a mix of programs and shelters for troubled youths, including Passage House, which is a transitional home for teenage mothers.

According to Passage House's web site, its purpose is to provide "young mothers a place to live with their babies for up to eighteen months while they gain the necessary skills and resources to change their lives" and help teen moms "become productive, successful, independent adults who create and provide a stable environment for themselves and their families."

Here's a picture of the actual bill, with Palin's initialed changes.


This kind of funding cut shows a lack of "family values", in my opinion. Not every teenage girl has the kind of family Bristol Palin has, one which will no doubt take care of her and her child for many years to come. If people want to force all women to carry unplanned/unwanted pregnancies to term, those same people are duty bound to provide funding and secular assistance to those same women, no matter what their age.

In a way I'm sick to death of reading about Palin, but in another way, I'm deer-in-the-headlights fascinated to see just how deep the depths of her story go.

This woman is so unfit to be in the position of Vice President, it's not even funny.