Sarah Palin claimed during Thursday's vice presidential debate that, as governor of Alaska, she fought to protest atrocities in Sudan by dropping assets tied to the country's brutal regime from the state's $40 billion investment fund. "When I and others in the legislature found out we had some millions of dollars in Sudan," Palin said, "we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars to make sure we weren't doing anything that would be seen as condoning the activities there in Darfur." Reporting by ABC News and the Washington Post indicates otherwise.
In fact, Palin's administration opposed a measure to divest Alaskan holdings in Sudan-linked investments. "The [Palin] administration killed our bill," Alaska state representative Les Gara told ABC News. Gara and state representative Bob Lynn co-sponsored a bipartisan resolution (HB287) early this year to force the Alaska Permanent Fund to divest millions of dollars in holdings tied to the Sudanese government. Palin's administration openly opposed the bill, stating its opposition in a public hearing on the measure in February. Said Brian Andrews, Palin's deputy revenue commissioner, at the hearing: "The legislation is well-intended, and the desire to make a difference is noble, but mixing moral and political agendas at the expense of our citizens' financial security is not a good combination." Gara told ABC that opposition from Palin's administration was instrumental in killing the measure. "I walked out of that hearing livid," Gara recalled, noting that because of Palin's opposition to the bill, "We could not get a vote in that committee." Any expression of support from Palin for the Sudan divestment effort would come only at the end of the legislative session, after the Gara-Lynn measure's fate had been sealed.
The Alaska Permanent Fund currently holds $22 million in Sudan-linked investments, according to the non-profit Sudan Divestment Task Force. Palin's running mate, John McCain, has expressed strong support of Sudan divestment efforts, but was criticized when it was revealed in May that his wife Cindy held $2 million in investment funds owning shares of Sudan-linked companies. Mrs. McCain sold those holdings following inquiries from the news media.
Mark C. Eades
http://www.mceades.com
Here's links:
Washington Post
Link
"The [Palin] administration killed our bill," said Alaska state representative Les Gara, D-Anchorage. Gara and state Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage, co-sponsored a resolution early this year to force the Alaska Permanent Fund – a $40 billion investment fund, a portion of whose dividends are distributed annually to state residents – to divest millions of dollars in holdings tied to the Sudanese government.
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At the last minute they showed up" and supported the divestment effort, Gara said. But by then the legislative session was almost over, and there wasn't enough time to get it passed.
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The Alaska Permanent Fund currently holds $22 million in Sudan-linked investments, according to the non-profit Sudan Divestment Task Force. Divestment advocates say the fund does not need an act of the state legislature to divest itself of those holdings.
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Eliz D commented on same article:
One of the most amazing aspects of Palin and to a slightly bit lesser, McCain, do they brag about RAW LIES? Lies that are extremely easy to research.
Just amazing.Â
She's STRETCHHHHHING THE TRUTH
Link
House Bill 287 would require the permanent fund and retirement fund managers to track, avoid and sell companies doing business in Sudan. The bill requires fund managers to keep a list of "scrutinized companies," and to make periodic reports to the Legislature, the president's envoy and others.
At least 41 states have adopted or are considering policies to divest state assets from Sudan, according to a legislative research report.
Alaska's money managers oppose the bill and say managing money according to a political agenda is a bad be
Rep. Les Gara, D-Anchorage, is sponsoring the bill with Rep. Bob Lynn, R-Anchorage. Gara is upset that Burns is resisting his call to sell the few stocks in the fund portfolio with ties to Sudan.
Federal executive orders forbid U.S. companies from operating in Sudan. The permanent fund owns shares in six foreign companies that do. The biggest stock holding is Sinopec, a giant Chinese oil company that last year backed an unsuccessful bid from an Anchorage construction company for a state natural gas pipeline license.
I'm surprised you didn't get comments on this, it's important. She's no reformer. And if she wants to call herself a Pitbull, people can call her a mut and beotch all they want, freedom of speech, don't like it, you know where the door is.
5 STAR post and I brought it up the first night right after the debate because I just read about it on her official site, like everything else, it's disappeared...hummmm.
Alaska came into existence way after the rest of the U.S., and it does NOT have the luxury of road network systems you people in the lower 48 have, and why our state is pretty much having to BEG. If you came here, you'd see the poverty and lack of infrastructure. So, to blame Alaska is pretty stupid, the lower 48 is greedy is wanting to disallow the growth and prosperity as the rest of the U.S.
Since we are producing a majority of the oil, and if the investments HAD BEEN lost, there would be no funds for the new pipeline that Palin pushes, and we'd be suffering even greater disaster. Thing is, it's on Darfur's back, not ours. Sad.