Remember this? Sarah Palin in last night's debate:
When I and others in the legislature found out that we had some millions of dollars [of Permanent Fund investments] in Sudan, we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars
I hope you're sitting down, because what I'm going to excerpt here may shock you and cost Keith Olbermann some major somolians:
It's a lie. In fact, it's a two-fer lie. Palin not only failed to call for divestment, her administration actively worked to defeat the measure calling for divestment.
(proof below the fold)....
According to Justin Roond at ABC's The Blotter from Brian Ross, Palin's claim is a little off the mark:
Not quite, according to a review of the public record – and according to the recollections of a legislator and others who pushed a measure to divest Alaskan holdings in Sudan-linked investments.
"The [Palin] administration killed our bill," said Alaska state representative Les Gara, D-Anchorage.
Gara (who has posted here on Daily Kos) and republican state Rep. Bob Lynn, co-sponsored a resolution 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."
I'm sure we can expect Palin to correct herself to say that the dividends she spreads amongst Alaskan residents are tainted by genocide.
Here's what Palin's deputy revenue commissioner said about the matter:
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," testified Brian Andrews, Palin's deputy revenue commissioner, before a hearing on the Gara-Lynn Sudan divestment bill in February. Minutes from the meeting are posted online by the legislature.
"I walked out of that hearing livid," Gara recalled of the February meeting. Because of the Palin administration's opposition to the bill, "We could not get a vote in that committee," he explained. At no point did Palin come out in support of the effort, Gara said.
This lack of support, Gara said, helped kill the measure.
Here's my question: Was Palin's statement part of her rote remarks or were they spontaneous "lies of the moment?" The kind you tell just for the doggone heck of it when you're in a vice presidential debate?
Either way, I think Mr. Olbermann owes the Alaskan Special Olympics more scratch. Does that make Palin a contribution bundler?
UPDATE #3: KO promises to give an additional $1200 to the Special Olympics due to the lies at the debate.
UPDATE #2: LARichardson73 has a diary down the list on this. Sorry, didn't see it. It adds an important quote that I missed from the ABC report. After the bill went down to defeat (and with the help of the Palin administration, the Alaska governor changed her tune, but too late to get the bill passed:
"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.
Lawmakers hope to bring up the bill next year.
UPDATE: Some of what Obama has really done on Darfur.
and
Obama himself on the topic.