If Palin Were President

Vincent J. Curtis

16 Aug 12

Several weeks ago former Vice-President Dick Cheney made some deprecatory-sounding remarks concerning Sarah Palin, former Alaskan governor and Vice-Presidential running mate in 2008 of Senator John McCain.  Mr. Cheney said, in effect, that Sarah Palin was not ready to assume the presidency in 2008 and that perception dragged down the McCain-Palin ticket, despite her selection being initially hailed as a coup by McCain.

There is truth in Mr. Cheney’s comments that that was the perception concerning Palin, and that perception may have contributed in a small way towards the loss of the Republicans in 2008.  One can disregard the double standard concerning Palin and the Democratic ticket of Obama and Biden.  In recent days Vice President Joe Biden has demonstrated why he will never be ready for the office of president, and nobody asked about Biden’s fitness in 2008.  Even worse was the failure to ask whether Barack Obama was ready, given that his resume was thinner than Palin’s he was actually going to be the president if his ticket won the election whereas Palin was only going to be the Vice-President.  Obama spoke well, and that was all that was necessary for people to assume that he was up to the task.

Now that Barack Obama has had four years in office, it might be useful to compare what would have happened if Palin had become president on January 20^th, 2009, instead of Barack Hussein Obama.

There would have been no “porkulus” package of $800 billon, and the concomitant rise in the base budget of that amount in succeeding years.  The US deficit after 2009-10 to today would be nowhere near $1 trillion each year.  In addition, the increase in the US national debt would be less than half the $5 trillion it has grown under Obama simply because the deficits would have been lower.

There would have been no “Obamacare.”  If there was health care legislation at all that passed the Democratic congress in 2009-10, it would have been along the lines of enabling the purchase of insurance across state lines.  A bill for tort reform might have been introduced, but would have been defeated in the Congress.

There would be no “Dodd-Frank” legislation.  Palin would have vetoed it.

Palin would have worked night and day to revive the economy, drill for oil and natural gas, and reduce the federal deficit.  She apparently doesn't play golf.

The Keystone XL pipeline would have been approved.

Various states would not be attacked by the US Department of Justice for enacting voter ID laws to stem voter fraud, and for state laws supporting US immigration enforcement.

The business-friendly climate of a Palin Administration would have seen the economy revive in 2010 as it did under Obama, but the recovery would not have stalled out due to fears of heavy new taxes, regulations, and harassment through Administration policies and presidential rhetoric.

The revival of the economy would be helped along by encouragement of drilling for oil and natural gas on Federal lands.

The 2011-12 Congress would likely have remained in Democratic hands because there would have been no adverse reaction to Democrat control of the government from 2009-10.

Gitmo would remain open.  (Oh, it still is!)

The war in Iraq would have wound down in exactly the same fashion, and the war in Afghanistan would be further along to conclusion because Palin would have given General Patreaeus all the troops he asked for.

The Arab Spring might have taken a different turn since Palin would not have given new and confusing signals concerning US support.

The Islamic regime in Iran might have been overthrown in 2009 since Palin would have spoken out in support of the democratic will of the people of Iran in the riots following the fraudulent election.

Palin might not have been ready for the office of president in January, 2009; but neither was Harry Truman in April, 1945.  Simply by not making the mistakes based on wrong policy and ideology, Palin would have done a better job as president than Obama has done.  The country would have been better off and, oddly, so would the Democratic party.